Fantasy Footballers - Fantasy Football Podcast - The TRUTH: Top 10 Fantasy RBs + The Perfect Season - Fantasy Football Podcast for 1/25

Episode Date: January 25, 2024

The TRUTH series continues! On today’s fantasy football podcast, a deep dive look at the top running backs from the 2023 season! Consistency ranks, week-winning performances, and tons more! Plus, reactions to Jim Harbaugh joining the Chargers and more! Manage your redraft, keeper, and dynasty fantasy football teams with the #1 fantasy football podcast. -- Fantasy Football Podcast for January 25th, 2024. Connect with the show: Subscribe on YouTube Visit us on the Web Support the Show Follow on Twitter Follow on Instagram Join our Discord Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This episode is brought to you by McDonald's. Monopoly is back at McDonald's, everybody. This is an alert. It's time to get back to Mickey D's. Monopoly Double Play is back at McDonald's, and it's easy to get into the win. First, you peel on pack, and then again in the app. There are millions of prizes to be won,

including a new chance to win cash every minute in the app. Get into the game with Monopoly Double Play at McDonald's. While supplies last, one in five chances to win game piece prizes at outset, chances to win Double Play prizes based on time of code entry, and draw prizes based on number of entries in each draw. See rules in the app. Get a credit card annual fee waiver and earn C-plus points faster with the Scotiabank Ultimate Package and bank more entertainment. Learn more at scotiabank.com slash banking packages. Conditions apply. Scotiabank. You're richer than you think. Welcome to the Fantasy Footballers Podcast with your hosts Andy Holloway, Jason Moore, and Mike Wright.

Welcome in. Oh, it was an oh sound today. The Fantasy Footballers Podcast. Is that for my Minnesota sweatshirt? Oh! You've gone back-to-back Minnesota swag, and I don't get what's going on. There was Arizona mixed in. They're just not on the show. Not mixed in.

The last two shows has been Minnesota swag, just like I said. We want to know what that's all about. Are there some people you're trying to support up there in the Great White North? My Minnesota Vikings. You'd like to see C see cousins come back, right?

Oh, yeah. That's kind of the only path forward. Yeah. I think people were shocked to see the twins because of, one, you're very outspoken about- Baseball sucking. About not liking baseball. But this was, what was this? A shout out to Johan Santana?

Yeah. That was a throwback to when I was a- A little Kirby Puckett? A massive yeah world series champ uh massive minnesota twins what did you within as a massive fan you probably saw the minnesota twin that was just elected into the hall of fame no oh joe mauer joe mauer yeah can we stop talking about baseball now just pretty please welcome in one and all thursday january 25th the fantasy footballers jason will get back to the sport you know and love yeah yeah give me that football american football this is the truth episode for the running back position so we'll look at the top 10 running

backs on today's show the last couple of episodes broke down the quarterbacks and look there's some pretty interesting data about the running back position from this past year that we'll talk about today. What else is going on? You're in all black today. I'm in a jacket today. I've given in. We talked about the debate like me versus Mike. No, not good for me.

No, it's great. I was at lunch yesterday, and I looked at the lunch table, and every single person there and inside our studio is in just bundled up. I'm surprised they didn't have mittens on. They're all hoodies up. Yeah, they look real comfy. They are inside all wearing jackets. This is inappropriate.

What kind of pants are you wearing today? Oh, I'm in shorts. Give me. That's a bridge too far, Andrew. It's like the foot out the blanket. He's just trying to get, like, he understands that winter is X amount of fabric. And it doesn't matter where you. That's right.

Like, so it's all on the top out. I'm going to get a huge hat. It's a big hat. Funny. New Dynasty podcast came out uh yesterday sensational episode we talked uh a little bit about rookie tight ends and then some dynasty trade targets and trying to and not just not just targets because you know we have players where you're interested in trading for trading away but just more the thinking about the concept of dynasty trading

versus the market and that kind of stuff. So check it out. Did you do any analysis of my kind of perennially great dynasty team and whether I can just ride it out again for another year? No, we did not. Because the time is running out for that team. The creditors, I mean, they keep loaning.

But eventually, they show up and they say... Someone's going to go knock, knock. Is Andrew Holloway here? Oh, I keep opening up. And you don't want to say, yes, I am. Andy's avoiding it, like getting served. Oh, I open up the mailbox and there's just a lot of pink paper in there and I just... Shut that mailbox. I close the mailbox and there's just a lot of pink paper in there. And I just shut that mail.

I closed the mailbox and I'm like, I'm running this team back. Yeah. Um, yeah, I'll check that out. The dynasty podcast. And you know,

during the off season, when we have two of our main show, it's a great time to jump in there. If you play dynasty and, uh, get involved. Yeah. And we're going to start breaking down rookie prospects here pretty soon.

Yeah. Yeah. Started the scouting process myself. And let me just say, Marvin Harrison Jr., I think he's good. Oh, wow. I, Jason Moore, think he is a good prospect. You dug in, huh? I'm going to go ahead and I'm going to say it boldly.

Okay. This is a big moment. Mainstream media won't tell you that this guy projected to go with the top five i would just love it if jason came out with his own dynasty rookie guide and that's it it's just it's just his breakdown of marvin harrison top to bottom um yeah yeah that the days are coming i, for those that are new with us this year or those that may have forgotten, Super Bowl Sunday is when we begin our pre-sale

for the Ultimate Draft Kit, the 2024 Ultimate Draft Kit. And as soon as you pick that up, if you get the UDK Plus on Super Bowl Sunday, you get access to the Dynasty Pass immediately. Yeah, so a couple weeks from now, if you play Dynasty, you have access already to the 2024 Dynasty Pass in the UDK+. So make sure you pick that up at the cheapest price you can on Super Bowl Sunday. Yeah, and that is, what, February 11th, right?

It's coming quick, so we're going to have a lot of good content out then. We do have some news. News and notes from around the league. Well, I mean, the big news, Jim Harbaugh, back to the NFL. He's back. The Chargers landed the biggest fish in the coaching pool. And he is, make no mistake, the biggest fish. Obviously, you've got Bill Belichick out there. He's the oldest fish.

He's older than Pete Carroll? He's got two old fish out there. Yeah, those two old fish, no. But Harbaugh's just a great coach. I know he didn't get along with the San Francisco 49ers owners, and he can ruffle some feathers, but you look at his coaching history and he was great with the Niners he was great with San Diego in college he just won a national championship with Michigan he's like I don't remember him ever not being good and obviously his Harbaugh or other um is also a great really good no but yes yeah i was pretty proud of that uh you know

they're they've got great football minds and and i think this is a great hire for the chargers who have been the most i feel like they are cursed just every game it doesn't matter it doesn't matter if it's 24 to 3 you just go how are they going to lose a close one? Well, look at the division they're in. They're going to be facing Mr. Mahomes for a long time and Andy Reid and an up-and-coming, I think, Raiders squad. Denver with Sean Payton. So you needed a coach that could come in here and compete.

