Fantasy Football Today - Top 5 RBs! Who is #1? Is Taylor Top 5? (06/29 Fantasy Football Podcast)

Episode Date: June 28, 2023

Fantasy Football Today is available for free on the Audacy app as well as Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Stitcher and wherever else you listen to podcasts.  The rankings disputes begin at ...the very top of the running back position, and we will get to that later after a quick look at the consensus Top 5 (2:55) with thoughts from Dave and Dan. Then we have a lot of news and notes (5:55) plus some minicamp risers (14:30) who could become Fantasy relevant ... Tera Roberts joins the show to help with our RB discussion! What was the most difficult decision to make when ranking the Top 5 RBs (20:15)? Do we have Jonathan Taylor concerns? Why isn't Derrick Henry in the Top 5 (25:45)? Then we'll talk about Christian McCaffrey vs. Austin Ekeler and why this might be a tough call (29:40) ... Which Top 5 RB has the most upside (37:40)? Which Top 5 RB has the most downside (42:15)? Does Saquon Barkley have a case to be RB1? ... Email us at fantasyfootball@cbsi.com Follow our FFT team on Twitter: @FFToday, @AdamAizer, @JameyEisenberg, @daverichard, @heathcummingssr, @ctowerscbs Follow the brand new FFT TikTok account: https://www.tiktok.com/@fftoday Watch FFT on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/fantasyfootballtoday Get 20% off Fantasy Football Today merch: https://store.cbssports.com/collections/fantasy-football-today%20?utm_source=podcast-apple-com&utm_medium=web&utm_campaign=buy-our-merch&utm_content=fantasy-football-collection 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." To hear more from the CBS Sports Podcast Network, visit https://www.cbssports.com/podcasts/ 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

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Starting point is 00:01:37 Now, here's some combination of Adam, Dave, Jamie, and Heath. Today, we talk about the top five running backs in our consensus rankings in PPR leagues. It's Adam, Dan, and Dave today on Fantasy Football Today. And all of these players likely to be first round picks or at least very close to it. But there are some big names who are not in the consensus top five. And looking forward to breaking that down. We're also going to have Tara Roberts joining us later as a special guest of the program today.
Starting point is 00:02:08 Dan Schneier's back. What's up, Dan? What's going on, guys? I'm happy to be here. It's been a nice few days. We had a fun mailbag and now let's talk running backs. Yes, and Dave Richard is here. We just spoke to Robert Turbin. What an awesome interview with Dave. I had a great time. I don't know how you felt. I had so much
Starting point is 00:02:23 fun talking to Robert. Oh, I had a horrible time. It was't know how you felt. I had so much fun talking to Robert. Oh, I had a horrible time. It was totally not insightful. Didn't learn a damn thing. No, Robert was great. It's always fun to talk with former players because they give us a perspective that we just don't have. We didn't play football. I know, Adam, you look like you played football,
Starting point is 00:02:40 but you didn't. It's good to pick their brains um i thought it was very interesting what rob had to say about torn acls and how he felt like he needed two years to come back to his normal self and that kind of meshes with how it's been for most players yep i say most not all adam you brought up adrian peterson that dude's a freak of nature is breese hall a freak of nature is giovante williams a freak of nature are they going to be able to come back from their injuries and play like everything's cool no drop in efficiency after talking to robert yesterday i'm starting to worry a little bit about them well
Starting point is 00:03:22 let's be clear you were worried about them before talking to Robert Turbin. I mean, it's not like he opened your eyes to something. We know the track record there. Maybe that's true. Yeah, that's 100% true. And his top five running backs. We didn't bury the guest, Adam. No, I'm burying Dave.
Starting point is 00:03:39 He's, you know, let's not overreact to the comment. It was a very insightful comment from Robert, but let's not act like you weren't there before. But his top five, we made him give a top five running backs on the spot. It was, this is just the way he listed them. This was not the way he ranked them. B. John Robinson, McCaffrey, Eckler. So that's part of the consensus.
Starting point is 00:04:00 For fantasy, he was doing it or actual? Okay. And then he had Nick Chubb and Derrick Henry. He did not. He had some things to say about Jonathan Taylor. Just listen to that show. Listen to that show if you get a chance. It dropped this morning.
Starting point is 00:04:11 All right. So here is the consensus top five combining Dave, Heath, and Jamie's rankings. Christian McCaffrey, Austin Eckler, I think Bijan's three, Barkley's four. I put that in reverse. McCaffrey, Eckler, Bijan, Barkley, Taylor. McCaffrey, Eckler, Bijan, Barkley, Taylor. Dave, give me 30 seconds, your thoughts on that, because we're going to spend the rest of the show talking about this, basically.
Starting point is 00:04:34 But McCaffrey, Eckler, Bijan, Barkley, Taylor. I think McCaffrey and Eckler are basically going to be top two for everybody. And you're going to see them picked very, very early in drafts. And I think only the old school thinkers of, well, this guy's a rookie. He's never done it before. We'll pass on Bijan at three. I think he's absolutely worth it.
Starting point is 00:04:55 Phenomenal talent. There's data to back it up. There's been historical references to him being close to a top five type of fantasy running back. I'm a little bit worried about Barkley. I'm not sure he should be consensus top five. Same thing with Jonathan Taylor. Interesting comments from Robert yesterday about him.
Starting point is 00:05:12 And I feel like there's a changing of the guard at the position that we can talk about as we go on. Some of the older running backs are kind of getting pushed down a little bit more and more and younger running backs getting pushed up. All right, Dan, your quick take on McCaffrey eckler bijan barkley taylor my quick take on that is i have one player in that mix that is not in my top five and i will leave that for the for later in the show as a little teaser it's definitely not is it saquon i would be stunned it's not safe of course it's not oh man it could easily be safe one i don't daniel jones ranked that i
Starting point is 00:05:46 it could be yeah there's some cases to be made against it yes actually i'll go ahead and i'll go ahead and spoil this now um i i have a segment in here called the case for number one i try to make the case for number one i don't know if i'll get to it but just in case i'll ask you guys the case for number one for about eight running backs. Barkley was the only one that I really did not feel like I could make a case for number one for him. I don't see him having the same upside, but I will get your take on that. But I do think it's top five. Just I don't think he's I don't think he has that like two thousand total yard.
Starting point is 00:06:26 He's weirdly evolved into more of a safe player in fantasy than what he was when he broke out as a rookie, which was like, this could be the potential one one. Oh, all right. Save it for later. Save it for later. Safe is a weird word to think about with the injuries. But when you think about the volume. Yeah. Safe is a word to think about with running backs.
Starting point is 00:06:37 With running backs. Yes, that I agree with. OK, so if you want to get your questions read on the air, the best way to do that is with an Apple Podcast review. Please, whether you want to leave us a question or not, we would appreciate a five-star review on Apple Podcasts. Now is the time. It's almost July, so we're going to start getting some new listeners beginning next month and into August. And anything you can do to help our show would be great. And what you can do, it's pretty easy.
