Speaker 1: Welcome to Fantasy Football Weekly, a production of I Heart Radio.
Speaker 1: Time now for Fantasy Football Weekly from I Heart Radio,
Speaker 1: your weekly source for the nation's best fantasy speculation and advice.
Speaker 1: Now along with the guys from fanball dot com. Here's
Speaker 1: the host for Fantasy Football Weekly. Welcome to Fantasy Football
Speaker 1: Weekly in early March edition. I am Paul Charchy and
Speaker 1: my co host today back after a a a vacation
Speaker 1: holiday away from the show. Isn't that nice? A vacation
Speaker 1: of sorts? Uh, Matt Harrison, good to have you back.
Speaker 1: Get explosive output on Twitter. Um, it's uh, it's you know,
Speaker 1: it's not It's nice to get away and not have
Speaker 1: to prep for the show and you have to have
Speaker 1: some free time and all that. You know. Let's dive
Speaker 1: back in because the combine just got finished. You were
Speaker 1: there there at the combine and um got a chance
Speaker 1: to really get a lot of steam on a lot
Speaker 1: of guys, which is great. While I was there, they weren't.
Speaker 1: I was there for the first half of it where
Speaker 1: they weren't running as many drills yet. But the important
Speaker 1: stuff isn't the drills. It's all the conversations and the
Speaker 1: side action and you know, all the all the all
Speaker 1: the people you talk to and which you glean that's
Speaker 1: the best I heard. There was a coaching staff that
Speaker 1: had t shirts made that said coaches spring Break. It
Speaker 1: feels that way because I hear the combines mostly about drinking.
Speaker 1: It is a lot of drinking, man. You you will
Speaker 1: see a lot of that. It's it's great. The combine
Speaker 1: is We've we say it every year. The Combine is
Speaker 1: the best place to go for sort of your unfiltered
Speaker 1: access to everybody. It's just well because they're all drunk
Speaker 1: and they don't care exactly exactly the focus of this
Speaker 1: podcast is the rookie running backs, and Matt I asked
Speaker 1: you to come up with the top six rookie running backs.
Speaker 1: Next week, myself and Brian Johnson will do the next
Speaker 1: tier of running backs. You got, you got the you
Speaker 1: got the the great guys. Well, yeah, I purposely took
Speaker 1: the easy part. I I want to talk about the
Speaker 1: guys I want to talk about. I don't blame it.
Speaker 1: It's a lot more exciting to talk about Jonathan Taylor. Example,
Speaker 1: he's my number one how about you? He's my number
Speaker 1: one guy with a by a fair margin. Now we're
Speaker 1: gonna do these top sixs. I asked you to do
Speaker 1: the top six, so this is will discuss them in
Speaker 1: your order. Jonathan Taylor from Wisconsin to me is is
Speaker 1: by far the number one. Tell Us Tell listeners a
Speaker 1: little bit about Jonathan ts Well, the impressive part was
Speaker 1: his four point three ninety I didn't I did not
Speaker 1: expect that. No, it was number one among running backs
Speaker 1: and seventh overall at the combine. So he's a pretty
Speaker 1: quick guy. And if you saw the tape of his
Speaker 1: forty where he was running head on, you'll notice that
Speaker 1: his head did not move the entire way. Did not
Speaker 1: like but his head is laser focused the whole time.
Speaker 1: UH did pretty well at a couple other drills as well.
Speaker 1: Seven point oh one cone, three cone, which was number
Speaker 1: four amongst running backs. That's good for the cuts. UH.
Speaker 1: Four point to four twenty yards shuttle that was number
Speaker 1: six for running backs. So that's the highlights there. Um.
Speaker 1: The dude average two thousand yards a season Wisconsin. He
Speaker 1: averaged seventy seven broken tackles a year. He's the big, strong,
Speaker 1: fast back in this draft and he should be a
Speaker 1: Day one bell cow. I mean, the knocks are that
Speaker 1: he might not be a passing game stud. He dropped
Speaker 1: sixteen per cent of his catchable passes at Wisconsin, so
Speaker 1: that's not good. And the other Knaka guesses he had
Speaker 1: nine D twenty six carries in three years. That's legitimate.
