Fantasy Football Today - The Best RB and WR Prospects in the NFL Draft! Superstars, Steals and Sleepers (03/19 Fantasy Football Podcast)

Episode Date: March 19, 2025

We've got CBS Sports NFL Draft expert Mike Renner joining us to talk about the top prospects at each position but focusing on running back and wide receiver. First, how does J.J. McCarthy compare to Cam Ward as a prospect (4:15)? And how do this year's RB and WR classes compare to last year's (7:25)? We also talk about Travis Hunter as a WR and how many NFL stars we see in this draft class (12:50). There's Ashton Jeanty for sure, but who else has star potential? ... We talk about what matters when evaluating a prospect (22:40) and then get Mike's scouting reports on Jeanty (24:00), Dylan Sampson (27:15), the Ohio State RBs (30:45) and some of the top WRs (33:45) ... We take chat questions (38:30) about Jalen Milroe, Damien Martinez, Matthew Golden, Jayden Higgins and more ... Email us at [e-mail] Fantasy Football Today is available for free on the Audacy app as well as Apple Podcasts, Spotify and wherever else you listen to podcasts Watch FFT on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/fantasyfootballtoday Shop our store: shop.cbssports.com/fantasy  SUBSCRIBE to FFT Express on Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/fantasy-football-today-express/id1528634304 Follow FFT Express on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6qyGWfETSBFaciPrtvoWCC?si=6529cbee20634da8 SUBSCRIBE to FFT Dynasty on Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/fantasy-football-today-dynasty/id1696679179 FOLLOW FFT Dynasty on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/2aHlmMJw1m8FareKybdNfG?si=8487e2f9611b4438&nd=1 SUBSCRIBE to FFT DFS on Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/fantasy-football-today-dfs/id1579415837 FOLLOW FFT DFS on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5zU7pBvGK3KPhfb69Q1hNr?si=1c5030a3b1a64be2 Follow our FFT team on Twitter: @FFToday, @AdamAizer, @JameyEisenberg, @daverichard, @heathcummingssr Follow the brand new FFT TikTok account: https://www.tiktok.com/@fftoday Join our Facebook group https://www.facebook.com/groups/FantasyFootballToday/ Sign up for the FFT newsletter https://www.cbssports.com/newsletter You can listen to Fantasy Football Today on your smart speakers! Simply say "Alexa, play the latest episode of the Fantasy Football Today podcast" or "Hey Google, play the latest episode of the Fantasy Football Today podcast." Visit the betting arena on CBSSports.com for all the latest sportsbook reviews and sportsbook promos. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This is fantasy football today from CBS Sports. What a play! Can you believe this? No, I can't. It's time to dominate your fantasy league. Off to the races and he stays at his feet. This is gonna go the distance. Now here's some combination of Adam, Dave, Jamie and Heath.

A little over a month away from the NFL Draft, starts on Thursday, April 24th. Right now it is Wednesday, March 19th. Checking the date and we welcome you to Fantasy Football Today here. I am Adam Azer with Dave Richard, Jamie Isenberg. We have a special guest, the guy who knows so much about these prospects going to educate us today. He is the host of the Pushing the Pile podcast for CBS.

He is a CBS Sports Draft Analyst. He is Mike Renner and it's a first time on FFT. Welcome to the show, Mike. Thanks for having me on, excited. Yeah, I don't know what you did, but you made Jamie leave and now he's back. Hey, you got a problem with Mike, Jamie? No, no, I was just adjusting something, so.

All right, oh, we got a question from the chat. You're not supposed to say those things. Who's the new sexy mustache? It has that mustache working out for you, Mike. I just shaved yesterday. My girl loves it. So that's all that really matters. Well, yes, that is that is true. So tell us about the pushing the pile podcast and what you're doing there. Me and Kyle log two days a week. We're doing all things for agency off season team

building sort of stuff now. But during the season we do obviously a lot of like skill and like player analysis because that's Kyle's specialty for the line of scrimmage and my specialty obviously because I've been a draft guy for as long as I have them. There you go. Good morning, Dave. Good morning, Mike. You played how what level of football did you end up playing? I did not play any football. I didn't. I still didn't have football. So I'm not. I think you played. I am so sorry. I did not. What about you, Dave? What level? What level did football you play, Dave?

I let me I was the starting right tackle for the Sigma Alpha Mu beer bowl team in 1994. I'll let you know, I gave up one sack all season. We had, it was a one game season. Oh, was my brother on that team? No, he was one of our coaches though. But you know, your brother, he's smaller than you. So he's not gonna go in and deal with the big guys on the offensive line.

It's true, it's true. All right, Mike, let's get to the content here. Just a couple of NFL items here. The Vikings are reportedly not pursuing Aaron Rodgers anymore. They're going to stick with JJ McCarthy. And we got a report from Jeremy Fowler of ESPN that the Titans are pretty comfortable taking Cam Ward first overall. It's obviously not set in stone, we'll see what happens. But how would you compare Cam Ward to JJ McCarthy with McCarthy having been the fourth quarterback selected last year? They're vastly different players.

I think the biggest strength for Cam Ward, I think both guys have outside of structure play as one of their calling cards. They both can create in that manner. But I think with Cam Ward, you see a much more creativity with his arm. He layers the ball better. He throws with touch a lot more.

With McCarthy, it's a lot of lasers, but I think he also operates from tight pockets better. Not that Cam Ward can't, but like that was J.J. McCarthy's best skillset was that everything collapsing on him behind that Michigan offensive line, he was still able to throw darts on the football field. A little skinnier.