Starting point is 00:07:02 Go to Apple Podcasts. Leave us a nice five-star review. Tell everybody why you like the show. And if you ask a question as well, we'll try to get those into a mailbag. I'm going to try to save time for that later today as well. News and notes. Okay. It's kind of a big day of headlines, Dave. Dalvin Cook has multiple offers, according to NFL Network's Tom Pellicero. One of them apparently from the Dol the dolphins uh why don't we start with that uh dave you're what do you think about cook to the dolphins if that happens it would it would ruin the fun of devon ashane which we've seen his stock rise based on all the glowing reports from minicamp and it it would really kind of throw that backfield into total chaos because they're already going to use multiple guys.
Starting point is 00:07:47 We already know that. But they already have two older running backs in Jeff Wilson and Raheem Mostert. Now they'll have three in Dalvin Cook. I would imagine that Cook will knock off potentially Mostert off the roster just because he's the oldest guy and maybe the most brittle. We'll see how that goes. I don't know if the Dolphins really need Dalvin Cook. i don't know if the dolphins really need dalvin cook i don't know if anybody really needs dalvin cook that's the problem right now is that cook
Starting point is 00:08:11 the name is better than the game or probably more recognizable than the game he just he wasn't that great last year he had some breakaway runs but he also struggled a little bit more than we're used to seeing. So bottom line, don't overrate Dalvin cook, no matter where he goes. Okay. Jonathan Taylor is,
Starting point is 00:08:31 you know, he's hopeful that he'll be ready. He, I think maybe he expects to be ready. I'm sorry, Dave, I might be misquoting, but he talked about, hopefully is the word.
Starting point is 00:08:38 Yeah. Putting a little bit of doubt about him being ready for the start of training camp, which is still a long ways before the start of the season. But did that strike you as interesting, Dave? Yes, because the story on Jonathan Taylor last year was that he suffered a high ankle sprain early on. He tried to play through it.
Starting point is 00:08:57 He wasn't that great. He missed a lot of time. When he came back, he initially looked good, and then he started to struggle again. The high ankle sprain is an injury. Let's just mention it again. One that you have to almost downgrade the player on. When he gets it, Saquon once had a high ankle sprain,
Starting point is 00:09:14 couldn't come back from it and play like the guy that we knew. The fact that he doesn't feel like he's a lock for training camp and didn't do anything in any of the Colts OTAs makes me a little bit nervous. Now that that'll go away. If the Colts open training camp and he's there and he's spying, he's doing all the drills. Even if they hold them out of a few team drills,
Starting point is 00:09:36 I will feel fine with John the Taylor, as long as he's there practicing in some form or fashion. If that doesn't happen, that could be the start of what slides him down my rankings in late July and into August. Okay, and who are you guys more concerned about right now, Jonathan Taylor or Josh Jacobs, who reportedly could extend his holdout into week one? Fantasy-wise, I'm much more concerned with Jonathan Taylor.
Starting point is 00:10:01 Oh, I guess we know who's not in your top five. Yeah. And I'm a Wisconsin Badger alumni. So it's not like I'm just homering it up. Like, like we've heard some suggestions from both Dave and he throughout previous shows. And now I'm more interested in finding out who your fifth man is.
Starting point is 00:10:18 It's all, not all that exciting, but it's not Jonathan Taylor. So I'd like to know who it is. We'll get there. We'll get there. We've got some friends in the chat today. We've got Joey, right? Who's Joey. I'd like to know who it is. We'll get there. We've got some friends in the chat today. We've got Joey Wright.
Starting point is 00:10:27 I'd like to get him on a show soon. I'm going to slide your DMs. And we've got Sia Najad in the CBS family. Nobody's a bigger fan of Frazier than Sia Najad. No one in the world would like that show the way he likes
Starting point is 00:10:43 that TV show. I told him that i'm watching every episode and so far i think it was he made it a one seat in a 64 sitcom bracket i told him it's overrate he overrated it at best it's a four but it's good and he said it gets good in season four like gets great gets great in season four show i've ever heard i know i know three seasons and eventually it'll be fun. I could sort of. I mean, I think the Simpsons falls in a similar boat.
Starting point is 00:11:09 I think season three, the Simpsons starts getting great. Season four, it starts getting epic. So I'm in the middle of season three. I'm looking forward to season four. Back to the news and notes. Zach Rosenblatt of The Athletic thinks the Jets believe in rookie running back Israel Abinakanda as an immediate contributor.
Starting point is 00:11:26 So we'll keep that in mind. They need him. If Reese Hall is slow to get going, this is an NFL-ready running back. Could end up being a nice little zero RB target. And also, not to mention, not only is he NFL-ready, he is a system fit, a perfect system fit. Yes. Which makes a difference when you're trying to see which running back can get involved early.
Starting point is 00:11:48 Brock Purdy remains on track for week one. All of the reports have been good in terms of Purdy being ready for week one, but still a lot to be determined there, I suppose. Nate Atkins of the Indianapolis Star thinks that it's trending toward Anthony Richardson starting week one, but he's not counting out the possibility of Gardner Minshew starting week one for the Colts. The reports have not been glowing about Anthony Richardson.
Starting point is 00:12:13 Apparently big shocker. The accuracy issues that he had in college are now following him into non contact passing drills in Indianapolis. We'll see. We will see. I think it's a, all right. There's a chance that offense just doesn't move the ball this year.
Starting point is 00:12:31 Well, okay. You're just spoiling all your anti-Jonathan Taylor arguments, but Dave just brought it up. But for Pittman, I mean, I could, I honestly could see a five to 10 spot jump or dip in the rankings,
Starting point is 00:12:46 depending on who his quarterback is. I don't know how you guys feel about that, but I feel like everyone wants his quarterback to be Gardner Minshew. I mean, I've seen a lot of that. We're just not really expecting it, and if we are expecting it, we're not expecting it for that long. But, Dave, how much higher in the rankings would Pittman be for you if Minshew were his quarterback instead of Richardson?
Starting point is 00:13:04 I wouldn't change it because eventually it would be Anthony Richardson, how much higher in the rankings would Pittman be for you if Minshew were his quarterback instead of Richardson? I wouldn't change it because eventually it would be Anthony Richardson. So even if Pittman gets off to a good start with Gardner Minshew, what a sentence that is, then it's not going to be great. I've got him 32nd among wide receivers. He's more talented than wide receiver 32, but he wasn't a dominant red zone threat to begin with. And now we're careening toward Anthony Richardson,
Starting point is 00:13:30 stealing red zone work away from everybody because he'll run it when they get down there. And if it's not him running it, it's Jonathan Taylor running it. And it's not going to leave a lot for Pittman to score touchdowns. And if the accuracy isn't great from Richardson, that's going to hurt Michael Pittman. By the way, And if the accuracy isn't great from Richardson, that's going to hurt Michael Pittman. By the way, it's been Alec Pierce. Who's been, I'm not sure Pittman's healthy right now. I'm not sure if he's practicing. Uh, Pierce has been working with Richardson,
Starting point is 00:13:55 whether Richardson's worth the first team or the second team, they've been together on the field, every single snap of mini camp. Um, so I think they're trying to get Pierce, at least on the same page with Richardson. My guess is that Pittman would be there too, if he were healthy. Okay, moving on here. Evan Lazar of patriots.com thinks that second year running back Pierre Strong
Starting point is 00:14:18 could be the Patriots complimentary running back. We're going to hear a lot. You know, I'm not even going to get into it. We're going to hear about this every freaking day for the next month and a half. So let's just see what happens there. Do we have, do we have 30 seconds to pivot to a,
Starting point is 00:14:33 a dynasty trade that I've turned down? Yes. I am. Excuse me. I make those decisions, but yes, yes. I knew you wouldn't like me.