Speaker 1: You know, over nine hundred touches in three years is
Speaker 1: a lot um. So he also fumbled eighteen times in
Speaker 1: three years, so funny. I saw the stat I read
Speaker 1: was was fifteen times. But either way, that's a lot
Speaker 1: of fun I think he lost fifteen um. The Wisconsin
Speaker 1: offensive line was elite. They opened huge holes for him,
Speaker 1: and you saw it on tape, so he mostly was
Speaker 1: running down on hill. His highlight reel is mostly line
Speaker 1: opens up. He runs for sixty yards in a touchdown,
Speaker 1: almost untouched half the time. Uh, he's getting really good
Speaker 1: comps though, Nick Chubb, DeMarco Murray, who you'll remember had
Speaker 1: some great years. Darren McFadden I thought when I watched
Speaker 1: it a little bit of shades of Adrian Peterson, as
Speaker 1: he's big, he goes right up the middle and he's
Speaker 1: deceptively quick. I always thought that about Adrian Peterson, that
Speaker 1: that next level speed you didn't quite expect it out
Speaker 1: of a and I think Jonathan Taylor is very similar
Speaker 1: to that. So, uh, he's probably my number one running
Speaker 1: back and and maybe my number one pick in a
Speaker 1: rookie draft. Right. I think there's no doubt he's the
Speaker 1: top pick in a a rookie draft. I mean, there
Speaker 1: are people who can make h make an argument for
Speaker 1: DeAndre Swift and we'll talk about him in just a second.
Speaker 1: I think he had and all the key things with
Speaker 1: Jonathan Taylor, it's just for a guy as physical and
Speaker 1: and well built as he is, he should not be
Speaker 1: that fast, and he should not have the lateral movement
Speaker 1: that he's got. Um, and that's that that part makes
Speaker 1: him really special. He's um, he's not a pile mover
Speaker 1: and I but I just think he's He's just he
Speaker 1: never had to move a pile, not often. It's I
Speaker 1: think I think there is I think you you raise
Speaker 1: a good point about the offensive line, which is legit,
Speaker 1: but he also he also made a lot of his
Speaker 1: own yards. Yeah, I'm I'm not ready to say he's
Speaker 1: just a product of that line. So the worry I
Speaker 1: have is what if he ends up in a place
Speaker 1: with a terrible offensive line, Like what if he's an
Speaker 1: early second round pick to one of those just terribly
Speaker 1: bad teams up at the front of the draft. That's
Speaker 1: where I'm nervous. I would love to see him go
Speaker 1: at the tail end of the first round, where he's
Speaker 1: going to an established playoff team that already has the
Speaker 1: ability to block for people, and he can come in
Speaker 1: and be a Day one starter there. Yeah, I think
Speaker 1: you're not giving enough credit for for being UH, for
Speaker 1: being a productive back on his own. I I ranked
Speaker 1: him in my UH dynasty rankings. I have him as
Speaker 1: the seventh raded back in the league right now, so
Speaker 1: I it without landing spots, So I think he's he's
Speaker 1: top ten for sure right now. UM potential bottom of
Speaker 1: the first round spots for him. UH. If Tennessee doesn't
Speaker 1: go with Derrick Henry, that they could go. They could
Speaker 1: go right to Jonathan Taylor. You know what, they probably
Speaker 1: should let Derrick Henry walk, have him spent that, save
Speaker 1: that money, and and then go ahead and get Jonathan Taylor.
Speaker 1: It would make it would make it would make some sense.
Speaker 1: How about Miami A twenty six, You know, we don't.
Speaker 1: It's not a great landing spot for him, but it's
Speaker 1: a plausible one. It's a very plausible one because they
Speaker 1: pick early in the second round two and my Miami's
Speaker 1: got the three first round picks. Obviously they're probably going
Speaker 1: to take a quarterback in the draft. Yeah, they want
Speaker 1: a couple too many games. Um, I think two was
Speaker 1: gonna go number two overall. Really well, so that was
Speaker 1: that was some of the big buzz at the combine.
Speaker 1: They there's there's no competition for Taylor if he ends
Speaker 1: up in Miami though. That's that's the fantastic absolutely no.
