Fantasy Football Today - Top 10 Fantasy RB Rankings according to former pro RB including a Saquon Barkley surprise | FFT on CBSSN

Episode Date: August 6, 2024

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and your loved ones financially, giving you the peace of mind to focus on what truly matters. Find their products through banks, credit unions, and associations, or visit SecurianCanada.ca. Securian Canada, insurance designed for life. Hey, what's up, everyone? Welcome to Fantasy Football Today here on CBS Sports Network. I am Adam Azer.

I'm pretty excited. Preseason games are starting this week. I'm always excited to talk to Jamie Isenberg. But, Jamie, you're getting upstaged today. We got an NFL running back, a former NFL running back here, Robert Turbin, joining us. I'm sorry, Jamie. And I tell you what, man, Robert told me before the show, he played in four leagues last

year. He went to the championship in three of them. Why don't you have that kind of success? You know, I don't have the same knowledge of the league that Robert does, which is why we have him on the show, right? To make us all better and to make our audience better. So we appreciate you being here, Robert. And maybe Adam would shut up and let you talk. Well, thanks for having me.

Now, I do have some knowledge of the league, so I appreciate that, but I wouldn't necessarily call myself a fantasy savant or anything of that nature. It was my first year participating in fantasy, four leagues, like Adam mentioned, three championships. All I'm trying to do this season is prove that that wasn't just beginner's luck. Okay. No sophomore slumps. All right. all I'm trying to do this season is prove that that wasn't just beginner's luck, okay? No sophomore slumps, all right? So I'm going to be leaning on you guys as fantasy veterans, per se, all right, to someone give me some advice too. Well, Robert, you're in luck because Adam's never finished last in his league,

so he's very proud of that. What a background. Yeah, man, look at that. I got a draft board behind me. I didn't know if I was talking to Adam or John Snyder for a second. General manager of the Seahawks. Yeah, we're all general managers

this time of year. We're all getting ready for our drafts. And we've got some big topics to talk about today. And we'll start with the Carolina Panthers and rookie running back Jonathan Brooks. So he's not going to play in the preseason they're hoping to get him back maybe around week three or four I'm going to give you a buyer sell for each of these and you know what we'll get some good insight from Robert too because he knows what it's like to come off a torn ACL but um Jonathan Brooks tore his ACL he had surgery in November Jamie buy or sell we should draft both Steelers

and both Bengals running backs before Jonathan Brooks. I'm going to sell, but I'm going to sell that slightly just because I like Zach Moss slightly behind these other guys. But, you know, look, with the Titans running backs, you're getting the situation of, we don't know who's going to be the number one guy. Last year with the Steelers running backs, we saw the situation where they both sort of cannibalized each other,

but were both productive enough that you could start them. And then in the case of the Bengals situation, Chase Brown, for me, is somebody that's moving quickly up my rankings and Zach Moss falling a little bit behind. But Brooks is sort of a tough one to figure out at this point, because not only is he coming off a significant injury that happened last November at Texas, he's also a rookie in a new system. And he's got some guys on his roster that are decent players. They're not the star caliber guys that Jonathan Brooks can be, but Chuba Hubbard and Miles Sanders are going to have their roles and certainly be productive in Dave Canales' offense. So I think if you just take the right approach with Brooks and you understand that if he can be a league winner for you second half of the season, you'll be pretty thrilled about that. If you're taking him to be a contributor for you right away, obviously you're going to be frustrated. Robert, what is a rookie running back? Obviously he's got age on his side,

but coming off a torn ACL, he'll be less than a year removed from the surgery if he gets back in the first month of the season or even the first two months. What are the challenges and what do you think we can expect from Brooks? The biggest challenge is confidence, believing that you can be the same player, if not better than you were before, that you can be the same player if not better

than you were before that you can make the same movements the same sharp cuts to be able to be explosive the same way that you were before I tore my ACL in college now I could have came back in eight months this was 2010 I tore my ACL and I you know I could have came back this was January of 2010 so I could have came back. This was January of 2010. So I could have came back for that season, decided to opt out, take a red shirt just so I could be sure about myself. So that's the biggest challenge when coming back from an ACL or any injury of that caliber, being sure about yourself when you get back onto the field. But I am going to buy your question. I would take both running backs with the Bengals.

I take both running backs for the Steelers. My philosophy as a fantasy GM, I want short players, meaning that I want players that I know are going to be on the field and performing. We don't necessarily know that with Jonathan Brooks. Once he comes back, he'll be sprinkled in, perhaps in the beginning, but there's no guarantee the second half of the season he'll really spring along and become the number one guy especially when you got guys like Trouba Hubbard and a really really hungry Miles Sanders determined to come back this season and prove some guys wrong so I'm going to buy that all right let's go to our

next big topic here it's about Justin Herbert So he has a plantar fascia injury. He'll be in a walking boot for a couple of weeks. Hopefully we won't have any issues with Herbert being ready for week one. But Jamie, I want to talk about his wide receivers. I looked at some average draft position just from over the weekend in high stakes leagues. I saw Ladd McConkie as wide receiver 40.