Starting point is 00:14:42 30 seconds. They're on the clock. Helping a Dynasty League. There's a team in the league and it's best ball that offered me Kirk Cousins and Jared Goff for two first round picks. Whoa. Back, back, back, back it up. You got offered Kirk Cousins and Jared Goff for two first round picks in a super flex, obviously. Yes.
Starting point is 00:15:00 And what are your quarterback situation? Aaron Rodgers is my best quarterback. I do not have a second best quarterback. Are you playing to win now? I think my roster is shaped up where I have to. Like, I've got McCaffrey, Kamara, Pollard. My running backs are amazing. Those are amazing.
Starting point is 00:15:16 Do you have receivers? Receivers are old. But good? I didn't commit a tight end. I say no. I turned it down. He's going to take it from somebody else. I wouldn't do that.
Starting point is 00:15:24 I wouldn't get two first rounds for those guys. No. It's a lot. All right. So I think what I'm going to do is draft CJ Stroud because I'm picking in the middle of round one and he's still there. And you'll have something.
Starting point is 00:15:34 And then I'll figure out. Someone who at least playing games. Yeah. Yeah. All right. Thanks for the 30-second detour, Schneier. I appreciate that. I make the decisions.
Starting point is 00:15:44 I'm the captain. All right. There make the decisions. I'm the captain. All right. There was an article. I want to make me in charge. An article from ESPN.com about surprising off-season standouts, minicamp standouts for each team. So I'm just going to read some of them. I want some quick reaction.
Starting point is 00:16:00 Dan, Traylon Burks was one of them. Spotlighted. Traylon Burks. Love me some Traylon Burks was one of them spotlighted Traylon Burks. Love me some Traylon Burks this year. He'll be targeting a lot of my teams playing with had issues last camp. Not in shape. This is a quick, it's supposed to be a quick take. Just say now he's in shape building rapport.
Starting point is 00:16:14 Ryan Daniel wasn't there all last year, which I love showed some good signs already last year. Big fan of his. What round? What round? That's a good question. When will I would start? Yeah, I'm thinking. No, it's a little too early.
Starting point is 00:16:28 Probably seven or eight. Seven. I was about to say six. It's a seven pick for me. Six is a little too early. Romeo Dobbs, Dave. Romeo Dobbs. Listen, I didn't love how we finished last year, but if Jordan Love is connecting with him, you've got to give him credit for that.
Starting point is 00:16:43 I've moved him up in my rankings, but I'm still the low guy on him. I have him as a round 10 pick. If the hype continues, he's going to move up into at least round nine, if not round eight. Is it going to move Christian Watson down for you? No interest. Sorry, go ahead. Is it going to move Christian Watson down for you? If we don't hear any reports about Christian Watson gelling with Jordan Love,
Starting point is 00:17:04 and I already think that this offense is going to be slower paced and a little bit more run heavy than we're used to the Packers being, then yeah, that would move Christian Watson down. Slower paced, more run heavy, and in my opinion, we're going to see a lot of bootleg quick throws to the tight ends. This is all bad things for Romeo Dobbs. I don't see any path to success. I have no interest in Dobbs.
Starting point is 00:17:23 Don't like him as a talent. Don't like his quarterback situation. Don't like the target potential. I mean, I guess if he's the only one getting targets in camp and it just keeps happening day after day, maybe we can say the rapport is there and I'll come across and finally get in there. But if he's going around 10 or earlier and no shot for me, I Miami running back Devon, a chain was on this list of standouts. We already talked about the impact that Dalvin Cook might have. Remember when you said he could only be a returner in the NFL, Adam? I definitely didn't say he could only be.
Starting point is 00:17:49 You cannot do this anymore. Because the thing is, I don't remember what I said, so now I have to defend it. I don't remember the exact text, but I wanted to talk him up as a breakout rookie because I love this tape. And you're like, you can't do A-chain. This guy's going to be a kick returner.
Starting point is 00:18:02 Remember when I said this is supposed to be a quick segment? And then I gave Dave Romeo Dobbs, remember that? That portion of the show? All right. Some rookie-wide receivers to keep an eye on. Michael Wilson for the Cardinals and Puka Nakua for the Rams. They're getting talked up. They've had a good offseason so far.
Starting point is 00:18:19 The 49ers are absolutely raving about Brandon Ayuk. Denver rookie running back Jaleel McLaughlin was somebody that was highlighted in this ESPN story. So if Javante Williams is out, remember the name Jaleel McLaughlin. And Foster Morrow for the Saints now, reuniting with Derek Carr. He's had a good camp
Starting point is 00:18:37 and might just be a thorn in the side of Juwan Johnson if you had any interest there. We've gone too long without talking about running backs and without talking to Tara Roberts. So we're going to take a break. And when we come back, the rest of the show will be dedicated to the top five running backs in fantasy and more, including some emails and Apple podcast questions. We'll be right back. Did you know 66% of utility damage is caused by not requesting a locate? Don't let your project become part of this statistic a quick locate
Starting point is 00:19:05 request can save you from unexpected downtime financial penalties and keep you safe don't let avoidable damage cost you time and money click before you dig ensure your next project is safe visit ontarioonecall.ca it's free it's easy it's the. Data sourced from the ORCGA 2023 Dirt Report. And we welcome Tara Roberts. It's Tara time. What's up, Tara? Hey, guys. How you doing? Long time no speak. Always great to hear from you. What happened to Clemson? Did you move? No, she's got a Clemson on right there.
Starting point is 00:19:39 Oh, there it is. I've transitioned to a different location right now, but we're still Clemson represented. Okay. All right. Always're still Clemson represented. Okay, all right. Always repping Clemson. Well, it is great to hear from you. And again, our consensus top five is McCaffrey, Eckler, Bijan, Barkley, and Taylor. If you want to know who's after that, and these are the combination of Dave, Heath, Jamie's rankings,
Starting point is 00:20:01 Jacob, six, Pollard, seven, Chubb eight, Henry nine, Ramondre Stevenson 10. So Tara, how about you? Do you have your top five handy? I do. It sounds very similar. It is a, it's Christian McCaffrey, Austin Eckler, Bijan, Saquon and Jonathan Taylor. Okay. So that's the same as the consensus here. Dave, what was different if anything in your rankings compared to consensus? I've got Bijan third, Saquon fourth, and currently I have Jonathan Taylor fifth
Starting point is 00:20:31 because I can't find a better fifth. I'm confused. I think, let me just double check if Bijan's three and Barkley's four. No? Okay, so Barkley is three and Bijan is four. I had it right the first time. So that would be the difference for Dave. Dave has Bijan three, Barkley is three and Bijon is four. I had it right the first time. So that would be the difference for Dave. Dave has Bijon three, Barkley four.