Jim Harbaugh, look, I think they got along pretty well his first year. They went 13-3 with Alex Smith back in 2011. They went 11-4. They went 12-4 and then 8-8 the final year. I think it was Trent Baalke and him that didn't get along, but he was the coach of the year. They went to the Super Bowl. This was back when Greg Roman was the offensive coordinator and calling plays. They were a very run-heavy team at the time. In fact, during the four years, we saw this morning, Kyle was pulling this up.

They never ranked higher than 29th in pass attempts per game. But the biggest question for fantasy players is around Justin Herbert. Yeah, it'll be higher. Because that was, I mean, you're talking about Colin Kaepernick was running your offense for the majority of the Harbaugh era. And it's, I mean, Russian quarterbacks, their pass attempts are lower.

And you had Frank Gore there being a great running back. Good coaches usually coach to their personnel. Right. And when you've got Herbert, I do think he'll utilize the talents Herbert has. So, yeah, there'll be a lot of excitement around the Chargers heading into the year. There'll also be, you know, at a minimum, like, you want a balanced offense, and this team's running back situation is one to watch in the draft.

Sure. Yeah, I mean, goodness gracious, what are they going to do? Eckler is not under contract, and they proved this season without a shadow of a doubt that they do not have someone behind him ready to step up. Yeah, and then we have a new head coach for – did you guys already – we didn't already talk about Tennessee did we Tennessee

oh I don't think I'm not seeing it in the news we already talked about Callahan on this show? I thought so I don't know if we didn't Brian Callahan is a coach that was all the way back on Tuesday I feel like we talked about this

this is what happens when you don't have a show every day That was all the way back on Tuesday? I feel like we talked about this. Yeah. Okay. This is what happens when you don't have a show every day. Yeah. All right. If we talked about it, I'm not going to talk about it again. The Eagles are hiring Vic Fangio to be their D.C. Packers fired their D.C. Joe Barry. Is there any other news?

I feel like the Vic Fangio hire is great. I personally think it's like you've got – yeah, you seem to not care. You complain that he's 65 years old, but Vic Fangio has always run a good defense. Was it great for Miami? Yeah, Miami's defense was very good this last season. Why was it so great that they fired him? I think they came to a mutual agreement. I don't think it was a straight-up firing.

The fact that it was like, hey, we're going to let you go, and tomorrow you've got a job. I think this was – I mean, he literally went from like – He was going to be hired by the Eagles last offseason. So, yes, it makes sense that he found a home. I'm not saying – I think he's a good defensive coordinator. I would also say that I think Miami was kind of up and down. I mean, over the course of the past couple of years.

It doesn't excite me that much. Yeah, I would be excited if I was an Eagles fan. kind of up and down. I mean, over the course of the past couple of years, um, it doesn't, it doesn't excite me that much. Yeah. I would be excited if I was an Eagles fan. Okay. All right. Different opinions.

Mike has none. Um, any other news we need to talk about? Nope. Did you hear, um, about the Titans? Ooh,

tell me more. They got a new coach. Who? Callahan. Still not positive we talked about it. Everyone keeps saying we did. I mean, I guess you guys were not excited about that hire. That's what – now it's coming back to me. Yeah, I remember.

It's fine. Talking about Vrabel. Well, there was some news this morning that Belichick is not the frontrunner for Atlanta's job. We'll see if that proves true. Yeah, that could be true. Also, news came out that Pete Carroll was making a push for the Chargers job right before in contract negotiation times. So, I don't know.

I take all reports of those with the Grinch. Pretty sure that was a PFT exclusive all right if we don't have any other news we will jump into the truth you want answers I think I'm entitled you want answers I want the truth you can't handle the truth. All right, before we look into the top 10 running backs and what they really delivered for fantasy managers this year, we'll take a little moment for a broad view of the running back position. It's kind of a weird year. Obviously, we had some injuries,

but this was the fewest total running back receptions since 2014. That's a long time. Alvin Kamara did his best, but he could not catch enough league-wide. Austin Eckler did his worst. Yeah. So it reached that mark. And it was also less efficient. It wasn't just less involved in the passing game.

They were not as valuable. It really has been like over the last couple years, the whole running backs don't matter narrative. Running backs not usually going in the first round of drafts, obviously, this year notwithstanding. It just feels like NFL teams are saying it is the least effective play to use a running back. And it is true. Like, even passing to a running back, which is more effective than a rushing attempt, is less effective than passing to a wide receiver or even a slot wide receiver. So maybe this is a trend that we will continue to see.

I don't know. I mean, think about the teams that are left in the NFL playoffs right now. Kansas City's gotten there on the back of Pacheco. Bills were succeeding because they transitioned to a running offense with James Cook. The Lions have two formidable running backs that have brought them to this point.

Obviously, CMC is the backbone of the 49ers. We did see a resurgence in rushing volume uh this past year in terms of total attempts those were really trending down um it was weird though because you you didn't have as many cheat codes at the running back position with the the receiving totals i'm curious on that overall rushing volume is that just that's just running back total rush attempts okay but i mean

does that include the quarterback is my question like derrick henry just running back had 280 attempts and that's the lowest for a league leader in terms of yeah in terms of like one player what they're leading the league in total attempts yeah yeah and even even this year i believe uh mccaffrey led the league in rushing yards but it was like 130 less than jacobs last year and then it was like 300 less than the year before um so yeah it speaks to your point like efficiency was down yeah even though the volume among all of them was up and with running backs the fewest rushing touchdowns in the last six years thanks to like 300 touchdowns being rushed in by josh allen and jalen hurts yeah i i mean it's interesting there are teams like i think the challenge for fantasy

managers with the running backs has become more difficult at times because you have teams like detroit where it's like i think we'd all say say you can play Montgomery and Gibbs every single week, right? Yeah. But they're also both on the same team, right? You're not – you don't have as many of the – like Eckler not playing a big role this year. Yeah, workhorse running backs are down. Yeah. Josh Jacobs became less efficient. Austin Eckler became less efficient.

And those are two of the like five workhorse running backs. If you get rid of – and then you lost on the trailer. Well, Henry was less efficient. And those are two of the five workhorse running backs. If you get rid of – and then you lost on the trailer. Well, Henry was less efficient. Yeah. Yeah. So we are looking at the truth, Mike. Great games. I can handle it.