I think he was going around 82nd overall. Josh Palmer, wide receiver 56. Buy or sell this, Jamie. Ladd McConkie should still be a top 90 pick in fantasy drafts. I'll buy it, but he's, you know, creeping closer to 100 than he is, you know, getting closer to,

you know, the mid 80s to the, you know, 80 spot. You got two things at play here. You got Herbert and his injury. And so something happens to him. Do you really want to trust the wide receivers of Easton stick? I don't. The other thing is we got the report from one of the chargers beat writers,

almost at the Padres chargers beat writers that suggested that Palmer is actually the number one receiver there and not McConkie. And so with Quinn Johnson, hopefully bouncing back and playing at a higher level and DJ chart being part of this receiving core, and we know that they want to run the ball to invest heavily in McConkie, might be a mistake. Now I was drafting him ahead of guys like Deontay Johnson

and even Christian Watson, which was a little bit concerning for me because I do have the upside of Watson. He's now behind those guys. So he's a faller for me, not just the injury for Herbert, but also the situation of him not being the number one guy there. Yeah, Robert, I'm sure you would. Oh, go ahead. Go ahead.

Go ahead. But I was going to say, I'm sure you. You would have loved to have played for Greg Roman. What do you expect from the Chargers offense this year? Well, they're going to be run heavy, like Jamie mentioned. They're going to run a football first playoff play action, try to open up some things in the back end for their wide receivers, especially because they don't have a sure number one guy or an all pro guy,

at least yet. Ladd McConkie can surely turn into that at some point in his career. And that's why I'm going to sell the question that you're asking about Ladd, you know, being a top 90 pick I think he's just right outside 90 maybe 95 or a little bit lower just because of the unsurety of Justin Herbert that injury that fascia injury those can really linger and be impactful for players and their effectiveness on the field and there's a multitude of wide receivers around the league teams that have multitude of wide receivers around the league, teams that have trio of wide receivers that you can choose from.

Seattle's a good example of that. And Miami's a good example of that. And others that I think you can choose ahead of Ladd and have some surety in your roster and maybe take Ladd-McConkie a little bit later as a backup player. I'm going to go to Robert first on this next one here, as I know you follow the Seahawks closely. And Gino Smith had a little injury scare last week. Seems to be that he's perfectly fine. He also says he's going to run a little bit more now.

So I'll go to Robert first, then Jamie, you can jump in. Buy or sell on this one. The Seahawks offense is going to be great this season, Robert. I'm going to buy this. I'm going to buy this. And particularly because of the veteran experience that the Seahawks have on their roster on offense. Now, you take into account the newness that the Seahawks have. Mike McDonough obviously being the new head coach. Ryan Grubb coming in as the new offensive coordinator. But because of the chemistry and the continuity that's already been developed on the guys

that you see on the screen, Jackson Smith and Jigba would be included in this. I think the Seahawks offense is going to elevate because of how well these guys know each other. Let's not forget the trio of wide receivers last season, Lockett DK Metcalf Jackson Smith and Jigba were the only trio of wide receivers with at least 600 yards receiving 60 catches and four touchdowns within the each of them so I think that they'll take a step forward together this season under Ryan Grubb I gotta tell you Adam if Robert was going to sell that then we would have really had to hit the panic button because not only is he right but he's also obviously got a little bit of bias there with his former team. But I think when you look at what the upside is, is, you know,

Robert nailed it. You know, this, this offense is going to have more plays. They're going to play faster. You know, Ryan Grubb is going to bring an offense that's going to allow them to be, I think a little bit more modern. And so Metcalf is one of my favorite targets. You know, he continues to move up my rankings. The curious thing for me and maybe robert addresses is the running back situation because i think we're all excited about jsn in the second year maybe lockett you know more of a late round pick just because he's getting older

but is going to be the focal point of the backfield or we're gonna see more zach charbonne so robert i'm curious your take on those two guys because they're very interesting and obviously a little polarizing for fantasy managers window by end of Walker and at what point do you think that you're taking Zach Sharman Walker is going to be the starter no doubt about it he'll get majority of the opportunities uh but it'll be a share you know these guys are going to be a true one two combo in the backfield but when they need a big play um they're going to lean on Kenneth Walker to third uh he'll be the guy that'll shoulder most of the run game for the Seahawks. I got one more topic for you guys. I'm going to go

to Robert again. I like when he leads off and Jamie, you can jump in one more time. So DeAndre Hopkins, good news. He's going to avoid surgery and they're hopeful that he'll be ready for week one. He might be back in about four weeks, which should give him time to get ready for the season opener. Robert, buy or sell, Calvin Ridley is clearly the better fantasy option at wide receiver for the Titans. I'm going to sell this. I'm going to sell this big time.