Speaker 1: Immediately he'll be a bell cower if he goes. I think,
Speaker 1: all right, let's go to your second ranked running back,
Speaker 1: DeAndre Swift. Tell tell listeners about him. Uh, Swift much smaller,
Speaker 1: five eight to twelve four four eight forty. That was
Speaker 1: good six among running backs. That was pretty good. Uh
Speaker 1: didn't do a lot of the other tests. He did
Speaker 1: the vert he did the broad jump. He he finished
Speaker 1: average in those. Um but Swift stole carries as a
Speaker 1: true freshman from the Sony Chub backfield in Georgia, says
Speaker 1: a lot. That says something uh seven point six yards
Speaker 1: per carry, four point four yards after contact. And the
Speaker 1: thing that you gotta like about DeAndre Swift, especially if
Speaker 1: you're in a PPR league and increasingly more people are
Speaker 1: seventy three catches in college and only three drops in
Speaker 1: three years. That's none of them, so he should compete
Speaker 1: for three down work a lot. Um. He's not as
Speaker 1: big as some of the other backs in this class,
Speaker 1: but he's compact, he's muscular. He's probably the first running
Speaker 1: back taken in the draft. I would say, you think
Speaker 1: in the actual draft, I think he'll probably get the
Speaker 1: Taylor head of Taylor. I wouldn't. That could be for
Speaker 1: if if people feel like schematically he's a better fit
Speaker 1: for what they want to do. I think, especially if
Speaker 1: there's a team that say, has another running back that
Speaker 1: they like and is gonna get touches. I think DeAndre
Speaker 1: Swift is a guy who probably in his first year
Speaker 1: will probably split carries a little bit more, maybe be
Speaker 1: the sixty forty back. UM on tape, he looks so
Speaker 1: much quicker than Jonathan Taylor, but that's mostly due to
Speaker 1: his cuts. His shift nous is it's absolutely elite. Um.
Speaker 1: He looks like Dalvin Cook when he runs, like that's
Speaker 1: my comp forum and I've seen a couple other people
Speaker 1: say Dalvin Cook also Frank Dore and Piterre Thomas was
Speaker 1: was bandied about for DeAndre Swift. But he looks like
Speaker 1: Dalvin Cook right now, and I think that that's a
Speaker 1: that's a pretty elite guy to get near your offense.
Speaker 1: Dalvin Cook is is elusive and he's got shifting nous. Uh.
Speaker 1: Swift is got some uh is that I think a
Speaker 1: whole other level that way, And I don't think he's
Speaker 1: the same kind of patient runner the Dalvin Cook is.
Speaker 1: But um, just the the shattered ankles and that that
Speaker 1: he leaves behind these defenders, it's it's ridiculous, and I think, yeah, exactly,
Speaker 1: I think it's plenty of I think John DeAndre Swift
Speaker 1: has got enough size to be in every down back
Speaker 1: and a lot of times with these elusive guys, the
Speaker 1: shifty guys, they're smaller backs that don't maybe don't have
Speaker 1: don't have the ability to be twenty carry guys. Deandrey
Speaker 1: Swift does. Yeah, I think he does. I do too. Um. Now,
Speaker 1: there are some knocks on him here. Past protection is
Speaker 1: not great. He's not a pile mover. That's just not
Speaker 1: his that's not his bit. If you know, if you
Speaker 1: get your arms on him. If you can get your
Speaker 1: arms on DeAndre Swift, He's probably gonna be tackled. It's
Speaker 1: tough to get your arms on that. That is the catch.
Speaker 1: And then he doesn't have the breakaway speed that Jonathan
Speaker 1: Taylor's got. I mean Jonathan Taylor with his four three
Speaker 1: nine speed. If he gets into open if he gets
Speaker 1: an over space, he's you know, now, now you've got
Speaker 1: a real problem. Um I I think I think you're
Speaker 1: I think you're right about where where he will end
Speaker 1: up going as well. I think is going to be
Speaker 1: the end of the end of the first round, beginning
Speaker 1: of the second round, somewhere in there, somewhere in that
Speaker 1: in that range would probably make some sense. Washington at
Speaker 1: the top of round two is a possibility. With all
Speaker 1: the running back woes they had. They got Darius guys
Speaker 1: who they say they still love, and they just let
Speaker 1: Adrian Peterson come back for another year. They guaranteed his
Speaker 1: contract for one more year. Why not for Ron Rivera,
Speaker 1: who really, for what he's worth, he kind of doesn't
Speaker 1: commit fully to one running back. He played a lot
Speaker 1: of two running backs in Carolina in the past. Christian
Speaker 1: McCaffrey obviously and that kind of forced his hand recently.