Great games, 21-plus points at running back. That's how we're defining a great performance. Good games, 12-plus points. Bus games, we're looking at fewer than 7 points. And just to remind people, when we look at the truth of these players, when we look at their consistency, we're not holding their missed games against them. Specifically the games that they did not start. So if they did start and they played

and got injured in that game, that will count against their score because you started them that week or could have. But we don't count if a player misses five or six games. Like Jonathan Taylor scores really well in the truth this year. Obviously, you've got to factor in the fact that he wasn't as great as you wanted because he wasn't there for a lot of it, similar to when we're going to go through wide receivers Justin Jefferson was great on the truth score but that only is when he's on

the field when you could start him that's how we use our our truth metric all right number one you guessed it it's Christian McCaffrey uh and the summary of Christian McCaffrey is he is very good similar to Jason's analysis of Marvin Harrison did you do the deep work I just finished grinding the tape on CMC and I'm absolutely in guys

I think he's talented honestly when we were watching the playoff game he makes no sense he makes no sense how no one could tackle him how he just it's like every play is like wait why does why why is he so much better than everyone it doesn't make sense and he is better than everyone that I've seen for as long as I can remember he is so good and always has been. Back to Stanford, he's just the best running back out there. And speaking of how good the season was,

it was 50% of his games were great, which is just ridiculous. 94% good, and he never had a bust game by our metrics. So it was a perfect season. And to highlight it, since 2017, only Todd Gurley in 2018, McCaffrey in 2019, and then this year of McCaffrey has hit that mark of 50-90-0. So it was a truly difference-making pick to get him at 101 or 203, wherever he got. I mean, I think you just said a word that makes perfect sense. It was a perfect season. Yeah.

Right? Yeah. Zero bust games. No down game whatsoever. There was that one week where you weren't sure he was going to play in the Monday night game. Oh, right. So, I mean, there was some anxiety. Yeah. You might have held your breath. Yeah, you did. one week where you weren't sure he was going to play in the Monday night game oh right so there I mean there was some anxiety yeah you might have held your breath yeah you did at one point

do I have to play someone else is McCaffrey going to play and he did and he was great when you combine when you combine the um well everything we just said about the running back position overall and you combine that with everything we just said about Christian McCaffrey's unbelievable season. There's a reason why I think the craziest stat that we've talked about and discussed on this show for a long, long time, one of the craziest in the nine years we've been doing this was the fact that over 50% of championship games this season included Christian McCaffrey in it because he was as good as any running back has been for the last decade and running backs were far worse than they've been for the last decade so it just he was an unfair advantage and and next year you have to

you have to do the same thing he's got to be the one-on-one. He's in a perfect situation, a perfect system. He hasn't slowed down. You don't worry about the age. He's too good. Amazingly, this is not the truth you really needed from us because I think you might have known that, that Christian McCaffrey was really, really good this year. So we'll take a quick break and come back with number two, Raheem Mostert.

Usually you say we're coming back with number two, and then we'll tell you who it is. I thought it would be, I don't know. I wanted them to think about Raheem Mostert during the break a little bit. Oh, okay. I wanted them to think about, like, picture before the season and what you thought the number two running back would be, and then put Raheem Mostert's face in that

spot, because, I mean, this was an incredible season. Raheem Mostert had 18 rushing touchdowns on the ground in 15 games. The great problem with Mostert's season, and by the way, it was fourth in consistency, ninth in the first half, seventh in the second half.

So he didn't – like due to the age, he didn't drop off in consistency over the second half of the year. He got better. The only thing that was really impactful was the fact that when push came to shove for your fantasy playoffs, you didn't have him. Week 17 and week 18, he was gone. Yeah, he helped get a lot of people to the championship game, and then you had to pivot because he was not available for the championship. But you can't,

I mean, he won a bunch of footies. So this was a clear, if you had Raheem Mostert, you know the value because you drafted him very, very late, and he was the running back two on the year when you can do uh when you can grab a great running back late in drafts uh there's not much more to say the question is going forward next year with Devon Achan having established himself as an important part of this offense going into his sophomore season where he most are being 32 years. How do you expect the split to go there? Because Devon Achan was our consistency metric ranked number 10. He was great in his own right. Yeah, and Achan finished at 24 overall with the missed games,

but a consistency of 10. Just to break down those consistency metrics, Mostert was 33% great, 60% good, 13% bust. Achan was 45% great in the games he played, 55% good, 13% bust. A-chan was 45% great in the games he played, 55% good, 27% bust. A-chan's splits are unbelievable. Now, it's hard to know just how noisy the data is because you only have 11 games, and he beat the crap out of bad teams. And, I mean, most running

backs do that. Like, Christian McCaffrey splits 18 against top half teams, 25 points a game against bottom half. You expect that because touchdown variance. But for A-Chan, in the four games against top 16 rushing defenses,

he averaged 3.9 fantasy points per game. Bottom 16 defenses, which that's the seven games, over 23 points a game. I think that's extreme noise. Extreme noise that you throw out, and here's why. When you only have 11 games to start, and two of the games happen to be against the top 16 defenses where you basically didn't play.

Like against New England in his first game, I think he had one carry in that game. He was not involved at all. So he scores one total fantasy point. That goes against a top scoring or a tough defense. On the flip side, you have his 50-point explosion against the Broncos' bottom 16 running defense. So I don't think the splits are that crazy. There's not enough data there.

It is noisy. But I will say this, like this season in particular, one thing that happened is when they were in a major game against a major opponent, there was a trust level in Mostert that was exhibited. You also had the question going into next year with Mostert, he'll be older, obviously. All players will. But this is getting to an age where you're like,

dude, are you going to be like Fred Jackson here and be able to just pull this off? And obviously a lot of his fantasy production came on the back of the touchdown. How many total touchdowns did he have? 23? Mostert? I mean, he had 18 on the ground.

I remember his 22nd total. 18 on the ground, three through the air. So 21, 21. I do not remember his 22nd. No. Was that in the playoffs? Maybe. Okay.

But the other question I will ask you, Jason, because we all know that Devon Achan has an unbelievable skill set and ability. He spent the preseason on the injury list with a shoulder sprain. He spent seven weeks on injury reports with a knee sprain where he missed five games. He spent another three weeks on injury reports with toe problems and bruised ribs. And it feels a little bit like a fulfillment of prophecy to a degree because we said, like, hey, he's little. This is something that could happen.

He also seems too fast, like illegal. Like it's not – like you're going too quick. Your body doesn't like that. So, you know, I would expect there to be balance next year. I would also expect most people to take HN over Mostert next season. Yeah, that's what I would – That would be interesting. I'll bet that's what you expect.

I'd be shocked if that didn't happen. I'm sure that will happen. You've got a second-year player coming into his prime who looked just as good as Mostert. I mean, when you watched HN, it was like every time he touched the ball, it was like, wow, there's another seven yards. There's another...