Will Levis and DeAndre Hopkins really developed a nice chemistry amongst one another towards the end of the season last year. It's continued during camp, and I think it'll continue during this regular season. Calvin Ridley, although a very talented player, you just don't know what you're going to get from him week to week, especially as a fantasy manager. I had Calvin Ridley on a multitude of rosters. I remember I had four teams. I had him on at least two rosters, maybe even three last season. And, I mean, he'd have one great game every three or four weeks. When you thought because he was going to be a featured player in Jacksonville,

you know, he would be more productive. Well, he wasn't. And so perhaps he fits better as a quote- quote unquote number two wide receiver on a particular team. But I want dependability on my fantasy roster. And the guy that I know that I'm going to be able to depend on when healthy is the Andre Hopkins. So I'm going to sell that. Yeah, I'm going to disagree with Robert just slightly on this one because i think i think really is you know you know robert talked about this in regards to brooks you know you don't know necessarily when this knee injury is going to pop up again you know so uh the best ability is availability and

hopkins at his age if he misses any time really is developing that rapport right now with levis and so they were close for me before the injury now you have the injury situation that you got to be concerned about for an older receiver so i do think Ridley is the best option here for the Titans, but Hopkins, I think the fun thing for fantasy managers is if you are in the camp that he's going to still have productive season, which I am, and it sounds like Robert is as well, then you're getting a discount now because of the injury. So you don't have to pay a premium price to get them.

You really weren't in the first place anyway, but now he's going to fall to around wide receiver 40, maybe 45, maybe even wide receiver 50. And you're talking about closer to the double digit rounds for a guy that could still be close to a thousand yard receiver, if not over that. So love the setup for Will Levis, love the setup for Ridley a little bit more now. And Hopkins, I think is going to still have a very productive season, especially at a discounted price. All right. We're going to take a break here on fantasy football today. When we come back, we'll look at Robert Turbin's top 10 fantasy

running backs for 2024. And there is a big surprise at number two stick around and we'll take a look did you know that across ontario utility damage happens 19 times a day? That's over 4,222 incidents a year. Don't let your next dig be one that causes costly delays or safety risks. Before you break ground, make it a point to request a locate. It's not just the law. It's a step to keep your team and community safe. Visit OntarioOneCall.ca and avoid unnecessary damages

to get the job done right. Data sourced from the ORCGA 2023 Dirt Report. Welcome back, everybody, to Fantasy Football Today presented by BetMGM, Adam, Jamie, and Robert Turbin here. So who are the top 10 running backs in fantasy? Well, Christian McCaffrey is number one, but who's number two? Let's see what Robert Turbin has to say.

So we're going to throw up this list here. I'm going to throw it over to Jamie, and Jamie, you get to tell a former NFL running back why he's wrong with his running back. I would never do that, but you're wrong. Saquon Barkley is clearly the one that stands out, and I'm excited about him going to Philadelphia. I'm excited about the offensive line upgrade, the quarterback upgrade,

everything that comes along with the Eagles by comparison to the Giants. I'm just a little bit concerned at his age. Changing teams at his age has never been a good thing. And I got to say, just like our buddy Pete Prisco, you're a little bit too low on Brees Hall. I think he should actually be in the two spot. If I would just say seven, I would like that probably a little bit more, even though I do like Barkley better than Travis Etienne.

But for the most part, though, you got the top ten guys, right? I would just have Barkley a little bit lower and Brees Hall a little bit higher. You know, that's a good argument jamie and and i and you know i knew there were going to be some question marks about this top 10 first of all saquon is not that old i mean he's younger than christian mccaffrey okay and that's why i have him at number two i just if you look at the eagles offense last season what were they missing kind of that third playmaker, right? A.J. Brown, Devontae Smith.

And you say, well, that's a crowded offense. We could say the same thing about Christian McCaffrey, Debo Samuel, right? Brandon Ayuk, okay? George Kittle. Very similar type offense for the Eagles and Saquon Barkley. I think he'll be utilized a lot more in the passing game specifically, along with the run game, of course. And we'll see some of the things

that we saw in the early days when he was a New York Giant, right? So that's why I have him at number two. It's mostly based on potential as opposed to the production that we've seen in the last couple of years. Now for Brees Hall, Brees Hall got 95 targets last season 95 as a running back okay that's a lot okay and that's because he had Zach

Wilson and others throwing him the football who had the inability to drive the ball down the field on a more consistent basis. Okay? That's not going to happen with a healthy Aaron Rodgers. Brees Hall is certainly going to be a staple in his offense. There's no doubt about that. He's going to get his carries, and he's certainly going to get his targets and his catches. But it won't be 95.