Speaker 1: But Man Washington would be a weird spot. Lions, what
Speaker 1: about Detroit to Channel they haven't been able to get
Speaker 1: a healthy production out of carry On Johnson. That might
Speaker 1: be a spot as well. And then back to Miami again.
Speaker 1: Amy could end up being another another team that's in
Speaker 1: play with I think the fifth pick of the second
Speaker 1: round um another interesting landing spot. I think the Chargers
Speaker 1: picked near the top of the second round as well.
Speaker 1: And let's top five, six, seven, Um, but Austin Ekeler
Speaker 1: is so good. Austin Ekeler is good. But Austin Ekeler
Speaker 1: has been a part of a shared backfield. And if
Speaker 1: that philosophy doesn't change and Melvin Gordon is going to
Speaker 1: be shipped out, we got surprised me. If DeAndre Swift
Speaker 1: is the next guy, just the next man up there? Um,
Speaker 1: I think Justin Jackson's gonna be He's one of my
Speaker 1: favorite sleepers. I think he's gonna be the other man. Okay,
Speaker 1: let's go to your number three running back, cam Acres
Speaker 1: from Florida State. Tell people about cam so cam Acres
Speaker 1: five ten to seven. Uh, notably Jonathan Taylor five ten
Speaker 1: twenty six. So cam acres another big back. Uh. He
Speaker 1: ran a four four seven, that's good number five amongst
Speaker 1: running backs. UM. So his tests combine, we're just pretty
Speaker 1: good overall. That really helped us stop. I think. And
Speaker 1: by the way, that's how we see cam Akers pretty
Speaker 1: good overall. To me, he's not on the plane of
Speaker 1: Taylor and Swift. I see a guy when I when
Speaker 1: I watched cam Akers who looks good at almost everything
Speaker 1: and excellent at nothing. Um, that's kind of what I had.
Speaker 1: UM with him as well. Um, he has all the
Speaker 1: tools to be a three down back, but he's just
Speaker 1: kind of average with the hands, average with the elusiveness,
Speaker 1: a little bit above average with the speed. UM. But frankly,
Speaker 1: he played behind a pretty bad offensive line at Florida State.
Speaker 1: He's still topped a thousand yards and two of his
Speaker 1: three seasons had five point zero yards per carry. Last year,
Speaker 1: most of that was just him. He broke Dalvin's freshman
Speaker 1: record for running backyards at Florida State. Um. He was
Speaker 1: a high school quarterback as well. He can throw. I
Speaker 1: saw a couple of plays that he was involved in
Speaker 1: that was pretty cool. When you see his physique, you
Speaker 1: don't ever think that guy was a quarterback. It's powerfully built. Um,
Speaker 1: his comps are his comps aren't great. Duke Johnson, Terence West,
Speaker 1: Chris Johnson, Chris Johnson was generous. In my mind, I
Speaker 1: don't see it at all. But uh, I mean I
Speaker 1: feel the Duke Johnson. I don't see either of the
Speaker 1: Johnson's And how would those two ever even be in them?
Speaker 1: Let's let's say that cam Akers ends up in a
Speaker 1: good situation. Let's say he's an end of the second
Speaker 1: round or maybe the middle of the third round kind
Speaker 1: of guy, which he ends up in a good spot.
Speaker 1: Maybe he ends up Atlanta, Atlanta where he could be
Speaker 1: a bell cow right away, or or maybe maybe Kansas
Speaker 1: City is in the market for a running back and
Speaker 1: they're not fully enthusiastic about Damian Williams. If he ends
Speaker 1: up in the right spot, I think that he can
Speaker 1: be a really big fantasy contributor right away. That's why
Speaker 1: I have him at number three. I think he's got
Speaker 1: all the tools to be good. It's just is it's
Speaker 1: gonna be very landing spot dependent with him for cam Akers. Uh,
Speaker 1: strong powerful back who welcomes contact. He might be the
Speaker 1: toughest the straight up toughest back in this in in
Speaker 1: this rookie class. And um, and for those kind of guys,
Speaker 1: goal line work will never be a question. That's one
Speaker 1: of the things that I like about cam Akers is
Speaker 1: whatever team that he finishes on, um, he should be
Speaker 1: the goal line guy. Now, he did have some fumbling
Speaker 1: issues at school and and you know, God forbid he
Speaker 1: fumbles at the stripe or something. But UM, I still think,
Speaker 1: I still think he's gonna be a fantasy contributor because
Speaker 1: of the power that he will bring. You know, he'll
Speaker 1: probably end up on the Patriots, let's hope not for
Speaker 1: you never want to be the first guy to fumble.