You just can't stop him. Now, the injury concern is fully legitimate at his size. He came in undersized that was why prior to drafting to the Miami Dolphins drafting him you know we were kind of out on HN in as a in the prospect season after he went to the Dolphins obviously I I thought it was a great pairing and was all in on the only spot yeah it was the only place where it was like all right I'm gonna change and he'sChance. It was the only spot. Yeah, it was the only place where it was like, all right, I'm going to change and he's going to be good and he was great.

But I think it's legitimate to say I worry about injuries with him, but there aren't many fantasy assets that could ever go out and put up 50 points. And he can't. So you're going to have to take the gamble and decide what kind of fantasy player you are. I'm going to be in on A-Chance. Let me give you the weeks 13 through 18, end of season, last six games projected over a year. Healthy.

181 attempts, 960 yards on the ground at 5.3 a clip, which is amazing and yet somehow way lower than what he started the year with. 70 targets, 48 receptions, 357 yards, about 10 total touchdowns. It will all come down to utilization and the health of Raheem Mostert. I'd imagine the team wants to run it back with these two and do very similar things on the ground, even if the pendulum swings a little bit to the A-champ production side. I think you're right, and Mostert is under contract in 2024,

so you've already got these guys both back. Yeah. Number three. Wow. under contract in 2024 so you've already got these guys both back yeah number three wow travis etn wait wait real quick where will mostert be drafted do you think raheem mostert the number two running back on the season nowhere near number two obviously um um third fourth round it'll be so it's going later yeah i think he might i don't know Nowhere near number two, obviously. Third, fourth round? It'll be so interesting. Yeah, I think he might drop to like the fifth. I think A-Chan will go in the second.

It'll be so interesting. Like the top of the second. Yeah, I agree with that. And so then Mostert, I'm going to go late third. I don't know if people will have the ability to pass on what he did, but the age. I mean, who would be in contention in that late third next year? Because I want to tease this out a little bit. Like, who do you think would –

The running backs? Yeah, I mean, he's going to go ahead of Mixon, won't he? Mixon was the name I was going to ask. Yeah, I mean, he'll go ahead of Najee, won't he? Man, probably. He'll go ahead of Najee. Yeah. I don't know.

I think Mixon will go ahead. Conner or Mostert next year. In ADP? Yeah. Who do you think goes higher? Mostert. People don't like Connor anyways. That's dumb.

Yeah, probably Mostert. Yeah. I mean, it'll be- Those two are very similar. Yeah, they're both older and very talented. And productive. And not given the respect they deserve. Like Camara.

Yeah, Camara will probably. Camara or Mostert. Oh, it'll be Mostert. It'll be Mostert. Really? Yeah, I don't think. I'm not going to be in on Camara next year. Wow, you're Mr. Camara.

We're trying to speak for the public. That's what I'm guessing what they will do. I'm only speaking for myself. Yeah. I said ADP. I picked that up. I said the ADP. I've been speaking for Mike this whole time. Andy draft position. Andy draft position. It's ADP. Don picked that up. I said the ADP. I've been speaking for Mike this whole time.

Andy draft position. Andy draft position. It's ADP. Don't you know what that is? I think – so you think people will be in on Kamara? I guess I – No, I'm just saying between the two of them, I don't know if – that's a really tough call.

What happened over there in Deucer's Alley? There was a loud crash. Let's throw the camera over there. Who was that? Something over this way. Papa Josh. Did you throw something towards the garbage can? No, I kicked the bottom side of the desk.

Oh, goodness gracious. That's all right. Grow up. Yeah. Learn to control your body. All right. Travis Etienne, let's find out the truth because this is why we do this show. Yeah, it's not a happy truth.

This was a third-round draft pick. Travis Etienne was last year. Finishes at three in total fantasy output, and yet 14 in consistency. 29% great, 53% good, 24% bust. The first half of the year, he was the third most consistent. In the second half, he was the third most consistent in the second half he was the 32nd most consistent it was a tale of two seasons almost right i mean yes um dominated bottom 16

teams which is why the first half was so good they played a lot of bad defenses and a lot of good matches for him bad offensive line you it. His efficiency was way down. We never saw a breakout for anybody else in that running. You know, Tank Bigsby. Oh, goodness. Tank Bigsby is, I mean, The tank was empty. Do we just call him Keyshawn Vaughn now?

I mean, that's the season you got, right? There are always offseason players that you're like, boy, they're going to have a shot, and then they don't. And at least for Bigsby in year one, that's what the case was. Etienne is their guy. Yeah, I mean, you can be confident going into next year of Travis Etienne's utilization that he's going to get enough work,

that he's involved in the passing game. I mean, when you look at the opportunity that running backs receive, you love what you saw. When you look at the talent and running backs receive, you love what you saw. When you look at the talent and the ability of a running back, you also love what you saw oftentimes. But, and we brought this up about midway through the season, about the fact that he was actually pretty inefficient on the ground. He was living on touchdowns that first half of the year. You know, when he had a four-week stretch as the running back one, the running back three, the running back four, and the running back five,

I'm pretty sure those came on the back of two rushing touchdowns, two rushing touchdowns, two rushing touchdowns, and two rushing touchdowns. Do it again. Say it again. Okay, hold on, guys. That's super hard to say. Yeah? Two rushing touchdowns? No, say it four times. Two rushing touchdowns, two rushing touchdowns,

two rushing touchdowns, two rushing touchdowns. Oh, that was pretty good. That was so easy. Two rushing touchdowns, two rushing touchdowns, two rushing touchdowns, two rushing touchdowns. Oh, that was pretty good. That was so easy. I closed my eyes though. I got real focused. Okay, alright. You at home, play along. Pause it. Say it four times. The human torch was denied a bank loan.

Here's something I will say about Etienne going into next year. He's just 25 years old. And the season for Jacksonville was not what anybody hoped for or expected. You don't generally find, you know, a top tier running back consistency wise on a squad that is losing a lot of games and missing the playoffs. It was a bad second half for them. It was, I mean, the, the Jaguars season fell apart they they

collapsed and so the question going forward for Travis Etienne is a matter of for me like when I'm thinking about Travis Etienne I'm thinking about Trevor Lawrence and what I believe he is to this franchise and will they be winning games and scoring a lot of points or is he just really a a middling quarterback that's gonna you know be a Derek Carr level asset for the next four or five years because that to me impacts whether Travis Etienne is a fine running back option who you know will be an important piece in fantasy or he's a great running back option and I don't think he's going to be a great running back option Travis Etienne was drafted as the RB10 in the third round. He was worth it, right?

Oh, yeah. Yeah, yeah. So, I mean, from a draft value, people crafted a narrative as to why he wouldn't produce this year, and he did. So we need to keep that in mind going into next year. But the second half, like if you look at week nine on, because this guy finishes the running back three on the season. That's how good his first half was and what he can do. But the second half of the season from week nine on, he was the running back 21. Jerome Ford scored more than Travis Etienne.