So what I'm saying is I think there will be a decline as it pertains to PPR in Brees Hall's performance and fantasy this year due to Aaron Rodgers being healthy and how he plays the game as far as driving the ball down the field. Yeah, Robert, I totally agree. I'm sorry, I just want to jump in real quick on brisa i totally agree that the target is going to come down the thing that i like about hall situation is there's more scoring potential with aaron rogers by comparison to zach wilson and the quarterbacks that they had

last year and the offensive line upgrades i think will significantly help him as a rusher as opposed to what we saw last year so yes we're probably talking about a 70 catch season to a 50 catch season which is still fantastic which is why i'm sure you have him at seven. I just think that we're going to see maybe a 2,000-total-yard campaign for Brees Hall, which is why I like him at number two behind McCaffrey. a stat that you'll probably like. Saquon Barkley had six carries inside the five yard line last year. That was all six for the New York giants. They had six carries as a team inside the five yard line. The Eagles had 30. So I know people freak out and they say, Oh,

Jalen hurts going to run the ball in so many times where the touchdown is going to come from. And you can still get double digit touchdowns. And we saw it from mile Sanders next to Jalen hurts. So it can happen, but you know, you talk about him kind of regaining that old form. I think as a rookie, he had seven carries of 40 or more yards,

something like that. And since then, in his next five seasons, he's had six. And I just wonder at this point, how much of that is the Giants offensive line is bad? And how much of that is Saquon Barkley is just not the player he used to be? Well, I think it's a combination. Well, I don't think it's a combination of both because obviously the injuries can be impactful for a player but when he's healthy we see Saquon Barkley still be explosive I think it's more of a microcosm of the Giants not being a very good football team particularly on offense now he's going into

a system in Philadelphia where he doesn't even have to be the main guy. He doesn't even have to be the second best guy in order for the Eagles to be prolific offensively. Do you know how many mismatches Saquon Barkley is going to be able to create because of his ability to catch the football out of the backfield you got a key on A.J. Brown you got a key on Devontae Smith Dallas Goddard is good at tight in so you mean to tell me Saquon Barkley is going to be one-on-one with linebackers and down safeties players like Jamal Adams I'm taking Saquon Barkley all day long and he's playing in a better excuse me, behind a better offensive line overall

what was the New York Giants struggle? They couldn't block for their quarterback and they certainly couldn't block for their running backs either Saquon Barkley's not going to have to deal with that in Philly Yeah, he's going to score 50 points in week 7 at the Giants by the way

We should talk about Devon Achan, Jamie, because that's a guy Yeah, he's going to score 50 points in week seven at the Giants, by the way. We should talk about Devon Achan, Jamie, because that's a guy. Most of the top 10, like you said, was pretty much the same 10 guys that you have, but I don't think you have Achan in your top 10. Correct me if I'm wrong here. So, Jamie, you can start your thoughts on Devon Achan. Yeah, Adam, you know, I don't believe I saw Isaiah Pacheco on Robert's list or even Derrick Henry which is you know I think surprised to a lot of people uh but you know when you look at upside this guy has as much as anybody you know when you start to look at profiles and Adam I know

you agree with this I'm sure Robert does as well if there was no Raheem Oster on the Dolphins forget about Jalen Wright but no Raheem Oster who you know led the NFL with 18 rushing touchdowns last year we're probably talking about Devon Achan as a top three running back. And if something happens to Mostert, who's 32 years old, there's that potential. Last year, a lot of Achan's production came in, you know, blowout situations. Some of that he was a part of. Some of that, obviously, he benefited from. So can he take this next step as being more of a focal point in this Dolphins offense

and being used more as a receiver, which is what you're hearing. And I like the fact that he's bulked up a little bit. So, you know, hopefully that additional muscle will add to the speed and just make him a little bit more complete player. But he's got to stay healthy. He's got to prove that he deserves more playing time. And again, not just in blowout situations, but if this guy hits to his potential,

he has the ability to break fantasy, which is what we love. So I don't have any problem with the aggressive ranking of hn and i don't have anybody any problem with anybody that takes him in the early part of round three it's the late part of round two you know so we're talking five six picks but i think there are just better options a little safer options just as much upside in that round two range so hopefully uh you know hn just lives up to the potential because there's so much of it for him the ceiling is just know, you can't even see it here based on how good he can be. Yeah, that's the key, Jamie.

They're safer picks and I'm a safe guy as a fantasy manager. That's how I draft. But if you draft Devon A. Chan high as a fantasy manager, can't be mad at that. You talked about Raheem Mostert. Historically, he's had health issues. I mean, he's had health issues. I mean, he missed time last season. He's missed time as a starting back for the 49ers. So taking Devon A. Chan, I think is actually taking him high, I think is actually wise for a lot of fantasy

managers because you know at some point, Raheem Mostert is going to probably miss some time, and Devon A. Chan is going to step in and be the type of back that he was last season when he stepped in, and hopefully even better. Now, you have to be aware of Jalen Wright, getting some playing time as well. We'll see how that unfolds. But Devon A. Chan, a good pick for any fantasy manager. Just going to finish with one quick question. Your top 10, McCaffrey, Barkley, Ejion Robinson, Gibbs, Taylor, ETN, Brees Hall, A. Chan, Kyron Williams, James Cook.