Cam Ward's a little built a little bit better, you know, breaks a little more tackles can escape pressure a little bit better, but I have a higher grade on Ward. Uh, considerably McCarthy was much more of a wild card. You've seen Ward play a ton of football and then a drop back heavy passing offense where it's kind of all in his shoulders with McCarthy. It was always, man, they didn't trust him to throw down the stretch last year. play a ton of football and then a drop back heavy passing off that's where it's kind of all in his shoulders. With McCarthy, it was always, man, they didn't trust him to throw down the stretch last year, it was always kind of like, what does it look

like when it has to be all him. And so that remains to be seen and loves to get the chance this fall. You have cam ward going number one overall in your latest mock draft, which I think was published yesterday, two days ago. So everyone go check that out. Just Google Mike Renner mock draft and you will see Cam Ward number one overall to the Titans. Today we're gonna focus a lot on running backs

and wide receivers. Jamie, there was also a report on NFL network that Pittsburgh is comfortable starting Mason Rudolph at quarterback. Do you buy that? Negotiating employees 101. No, I don't buy that. I mean, they have somebody that they seemingly trust.

I mean, it's a smart move by the Steelers to bring back Mason Rudolph because he's won some games for them and can probably be a capable backup. But if that's their game plan to go from what they had last year, which was obviously not the most sound plan of Justin Fields and Russell Wilson to Mason Rudolph, then they're going backwards.

So hopefully they have some sort of answer for their future. But this is not something I think that Steelers fans want to see. It's not something fantasy managers want to see. I think, you know, find some long term solution as opposed to just keep putting Band-Aids on the spot. All right. Listen, everybody, if you have five seconds, go to your web browser, type in cbsports.com slash FFT. F as in Frank, F as in Franny, T as in Thomas, cbsports.com slash

FFT. You're going to join our bracket challenge. Okay. I think we're closing in on a thousand entries right now. The winner is in the podcast league and gets one year free of Paramount Plus Second and third place don't get in the podcast league, but you get a month free of Paramount Plus Just go to CBS sports comm slash FFT you have until Thursday afternoon to submit those brackets when the games start you're done But we're done, but you know, you've got time CBS sports commports.com slash FFT. All right. So again, focusing Mike on running backs and wide receivers, let's start with the running backs. How would you compare this year's class to last year's class?

So much better. It's just it's so much deeper. Top end talents better. It's just night and day in my opinion. This year's class, like last year my RB5 was, I think Ray Davis, and this year there's probably like at least 10 guys I would put ahead of Ray Davis, in terms of grading scale that I would take before him. So it's a very, very good class. You'll probably see that reflected in where they come off the board.

I expect that over the first three rounds we'll see, could see double digits, could very well see double I expect that over the first three rounds, we'll see, because he double digits, Convier will see double digit running backs through the first three rounds. How about wide receiver? Same question comparing last year to this year. So this isn't a bad class by any means. Last year was much more of an outlier in terms of how good it was.

I was raving about, you know, not only the top three guys, but like the second tier of guys that I had with like Brian Thomas Jr., Lad McConkey, I would put them as the top tier of this year's class that you see with Ted McMillan, Matthew Golden, Luther Burden. It's not great. It just lacks the real guy at the top. I think Travis Hunter is close to that, but the evals of him and where he's going to play

and what you're going to do with them, obviously all over the map, whether it's wide receiver or cornerback. So that's a much bigger question mark, but I think he could be, I watched his tape and I'm just like, this guy has rare, rare ability to just catch the football. So it's, the depth is okay though. I think rounds two and three in this year's class are actually not that bad. And I can see a number of guys emerging from this class in rounds two or three. So it doesn't have top and towel, but it is the depth is still there. It definitely isn't one of those, you know, 2016 2017 2018, those years that were just like lean and wide receiver. It isn't like that at all. Dave, how do you see it? You know, Dave, Jamie, once you guys get in there, talk about as we approach, you know, dynasty drafts and whatnot running back and wide receiver. Jamie Buehler

This is it's excellent news for dynasty leagues because you will find players that you'll be happy to draft when you're in the middle of round two, maybe even like the beginning part of round three. Like there are enough players because you didn't even ask them about the tight ends. And we just really scratched the surface on the quarterbacks. Not that the quarterbacks are anything to write home about, but it's deep. You saw it at the senior bowl. There wasn't a single prospect at the senior bowl that I think is like a lock to be a first rounder. Let me double check. Yeah. Like as far as receivers and running backs go, I don't think there's a first rounder that was at the senior bowl, but you saw a lot of guys that could go anywhere from round two to round

five in the NFL draft and in a dynasty draft you're gonna see them get picked and people will be excited about them. They're gonna stick around in this league for a while. I think there's a lot of talented solid running backs and wide receivers with some with elite traits obviously that can make fantasy managers happy for a long time. This is a good thing for Dynasty. I want to go back to Travis Hunter with Mike, just because he said about his receiving skills. Do you see him playing receiver, or do you think it's dependent on where he goes?

It's definitely dependent on where he goes. With the NFL, it's like that with a lot of positions, right? A lot of guys who can, especially like off-ball linebacker versus edge rusher, it's like, it's kind of like that with a lot of positions, right? A lot of guys who can, especially like, you know, off ball linebacker versus edge rusher, it's like, what do I need? And so if a team needs a wide receiver, I'd be hard pressed to see you not evaluating him as wide receiver one, this draft class, right? And so at that point, it just comes down to it's like, if it's the New England Patriots that draft him, he's playing with a wide receiver, right?