Starting point is 00:20:48 The consensus is, because Heath is pretty low on Bijon comparatively. The consensus is Barkley three, Bijon four. And Dan, your differences? So like Dave, I also have Bijon three and then Barkley four, but I don't have Jonathan Taylor in my top five. I have Josh Jacobs there in my fifth spot.
Starting point is 00:21:06 Okay. So I asked this question about the quarterbacks, and I'll start with Tara. What was the toughest decision you had to make when ranking your top five running backs? And that could be involving those specific five, or it could be leaving someone out or whatever. Toughest decision you had to make?
Starting point is 00:21:25 Probably a tie between JT at five. So I'll leave that one for Dan because I'm kind of on board with that one as well. But then also putting Saquon down at four and putting Bijan at three. I've had him, I guess, I had him, the lowest I had him all throughout the off season was at five, I think.
Starting point is 00:21:44 And I felt pretty comfortable with it. It was a little bit aggressive back earlier around the draft, but the difficulty with it is then again, we're kind of taking that chance that he, you know, is going to be somebody who is going to have that Saquon Barkley-esque rookie season. And we're asking a lot of him and, you know, do we sit there and take that chance with an early first round pick or do we go with the more stable backs when we got a proven options right there a lot of high upside options as well if you're dipping down and looking at some guys like tony pollard so taking that risk with bijan knowing that this offense could transition a little bit um with the
Starting point is 00:22:21 investments that they've made at pass catcher and trying to transitioning over to desmond ritter as well that felt the riskiest but i'm pretty comfortable with it okay yeah i wonder where he's going to end up on on bijan i know he's open-minded and moving him up he has an eighth that's going to be pretty low amongst the industry uh dan what was your toughest decision when ranking your top five running backs yeah the toughest decision was definitely keeping jonathan taylor out of the top five jonathan Jonathan Taylor obviously in 2021 was the number one overall running back but there's just a bunch of red flags that I don't like in his profile I think the first one that I don't like is that the Colts were 30th ranked in scoring last year and I'm just not positive that they're going to get back to any kind of range that will be good for Jonathan Taylor. Because for Jonathan Taylor, we could look at him last year and he had,
Starting point is 00:23:07 so in his 2021 season, where he's our RB one overall 26 rushing attempts inside the five last year, I know he was injured for some of them, but just 11. And that's the killer for me. I just don't see this offense getting back to a level that can lead to him having fantasy success, like a top five running back, because he needs scoring opportunities. He needs touchdowns. Cause I'm not so sure where the passing game work is going
Starting point is 00:23:29 to come from. He's evolved a lot as a player as a receiver, but I don't necessarily think Anthony Richardson is going to focus on targeting him in the passing game. I don't think the Shane Steichen offensive system is good for running backs in the passing game. And then there's one more big flag for me that I'm just going to be worried about with a player like Richardson coming into this offense. And that's will Richardson take away some of those rushing attempts in the red zone too? Will they run zone read? And will we see a Josh Allen effect there too? And all of those things for me are big red flags from a fantasy standpoint, all situation based for sure. The talent is still there for Taylor, but all these guys are talented that we're talking about in the top five. I need a better situation. I'm going to throw out just some numbers here. Look at the top five running backs in PPR from the last, let's say, five seasons.
Starting point is 00:24:14 I'm going to tell you the worst offense they were on. The lowest scoring offense of top five running backs last five seasons. I don't have the actual offenses. I could look them up, but I would tell you 22nd in 2018, RB5 was 22nd. In 2019, we had two running backs
Starting point is 00:24:32 who were on the 20th or 21st, including, I think that was the year McCaffrey finished his RB1 on an offense that was 20th. 2020, we had an offense that was 23rd, that RB4. In 2021, RB3 was on the 21st ranked offense and then the best case for a running back to be on a terrible offense and finish in the top five the barkley 2018 derrick henry this past year he was rb4 on on the 28th it's the lowest one i've
Starting point is 00:25:04 seen where was that barkley 2018 i feel like that offense couldn't have been high scoring that giants offense so he may have been 2018 or 19 2018 his rookie season because they didn't they had a bad offense that year um i have maybe 22nd i think they were 22nd even assuming what you just said though adam that would still require a pretty big jump from from the colts offense this year correct i mean they were 30th in scoring i know there's expectation anthony richardson will help that offense but like dave said early part of otas he can't even keep the pass game on schedule at all so it's like i i don't know if that's a guarantee
Starting point is 00:25:38 yeah i think actually i think the giants were 16th in scoring that year believe it or not something like that um all right so dave how you? What was the toughest decision you had to make? I had two tough decisions. So I'm cheating and I'm giving you two. The first one was making McCaffrey number one over Eckler when Eckler's been so productive for the Chargers over the last two seasons, over 20 PPR points per game. Just seems like he's a little safer in that regard compared to Christian McCaffrey. But I couldn't do it because McCaffrey's upside is better than 20 PPR points per game.
Starting point is 00:26:11 It's like 24, 25 PPR points per game. So I didn't do that. Plus, Eckler was number one last year. It's very hard to repeat year over year as RB1. And then the other one was what we've talked about. Where does Bijan rank compared to Barkley, compared to Taylor? Where do Jacobs, Derrick Henry, Tony Pollard, Nick Chubb, where do those guys rank compared to them?
Starting point is 00:26:35 The case can be made for a lot of running backs to be top five. The toughest decision, if I had rankings, would be leaving Henry out. And he's like eighth in consensus rankings. Let's talk about Derrick Henry, and then I do want to get back to McCaffrey versus Eckler but Tara um two things that I'd be worried about with Henry I think one of them everyone's worried about and that's his age he's gonna turn 30 in January before the end of the regular season so it's to age 29, but he's at old 29. And then people may not be aware, but I looked at his advanced metrics
Starting point is 00:27:12 each of the last four years. And over the last, and like the first two years of that span, he was clearly elite. He was elite in almost everything. He has not even been close the last couple of years. So there is, I feel safe saying there is decline there unless Skowronski comes and changes this offensive line dramatically or something as a rookie.
Starting point is 00:27:30 I mean, I think there is decline there. I wonder how you feel about that. Um, but you don't have Derek Henry in your top five. And was that difficult for you, Tara? It was.