So, you know, Tony Pollard, who everybody hated and never really got it together, outscored Travis Etienne over the second half of the season Jay did you I'm sorry when you were talking about the the two rushing touchdowns did you mention the in nine games without a touchdown he averaged eight and a half points per game I did not and that's the point yeah that's the point is he was touchdown reliant if he didn't get touchdowns he didn't have a good fantasy game at number four Brees lightning oh baby Brees Hall 22 years old was a fourth round draft pick the running back 14 off the board there were doubts around how quickly he'd come back from the torn ACL along with the signing of Dalvin Cook he may seem comedic at this point to have had doubts, but that is what was circling around draft time.

Otherwise, RB14 was not going to be where Brees would have gone. Now, bumpy start to the season? Well, the first month, remember, he didn't get the ball much. He had eight carries a game. That would have been a 17-game pace of 136 carries. He was coming off the ACL. So he was very underutilized that first month of the season. This was very much like the mental picture of, like, one man put on a bunch of armor and was all alone

and ran to face an army of 1,000 every week. I mean, no offensive line. You lost Aaron Rodgers. The opportunity that he had, look, he had a ton of carries when the season was over, but not super efficient. 31st ranked offensive line. We all know who he really is. This season, it was 29% great, 53% good, 18% bust, but we know who Brees Hall is we know that this is a play like Brees Hall to go above Mostert Brees Hall should go above ETN Brees Hall should go above the majority of running backs next season and I don't think any of us have any doubt about

I wouldn't doubt if he's a back-end first round pick uh Brees Hall finished the season as the running back four without Aaron Rodgers with the worst offensive line coming off of an ACL injury not getting the ball a lot to start the season. Now I do think that there are caveats to that going to next season. He's not going to receive the target share and the level of dump offs that he had this season when the offense couldn't do anything other than just throw the ball to Brees over the line of scrimmage and hope he could make a play. That's what the entire Jets offense turned into. But you assume if Aaron Rodgers is back, and please, please, Jets, Aaron Rodgers is not the biggest problem on your team. The quarterback is not the biggest. Please fix this offensive line. This offensive line, I don't know how they're ranked 31st.'m not sure who's 32nd but that's embarrassing

if someone out there is worse than the Jets offensive line they need to fix it but it'll change next year but I mean we he's 23 years old next season I don't know if 95 like if you took the over under 95 targets next year I think I'd be taking the under yeah me too but this is uh this is a first round draft pick pick in fantasy, in my opinion, and you just had to take the inconsistency this year on the chin because of the offense and because of where the Jets were headed. Yep, and you're hoping that Rodgers, I mean, more touchdown opportunity balances out your overall opportunities coming down.

So I'll be in on Brees. Let me give you a tough question as we move to our number five running back if you were in a dynasty league and you had bijan robinson would you offer him for breese hall jason i have both on my roster you fell into my trap um did i get you a championship last year no i also have travis etn but uh no. Did I get you a championship last year? No, I also have Travis Etienne, but no, no, I did not get a championship. So basically who would you rather have? Brees Hall or B. John Robinson? I would rather have B. John Robinson. And I let you know, I mean, I'm not on that side. My love for both of those men. Please don't hear what I'm not saying. I,

I think both are absolute phenomenal. I mean, that's probably the running back. They're two of the top four running backs in Dynasty. I think I've seen more at the NFL level from Brees than Bijan in terms of elite play. That's it. That's fine. I think Brees has proven himself to me more,

and that's even with the ACL. Well, right now he's fine. I think Brees has proven himself to me more, and that's even with the ACL. Well, and right now he's alone. They don't really have another running back there to challenge him. Well, if Arthur were the coach, someone else would have been available. That's true. All right, number five was Joe Mixon, guys. Consistency rank of eight. 53% good games, 12% great, So you didn't get a lot of that,

but you only had 6% bust. He was a value pick in fantasy because he went in the late third round at RB 13 and was even better in the second half of the year. Now we had the burrow injury, obviously. I think there were a lot of doubts around Mixon. He was like one of the least sexy running back picks people were making. And, you know, I fell into the trap. I didn't want to settle for Joe Mixon. I wanted to shoot for somebody with a higher upside, but I wish I had not done that. I wish I had taken Joe Mixon and just accepted the free fantasy points

he was providing instead of some of the variables players like, I don't know, Damian Pierce provided this year. Yeah, it's fair. And going forward next year, remember Joe Mixon restructured his contract. He restructured his contract in a way that means he's going to be there next year. He's going to be their guy. Towards the second half of this season, Joe Mixon impressed the heck out of me. When you lost Joe Burrow and you want to rely on your running game

and the other team just can't stop you, you know he reminded me a lot of James Conner at the end of this year. You had the backup quarterback playing. You had a hurt offense. The opposing defense is no. Joe Mixon is going to get the ball here and there, and they're trying to stop him, but he broke a lot of tackles. He played well.

He looked like he was playing like an older version of himself, not trying to home run everything, but always just getting that extra yard or two. He really impressed me. Next year I think I'm going to be in on Joe Mixon. The run that he is on, let me just give you the perspective of the back of the card, so to speak, for Joe Mixon. Throw out the 2020 year where he only played six games. Okay.

So that means since 2018, every healthy year he's had. RB 9, 13, 3, 12, 5. He's the only running back in fantasy to finish top 12 each of the last three years. There's no one else that's done it. Bravo. Yes. Bravo, Joe Mixon. You surprised a lot of people.

Let me tease it the way Mike wanted. You won't believe who number six is after this. Who is it? Yeah, now the people want to know. I want to know. Is it Diet CMC? You guys both already know because it's right in front of you. Yeah, I knew before.

Acting. I wasn't actually a wizard. See, right now they're going, just say it already, but I'm not going to. I'll say it. Diet CMC. Christian McCaffrey Light, Kyron Williams. Now, see, I feel like you just stole that from Rashad White. We called him baby CMC. Yeah, but he's not as good.

So you think Kyron fits that better? Kyron fits it much, much better. Yeah. Yeah. Kieran Williams finishes at six despite missing a lot of time. He was the number one most consistent running back in all of football over the second half of the year, number two on the season. 50% great games, 83% good, 8% bust. When we talked about Christian McCaffrey at the top of the show

and we said he was the number one running back who had one of the most historical seasons, and you looked and you expected it to be like what we saw with Josh Allen, where it was number one on the course of the season, number one in consistency score on the course of the season, number one in the first half, number one in the second half, except it was all number ones except number two in the second half. And that's not because Christian McCaffrey was bad.