They have two corners. They're not adding a third and having a moonlight on offense with that. So, it will be team dependent. But for him, I am like he said, he wants to do both. And if you want to do both the NFL level, it's going to mean like limited time at both, which I think is the scariest thing. Like if you're drafting and fancy is that if he does both, he wants it'd be like a 60% split at both positions, you just can't do 100% the way he would want at both positions. How would you rank him with Harrison neighbors or doonsay

Travis Hunter we're talking here. I would put him probably I would put him ahead of a doonsay behind Harrison and neighbors. I had a neighbor at elsewhere had neighbors Harrison and then a dozai, but just like, I thought neighbors and Harrison were just like special year on year dudes. They don't come around every single year. Hunter's not quite to that level,

but I think he's a very, very good wide receiver. And I think much more physically gifted than Roman Donzai. Roman Donzai very polished, but Travis Hunter could do things athletically that Rome just couldn't. I'm gonna go on a little detour here. You feel in bounce back seasons, bounce back is funny. Rebound, I don't know.

Good seasons for Marvin Harrison Jr. and Roma Dunze after kind of disappointing rookie seasons? I think so. I probably worry a little bit more about a Dunze just because who knows what that offense is gonna look like, but I trusted with Ben Johnson figuring it out. And he very well could be like their Amin Raso St. Brown and just play the slot and get 160 targets in that offense. So with Marvin Harrison, like it's going to come around. It was just a lot of

stuff. A lot of the lack of production was him not being on the same page with Kyle Emery. I think the rapport aspect, once that gets down, if you just like watch all his targets, there's so many that are just like, they're not connecting. Once that happens, I think he's immediately, you know, 12, 1300 yard range. All right. I like the optimism. I like the optimism. So speaking of optimism, I want to ask you, and then I want to get Dave and Jamie's take on it. How many stars do you think we have at running back and wide receiver at the NFL level? It's a difficult question. So I apologize for that. But how many, how much star potential do you see when you look at these players? Running back? I think there's three guys that I'm like, I would bet good money. They're

stars. And then like, obviously any guy after that, like I can say all the way into my top 10 to get to the right situation, I think it'll work out. But these three guys, I think no matter the situation, I for sure feel good about them producing it's Ash and Gentile, which I don't think I'm breaking any ground there or Mario Hampton from North Carolina. And then I see Dylan Sampson in that tier. I think he is at his age because he's, I think the youngest guy in the entire draft class turns 21, like next September or something at his age to

produce the way he did at Tennessee with an offensive line that wasn't great against SEC competition, going for over a hundred against Bama and Georgia and the way he runs with the vision he has, he just reminds me so much of Bucky Irving last year, but like with better physical tools, like he has more explosiveness to him, a little more size to him that I think he's going to be a bell cow for running back at the next level. So those three, I just feel really good about. Now, like if you told me Quintenon Judkins was too, if you told me Trayvon Henderson was, a number of these other guys in his draft class, I wouldn't doubt it, but those are the three I feel good about being that. At the tight end position, I feel at the

top two, I'm 100% on board with the top two being guys at the next level, Colson level and Tyler Warren. I think there's probably going to be one more that emerges out of that second group of guys. It's just a really, really good tight end class. Wide receiver is much more difficult. I feel good about Tett McMillan being that guy. I really do. I think he fits perfectly in the volume mold of a possession type of wide receiver who can get like 150 targets. He could be like a Michael Thomas

in an offense where you're just really featuring him. It's not really sexy explosive production, but he just can consistently get open and be reliable. Byrne is probably going to get volume just in terms of screens, kind of the same way like Nick Nevers did as a rookie where he's just like, you'll give him the scheme targets right out the gate. Just give him touches any way, shape or form, kind of like, you know, even like a Debo Samuel in that kind of role where you just want the ball in his hands because he's the best in this class with the ball in his hands.

After that, that's really it though. I mean, obviously about Travis Hunter, I feel good about him, but like every other single guy after that, I think is going to matter where he ends up. Uh, I don't feel anyone else being able to really rise above, uh, in this draft class or receiver. Even Golden. I, I just, I think Golden's a number two at the next level. I see him more as like a Jordan Addison.

And again, if Jordan Addison was in like a less pass happy, happy offense, Jordan Addison wouldn't necessarily be as relevant, right? Like he wouldn't be putting up big numbers. So that's how I see golden but the 40 blew my mind. I'm still like a 40 truth around him that I think that that was missed time. I just never saw 429 on tape. So if he really is like physically developing and is running a 429, well, he could be in that level too. Yeah, Golden, I thought pretty interesting. He had 987 yards and nine touchdowns, which is not really amazing production when you consider they played 16 games, they threw for the

second most touchdowns in the in the nation, the fourth most yards in the country. So I do have a follow up question. I want to know how much you care about raw stats. It's almost like one of the last things we look at, I feel like when we talk about prospects, is combine stuff, it's route running, it's all this stuff. And then like, what about just raw stats? I do have to take a break.

I also wanna hear from Dave and Jamie about who you guys think could be, as you sit here right now, who you think could be stars at the next level. Let's take a quick break here, come back with more thoughts on this draft class right after this. Hit pause on whatever you're listening to

and hit play on your next adventure. Stay two nights and get a $50 Best Western gift card. Life's the trip. Make the most of it at Best Western. Visit bestwestern.com for complete terms and conditions. Okay, so a little bookmark there on the raw stats and how much they matter here. But Dave, Jamie,