If there's one guy in those 10 that you're worried about just being a huge bust, oh, this guy could really let me down, ruin my fantasy season, who would it be? I think it's James Cook at 10. I think it's James Cook at 10. Now, he had an extraordinary back half of the season last year. Maybe extraordinary is too strong of a word, all right? But he's also had ball handling issues.

He's also had inconsistencies carrying the football. He's also had inconsistencies running the football as far as his vision and things of that nature. And there are some other guys on that roster. I'm huge on Ray Davis, Frank Gore Jr. and undrafted guys, even someone who may be able to step forward, all right, early in his career, that may take some carries away from James Cook or some opportunities overall away from James Cook. So he would be the guy that I'm most concerned about on this top 10 list. I certainly see the concerns. I also understand why you got him in the top 10.

I mean, you know, you mentioned it. It took off at the end of last season. Joe Brady takes over as the offense coordinator. We saw his numbers pop in the passing game. We certainly saw the way that they changed their offense a little bit. Josh Allen's attempts coming down. James Cook's numbers coming up. I don't think you, you know, you mentioned Ray Davis.

That's not the type of guy I think that should scare people away from James Cook. He certainly could have an impact. And we saw last year the two other running backs score five rushing touchdowns latavius murray and damian harris combining for five so cook's got to do a better job finding the ends with only two rushing touchdowns last year but if he can get to that 10 total touchdown range i think we're talking about a guy that could be north of 1500 total yards and i really love the opportunity in the passing game over 200 plus targets missing was stefan diggs and gabe davis gone. And so Josh Allen throwing the ball to James Cook could be a huge factor.

So for PPR managers, he's going to be a pretty special talent. All right, we're going to take a break here on Fantasy Football today. Up next, which players are getting training camp buzz? Will Levis is one of those guys, for example. Should we be moving them up our draft boards? We'll tell you after this. Welcome back to fantasy football today, presented by bet MGM training camp., you know, finally we can start talking about preseason risers soon. But training camp has been very kind to guys like Will Levis, Rashad Bateman, Malik Neighbors.

Man, we talk about Malik Neighbors all the time. So let's, how about we take a look at a list of players who are getting some good buzz, getting the right kinds of headlines during training camp. Are they moving up draft boards? We'll find out. So Levis is one of those guys i mentioned jamie also jalen hurts i know like dave made him qb1 but levis obviously very encouraging stuff malik neighbors is on there rico dowdle when you look at some of these guys who are getting buzz in the preseason who of them have made substantial moves up your draft boards jamie well you know kudos to you following the the NFL draft for how high you were on the league neighbors, Adam.

And, you know, just watching every highlight reel, you know, it's it's hard not to get excited about him. And so he's gone from a guy that was a wide receiver three for me to a top 20 option. And just looking at the potential here, we talked about this on our fantasy football today podcast. Make sure you find our podcast available that he's got the potential to be 140 target guy. And so if he's getting 140 plus targets in this offense, while a lot of them may be uncatchable,

thanks to Daniel Jones or potentially drew lock, that volume is going to lead to some great production because we see what he's able to do. And by all accounts so far, he's beating up on the lions cornerbacks and their joint practice, which started today as well. So it's not just beating up on a terrible secondary that the Giants have. So love the upside of neighbors.

And again, you know, moved him from, you know, right around wide receiver 30 to wide receiver 19 and could continue to move him up even more. He's just got that much upside. And I'm very excited when I draft him in a lot of my drafts so far. You know, a guy for me that has moved up my draft board just slightly, not a lot, because it feels like there's been some inconsistencies in camp for him.

But it's Jamison Williams for the Detroit Lions. This is really important for Detroit because, you know, who's going to be the second guy to Amon Ra St. Brown? And Jamison Williams got a lot of hype going into training camp. All right, he's getting some hype now that training camp is going along. But you're also hearing him, you know, dropping the football and things of that nature. And that's what we saw from him a little bit last season. So it's the consistency aspect of it that has me a little bit concerned still.

But he is creeping up my draft board as a guy that could potentially, you know, come off the bench. If there's an injury, I'm confident that he could be a wide receiver two or three. As far as my fantasy lineup is concerned as we go along to the season, but I'm going to be paying attention closely to Jameson Williams, especially as the preseason unfolds. I want to get both of your takes on Devante Smith.