Speaker 1: Uh with the Patriots. That is a that that'll that'll
Speaker 1: be a season ender if you're not careful. All right,
Speaker 1: your number four back is J. K. Dobbins from Ohio State.
Speaker 1: Let's talk about him. Um. Yeah, Dobbins only did one
Speaker 1: test at the combine. That was the bench press, right
Speaker 1: he had the ankle injury. Um, he did on the
Speaker 1: bench which was at UM. So he gets the comparisons
Speaker 1: to the strung backs like Eddie George and Ezekiel l
Speaker 1: It's who both went to Ohio State and by the
Speaker 1: way he outran them. He still season rushing records at
Speaker 1: the Ohio State. You know, that's pretty impressive when you
Speaker 1: outrun Eddie George and Ezekiel Elliott at school. He's a
Speaker 1: He's a pretty compact bruiser, good acceleration. He's really a
Speaker 1: one cut runner um, but a pretty reliable pass catcher,
Speaker 1: and it makes him a good third down option even
Speaker 1: if he ends up on a roster with an established
Speaker 1: running back. Doesn't have like an arsenal of really different
Speaker 1: stop start moves. He just kind of has the one
Speaker 1: cut and he goes um. But his cuts were always good,
Speaker 1: and his first cut, specifically behind the line on like counterplays,
Speaker 1: was absolutely awesome. He he had people moving one way,
Speaker 1: He's showing up on the other side of the field
Speaker 1: all of a sudden. It looked like he's playing portal
Speaker 1: or something along those lines. Uh. Comps of muscle Hamster,
Speaker 1: Josh Jacobs and a pul Charchy and favorite Ryan math Oh.
Speaker 1: I like that Ryan Matthews in the rare moments of health.
Speaker 1: That's that's pretty good. I think he's he's the cutting
Speaker 1: is is amazing for him, and laterally, you know, if
Speaker 1: we can get him on a team that likes to
Speaker 1: run zone blocking with stretch plays. Oh man, I really
Speaker 1: like Dobbins as a lateral runner. Waits, waits, and then
Speaker 1: makes that cut accelerated. Yeah, it's gonna be one cut, though,
Speaker 1: It's not like the super deeks like DeAndre Swift has
Speaker 1: where he'll he'll stop, start, make two or three cuts
Speaker 1: and then and then be out of there. He'll be
Speaker 1: I'm gonna set you up, I'm gonna cut you out
Speaker 1: of your jockstrap, and then and then I'm going um.
Speaker 1: I I think he's got a little more Dalvin cooked
Speaker 1: to him than others. So for me, that was my
Speaker 1: comp and uh and mark Ingram as well. J K.
Speaker 1: Dobbins is uh is is somebody that I think in
Speaker 1: the Again, it depends a lot in the landing spot,
Speaker 1: where like Jonathan Taylor, I think you go anywhere and
Speaker 1: be productive. I want to see Dobbins running behind a
Speaker 1: zone blocking offense, so we'll se where he lands. You
Speaker 1: want to see him in Minnesota, Well, they got they
Speaker 1: got a really good runner. Maybe Denver for a while,
Speaker 1: Dalvin Cook. We'll find Houston, Houston, Houston art like that.
Speaker 1: That would be great. Yeah, let's uh let's let's take
Speaker 1: a break. When we come back, I want to talk
Speaker 1: about the final couple of running backs that we want
Speaker 1: to touch on for our rookies, including Zack Moss and
Speaker 1: Clyde Edwards Hilaire coming up next. All right, welcome back,
Speaker 1: Paul Charge and Matt Harrison with you. We're talking rookie
Speaker 1: running backs, landing spots. What we like about these guys.
Speaker 1: This is our top six we've already covered Jonathan Taylor,
Speaker 1: DeAndre Swift this is your number one, two or three
Speaker 1: guys so far, and cam Acres oh and j K. Dobbins.
Speaker 1: We got on our top four. We did our top four.