Dave, you can go first. Who are you looking at in stardom? By the way, Dylan Sampson was kind of an interesting pick. We've got to come back to that one. I hadn't really heard that running backs name in that discussion. But Dave, your thoughts on this. Well, where is the line on like superstar? No, not superstar. Not superstar. I, you know, I was going to not superstar I I you know is gonna say superstar knows like that's too high of a threshold just a star like a pro bowler And I'm not one of the alternates who came in after three guys, you know left the Pro Bowl because they wanted a golf You know like a legit pro regular pro bowler. Yeah, like Aaron Jones are better primary Jones Yeah, I I think you're looking for a name better than that, but I mostly agree with what Mike said. I do like Golden more than he does. I wonder if Ibuka could end up being like

one of those better in fantasy than in real life type of wide receivers, if that makes any sense. Or maybe, maybe I should say more popular in fantasy than in real life. I think he can just be a solid year over year contributor. It's really the only name that Mike said that, or Mike didn't say that I would say as far as someone who could be a very good contributor at the next level. Rod Karr, Jr. Jamie, no one's set a quarterback yet in this conversation. I don't know if that was just because we were supposed to focus on running backs receivers or if you don't think any of the quarterbacks are going to be stars, but throw it over to you, Jamie.

Pro Bowl alternates. They will definitely be Pro Bowl alternates. I do want to ask Mike, because one guy that stock has fallen from the combine is Caleb Johnson, who I was excited about prior to the combine and still have some interest in again, you know me a lot of it is based on where they end up But your thoughts on on Caleb Johnson because like Dave I agree with a lot of the names that he said as well Yeah, I was actually low on him even heading into the combine and probably even lower after cuz I thought he would be faster I thought I saw at least a guy who was like a high four four Because like on tapey and maybe smooth, like he's a very smooth, easy

runner, um, I just worry about his ability to really consistently make guys miss very much a linear one cut, get up the field, no real fat to his game, no real creativity to his running style. So he's, he's got like NFL ready traits, NFL ready for an outside zone heavy scheme. There's a handful of those in the NFL anymore. It's not like you got to be able to do a lot of different things today at the running back position, more often than not. So kind of reminds me of like a Tyler

Algier, where it's like, if he goes to the right spot, and it's outside zone, and you're featuring them, yeah, it'll be great. But I don't think he's transcendent in his ability to like rise above poor blocking. So what's interesting about Caleb Johnson, and again, you're this is all in the eye of the beholder some of or some of it is anyway, but like if we compare Caleb Johnson out of Iowa to quinch on Judkins out of Ohio State, they have basically

the same measurements about 6160", about 224 pounds. Judkins ran a 4'4", 8'40", Johnson ran a 4'5", 7". Judkins ran a 1.51 second 10 yard split. Caleb Johnson ran the slowest 10 yard split of all the running backs who participated in that at the combine. I watched them a lot, both of them this morning for a while. I actually felt like Caleb Johnson, if you hadn't given me any of those numbers, I felt that he looked faster than Judkins. I was not super impressed with Judkins. How

do you see it between those two? I 100% agree. I write down every year before the combine, just like my predictions for 40s for most of the top guys at most positions. And I had Caleb Johnson running faster for the Quincy on Jokins now. And I think like that 10 split, like he has better burst on a one cut from standstill than that. It kind of reminds me of when Dalvin Cook coming out ran like not that fast in the 40s. But then he went on like sports science or whatever

with John Brinkus and had like the fastest standstill acceleration. Like he was just able to from, you know, an athletic running back position accelerate better than other guys could, but not from a track stance. So I'm not too worried about that with Dylan Sampson. It's more between those two guys. Quinchon Judkins can make a guy miss in the hole.

Quinchon Judkins can like really guy miss in the hole. Quench on Judkins can like, really lower shoulder and run through a tackle. Whereas Caleb Johnson kind of has to bounce off with his legs. He's not that kind of guy like he has to take an arm tackle, he can run through that but not going to really not a real punishing runner the way Judkins can be and definitely doesn't have the sort of shake to his game that Judkins does. Okay. So let me get back to that question about the raw stats and where on the list of traits does

that factor in for you? How much does it matter? Yeah, just in terms of like yards, catches, rushes, that sort of thing. I like wide receivers or tight ends that are featured. Whatever the offense is, I like the guys. I trend towards the guys who are getting featured in their offense. And if they're not getting featured in their offense, is it because it's an Alabama situation where there's a bunch of other guys who are better than them or as good as them that are taking targets away from them? Or is it just because, or why is it? But I like guys who are getting featured in one way, shape, or form. At the the running back position the stats I'm more looking for broken tackles truthfully I'll look at broken tackles per attempt before I'm looking at just raw numbers

and again like you want guys that get featured at the running back position but it's not as big a deal just because philosophically some teams will never do some teams will never a bell cow. It just isn't in the cards and at running back collegiate level, like they cycle through a lot more. So that's kind of how I factor in raw production. Um, I, I, you obviously want it, but, uh, it's not the biggest deal for guy. Doesn't have it. All right. Uh, by the way, if you're in the chat right now and you want to hear about some players, you know, fire away, we'll probably get to that a little bit later. I guess we should probably not skip over Ashton Genti.

Jamie, is there any doubt that even in a super flex league, Genti should be the first pick in drafts or do we have to see where he goes? I mean, I think you have to see where he goes, but it's very, it'd be very surprising that he's not going to be a featured guy right away. We could have something similar to like Bijon Robinson where he's going to share if he's in the wrong system, and they love the guy that they had previously, so we could get a little bit of a sluggish start, but it'd be shocking that he's not going to be impressive at some point early in his career, whether it's early in his rookie season or, you know,

by year two. So yes, he should be number one in those formats unless you're, you know, just a team that's stacked at that position and needs quarterback help or wide receiver help. But I mean, just based on talent, he seems to be the, the likeliest to hit and hopefully be the superstar, you know, not just the star, not just the pro ball alternate, you know, somebody that can be a pro at his position hopefully for many years.