Cause he is apparently just having a tremendous training camp. I don't know if the Eagles defense came to training camp or if they're having their own private session because Jalen Hurts, Will Shipley, Devontae Smith, like everyone looks great. But, you know, I remember this time last year, it was Brandon Ayuk, right? Everybody was talking about Brandon Ayuk.

Everybody in the Niners was talking about Brandon Iyuk. And you looked at it and you go, hey, I don't know. They got McCaffrey. They got Debo. They got Kittle. How can Iyuk really break out? Well, I'm wondering if Devontae Smith is going to take that leap and if that just means a better season from Jalen Hurts because he had a much better passing season in 2022 than

he did in 2023. But Jamie, I'll throw it to you first because Devontae Smith, I mean, I feel like his ceiling is kind of capped unless Goddard or A.J. Brown gets hurt. But perhaps we need to rethink that. Maybe he can just have that special season. He absolutely can, Adam. You know, and last year was frustrating because he did take a step back.

I think a lot of people thought, OK, 2022, he benefited when Goddard missed that stretch of games with his forearm injury. Then we saw last year he struggled a little bit bit then took off again once goddard was injured so you not only have to hope that he can take that step forward which it sounds like that's going to be the case remember we had the conversation a lot this offseason who benefits the most in kellen moore's system and we thought okay aj brown is still the alpha no doubt about

it he's going to get a boost no matter what but maybe davante smith's natural boost that comes in just a more pass-friendly system is just going to help an elite talent get that much better now you said maybe he's not going to produce a level that we want to see from those megastars barring an injury to aj brown or dallas goddard but out there as well and so should any of those guys miss time and again it's been goddard the last two years then you have a top 10 receiver on your hands so i feel like i haven't ranked too low and he's just, he's inside the top 24, obviously just outside the top 20. And so it's a matter of a numbers press. There's so many great wide receivers. So when you draft, you don't necessarily have to prioritize running backs.

Sorry, Robert, I know you like that position, but you don't have to prioritize running backs. You take these elite wide receivers and then you sort of backfill your running backs. Why we talk about hero RB or zero RB, get players of davante smith's caliber on your team they may be ranked as wide receiver 21 22 23 but they can still be a top 36 overall pick he's got the potential to be one of these game wreckers especially again if somebody in front of him gets hurt davante smith is going to be an absolute steal for fantasy managers who draft him in this year's draft. Absolutely. Let's not forget.

Okay. And this is nothing against Brian Johnson, who was the office of coordinator last season for the Philadelphia Eagles, but they've got killing more. Okay. As their office of coordinator now, all right, who's changed the dynamic of this offense and really just gotten back to

the basics, which is exactly what this team has needed. You're going to see Jalen Hurts under center a lot more. They're going to utilize their play action a lot more, especially because they've got Saquon Barkley now. And what is that going to do? That's going to open things up for Devontae Smith. And let's just talk about Devontae Smith for a second about, you know, who he is as a player. When there was distress between, you know, Jalen Hurts, A.J. Brown, this offense last season, you know who the one constant guy was that was available that was going to be there? That's Devontae Smith. And again, I'll reiterate, when I draft my team, it's all about dependability for me.

Devontae Smith is certainly a guy that you can depend on week in and week out. I think Kellen Moore is going to put him in a position to be very successful. And that is why you're hearing the buzz that you're hearing about him this offseason so far. I think he's going to have a career year this upcoming season. Real quick follow-up for both of you guys. Would you rather have Devontae Smith or George Pickens? Devontae Smith. Yeah, I lean

Pickens on that one. I lean Pickens on that one just because if he hits, he's going to be an absolute star. Smith, I think, would need an injury to one of the other two guys to get to where Pickens can potentially get to this year, but they're both in the same range. Yeah. Robert,

I want to hear, I want to hear why you're so passionate about this. Of course it's Devante Smith, right? Oh man. I think George just has a lot more to prove still as a young football player in this league. You know,

earlier I talked about Calvin really, who's more of a veteran, but I talked about him being on, who's more of a veteran, but I talked about him being on my team as a fantasy manager, the inconsistencies that I would get from him week to week as far as point production. George Pickens falls into that same category for me. Is he really ready to be a number one wide receiver? Because it's hard, man. You're going to see double coverages. You're going to see brackets. I mean, you're going to see

all type of different looks from teams. This is why I think the Steelers need to be as aggressive as heck to try to get Brandon Ayuk or another veteran wide receiver to come in to supplement George Pickens. Because him by himself, he's a talented wide receiver, but he hasn't taken that

step yet. Maybe it'll be this season. Maybe Russell Wilson helps that. Maybe Justin Fields helps that. But right now, I know exactly what I'm going to get from Devontae Smith and the trajectory that he's on as far as his full potential as a player in this league. Love the passion. I love it. All right, listen, we are going to have to rely a little bit on older running backs this year. Christian McCaffrey is the number one overall player. Derek Henry, Alvin Kamara, James Conner, Aaron Jones. Man, Raheem Mostert could be on this list as well.