It's because of how outstanding Kyron Williams was. So you're taking him ahead of Brees Hall next year? I would take Kyron Williams ahead of B. John next year. Yes, I'm taking Kyron ahead of both of those guys. Okay, so Kyron is probably my number two. He's in your number two. I mean, take a CMC. As far as

at the running back position, I think you've got to go Kyron next. He was a revelation, and outside of missing games, he was unstoppable. He never faced stacked boxes because he's got a coach that schemes his players open. This offense looks great with Puka coming into year two and Kyron.

Let me read fantasy finishes for you. 6-23-23-1-14-10 to end the year. Yeah. Just kidding. That was Cam Akers the year before. Yeah, that was –14-10 to end the year. Yeah. Just kidding. That was Cam Akers the year before. Yeah, that was – That was Cam Akers the year before. So I'm just bringing that up because Cam Akers looked like this

for six whole weeks with Sean McVay. I'm not taking it away from what we saw on the field from Kyron, but he is certainly the beneficiary of a genius on the offensive side of the football. We need to see. Were you confused when I was reading those out, Mike? Yeah. Your face looked real confused.

One, nine, eight. We're not reading the same numbers. No. The Rams, what they do at the running back position in the free agency period and the draft will be humongous. Because if we only get a backup caliber player or a later pick, then Kyron's going to feel safe at the top of the Rams depth chart. He saw 37% of the team rush attempts and targets in his 12 games played.

Christian McCaffrey's the only one higher, 39%. Kyron was a true workhorse running back, and yet Cam Akers had those numbers. Todd Gurley had those numbers. It's more about does Sean McVay want to go for it with Kyron Williams? That's his guy. And if the actions of the team specify that, then I'm with Jason. I don't know if he'll be at number two for me,

but he'll be easily in the top five. There are two running backs ever to score 15-plus total touchdowns in 12 or fewer games over the last 40 years. Woo, hot stats. Priest Holmes in eight games did it. Oh, man. He did it in eight games. In 2004.

And Kyron Williams. Yeah. But you were going to. No, I mean, Kyron is, he was a centerpiece of the offense. And when you listen to, like, here's the difference, right? We weren't sure if Cam Akers was the guy. We knew that the running system for McVay is great, and Cam Akers finished the previous season so hot.

But whenever you listen to McVay talk about Cam Akers, you aren't sure he wanted him on the roster. When you listen to Sean McVay talk about Kyron Williams, he loves Kyron Williams. Kyron Williams, I believe, will be the centerpiece of this offense. Obviously, Mike is right. If they go out and surprise us and spend a day to pick or, or just watch out for the fifth round.

Right. They are good at picking fifth round. Look, Jared Goff was productive with Sean McVay. He didn't want Jared Goff. Right. So that's the similar thing. He wants Stafford.

He wants Kyron and Kyron dominated. And there's nothing to dislike the utilization. Fantastic. The receiving work. Great great the goal line work awesome his success on every aspect of the field like i don't know the at some point he's barely 23 years old at some point you you have to get rid of the draft capital and i'm at that point it's the only on him. Let's move on to one of the most valuable draft picks in fantasy football for the 2023 season. Extra fat CMC. Oh, my gosh.

Yeah. This is extra sugar. I will defend this, man, because I was the only one doing it in the offseason. Rashad White finishes at seven, consistency rank of seven, was 19th in the first half, fifth in the second half. He was the running back two in all of fantasy from week seven on and very, very consistent, very, very productive. Didn't do it on the back of 21 touchdowns like Raheem Mostert, right?

Like he got it done. He had nine touchdowns on the back of 21 touchdowns like Raheem Mostert, right? Like he got it done. He had nine touchdowns on the year, 70 targets, 64 catches on 70 targets. So you talk about just when you drop the ball down to Rashad White, he did not drop the ball. So this is what changed. If you remember, we were going into like week seven, and you weren't even sure if you should be starting Rashad White or not because he would have a big game and a bad game and a big game and the bad games were not even six fantasy points they were atrocious three games under six points in the

first five games yeah so I mean it was like can we can we trust Rashad White he was very ineffective on the ground they did not run the well, even over the course of the season when he was awesome, 3.6. But there was a clear and obvious change in the passing game. And the nice thing is Todd Bowles came out and talked about this about halfway through the season, like how important they need to get him the ball in space, and they just kept with that. Those first five games, he was on pace for a

season total targets of 57 targets I mean his fantasy value is entirely in the receiving game that after that point you know he was on pace for 68 receptions so he was just used in the passing game so much the from week seven on he's a wide receiver for for all intents and purposes because his efficiency was bad on the ground so does baker make the difference here yes it's a huge difference yes if baker is back then i i think rashad white will be effective again i mean he you don't need him to be like i see there I see there as being more – as much upside to wide as downside. I think some people would say, hey, he's going to revert, right? You won't catch as many passes.

I see you could be more efficient on the ground. He can improve. Their offensive line was trash. I think that's the – if I had to guess where they're going in the first round of the draft, I would guess they're going to try to add an O-lineman here. Very durable. That could be awesome for White.

Also, I need to give more credit. I know he was ineffective on the ground, but he surpassed all my expectations and looked the part. In the receiving game, he became effective and efficient and was valuable. He broke tackles. He got touchdowns. He had an awesome season and deserves mad dap. The 3.64 yards per carry for Rashad White,

that is the lowest for a top 15 running back over the past five years. His.7 fantasy points per opportunity was below the league average at the running back position. So he's so difficult because he needs everything to be exactly the same in terms of he needs Baker or an equivalent pocket quarterback who you know checks the ball down, and then you need to make sure there is no one else on this team who can challenge him for work. I'm going to be a full apologist for Rashad White.

Okay. I'm just going to admit that right now. A truther. Yeah, because I – look, he got – It's like Najee's rookie year. He got 272 carries, and we're going to make every excuse for the efficiency for Brees Hall on that offensive line. And we know that Rashad White – look, he got so many –

he had games where he had so many. He had games where he had 27 carries. He wasn't as effective on them, but they committed to the run and he was their guy. So yes, you always have to watch the depth chart, but this is a team that just made a run to the divisional round that no one saw coming on the back of Rashad White. And the best part to me is that the organizational structure is not going to change. Their offensive coordinator is not getting promoted to a head coach. Todd Bowles isn't going anywhere. The GM isn't changing.

Are you shutting the door for Mr. Canales? Yeah, I think so. I think he's probably hoping to still get a job. Yeah, he should. There's nothing wrong with hope. Everyone should have hope in their life goals and and hope but yeah it's not you don't think so no i don't think so but assuming i mean that

would be a big deal to me because right now this coaching staff completely relied upon rashad white and they won games doing it so i would imagine next year like i'll be in on rashad white should there not be massive changes and it doesn't. I would imagine Baker's going to be back, and I don't think they're going to add some crazy piece at running back. So I think you can expect more volume because that's what it was. He was a volume play. 342 opportunities on the season. That's incredible.