So what are the teams that could use a running back in your mind, Jamie, the ones that have the open, the help wanted sign out for an RB one? We've talked about maybe him going to Chicago and just the fit there in Ben Johnson's game. I don't think Deandre Swift is the type of guy that's kicking him off the field. You know, so it's any of the teams that we've mentioned in the last couple of weeks, you know, Denver, Chicago, Raiders, Dallas still for sure. You know, I don't buy the two guys that they brought in as being, you know, speed bumps to that situation.

It would be unlikely, but Cleveland, Cleveland's a team that could use an RB one. Yeah. Unless they trade back into the first round, I'd be surprised. Right. No, I agree. They're not going to take Janity into, I'd be shocked if they did that. Do you see superstar Mike and Janity? I do. I have the combination of just contact balance and then his speed. I mean, he can really hit breakaway runs. I'm not really worried about the size. Obviously like he's short, but it's not like he's small

and there's not tread on this guy's tires. He wasn't even like a starter in high school. It's kind of late to the game and split time his first two years at Boise State. So yeah, I would, there's really no reason to think he's gonna to be anything other than the stud. And I even see him like, as probably a guy who's more ready to produce like high volume

at the NFL level, even like Bijan was coming out. Yes. Wow. Okay. So this is a great graphic that we have here. Most rush yards and FPS, FPS last season, As and Genty with 2,601, which is incredible. Genty after contact. Genty had more yards after contact than any other running back had rushing yards period. Cam Scadaboo would be third on the list here after Genty and Genty after

contact. That is unbelievable. And then Omari and Hampton would be fourth. So yeah, do you want to talk more about Dylan Sampson here? Because that was one of the three guys you talked about could be stars at the running back position. And I don't know, I guess I call him a little bit a little bit of a sleeper. Yeah, he was I mean, he was Tennessee's offense this past year, when he went down against Ohio State. It was over that game. You is obviously slighter, 511, 200. He's on the smaller side for running back, but he's still young. I mean, at 20 years old, again, I think he's the youngest guy in his draft class, or if not by like a month or so, he's not the youngest. You can expect him to still get stronger, still probably put on some more weight to handle the rigors of the NFL. But can expect him to still get stronger, still probably put on some more weight

to handle the rigors of the NFL. But I see a guy that could run between the tackles at that size. I mean, very reminiscent, like I said, Bucky Irving, Aaron Williams, similar running style where they're built so compact and lower the earth that they can just bounce between holes so easily. The lateral agility you see consistently. And then at that size, he doesn't run timid. He runs into guys' chests, he will lower shoulder. To me, running back when projecting to the NFL, from college to the NFL, it's not as much about size as it is how you run.

So the guys that are 220 but are scared to really hit a guy, it doesn't really matter. Like Marshawn Lloyd last year was one I was just like, I, I think it can be no more than like a third down back because he's just not going to want to run between the tackles still in Samson is going to want to run between the tackles. You saw that consistently at Tennessee. That was kind of a lot of what they did. It was just a lot of like one back power and stuff like that.

So, um, I just think he's got a real dynamic game and we've seen a lot of guys be very successful. It was kind of undersized guys with good speed. The Jameer Gibbs is the James Cooks, Bucky Irvings. I think, you know, Bucky Irving didn't have speed, but like, I think he can be the next in that mold. Hey, Dave, who's your favorite Ohio State running back? I like Judkins a little bit more than I do Henderson. I think that he reminds me, and maybe this is a stretch, but he reminds me a little bit of Joe Mixon, just his ability

to be certainly an A1A back, but he's patient, he's strong, he's got good balance. I don't like how much he runs to contact. I'd rather him try and lean on his agility a little bit more. But I think he could eventually be a three down player, maybe without the top end speed, but that's still somebody who can go into the NFL and handle a lot of work. He did great at Ole Miss before he went to Ohio State, and then he did great at Ohio State. I'm not taking anything away from Henderson. I think Henderson's really good too. I just like Judkins a little bit more. Spence Galloway Man, I just wonder with Judkins, if he didn't have that game against Notre Dame, 11 carries, 100 yards, two touchdowns, he also caught a touchdown,

what his stock would be. Henderson, for what it's worth, they were teammates. Henderson averaged 7.1 yards per carry last year, Judkins 5.7 yards per carry. Judkins does not really make a lot of big plays in his career. He's had 13 carries of 30 or more yards. Henderson's had 20 carries of 30 or more yards on about 140 fewer carries, I think even more than that. I'm a Henderson guy, So mark me not. He's

the smaller guy. If you don't know, Henderson's the smaller guy. He's 5'10", 202 pounds. Judd can 6'221 pounds. So they're very different running backs. Henderson did not have more than 12 carries in any game last year, although in his career, he's had like nine games with 19 or more carries, something like that, but not last year. He's had some injury issues, but I don't know. Like it's like David Montgomery versus Jameer Gibbs or something. I'm going to go with Henderson. Jamie Henderson or Judkins. Jamie Morgan I lean Judkins right now, but for me, it's going to be the fit. You know, I think wherever they end up is going to determine clearly based on, you know, some of the stylistic differences, you know, which team team's gonna prefer that type of player

for their system and hopefully it's a fit as opposed to trying just to take who they may think is the better long-term talent and trying to fit that player into their own offense. So they're gonna be ranked very closely, I think, on a lot of pre-draft lists for fantasy purposes. But yeah, I would leave Judkins just slightly right now. Mike what's the right answer?

Mostly just to be different from you. Of course. What do you got Mike? Who do you like? I got Judkins higher. And I think it's, I just see more bell cow potential with Judkins. Otre Van Henderson, I never see him really being the featured sole back of an offense. He's too slight.