How much of these guys have left in the tank? We'll talk about that when we come back on Fantasy Football today. We are back here on Fantasy Football Today presented by BetMGM. I wish I were 28, 29. You could call me old if I were 28, 29. I wouldn't care at all. Now I really look old. Got gray hair.

Apparently someone told me I have gray eyebrows yesterday. That was a shock to me. So to sit here and call these 28, 29-year-old running backs old, it's a little uncomfortable, I guess. But here we go. So let's talk about each guy. And, Jamie, you tell me where you draft them and what you think. And, Robert, you can follow up.

Christian McCaffrey, he is 28 years old, coming off a season with more than 400 touches. Jamie, is he number one overall? He is. And there are some concerns. You mentioned the workload and the age. And, you know, this is typically the time we start to see these guys start to break down. But you hope that, you know, McCaffrey, the way that he's adjusted to his previous injury problems, his injury woes,

he's sort of come through that and come through that clearly with flying colors that he can continue to build off that. I own the only thing that would make me scared of McCaffrey. Number one, overall at this point, honestly will be a Trent Williams holdout into the season. Cause if he doesn't have Williams, that makes me nervous. The age, the workload is a concern,

but not enough to scare me from number one overall. Yeah. With Trent Williams there, that left side is almost guaranteed when you give Christian McCaffrey to football as pertains to short yardage situations and just a positive gain overall. But there's no doubt about it. One thousand percent. Christian McCaffrey is the number one overall pick. And the 49ers have mentioned lightening the load for Christian McCaffrey, leaning on some of those other running backs a lot more, especially early on in the season, all right, to keep Christian McCaffrey not only healthy but upright

so that he's at his full strength come those really important games the second half of the season and obviously the playoffs. So Christian McCaffrey, no doubt about it, number one overall. All right, Derrick Henry, I'm just going to say, I will not have a lot of Derek Henry on my teams. I think this guy's going way too early. He's 30 years old. He doesn't catch passes. He has more than 2000 carries in his career. He's clearly not as good as it used to be. Maybe he can turn back the clock, but this is great. This guy's 30 and he's got all this work behind him. Jamie, you're more bullish on

Derrick Henry. You know, when the aliens come to Earth and they say, what is this football game that you play? And what is this? What's the best way to build a player? You're going to look at Derrick Henry and say, this is the running back that is going to fight

the aliens because he's the only one that is built to last. And I think still durable enough that can destroy anything. And so I'm done doubting Derrick Henry, you know, Adam, I've had my fair share of when he was 26, when he was 27, he was 28, when he was 29, he's going to break down. He's going to struggle. He did have the foot injury a couple of years ago. And clearly that was a problem. But the thing that I can't get past is yes, he's old and old and yes he's coming off a disappointing season but when you break it down to wins and losses and how he performed last year when the titans were winning six games versus when they lost 11 games he was over 20 ppr points per game in the wins that's not catching passes that's been a terrible offensive line with a terrible quarterback situation he now has the mvp on his side so

you have to worry about the threat of what Lamar Jackson can do. And you have this offensive line upgrade from what the Titans were a year ago. Titans offensive line this year, maybe better than the Ravens offensive line this year. But I think what Henry should be able to do on a John Harbaugh team that's averaged 10 wins per game in his tenure there in Baltimore. So if they win 10 plus games, which is almost a certainty if everybody stays healthy,

I think Derek Henry is going to be a 20 touchdown caliber player and rush for 1500 plus yards. And that puts them in round two. Quarterback upgrade, offensive line upgrade. Let's not forget Derrick Henry. Everything was on his shoulders in Tennessee. You don't got to do that in Baltimore. That's only going to open things up more for Derrick Henry. I think he's still a top pick. So, you know, I dropped him top 25.

Okay. I'll tell you one guy I do draft a lot. I did just about an hour ago in a mock drafts, Alvin Kamara. He's also 29 years old. I want to go to actually to Robert first on this one. There's a stat I give about Kamara that I want to get your take on. He's now gone three straight seasons without a carry longer than 30 yards. That's terrible. It doesn't really bother me because I think the catches are what's going to make him.