Mostert or Rashad White in the draft next year? Mostert. Who do I want or ADP? Who would you rather take? I lean Most are. That was how I answered the question as well. Because I think White will go ahead of him ADP. Interesting.

As of right now. Derrick Henry came in at eight. Consistency of 11. That dropped to 17 in the second half of the year, six in the first half of the year. Here's what you weren't used to. 29% bust games for Derrick Henry. You had weeks where he was literally the reason you probably lost,

at least five of them. I got great news. Yeah. Henry doesn't have to play the Houston Texans anymore. Yeah, man. They just have his number, as we all knew. The one, like the thing you look forward to the most with Derrick Henry every year was you played the Houston Texans twice, and I know I have two weeks that Derrick Henry will

win me my fantasy week. And this year they lined up to both be in the fantasy playoffs. I remember the underdog leagues, the best ball mania maniacs who were just looking at the week 17 matchup, the playoff matchup, the correlation, the comebacks, all that stuff. Derrick Henry was king because two games against the Houston Texans in that stretch to which he put up three fantasy points and four fantasy points. Really should have gone with 7.2 points. Total against the Houston Texans. Insane.

Yeah. I mean, you would have been better off playing his teammate, Tajay Spears, in that time. Algier, Chase Brown. Heck, Isaiah Spiller would have been a better start. Henry was baffling last year because you have, you know, we have five games where it was catastrophic to play him. And watching him play in those games, I mean,

he could get nothing going at all. And then you would have other games, like the Week 18, watching him with the touchdown run, following the blocker, made a perfect cut, looked like vintage Derrick Henry. So he will be

very confusing. Especially with landing spot. Is Derrick Henry a Baltimore Raven? That's probably the odds-on favorite since there was at least some smoke of him at the trade deadline going to that team. Dallas? To Dallas? Oh, baby.

I think Dallas is the dark horse. You put him on a high-powered offense like the Ravens or Dallas where you know there's going to be a bunch of opportunities. Tony Pollard was very ineffective, but the dude got a bazillion goal line carries. Those go to Derrick Henry. That's going to be really hard. Those will be touchdowns.

It's going to be really hard to turn down drafting Derrick Henry even though there are flashing red signs of you need to be scared about Derrick Henry for fantasy football. Yeah, it's a tough one. He's had a lot more tread on the tires than... He's 30! But Mostert's going to be 32!

Yeah, Mostert's just... And we're talking about taking him over Rashad White. They're both outliers, just at the complete different end of the spectrum. Double-digit touchdowns on a new team next year is what you're looking for with Derrick Henry. Yeah, that's what you're hoping for, and it can happen. Obviously, we can't speculate yet not knowing his team. I think

the only thing we can really talk about is on the film, on the field, did he look like he lost anything? Did he look different to you? And sometimes it did. And sometimes it did not. So I guess the answer is yes. The way that I viewed it is Derek Henry

has never been one to break tackles at the line of scrimmage. Right.les at the line of scrimmage right like behind the line of scrimmage he's a locomotive he's a locomotive you get him going a little bit no you you're making business decisions but if you can get him at or behind the line of scrimmage he's never looked good he looks like he's the easiest guy to tackle in the world um and man the Titans offensive line I I think they were we found him oh was it yeah we found the 32nd okay well this this works out perfect so I guess my opinion so 30 they're this 32nd ranked offensive okay that's what my eyeballs saw um and so I don't I don't think it was actually Henry I think Henry

kind of looked the same like you said week 18 Henry was reported to say he was really jealous of the Jets offensive line. Yeah, so I think Henry still has it, and that's really all we can go off of right now. He didn't look bad to me. He looked terrible in those games where it was eight guys on him two yards behind the line. Just for the fun of it, you'd be more excited in Baltimore or Dallas? Because for me it's Dallas.

Yeah, I would say Dallas because I think there'll be more excited in baltimore or dallas because for me is dallas yeah i would say dallas because i think there'll be more consistency i think baltimore but i would love both bijan came in at number nine bijan robinson not yet 22 years old 17th inconsistency in the first half eighth in the second half finishes the year as the 12th most consistent running back in fantasy football. I have been on record saying like Bijan season was peculiar in so many ways. And I don't really know anybody. And I know you're out there, but I don't know a lot of people that Bijan Robinson was the linchpin of your title run. He was at times pretty good. your title run. He was, at times, pretty good. 18% bust, 53%

good, 12% great. He scored four rushing touchdowns on 214 carries. He had four receiving touchdowns. It is criminal. It is criminal. Criminal to draft a running back

in the first round at eight overall, and the dude has four rushing touchdowns. Well, he had three carries inside the five. That's what I'm saying. On the 2023 NFL season. NFL coaches, please take note. Please take note. Arthur Smith thought he was super smart

and didn't use the players that the team drafted and didn't have success, and now that guy... F-f-f-f-fired! Thank you. That guy don't got a job. I want that sound clip. I want that to be in the drops. No, look, Bijan, I think we know that the talent...

Use your players. ...and the ability is there. Bijan is one of the few players going into next year that has a range of outcomes that goes all the way up to number one or two at the position. Yep. Mixon's not going to fit that, right? I don't think Mostert is going to fit that next year, genuinely. I don't think that's possible.

There's only a handful of guys that could be number one. And depending on who this new head coach is going to be, as of this recording, we don't know. But Bijan used properly will be a high floor, high ceiling, league winning player for your team. And he may go lower than he deserves because of the unknown and because we haven't seen it yet. Yeah, I mean it TBD on who the the quarterback is that's going to make a big difference on to how the offense uh how you

believe in the offense obviously if a coach comes in and starts utilizing Bijan as a true workhorse and not giving Tyler Algier a ton of work uh and makes him more of the backup as would be appropriate based on talent Bijan I think should have a phenomenal year. And in fact, even this rookie season, which is disappointing, and I would say it's disappointing for two primary reasons, the primary reasons being he was not given opportunities to score touchdowns like he should have been, and like the team had, they just didn't give it to him. And two, because of the first week of the playoffs.

I am one of them you say did I win my championship with Bijan and Brees Hall no because in in week one of the playoffs they combined for like three fantasy points it was it was awful but if you really look at the season he he was pretty darn good and if you take out you remember that game where he got sick and didn't report it and then they didn't he got one carry in the game in the fourth quarter, weirdly, and he just wasn't used. If you take that game out, he was consistency score of seven. Now, obviously, you played him that week,

so we don't have him in there, but I'm just saying that wasn't his performance or fault. That was Arthur Smith not reporting an injury. He very rarely busted, and he just broke some hearts. And the other thing I'll say, here's going to be the defining characteristic to me. It's not going to just be the fact that Arthur Smith is gone. It's going to be who the quarterback for the Atlanta Falcons is. Yeah, I agree.