He's not a grind out, tough yardage, short of back. He's a home run hitter and that's great, but home run hitters oftentimes don't get 20 carries a game at the NFL level. And especially with how good he is as a pass protector, it almost like hurts his value fast because he's not going to play early downs when he's so good on third downs and pass pro that he's going to be saved for those sort of downs because at 200 pounds, I just didn't see any with his injury history. I'm not sure he's a guy who's going to be really, really heavily featured. But at Junkins with his size and what he did at Ole Miss just

basically carrying the load for them week in and week out, I think he has more bell count potential. To Jamie's point, it comes down to what a team needs. If there's a team that needs a third down back out there, then Henderson's going to be the guy because I think he can play in that role. He might have to prove it at him that he can handle three downs before he becomes a workhorse. I don't know if saying that like Camaro went along the same path is a fair thing to say, but you think about how Alvin Camaro just like his biggest splash was first made. I feel like it was made as a pass catcher out of the backfield and he just kind of worked his way into being a feature back in New Orleans much faster than anybody thought. Anderson could pull

off the same thing. It's just a matter of getting that opportunity. Yeah. These are the type of guys though that if they go to establish backfields or as a number two guy, we're going to get frustrated a lot. Yeah. I don't know about your one for Henderson because I'll give you two comparisons. Both guys who weighed in at 199 pounds and Henderson 202 pounds, James Cook and Jameer Gibbs. So, I just think James Cook just showed his talent and eventually he's not an every down back. He's not a third down back

now. So he's a first and second down back. He doesn't get the full workhorse role that we like, but he's so good and so efficient and he's on great offense, which helps. And then Gibbs was second fiddle to Montgomery. Then Montgomery got hurt in Gibbs' rookie year and Gibbs kind of took off. So I could see that kind of start for Henderson where maybe he doesn't get that much work as a rookie. But if he was like the number one running back prospect in the nation, he's totally so dynamic. That's the kind of player I want to bank on. So put me on Henderson Island. Okay, there we go. And let's go over to wide receivers. We've talked a lot about running backs, we're not going to get to all of the good ones. And I do see that we have questions in the chat. So

let's talk about McMillan. And is he he is, from what I gather, unless Travis Hunter plays wide receiver, McMillan would be your number one guy, Mike, And what do you think his upside is? Again, I think it's like a high volume, low explosive play sort of wide receiver who's got to produce in the red zone. Like he is so good at the catch point, great ball skills. And I think what separates him from a lot of six foot four wide receivers is his ability to operate in short areas. He can run a whip route.

He can run a comeback real efficiently, can stop on a dime. Most athletes that look like him, they end up on basketball courts. They're not playing wide receiver in the NFL. It's just a body type that is unique. But the NFL level, it matters to have that sort sort of catch radius to have that sort of size. So just a real fluid athlete that I think is just a really high floor guy, but maybe not the highest ceiling guy. He's not again, a downfield threat. He's not explosive type of guy, he

might get more explosive because he is pretty skinny. And I think there is some meat on the bone there from a developmental standpoint physically for him. But just who he is right now, I think he's very much an NFL ready sort of possession number one type of wide receiver, not necessarily like your Malik neighbors or even your Marvin Harrison Jr. that came out last year. And you know, what did you think of Luther Burden's

pretty bad production? I know we had asked you that question earlier about just raw stats,? I know we have that asked you that question earlier about just raw stats. But I know the passing game was pretty awful last year for them in Missouri. So can we just excuse it? It's so tough watching his tape because he is running all these like clear out routes on the slot, you know, running into cover two or cover four safety just seems it's like, no one's

ever gonna throw that route. It's not so much stuff where it's like, man, you look at it and it's just never gonna work out. And a lot of stuff is scheme production. Like if he didn't have the 2023 season though, I probably wouldn't be talking about this highly, but he did. And in 2023, you saw the full skillset. He was a guy I had like in my top five

heading into this year. I thought he was that talented and just didn't get to show it. So a real physically gifted athlete. We ran like four, four, one. He's got that level explosiveness to take the top off of defense, but then also just put the ball in his hands and he can create as well. So it's a skill set. That's like obviously great for fantasy was having that sort of combination.

And I just think that even if he's not a fully powerful route runner, he can run a few routes and still produce. He can run like a slant in his sleep and get open. And this guy at his size, because he's very well-built for a wide receiver, should translate well to the NFL, even if the production numbers, again, don't really reflect it. All right. Let's talk about Luther Burden out of Missouri, slot receiver who went from about 1,200 yards

in 2023 to a little more than 600 yards in 2024. We're gonna take a break, come back and answer some questions from the chat and just talk a little football here with Mike and Dave and Jamie. We'll be right back. All right, let's see. First question will be from Mr. Popinski,

which is a Nintendo reference. I played a little Mega Man 2 yesterday, some Mario 2, which is terrible game. Mike, do you have a favorite old school Nintendo game? Oh, gosh. When did I play? I mean, I was young when I played Super Nintendo. So I never played the original Nintendo.

Oh, how old are you? How old are you? I'm 34. Oh, okay. Donkey Kong. I was Donkey Kong. I loved playing Donkey Kong back in the day. 34.

You know, the mustache makes you look closer to 40, I think, so. It matures me, thank you. And you could use it. Donkey Kong. Super Nintendo had that really good fighting game. I think that came with the system, basically. Like that first, you know, do you remember that game?

It's like, someone will know. Anyway, what do you think about Jalen Milro? Where do you think he lands, and where would you like to see him land? Oof, I'd like to see him land at running back or wide receiver, truthfully. Unfortunately, not so, I just don't, I don't see it. I've never quite seen it.