But what do you think about that for Camara? It's concerning. It's concerning concerning here's the thing about running backs and I'll try to keep this short but some running backs are meant in a two-back system that's where they thrive right Alva Kamara's you know best years was when he was paired with Mark Ingram then they tried to make him the number one that's where we started to kind of see a decline from him individually. You got Jamal Williams over there. He was injured last season, but hopefully he can bring some production into this offense because I think that'll open things up more for Alvin Kamara and take the load a little bit off of his shoulders,

which I think would lead into more production. You got to have that other guy that can sort of break down the defense, give those body blows, as we would say in boxing, so it can open up some space for Alvin Kamara to do what he does and utilize his special skill sets from that matter. I'm concerned about the Saints. They're a little bit inconsistent offensively, but Alvin Kamara, as long as Jamal Williams is healthy,

I think can give you the type of production that he's always been able to give you in fantasy. So two things that I love, Clint Kubiak coming to the Saints from the 49ers, you know, so maybe using Kamara a little bit like Christian McCaffrey, especially in the passing game. And you look at this receiving core, very incomplete behind Chris Olave, Rashid Shahid, you know, not exactly the best one and two. So Kamara's role in the past game should still be solidified. Offensive line could be a disaster for the Saints right now. So that's a huge concern for him. Plus he factored his age. So I think he's

appropriately priced around four pick. So hopefully the role in the past game is there. Taysom Hill, Jamal Williams, those guys will still some rushing touchdowns, which you don't love to see, but I can still see tomorrow's role in the past game being solidified. I got one more question for both of you. We'll start with Jamie. I'm going to give you four running backs who are 29 or older. And you tell me if you think they have another great season left in them. James Connor, Aaron Jones, Austin Eckler, and Raheem Mostert. Do James Connor, Aaron Jones, Austin Eckler, or Raheem Mostert have another great season left in them?

Jamie, you go first. The one that I would gravitate toward first is James Connor, just because I'm excited about the Cardinals offense. I think, you know, Kyler Murray being healthy and the weapons that they added will help Conner but you got Trey Benson there so that could be a problem as well so great season for any of these guys is probably no you know Conner coming off his first thousand yard season I think he takes a little bit of a step back there and the passing game work was a little bit tough to trust last year so I'll say no across the board to all these guys but the one that I would target first would be Conner easily

yeah he's easily the guy that I would target first as well. James Connor, very productive for the Cardinals last season who didn't have a lot. And so now you've got a healthy Kyler Murray, obviously Marvin Harrison Jr. in the draft, some other players that they've brought in a free agency to be able to take the, you know, the pressure and the load off of James Connor,, which I think, again, similarly to other teams will open up things for James Conner to be successful and potentially be healthy throughout the entire season, which is something that we haven't seen. That would be the only sort of, you know, hesitation that I would have for James Conner is his health issues.

But I think overall he's in line to have another impactful season. Up next on fantasy football today, one more segment, and we're going to hear from you. We're going to end the show with Phil in the blank coming up next. Welcome back to Fantasy Football Today, presented by BetMGM. I am Adam Azer, joined by Robert Turbin and a guy who never played competitive football. Let's get to Phil.

I mean, look at me, you know. Let's get to Phil in the blank here. Get some audience submissions. Thank you very much for your help, audience. All right, this is where I can't think of anything else to talk about, so you help me out. This one, I am avoiding players from blank team. Jamie, then Robert, who are you, which team are you avoiding players from?

It's starting to feel like the Chargers at this point, you know, with Herbert getting injured and McCon's not necessarily establishing himself as the number one guy like he'll take some of the players at a discount edwards dobbins you know even even palmer but i don't have a problem if i miss any chargers this year yeah i'm gonna stay in the afc west i debate it between raiders and broncos but i'm gonna go broncos just the end the unsurety at quarterback right now, who's going to be the starter. It could change midway throughout the season.

For that reason, it's the Denver Broncos. Yeah, I'll stay in the AFC West too. I'm not into the Chiefs so much this year. They're overrated. Let's go to a Devontae Adams fill in the blank. I believe we have next. Devontae Adams will finish as a top blank wide receiver ahead of blank and right behind blank.

Jamie, where's Devante Adams at your rankings? Just inside the top 15, outside the top 12. So I'll say top 15 wide receiver ahead of Mike Evans and right behind let's go Malik neighbors, having a top 12 finish. I said top 20 right ahead of crystal lava, perhaps right behind Christian Watson.

That's where I've got him ranked this season. I don't really have confidence in the quarterback for the Raiders right now. All right. Next up from daddy. Oh, for some reason I keep drafting blank on almost every team. It's probably Kamara for me. I love this one. Okay.

I keep drafting Kyler Murray. It's just hard to get away from what he could be this year. Joshua Palmer. All right. Not a wide receiver one, not Not a wide receiver one, not even a wide receiver two, but a guy who is sneakily, sneakily productive.

All right. Every week on your team, not every week, but most weeks I've had him on my fantasy, Joshua Palmer. Yeah. All right. Let's see if we can squeeze in one more blank bangle.

Running back. We'll score more points for this season. Jamie? Chase Brown. Zach Moss. All right. You know, the answer to that previous one for me, I did have a lot of Zach Moss on my team.

I've been pretty spooked by it, but I want to thank everybody for tuning in and watching Fantasy Football today. Robert Turbin and Jamie Iser, great stuff. We'll see you tomorrow at the same time, same place. I'm Adam Azer. Have a good one, everybody.

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