Speaker 1: By the way, at some point throughout Fantasy Football Weekly,
Speaker 1: I'm going to call Jonathan Taylor Jonathan Taylor Thomas from
Speaker 1: Home Improvements. It's going to happen. I'm just gonna refer
Speaker 1: to him as Thomas one time because I can't get
Speaker 1: it out of my brain, and now you've got it
Speaker 1: in my brain. So what has he been doing? Nothing?
Speaker 1: It's absolutely nothing. If I'm gonna I'm gonna search him out.
Speaker 1: Taylor Dash, right, he was a dash, and I don't
Speaker 1: think he was a dash. Taylor Thomas, Jonathan Taylor. You're
Speaker 1: right there, don't know dash um. Let's see what he's
Speaker 1: been up to. He was, he was, you know, big,
Speaker 1: big and popular on on the team, beat magazines. When
Speaker 1: not nine The answer is not a lot. Now. He
Speaker 1: kind of quit. He think he did quit acting. He
Speaker 1: did not act for ten years. His last acting role
Speaker 1: was two thousand six, and then nothing until fifteen when
Speaker 1: he was on Last Man Standing, the Other Tim Allen Show,
Speaker 1: the Other Tim Allen Show. So yeah, how about that.
Speaker 1: I wonder if you know a lot of kids, kids,
Speaker 1: they go through all the you know, the the kid,
Speaker 1: the child actor, and he did his get away. I wonder,
Speaker 1: I wonder what he's doing, where he's living. Where is
Speaker 1: Jonathan Taylor Thomas today. Well he's not in the draft,
Speaker 1: that's for sure, because it's just Jonathan Taylor's I'm gonna
Speaker 1: call he's not. He's not the same guy, for sure.
Speaker 1: Did you know he was of Dutch and Portuguese ancestry. No,
Speaker 1: I bet you didn't. I mean, why would Taylor Thomas do?
Speaker 1: Sounds sound like it sounds very Portuguese to me. Let's
Speaker 1: talk about Clyde Edwards Hilaire Portuguese. It does. Actually it
Speaker 1: sounds French to me. I assume that, you know, because
Speaker 1: he was from New Orleans, played at l s U
Speaker 1: that Laire is some Frenchy, you know, Cajun sort of name.
Speaker 1: But I I really I don't know. I'm just gonna
Speaker 1: end up calling him Clyde. How about Frenchie? Uh? Maybe
Speaker 1: maybe the raging Cajun. Maybe that maybe it's gonna be
Speaker 1: the case. Here the bed on Clyde Edwards Hilaire. He's
Speaker 1: five foot seven. He's a little. He's a little. He
Speaker 1: is he's short. Two oh seven. Yeah, he is two
Speaker 1: oh seven, so he's got some meat on the bone.
Speaker 1: He's not he's not fragile. I My comp is Maurice
Speaker 1: Jones droop that what that one of them? I had
Speaker 1: a Ray Rice and DeVante Freeman for the others. Um
Speaker 1: He ran a four six forty that was seventeenth among
Speaker 1: running backs. A little probably got him moving down a
Speaker 1: lot of draft slots. But here's the deal. Thirty nine
Speaker 1: and a half inch vert. The dude can jump. His
Speaker 1: vert was number four among running backs. That dude can dunk.
Speaker 1: He's thick, compact, he's more quick than fast. His cuts
Speaker 1: are elite, very very elusive. Has to be one of
Speaker 1: the smaller backs in the draft. UH forced eighty four
Speaker 1: miss tackles in his final year at l s U
Speaker 1: gained seven d eighty two yards after contact according to
Speaker 1: Pro Football Focus, UH true three down back with above
Speaker 1: average pass catching ability, good ball security. Um on tape.
Speaker 1: He's not the elite burner that will break off long runs.
Speaker 1: He's gonna get caught in the open field by some
Speaker 1: fast corners, but he's tough to catch and he'll turn
Speaker 1: four yards into ten or eleven. I think that's kind
Speaker 1: of his game. Uh. And and we said what the
Speaker 1: comps were, and I think that those are the kind
Speaker 1: of runners that that did that kind of thing in
Speaker 1: their career. And by the way, fantasy productive guys, all
Speaker 1: of them fantasy productive. And he can be too. I
Speaker 1: don't know at five ft seven that Clyde Edwards Hilaire
Speaker 1: is going to be a workhorse back now. Marie Jones
Speaker 1: Drew was, Demant Freeman was. It can happen. It's gonna
Speaker 1: be a landing spot. Depending is like and where his
Speaker 1: draft stock is probably now, I'm guessing he's probably maybe
Speaker 1: an early third day pick or very late second day pick.