He had that one half against Georgia, that like maybe you could squint. But I worry, what about the accuracy? Like the small hands thing, there's a reason why every guy who's had sub-9 and chance has just not been an accurate quarterback at the NFL level. It's very difficult to grip a football. The balls are big and they get bigger at the NFL.

So, I worry about that with him and the pocket presence is rough. So, really his best upside, where I'd like to see him land is Lamar Jackson's backup, Jalen Hurts' backup, Jaden Daniels' backup. That's a team that has a run heavy first option at quarterback. Then your backup comes in as Jalen Milro and you can run the same run action stuff. That's his only path to success, in my opinion. I just have not seen it as a passer though, to really get excited about him. So I think he's like maybe sneaks into probably goes off the board somewhere in the third round. But maybe not even maybe falls to day three if he really is stuck on playing QB. Jamie, he's one of the more interesting fantasy prospects

because this guy is is an unbelievable rusher at the quarterback position. Yeah, I mean, just based on Mike's path, you know, could be what happened with Jalen hurts, you know, went in the third round and, you know, eventually got a chance to start and show that he could play. And, you know, hopefully that's the case for Milro if you know, the right system, right players around him. You know, again, this is the type of guy I think will like better than NFL and reality will like, you know, just because of what he'll do with his legs because these type of guys, Anthony

Richardson in some pockets of play and, you know, Justin Fields and what he's shown at times, you know, these these guys are better fantasy quarterbacks than they are reality in real life. But again, yeah, I don't see him starting week one 2025. This is more of a long-term situation or goes to the right team and injury occurs. Next question is from DJ Quill, dropping sick beats. Thoughts on DJ Giddens and Damian Martinez. Giddens out of Kansas State, Martinez out of Miami. Mike, thoughts on those two guys.

I really like Martinez. I mean, Giddens is nice guy, nice running back. I think he's more of like a day three running back. I think Martinez could sneak into day two. Ginn's to me, I worry about him runs a little high. Um, I just worry about that translating to the NFL, but he's a creative runner. He's got good feet for his size. But Damien Martinez is the one where I'm like, he's running back six for me. Um, I think he's a top hundred player on my draft board. And I factor in positional value into that. So that's like, I think he should be a top hundred pick. And then if I'll draft, he's a physical runner.

And for a guy who's big bruiser, like he has some real ability to find a hole and to hit it aggressively. I watch his tape and I'm just like, that's a guy who can run at the NFL level. I just see very much the traits it takes to succeed even if he's not a super explosive player, but I thought it was 40 at the combine. It was a lot better than I expected in the low four, fives there. I thought him more of a four, six guy in tape, but that's a real good time for him. And you know, Dave, it's so interesting because there's starting to be some buzz for Damian

Martinez and Mike, Dave and I are both Miami guys. So we watched every play for Martinez. I never felt that way. I never saw it with him. I never felt like this guy's going to be a good NFL running back. I was actually quite honestly very underwhelmed by Martinez. Now that said, I did not watch any of his Oregon State tapes. So I do want to do that. But his senior year at Miami, I just, I, I don't see it. I don't know. How do you feel about that? I, I think that he's got the power that you want and his speed. I mean, it's a detriment. He's not going to, he's not going to run away from people like Janty will, but he's going to be, um, he's, he's capable of pushing the pile. We'll plug for Mike there. And then also, just being that physical early

downs type. Yes, or you can have them as a specialty. For sure. But do you see him? Do you see him as a special running back on the next level? You see him? Special but I think teams are teams that are looking for that type of physical running back. Obviously, they're going to target, you know, a player like Janty first, but they'll miss on Janty and a few rounds later, they'll go after Martinez.

Pretty good class of physical running backs this year, I'd have to say. That's why he's RB six and, or well RB six for Mike, I should say, but it's not to slight Martinez. This is a really good class. Jaden Higgins question, Nathan Arthur wants to know about Jaden Higgins wide receiver out of Iowa State. Mike, what do you think?

I love Jaden Higgins. I think he's pretty close to that tier. So I have Macmillan, Burden, Iguca Golden, but I think he's close to Iguca Golden in my opinion. I am right behind those guys top. He's going to end up top 40 player for me. Great possession type of wide receiver with a little more speed than I think he gets credit for. I just think he's very polished, very consistent. The type of guy that translates well to the NFL just has a lot of things that you don't have to worry about when projecting to the next level. I don't see necessarily an elite player, but he could be like a Michael Pittman. He could be in that caliber, a wide receiver who in the right spot, if there's no other wide outs, I think he could produce.

Mike Alfredo So imagine Michael Pittman on a different team with a better quarterback. That's an opportunity that could hit Higgins. I thought he looked great at the senior bowl. Uh, when I went back and I watched the film at Iowa state, he looked great there too, he, he's kind of the, the runner up to Ted McMillan, as far as. If you're looking for a big physical type of receiver, good catch radius, good hands, well, this is your guy. If you can't get McMillan, he can, he can deliver in that regard. He's young, he's 22.

And I could see him, like again, once again, pointing to what Jamie said about, you know, where they land, that's what matters. He could end up being very good for fantasy if he just gets an opportunity to immediately be a team's wide receiver too, and maybe develop into a wide receiver one. He's someone to get fairly excited about, just doesn't have the speed. And that's common with guys that are as big as receivers like this. All right, from Casey, is golden better than a buca and or burden?