Starting point is 00:27:41 Cause I am very much so pro Derek Henry. I'll keep drafting him until the wheels fall off. Because at this point, I mean, you just kind of see that he's built a bit different than other guys and you can't really project when that drop off is going to come. But like you said, there's a clear decline. We can look at yards per carry, his efficiency and see that, you know, things are getting a little bit more difficult for him. But what keeps me, you know, pushing Derek Henry up
Starting point is 00:28:05 towards the top and why I'm still comfortable with him as a top 10 pick, um, top 10 at running back pick is that regardless, the volume is still going to be there. We don't have any major adjustments in the offense. We don't see anything visit, you know, unless they, even if they signed, um, Deandre Hopkins, again, that's not going to signal a massive change in philosophy they just have a slightly better receiving core um well significantly better receiving core than they had last year just to be more reliable but we're not going to see this offense all of a sudden turn into a gunslinging offense i think the volume will still be there so even if we're getting him in the you know low forwards yards per carry the volume will still be there they're
Starting point is 00:28:44 not going to cut that off. This is not going to transition into somebody else. Tajay Spears cutting into his workload. We've still got the goal line rushes. We've still got a little bit of passing upside. We got a little bit of that helping out last season. And maybe if they don't get DeAndre Hopkins, we see that continue as well. So I think all of the measurables are there in terms of statistics
Starting point is 00:29:04 to kind of make up for the fact that there is a little bit of a decline happening year over year. The volume will still be there. So he's still a comfortable pick for me. It's a great point about the receiving work too, because each of the last two seasons, he's been on pace. Career high last year, but I think he was actually catching more passes per game the year before that. He just played eight games. So you're talking about the last two years, 35 catch kind of guy i don't i can't guarantee that but i think more than you know 19 which was used to be like great for him yeah uh dave i think oh dan go ahead yeah go ahead it's a quick note on what tara said that i think was a great point about the philosophy saying the same over the
Starting point is 00:29:40 past five seasons with the titans despite them changing coordinators and having different people in there with mike frabel there they've been top three in neutral run rate over expected in all five seasons one uh two of the seasons they were first or 2021 they were first two of the seasons they were second so this is a team that's going to run the football we have five years worth of data showing they're going to run it over expected there's a comment here in the chat that like i have no idea if this is true or not even close to true. When Derek Henry, when he retires, he will have ran across the entire planet based on career yards and attempts from high school to the pros. Who's tracking this? Feels like it could be true. I don't know.
Starting point is 00:30:18 I believe it. I believe it that. All right. Dave, you mentioned McCaffrey versus Eckler. All right. Yeah, I mean, you briefly got into it. Why don't you expand a little bit there? And I guess my question would be, how afraid are you of Elijah Mitchell in this debate? I'm not. With the 49ers, McCaffrey averaged 21.9 PPR points per game. He was one of the most explosive running backs last year,
Starting point is 00:30:47 including with San Francisco. He was the rushing leader despite playing. I think it was 11 games with San Francisco in the regular season. He averaged 14.5 attempts per game. That would have come out to 245 attempts over 17 games. That doesn't account for any of his catches. Of course, his catches would have been great if he had been in San Francisco, and I think they will be. He's also been very consistent,
Starting point is 00:31:10 which I think is what makes him an easy 101 if you were so inclined. In his last 59 games, his past five seasons, he's given you at least 15 PPR points, 80% of the time, 47 of 59 games. If you're looking for 20 PPR points, he's done that 66% of the time. Two-thirds of his games, Adam, 39 of 59 games, he's given you at least 20 PPR points. And those percentages I just gave you, they're down from this time last year. I don't think that means that he's a descending player. I think it just means that he kind of had a little bit of a rocky season, and now that he's in descending player. I think it just means that he kind of had a little bit of a rocky season. And now that he's in San Francisco, he could really see another great efficient campaign
Starting point is 00:31:50 where he can hit that 25 PPR point per game mark. Basically you're getting like low end QB one production, maybe even middle end QB one production out of Christian McCaffrey. He's irresistible to me as the number one overall pick. Tara, your thoughts? Yeah, I actually think the whole CMC with Elijah Mitchell is kind of blown out of proportion. I looked at the games, those specific games with the two of them combined. And really, it's only three because you have to throw out that final game where Elijah Mitchell came back because that was against Arizona. CMC wasn't really utilized. The snaps were significantly down just because obviously they blew them out
Starting point is 00:32:28 and that game didn't really matter. So if we're really looking at those three games in the middle of the season, you know, shortly after he arrived, are we really throwing, you know, drawing such aggressive conclusions against CMC as the RB1 overall off of three games? And if you kind of look at them, those might've just been three really weird games because those games were literally the worst games of the entire season, not just because of him having to split work with Elijah Mitchell.
Starting point is 00:32:56 They were the lowest yards per carry for him in the entire season. He averaged less than three yards per carry, very weird. So I kind of wonder if maybe there was just oddly something else going on um that just maybe kind of made them pull back a little from from mcafree over that time period because when you combine that with the low yards per carry and kind of looking at that and saying if he had been his usual christian mcafree and wasn't struggling with the yardage the stats would have been very different so i think there might have been just something where those three games in particular might've just been independently off. And I don't know if we want to really discount Christian McCaffrey just
Starting point is 00:33:31 because of that. And if you look at even those games in that stretch, there were, I believe there were times where he popped up on the injury part. I'm trying to remember what it was that he was dealing with. I thought it was calf, but I'm not positive. I have to, I have to look at that at another point, but even assuming that Elijah Mitchell is going to play a role in this offense, which he will, because obviously this is not a workhorse type of style system with Shanahan. Does it really matter? Cause we're
Starting point is 00:33:52 focusing so much on Mitchell side of it, but what about this in, you know, intense starts with the 49ers after the trade, he averaged over 20 touches per game, 20.1 touches per game. That's more than almost every run. That's a top five running back type of touch percentage right there, even with Mitchell in for some of those. And the main thing with McCaffrey for me, it's like, we can focus on how much, how much, uh, how much of the touches he's going to get, or we could focus on the fact that he's still getting a ton of targets. And we know that historically, at least one target in the passing game for a running back is worth about 2.7 carries in terms of expected points back in PPR leagues, which is extremely important. And even with all of the weapons healthy, McCaffrey was third on the target
Starting point is 00:34:29 totem pole, which was really good with 26 and five games when everyone was healthy. And in addition to that, he scored 13 touchdowns in 14 games with San Francisco. So like we should also focus on the fact that he's in one of the best offenses, the NFL, which is extremely important for fantasy. It's a system that doesn't fail. And as Adam said, Brock Purdy might be ready for the week one of the seasons. That's somebody who can keep the offense on track. We've seen McCaffrey score points with Purdy running the offense. So I think more of the focus needs to be on the other factors here. Well, I right now am on Eckler, number one, McCaffrey, two. Reluctantly, it's not set in stone, but I'll just say, okay,
Starting point is 00:35:09 it's not that I'm killing McCaffrey here. We're talking about the difference between him being RB1 and RB2, right? So I'm not burying him or anything like that. I think I have a six-game sample. You know, Terry, you said three. You're not counting week 18. I am counting week 18 plus the two playoff games that they both played together.
Starting point is 00:35:26 And I don't necessarily look at, McCaffrey only had five more carries than Elijah Mitchell. And Dave, when you gave all those stats about McCaffrey and what he did with San Francisco and his pace and all that, it's 245 carries and 80 catches and 15 touchdowns or something like that, but total touchdowns. But the numbers, I mean, the fantasy production, you're talking about like almost 10 per game, nine per game or something like that
Starting point is 00:35:50 with and without Elijah Mitchell. So, you know, they got it. They're skewed a little bit. I think the bigger number to me is in the first half of those six games, like the first and second quarter of those six games, McCaffrey had 37 carries and Elijah Mitchell had 17 carries. And that feels like somewhat of a realistic split, about 68% of the carries for McCaffrey. And I think if that happens, that's the lowest, that's the worst split, I think, of any first round running back. Maybe any first or second round running back. It's low. He'll compensate with catches, but is he a 120 catch guy like he used to be, or is he an 80 catch guy like he was on pace for?
