Fantasy Football Today - The Best Running Backs in the NFL Draft (04/21 Fantasy Football Podcast)

Starting point is 00:00:00 What does possible sound like for your business? It's having the spend to power your scale with no preset spending limit. Redefine possible with Business Platinum. That's the powerful backing of American Express. Terms and conditions apply. Visit amex.ca slash business platinum. Isaiah Spiller, Brees Hall, Ken Walker, and more running backs to talk about right now with our draft analyst Josh Edwards on Fantasy Football Today in 5.

Starting point is 00:00:27 What's going on, everybody? Welcome to the show. If you haven't heard Josh Edwards on the show before, you can follow him on Twitter at EdwardsCBS. He has taken that from all other potential Edwards that would work at this company. Josh, welcome. Thank you for being here. Tell us about maybe your two favorite running backs. If you were an NFL GM, who would be the top two on your draft board? My top two would be Michigan State's Ken Walker III, as well as Brees Hall from Iowa State. I think when you look at these two

Starting point is 00:00:55 guys, Walker is actually a little bit like what we saw from Javante Williams last year, who was my top rated running back coming out. Not quite as good in pass protection, so he may not be on the field as much in third-down situations, but a guy I really like in this draft class. And then Brees Hall, you just got to love his size and speed combination. Is Walker, you mentioned the pass protection, is he just a two-down guy? Is he Damian Harris, basically, we can expect?

Starting point is 00:01:25 He had 19 catches in three college seasons. Can we just expect maybe one a game? I think initially that's probably the safe bet. I think that's probably the best way to go from a fantasy perspective. Now, people out of Michigan State think that he can catch the football. So that's something that he might be able to show more of at the next level. And obviously, if he's able to do that, he's a three down running back all day. And obviously, he's going to carry a lot more value. Okay, what do you like about Brees Hall out of Iowa State? You mentioned the size and speed is 5'11", 217. That was what he what he was at the combine,

Starting point is 00:01:55 and he ran a 4'3", 9". Kenneth Walker also ran a 4'3", 8". But yeah, tell us about Brees Hall. Well, he's a guy that's, you know, in today's NFL, you're looking for those 5'11", 220-pound running backs that can bounce it outside or run between the tackles. And that's exactly who he is. He's got a little bit of ankle flexion. He can take the distance once you get in his face. And he can bounce it from gap to gap. So, I mean, he's got everything that you look for in the position. He's got a little bit more pass catching prowess as well than maybe some of his peers in this class. Do these guys feel like first rounders to you? Well, that's a matter of value versus talent. From a talent perspective, I think I have Kenneth Walker in the first round right now. But both of those guys, because of the way that the running back position is treated

Starting point is 00:02:46 right now, it wouldn't surprise me if they go top of the second round, maybe even middle of the second round as we get into Friday of the draft. All right, so let's go a little bit deeper now at the position. Give me the next few guys you have after Ken Walker and Brees Hall. So when you're looking for that size element, that 5'11", 6'2", you're looking at Isaiah Spiller from Texas A&M. You're looking at Florida's Damian Pierce. A lot of people like Alabama's Brian Robertson II. A little bit taller at the position, he's 6'2". Jerome Ford from Cincinnati. Those are some of the guys that probably meet the threshold of having that size

Starting point is 00:03:24 that you would look for in an every down back. And then a guy that I really like is Jay Sean Corbin from Florida State. I think he's been underrated throughout this entire process. A guy that has shown the ability to stay in and pass protect. He can go out and catch passes. He's got a lot of between the tackles ability, but he can also burst it outside and take it the distance. So a really well-rounded player that I've come to like in this draft class. But I think in terms of who's next off the board after you get beyond Walker and Hall, you're probably looking at Damian Pierce from Florida or Isaiah Spiller from Texas A&M. Spiller with the 4-6-3-40 time that he ran at his pro day. What do you make of that? It's a red flag.

Starting point is 00:04:08 It is a red flag. And that's honestly why he's kind of fallen a little bit in the process. When this all started, there were a lot of people that had him in first round projections, top 50 overall rankings. I don't know if I was ever that high on him, but that 4-6-3 is evident on tape. He doesn't show the kind of burst that you would be hoping from the running back position, but a guy that's got some three-down capabilities, I can understand why he would be intriguing to some teams as you get later in the day, too. I don't think we've heard too much about Damian Pierce out of Florida. What's your read on him?

Starting point is 00:04:43 That's a byproduct of his usage at Florida. What's your read on him? Well, that's a byproduct of his usage at Florida. I'm kind of wondering if the Florida coaches were aware of Damian Pierce because this is a guy that was lightly used but has shown all of the traits that you look for in an NFL running back. He can catch passes out of the backfield. He's got a tenacious spirit in the way that he attacks blocks and the way that he attacks would-be tacklers. He's got some burst to his game. So I think because of how lightly used he was at Florida, he's even more valuable to NFL teams because he's got less wear on the tires as he comes into the league. All right, Josh Edwards, thank you very much. He's going to join us tomorrow to talk about wide receivers. Follow

Starting point is 00:05:21 him again at EdwardsCBS. I'm Adam Azer. We'll talk to you tomorrow with some of our favorite wide receiver prospects, and they will be going in the first round of the NFL Draft. We'll talk to you then.

Fantasy Football Today - The Best Running Backs in the NFL Draft (04/21 Fantasy Football Podcast)

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