So these are all wide receivers that you're gonna see in the top five for a lot of people. Is Matthew golden better than a Mecca buca and or Luther burden? Man, they're all different types of wide receivers. I think burdens again, more of the slot gadget scheme production guy. A Bucca is kind of your bigger slot, move them around, reliable, works the middle of the football field guy. whereas Golden's kind of your full route tree runner on the outside. He doesn't have great size to win at the catch point. He doesn't do really anything at an elite level.

But I watched his game and I'm like, he really doesn't do anything at a poor level. There's not a lot of holes to poke into it. So it's kind of a pick or poison between those three. I'm a trend towards burden because I just think it's a little more dynamic the athlete he can be and he's got to get more chances then at the next level because of that. But if you want to order those guys golden Ibuca burden, I'm not going to argue because again, it's they're more eye to beholder. I see them all in a similar sorts here.

All right. And let's do one more question here. No love for a way I got to get my pronunciation guide for Alec. I own a new I own her. No, I own manner. I believe it is something like that. I'm out of Stanford. And also Canadian FYI and medicine at Alberta, Canada. Yes. Six to 206 pounds. Kind of a high ADOT guy.

In fact had a higher ADOT than both Matthew Golden and Tetra Roa McMillan. But Elick Iyominer, I think. Your thoughts on him, Mike. He's really intrigued, man. If there's one guy who comes out of, I think he's firmly like a day two guy man. If there's one guy who comes out of, I think it's for him like a day two guy, but if there's one guy who comes out of this looking like a, you know, like a DK Metcalf or Tierra McLaurin, where it's really just like, oh man, how'd

that guy end up going where he went? I think it could be a Jomenor because he's physically gifted. I mean, he's a guy coming out of where he came from and then had an injury his freshman year at Stanford's. That's why I didn't see the football field to immediately being their number one And then this past year just like quarterback situations the only reason why he didn't put up big big numbers He's explosive and explosive out of his cuts. It's former you grew up a hockey player So it wasn't really a football player, but like you see his ability to really for a guy who's got a big body who's Cut up strong as an ox like no fat on this guy, can run through contact and has some explosiveness to his game.

I just didn't love his ball skills. And I don't think he's like an advanced route runner at this point in time. But as far as like the athlete goes, you're not gonna find a better projectable athlete in this draft class on day two, at the receiver position. He is just, he's unique in that regard. So he's a little up and down on tape. And again, for a bigger body, wider

receiver is kind of interesting that he does not catch as many balls that he should. But again, he's young, raw. I think there's a lot of reason to get excited about what that lottery ticket that he is could turn into. Yeah. I think I Omener had seven drops this past season. So that's been an issue for him. All right, Jamie, we got one more question here. It's from you to Mike. Ask him an NFL question.

Whatever, like a fantasy question about current NFL players, whatever topic you want. Actually, I was gonna ask about the quarterbacks prospects. Who's QB3 for you? I'm gonna ask about the QB3 for me me and this one's a little off the wall. I think this quarterback class I have to like couch it with that because I don't love this quarterback class. So I'm just like search for any guy who I think can like play and start.

So my quarterback three is Dylan Gabriel. I think he can start at the NFL level. I think he'd be like a Brock Purdy at the NFL level. So it's not like high. Again, I have one first round grade, it's Cam Ward. So it's just a guy who I think if you threw him into the fire, he wouldn't look terrible. Whereas the other guys, I'm not sure I can say that about after, you know, top two. Oh, and see, Jamie, I'm because now you pissed me off because he has one guy with a first round grade and yet Mike has Shider Sanders going third to the Giants. And that is the last thing that I want to happen.

And it could very well happen. But I just I do not get it. I don't understand these NFL teams have got to see what you see. Shider Sanders should not be the third pick in the draft, you know? Blind demand. Guys. Exactly. Yeah, supply and demand guys. Exactly. Yeah, I don't know. But does that factor in when you're doing these mock drafts? You just look like, oh, the Giants need a quarterback, they're gonna take the second

best quarterback. But a lot of people just don't think he deserves to be drafted and that high. Yeah, I mean, some, some of what I've heard too, about the Giants and him for people. But also, yeah, I mean, it's also just like supply and demand. Now I thought a quarterback would ultimately go higher than they did in 2022, just because of that reason. So maybe the NFL does learn the lesson in the past. And especially in this class where, you know, from Sanders to Dart to, you know, McCord and Shuck, it's like, it might not be

the biggest thing, biggest difference between those guys. Like if you can get one of those in the third, why take one at three overall? But you know, I think the Giants are in a weird spot with ownership and how they looked last off season. And I think they're gonna wanna really make a player. Yeah. For Cam Ward, please. All right, Mike, thank you so much.

Appreciate your time. And again, everybody, please listen to the pushing the pile Podcast it's really terrific great insight And of course, please join our bracket challenge CBS sports comm slash FFT. You've got one day You got honest about right about 24 hours left to join this bracket challenge CBS sports comm slash Just call it the Gator Invitational and get it over with the Gator bracket challenge, CBS sports.com slash just call it the Gator Invitational and get it over with the Gator Invitational. I was people to sign up.

I was listening to to Gary Parrish and Matt Norland are talking about. I was listening to the college basketball podcast. Auburn has lost three of their last four games. No team has ever won the national championship when losing three of their last four games going in. And the Gators are legitimately really good, but I'm not going to pick them. I'm going to pick Duke. So just so everybody knows, I'm picking Duke. I'm surprised you're not picking Florida. That's shocking. Yeah, I guess they have somewhat of a tough road. I'm gonna I

think I'm gonna pick them to lose in the round of 32. I'm not gonna take them in the sweet 16. Busting brackets. There you go. I feel a little biased. Thanks for watching and listening everybody. We will talk to you tomorrow with a mock draft review on Fantasy Football. Paramount Podcasts.