Starting point is 00:36:29 Let's not forget, Deebo Samuel missed some time when Christian McCaffrey was with the 49ers, and he's a factor with three or four carries per game, I would expect. But he also is a short area target, and he's determined to have a bigger role. And let's not forget that somehow,
Starting point is 00:36:43 Christian McCaffrey is the only 49ers running back that hasn't gotten hurt in the last five years, but he gets hurt all the time and 49ers running backs get, 49ers running backs get hurt all the time. And let's not forget Austin Eckler has been a top three running back per game, two straight years, and has, in my opinion, pretty much no, no significant competition. So I, I am statistically on Eckler over McCaffrey. I just sit there and I say, am I, am I overthinking this? He's Christian McCaffrey. He's a better player on an amazing offense. Maybe I'm just penalizing him too much. You made some great points there, Adam. I don't think you're penalizing him too much. And especially the last point you made, I just
Starting point is 00:37:19 think it's so, so funny in the fantasy football community, how we view these player and how much of an, like going into last year's draft, anyone who put McCaffrey as the running back one or the first pick overall, you'd see comments in the YouTube or wherever, like, how could you draft this guy? He's so injury prone. You're he's going to be out by week four. And now like, no, one's talking about this anymore. All of a sudden, this is not a factor in play. It was the biggest factor for people. And now it's nothing. And this guy missed, like you said, I mean, you mentioned the injuries, 23 games combined in 2020 and 2021 in two seasons, he missed 23 of 32 games, but of course now it's nothing. And last year it was everything. It's just so crazy to me. The injury prone thing is just like so overblown. And so we need,
Starting point is 00:37:59 we don't have a good date on it. One day we'll be able to figure it out better. I think hopefully, but right now I feel like it's mostly based on recency bias. All right. Well, Twitter poll right now. Who's your number one running back in PPR? I just put this up a few minutes ago at 180 votes. McCaffrey, 69.4%. Eckler, 16%.
Starting point is 00:38:18 Bijan, about 11%. Other four. Who's your number one running back? I can't believe there's... Other. Yeah. Okay. Let's move on to our next topic here which top five running back dave has the most
Starting point is 00:38:32 upside this could be an easy one so mcafree everyone think that uh you know what i'm gonna take a take a wild card here i'm gonna go with bijan robinson yeah i'm gonna go with bijan robinson might as well make the case for him right now is why i think he could be the rb1 I'm going to take a wild card here. I'm going to go with B. John Robinson. Yeah, I'm going to go with B. John Robinson. Might as well make the case for him right now is why I think he could be the RB1 over some of these guys potentially. So B. John Robinson's entering the NFL right now is, in my opinion, the best running back prospect that I've ever watched on film. And that includes Saquon Barkley. The reason I think B. John is a better prospect than Saquon Barkley is because I think B. John Robinson is a better mental processor than Saquon Barkley was. I think he does a much better job in between the tackles.
Starting point is 00:39:08 I think he does a much better job setting up his blocks. I think he does a much better job of creating yards independent of his offensive line. But in addition to that, he has a really good system that he's coming into. This Falcons team had the highest rushing grade of all NFL teams, according to Pro Football Focus. They did it really without a big name offensive line. They have one amazing player in Chris Lindstrom. I think he's the best guard in the NFL right now in the run game, but outside of him, they just did it with scheme and that scheme's coming back. In addition to that, we're talking about a prospect who had more forced
Starting point is 00:39:37 missed tackles than PFF has ever charted last year with 102. He had a breakout. His breakout age was great. He was amazing as a freshman, 6.3 yards per carry throughout his career, 39% forced missed tackle rate, 22 carries of 15 plus yards. And he can work in the passing game. It's not just like he's a guy like some of these guys who make mood, uh, who make progress in the NFL as a receiver like Barkley or Jonathan Taylor. To me, when I watch them play, I feel like they're just running flare flare routes or catching screens or running very basic routes with beat with beat on Robinson. It's like a Christian McCaffrey type receiving running back. He's going to be flexed out. He's going to be
Starting point is 00:40:12 used on arrow routes, Texas routes, wheel routes, and we use all different ways on the vertical plane, horizontal, and it's going to be a mismatch. And if Arthur Smith, uh, you know, can figure this out, which I think he can, it's going to be big stuff. And also 1,071 yards after contact last year at a 1575. I mean, this is just a dude who doesn't need anything around him. So I just feel like he's coming into a great system here. He's going to, he's the best. I think he's the best talent in the NFL right now at running back to be completely honest, including McCaffrey, including Barkley, including whoever based on age, based on lack of tread on his tires, all of those things. So to me, I think there is a case for him to be the RB1 overall because Barkley wasn't too far away in 2018.
Starting point is 00:40:49 Was he RB1? He wasn't in 2018, right? I think he was RB2. He was too, right. But Barkley was close. They were basically tied in PPR. Okay, in 2018? Okay, right. And so I think we've already seen a case where it's come close, and I think Bijan has a chance to do it.
Starting point is 00:41:04 All right, Tara, who has the most upside? Yeah, it's gotta be Bijan. Um, again, I know we've been burned in the past off of, you know, rookie running backs that we've taken in the first round and turning into a nightmare, but, uh, you know, what kind of pushes me over, you know, Bijan, the prospect is just on another level, but what pushes me over the edge is just the landing spot for the Falcons being the little perfect situation for him. You know, with Atlanta, we know, you know, rushing attempts first, you know, rushing yards. We talked about them being, you know, fantastic as a rushing offense. High grades, the touchdowns were there.
Starting point is 00:41:38 The yards per attempt were there. There was no flaw in their run game with literally, you know, anyone and everyone that they inserted into the lineup to run. And I know the argument that a lot of people have is kind of the worry that they're going to. And I think I mentioned this earlier, the worry they're going to increase pass volume. We're going to see Kyle Pitts and Drake London together again. Desmond Ritter with more experience under him. We did see a little uptick as well in pass volume but I think kind of what we have to consider with that is that you know there's probably going to be
Starting point is 00:42:10 an increase in game pace yeah they ran the seventh least plays in 2022 they're going to increase pass volume increase the pace of game and the run game hat doesn't have to be reduced so if we're looking at that Atlanta Falcons system knowing exactly what Arthur Smith wants to do, knowing that this is going to stick and knowing that Bijan is coming in there as this massive investment, this is not going to be a 50-50 split with Tyler Algier. So I'm willing to risk a high pick on him just because the likelihood is a lot higher than a lot of these rookies that we've seen in the past. All right. I was surprised. Two Vijons there and a McCaffrey
Starting point is 00:42:55 for who has the most upside and among the top five. Which top five running back has the most downside, Dave? The running back with the most downside, based on who we're talking, it's got to be Jonathan Taylor. You're not going to get an argument from Dan. Why you say that, Dave? You're asking me or you're asking Dan?