If you look at B. John Robinson's utilization in the passing game, guys. It was elite. It was elite, but what I was getting in terms of volume, yes, but he caught 58 of his 86 targets, Mike. Rashad White just caught 64 of 70. Okay? How do you not? I mean, that's not Bijan dropping 30 balls.

You remember some of those catches where he's catching the ball behind his back? That is a quarterback problem. The quarterback gives you the chance to get on the goal line. The quarterback gives you the ball in an area where you can do something. 58 of 86 targets is not the number that is proportionate to his talent and ability. I think we'd all agree that if he was in the Rashad White role in Tampa this year, same exact work. As Rashad White?

As Rashad White. He would have been the running back, too. 70 targets and the 272 carries is a different ballgame. Bichon would have been the RB, too. Yep. So, to me, that is a quarterback problem. Don't overemphasize just the head coach, right? Come on, Kirk Cousins.

Come on down. Well, I mean, you might be dealing with some very interesting other names. I got a name for you. Russell? I got a name for you. Oh, say it. Matt Ryan. Oh, get out of here, you monster.

I wanted you to say Joe Flacco. Oh. Yeah, yeah. Okay, that'd be great. I mean, Russell Wilson? No. Maybe. No, Yeah, yeah, yeah. Okay, yeah, that'd be great. I mean, Russell Wilson? No. Maybe. No, no, no, no, no.

I'd take Russell over Desmond Ritter. Sure, I'm not saying he's not an upgrade, but we're having fun here. I'm talking about Hogan. It's crazy that you would think. I'm not hoping in Russell Wilson. Listen, listen, you don't want Joe Flacco. You think you do, you don't. I think I do.

No, you want him for four games. He's good for four. He's a car with the tread that will last for four games. He's the donut? He's just not. You can replace this and you can drive. Just don't go far. He's the spare tire.

You don't want that, I don't think. At that age, the amount of interceptions and turnovers, I don't think you do, but we'll find out. Well, don't hear what I'm going to say. The Falcons don't want him. I want him. The turnovers are great for fantasy. Yeah, yeah.

The shoe, man. The shoe drops for Joe. At number 10, we'll round out this episode with Jameer Gibbs, and then we'll talk about David Montgomery, who finished at 13. So 10 and 13, consistency rank, very different between them. Gibbs was the higher finisher, but at a 16 in terms of the consistency rank. Montgomery finished at 13, but was a number five in consistency. So, you know, we know what the ceiling is for Jameer Gibbs.

He had 182 rushing attempts and scored 10 times on those. He is so good. He's so good. I mean, when you see him in space, his speed is just outstanding. And going into next year, he should be even better. And I do think he will be great for fantasy. I do think he will be the wrong value pick in this backfield, and I will be all in on David Montgomery. Interesting. That's the angle you're taking here. That's where I'm at, yeah. I mean, you see it in the consistency score, right?

Obviously, David Montgomery missed some games, but he was more consistent, just never busted, always gets the goal line work. And one of his bad games was the game he got injured in where he only played 26% of snaps. I think this will be a very, very interesting debate next year because it's hard to argue with a season where Jameer Gibbs missed some time and still ended up with 71 targets in the passing game.

Montgomery had 24 targets. Gibbs will probably be like a first-rounder, though, right? No, I don't think so. Second? Early second. Second round. I understand what you're saying. You're saying you'd take the value. I think it's going to be team-dependent for me on what you need, right?

Like, there are situations where I think David Montgomery may end up in somewhat of a – who did you just bring up that was if he didn't score, he didn't produce? I mean – Etienne. The Travis Etienne situation. That could be. I think that that could be a little bit of the problem. You saw Montgomery from week 12 on.

It was good, but not league-like week winning. Right. And then Gibbs had a couple week winning weeks. So it'll be a really interesting dance. I mean, obviously, if they both cost the same for me to acquire, I'm taking Gibbs. I just think David Montgomery will fall down draft boards worried that, oh, he's going to be completely usurped by Gibbs.

No, you could be right there. And he's not going to be usurped. I mean, he's going to get goal line work and be a big part of this offense. Yeah, they just paid him. 90% of his fantasy points came on the ground. Montgomery. Montgomery. Oof, you don't like hearing that that's that's kind of that's kind of wild i mean that is um i don't know like naji was better in the second half right oh maybe second half is naji's time that's usually when he's when he shines he's given up yes once he's given up on naji he's like beating shines you've given up yes once he's given up on nausea

he's like beating you into a pulp nausea they're talking about uh moving on from you again he's like oh man i guess i'll get it together i'll try monty was a perfectly proportional seven percent great seven percent bust 64 good yeah he's just that's he's tried and true he he was as as someone who had him on a couple teams i i loved him as my running back too i just knew i'm getting double digit points from him yeah no that that's fair you had that experience um with him on your team um he was the pass blocker that they trusted too early in the year we'll see if that is a transition that happens at any point elite role inside the 20 like you said you know he's getting those opportunities as long as the offense stays consistent and upper echelon which it should be right i mean yeah absolutely um

the but man gibbs gibbs is one of those players where like if montgomery went down gibbs could be the number one running back on the year for sure the the scoring splits against defenses it's interesting uh gibbs was better against tougher opponents, and then Montgomery was. That makes sense if you're just going narrative of, okay, a tougher opponent, maybe they're stronger on the ground. Gibbs is getting a little more receiving work. And then Monty was better against weaker opponents,

just beating them up. Yeah, and if you want to be tantalized by the talent, he was tied, this is Gibbs, for third highest fantasy points per touch ever for a rookie running back. You saw that. I mean, you saw it every time he touched the ball. It was electricity. He is who we thought he was, which is great.

Yeah, thank goodness for that. I think that's it. I think we rounded out the top ten. We've got another Running Back Truth episode, part two, coming up next Tuesday. We've got a bonus episode of the show you can go listen to right now because we deliver one every single week. For all of you that support this show, we appreciate you. Join the foot.com if you want to head over there and get the bonus episode every single week. Since the beginning of this show, we've been delivering a footcast every week over there, so you can go check that out.

You guys have anything else to add? I'm ready for a nap. You're very tired, huh? I'm sweaty right now. I'm sweating in this jacket. What am I doing? I got great news for you, Jason. I can take it off? Yeah.

I might do that. All right, that'll do it for today's show. Thank you for tuning in, supporting us, and we'll be back with another one on Tuesday, like we said. Goodbye. Bye-bye. Thank you for listening to another episode of the Fantasy Footballers Podcast. Join our fantasy football community on jointhefoot.com

and follow us on Twitter at the FFBallers.