Starting point is 00:43:15 You, Dave. We know that the offense is in the first year of a new playbook, first year rookie quarterback. Don't know how that's going to work out. We don't know what the offensive line is going to look like. Taylor's coming off of a new playbook, first year, rookie quarterback. Don't know how that's going to work out. We don't know what the offensive line is going to look like. Taylor's coming off of a terrible year where he wasn't his efficient self. The argument for Jonathan Taylor has always been the dude has 2000 total yard potential. He's got to run like a world beater again, and he's got to
Starting point is 00:43:40 do it with a rookie quarterback in an offense. that's probably going to have some mistakes in it and an offensive line that's not as good as it was when he did run for over 2,000 total yards or did have 2,000 total yards two seasons ago. Worried about touchdowns getting eaten up by Anthony Richardson. Worried about the offense playing from behind a little bit more often than we'd like. And I get nervous about Jonathan Taylor being a mega stud.
Starting point is 00:44:06 Okay. Dan, I think you're going to agree. He has the most downside, but he's not in your top five. So of your top five running backs, which includes Josh Jacobs and the other four, who has the most downside? It would have to be Josh Jacobs for me. I mean, he's fifth in my rankings for a reason.
Starting point is 00:44:20 There are good things about Josh Jacobs. I like that he's just 25 years old. The rest of these guys are kind of bordering on the fall off age of 27 ish. I liked that he had 23.1 touches per game last year, which is to me, it's all about volume. I like no more Darren Waller. Maybe that helps him in the past game, but I still think back to this and I'm like, I know Derek Carr's not great, but in my mind, Jimmy Garoppolo is a terrible NFL quarterback. I'm sticking with that take for the rest of my life. I feel like the Brock Purdy era proved it to me more than ever so that literally it's all system-based there in San Francisco.
Starting point is 00:44:50 And so I think Jimmy out of that system, yes, he gets McDaniel, Josh McDaniels, which helps because that system, he's shown some success in, I guess, a four-game stretch, if you want to call it that, with a really good offense around him. But I have real big concerns about the offense with Jimmy Garoppolo. So that, to me, scares me a bit bit with Jacobs who had 12 touchdowns last year. Could we see that number fall back to seven, eight range possibly? So he would be my biggest concern.
Starting point is 00:45:14 When I talk about you, Tara, who has the most downside in the top five? It's JT. Technically there is the risk that Saquon could sit a little bit. So that is a massive downside. So maybe, maybe there's the argument there, but then again, that's not statistic wise. That's purely if he decides he wants to make a statement and wants to, you know, sit out a portion of the season or a few games at least.
Starting point is 00:45:36 But yeah, it's JT for sure. And again, I agree with Dave. It's for him to hit RB one overall, again, way too many things have to line up in a situation that is strictly Bryn. There's a lot of things that can work out for him. We see if things maybe can work out with Anthony Richardson, maybe he can find his accuracy, open things up a little bit, threat to run as well. Maybe that opens things up and the offense moves a little bit better than we expect and those rushing touchdowns can be there. But they're not he is so reliant on those and
Starting point is 00:46:09 if anthony richardson steals them you get a little bit concerned that he's just the riskiest one when you look at a guy like saquon i know i think adam as you've talked about he's the one that we just can't really see is the overall rb1 just because of the situation that he's in. But at least he's a very stable, low risk option if he actually gets out there and plays. We know he's an RB1 just based off, you know, who he is, statistics and track record. With JT, it's a little bit concerning because there's so many things that could go wrong for him. I hope I'm not selling Barkley short by saying he doesn't have number one running back potential. I just, I don't see him having like 300 plus carries. I don't see him having more than maybe 55, 60 catches. He's not going to, he's not going to have a Josh Jacobs like workload
Starting point is 00:46:54 or Derek Henry like workload. I don't know. I mean, no, you're not, you're not selling him short Adam to even get, to even get to that level. He'd have to get close back to 2018, where he had nine runs of 40 plus yards. He had two runs of 40 plus yards last year. Two runs. He's had multiple lower body injuries. He had two runs of 40 plus yards. He averaged 3.37 yards after contact per attempt in 2018.
Starting point is 00:47:17 And 2019 was not too far off. Last year was 2.73. And that was supposed to be back to Saquon Barkley. So in my mind, he really isn't the same back it's not his fault I don't really think many backs carry that well through multiple lower body injuries including tears and then into their 20 late 20s but I just don't think he's that explosive runner as as explosive as a runner as he was I guess and that's what you need to be fan of you know to be a fantasy RB1 overall his schedule's a nightmare too. And that's another thing. You look at Dave's PSOS, like his
Starting point is 00:47:45 schedule rankings, 32 for Barkley. Yep. Dead last. You have to respect the Eagles, Cowboys, Commanders. Who's going to run against those defensive lines? Right. It's going to be hard for him. Now, he had some decent games against them last year, but he's
Starting point is 00:48:02 got the NFC West on top of that. He's got the AFC East on top of that. Those are going to be some tough defenses, plus the Saints, plus Green Bay. It is an ugly schedule for all Giants. You've got to keep that in mind when you draft any Giant this year. And then add on top of that, people kind of laugh about it and make jokes, but Daniel Jones, again, he's the one on the list. When you're looking at it, other than Anthony Richardson,
Starting point is 00:48:26 has the most upside in terms of rushing production. I don't see where that really decreases for him. So Saquon does, unfortunately, have that to compete with as well. Yeah, I shouldn't have said I can't see him getting 300 carries. He had 295 carries in 16 games last year. So he did have a pretty big workload. I just don't really think of him holding. It's a career high. I don't know really think of him holding, I don't know.
Starting point is 00:48:49 Right, it was, I don't know, I just, how many did Josh Jacobs have last year? I think that number goes down if they resign him, though, to a multi-year deal. Well, it's not a huge knock against him. It's just, I don't think he's going to be, basically, like, Derrick Henry, the case for him is volume, volume, volume. He's going to get every goal line touchdown, basically. It's not going to be quite the same. Josh Jacobs had 340 carries. Derrick Henry had 349 in one fewer game. He's not going to be there, Saquon Barkley, but he could certainly be top five in carries. All right, let's take a break and come back with your emails at fantasyfootballatcbsi.com.
Starting point is 00:49:19 And welcome back, everybody. We're finishing up here. We discussed our running back, so let's get to your questions. Email address, again again is fantasyfootball at cbsi.com and danny from frisco texas says does anyone on the podcast feel that the tua concussion talk is a little familiar i remember a few years ago when everyone was so sure that brandon cooks was one concussion away from ending his career and it was inevitable and ended up being underrated now no no one brings it up anymore. Is everyone too focused on concussions with Tua? Love to hear your thoughts. Tara, you're not on the podcast, but you can tell us if we were making too big of a deal of it.
Starting point is 00:49:54 I think we've tried to put it in perspective, honestly, but your thoughts on Tua and the concussions. I mean, I think the concern was natural really just for him as the player. But yeah, putting too much on it in terms of downgrading, like people making that a concern for Tyreek Hill and pushing him down a little bit and saying that, you know, he doesn't have that same upside because of the possibility of the
Starting point is 00:50:14 concussion issue with Tua. Then yeah, I think we're putting a little bit too much on it from a fantasy perspective, not from the, not from the concern for Tua perspective. The dolphins have said that the doctors told them that he is at no more risk than any other player to have a concussion. I mean,
Starting point is 00:50:32 I guess you could argue that he plays quarterback and that makes him more risky, but I don't, I don't know if that's true or not, but I don't know. Yeah. Medically, according to the Dolphins, he is not a concussion risk any more so than any other player. This is from David in Chattanooga. Dan, you better get this greeting. According to the Dolphins, he is not a concussion risk, any more so than any other player. This is from David in Chattanooga. Dan, you better get this greeting. You better get this greeting.
Starting point is 00:50:54 Dear Harry, Lloyd, Seabass, and Billy from 4C. Seabass. I know the Seabass one. Harry, Lloyd, Billy from 4C. Because I have Seabass. It's like that, right? Yeah, yeah. What is that? What is that, though?
Starting point is 00:51:06 Why do I know that if I don't know the movie? Kick his ass, C.Bass. That's all I know. That's all that comes to mind here. Dave, you know this. Are you serious? Yeah, this is embarrassing. It doesn't seem like Tara knows either.
Starting point is 00:51:18 Before I make fun of Dan, Tara doesn't talk to Tara. It does not seem like Tara knows either, okay? But you know what? Tara doesn't criticize. Maybe you're just showing your age here, Adam. No, Tara doesn't criticize my pop culture takes all the time. You do.
Starting point is 00:51:29 So you not knowing dumb and dumber. How do you not know Harry and Lloyd? It's dumb and dumber. Come on, man. I've never seen dumb and dumber. Oh. Me either. Wow, the two of you.
Starting point is 00:51:40 All right, which of these three wide receivers, which are all presumably the second best wide receivers on their team, is capable of making the leap to best wide receiver on their teams, if any of them? And how do you have them ranked currently? And the three that David from Chattanooga gives are, David, you should have said you were from Aspen.
Starting point is 00:52:00 T. Higgins, Devante Smith, and Jalen Waddell. Higgins, Devante, Jalen Waddell. Higgins, Devontae, Jalen Waddell. Dave, how do you have them ranked, and do any of them have the chance to be the number one guy on their team? I think it'll take an injury for any of them to be the number one guy on their team, but those teams throw so well
Starting point is 00:52:18 and or are so efficient doing so that you don't mind taking a number two from those squads. I've got waddle ranked the highest followed by davante followed by t higgins and love them all in that low end number one high end number two wide receiver range uh anyone comment from the chat dan acts like he is that's schaefer all the way. That's good.
Starting point is 00:52:47 Schaefer's playing the role of Azor, cherry-picking the comments that make Azor look good and make me look bad. I understand. Tara, how do you rank Higgins, Devontae Smith, Jalen Waddell? For me, it is Waddell, Higgins, Devontae Smith, but oddly enough, the one that I do think realistically has the better chance to be the wide receiver one on his team is Devonta Smith. I mean, I love all of them.
Starting point is 00:53:11 There's just no reality in which Higgins overcomes Chase. Just not going to happen. And we're talking Tyreek and Jalen Waddle. But realistically, while, you know, A.J. Brown is obviously clearly higher for me. When you look at their statistics and the way that they were utilized in the back half of that season, once things really started to gel, yeah, Devonta Smith is the one that realistically could teeter over the edge. Devonta Smith is my pick as well. And I think it's the clear cut pick here.
Starting point is 00:53:38 And I'm with Tara. You look at those backend numbers when that often started to click. And that's just that you look at these guys as prospects, right? Like Devonta Smith was one of the most elite prospects we've ever, I think I've ever covered and studied, and he's showing it at the NFL level. He's high pointing catches, which people said he wasn't going to be able to do and making plays away from his frame. He's doing basically everything you want.
Starting point is 00:53:57 He wins at all three levels in addition to being that speedster guy. So I actually, it's close for me, but I kind of like Devontae Smith closer to A.J. Brown than I think anyone in the industry. I have them ranked closer than anyone I've seen. I don't have Smith ranked the highest. I mean, I think there's two questions here. Smith. Well, yeah, right.
Starting point is 00:54:15 I have Waddle ranked higher than they play in. Right, right. Smith, yeah. Smith seems like the likeliest because I believe it started as soon as Dallas Goddard got hurt. It seemed like they started throwing Devontante Smith more and then they never stopped. But I believe from the moment Goddard got hurt, which was like week nine till through the end of the season, including the playoffs, I think Devante Smith had more targets than AJ Brown, but very, very close.
Starting point is 00:54:41 It was really an even split. All right. Last question here is from Zachary. Dave, Zachary is from the land of sky blue waters. I believe that would be Coral Gables, Florida. Okay. Southern suns
Starting point is 00:55:00 and sky blue waters. Smile upon you, alma mater. You want to hear the rest of the University of Miami alma mater song? Oh, that's why you guys are great. Mistress of this fruitful land. I went all in last year, but late injuries derailed my playoffs run. Now I have a talented team
Starting point is 00:55:26 with suspension, age, and injury concerns, so I'm thinking of doing a rebuild, but I don't have first rounders in 2023 or 2024. What do you think of this trade offer I received? If I do this trade, I will plan on making more trades. It's a super flex PPR 12 team league.
Starting point is 00:55:42 I give up Lamar Jackson and Joe Mixon. Remember, he wants, thinking about a rebuild here, and doesn't have any first or second round picks in 2023 or 2024. He gives up Lamar Jackson and Joe Mixon. He gets Tua, Kenny Pickett, A.J. Dillon, and a first round pick in 2023, 1.7. God, I hate this trade. Me too. God, I hate this trade. Me too.
Starting point is 00:56:06 God, I hate this trade. I'm sorry, my man. If you want to rebuild, don't do it without Lamar, first of all. We just have to make a contract. Don't do it without him. Trade your mix-ins. Trade your guys like that,
Starting point is 00:56:17 but don't do it without Lamar. And 107? Come on. Okay. Tara, thank you for hopping on. Always. Yeah. come on okay tara thank you for hopping on always yeah that is it for fft there isn't it obvious that they went to the worst school of us three i mean like come on yeah i'm saying i'm cool i would have loved the alma mater sounds like my high school right exactly it's the worst you had a pool on your let's hear you sing your alma mater. Dan Schneier.
Starting point is 00:56:45 Let's go. Do you even know it? Varsity. I feel like I'm in. Tumor. Ah, ah, Wisconsin.
Starting point is 00:56:54 Am I supposed to jump around? Stop, stop, stop. You guys don't want to hear me sing. Yes, I do. Don't pressure her.
Starting point is 00:57:03 You're easily going to be the best of these four. These three. That's very true. Wait, no, but you had a swimming pool in the middle of your campus, right? You would sit at Sparrows and look out at the swimming pool and then go swimming in the middle of the day. That was your campus, right, Dave? Or Dan?
Starting point is 00:57:19 It was my campus. No, but when we went to hang out at night and at parties, we didn't have to go to live in the clubs. No, we didn't either. We didn't either. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I was booking those clubs back in the day. All right, everybody, great show.
Starting point is 00:57:34 Thank you very much. Tomorrow we'll talk about our top five wide receivers. Jake Seeley will be joining the program. We'll talk to you then on Fantasy Football.

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