Speaker 1: Um so Man he could really end up on on
Speaker 1: any team in the NFL. And if he ends up
Speaker 1: on the wrong one, uh, that would be scary. If
Speaker 1: he ends up in a great situation, maybe he's the
Speaker 1: guy who ends up in Miami with all of their picks.
Speaker 1: Could be and and that would be a pretty nice spot.
Speaker 1: What I like about Clyde Edwards Hilaire, And there are
Speaker 1: a lot of things alike. Um, the tackle breaking you mentioned,
Speaker 1: the yards after contact. He's he is because he's small
Speaker 1: and compact. It's it's hard to get a good shot
Speaker 1: on that guy. Easy to hide him because well, I
Speaker 1: think that there's something that he said about that he's
Speaker 1: running behind lineman that are a foot taller than him. Um.
Speaker 1: And I just I just the balance you met. He's
Speaker 1: got good cutting ability. What you meant to spend the footwork.
Speaker 1: The footwork to me is the defining ability of Clyde
Speaker 1: Edwards Hilaire. He is um. He is able to get
Speaker 1: He's got the short, choppy steps that allows him to
Speaker 1: turn quickly. He's really good in crowded environments. And then
Speaker 1: he's chop chop, chopped, and now he's out and he's
Speaker 1: he's got daylight and the guy's good. Um. Now he
Speaker 1: can catch a little bit. He was a kick returner
Speaker 1: in L s U. He's so, he's super versatile. He's
Speaker 1: gonna be fascinating to watch. I think the the forty time,
Speaker 1: I'm the four six forty time. I suspect he'll improve
Speaker 1: upon in his pro day a little bit and maybe
Speaker 1: that maybe get him get him back to uh an
Speaker 1: earlier draft spot. But I on the tape, I saw
Speaker 1: a couple of breakaway runs where you know, a really
Speaker 1: fast running back gets away and scores the touchdown. But
Speaker 1: he was caught a handful of times in the in
Speaker 1: these runs, and and and that's the that's the only
Speaker 1: real knock I have on him. Is not very big,
Speaker 1: and he's not the Bernieest of Burners, berniest. He's not
Speaker 1: the Berniest of burners. He's not like Barry Sanders where
Speaker 1: Bernie Sanders whatever. Garth. Yeah, I hope he's I hope
Speaker 1: he doesn't have Bernie Sanders speed. Catch him from behind.
Speaker 1: Joe Biden is catching him from behind right now. Wow.
Speaker 1: Topical coming for the Fantasy Football Weekly, Stay for the
Speaker 1: political commentary. Here you go, the final running back. We're
Speaker 1: gonna break down in this episode. Zack Moss from Utah.
Speaker 1: He's five foot nine, two three pounds. He is a bigger,
Speaker 1: beefier straight ahead runner. Talked to me about Zack Moss,
Speaker 1: so we talked about a couple of bigger, beefier straight
Speaker 1: ahead runners, as in Jonathan Taylor and Cam Acres, who
Speaker 1: were both pretty similar sized to Moss. They ran good forties.
Speaker 1: Zack Moss did not four point six five UM. His
Speaker 1: his other stuff, his other tests at the combine weren't
Speaker 1: particularly elite as well average at best UM. However, per
Speaker 1: Pro Football Focus, his yards after contact per attempt increased
Speaker 1: from three point five eighteen to four point four in nineteen.
Speaker 1: So he's grown, he's gotten better. UM. I saw a
Speaker 1: quote on Twitter that Moss's quads would impress se Kwon Barkley. UM.
Speaker 1: His speed obviously not top end, but he runs aggressively.
Speaker 1: He tosses the side runners. So but he's been so
Speaker 1: aggressive that he needed meniscus surgery in eighteen. I honestly
Speaker 1: didn't think most of his highlight real tape was that
Speaker 1: imp said, it seems like he was able to overpower
Speaker 1: some lesser competition for Utah. UM, but he has comps
Speaker 1: of Marshawn Lynch, Marion Barber and Kareem Hunt. What that's
Speaker 1: a terrible I don't know if that I don't know
Speaker 1: if I agree with the Kareem Hunt thing. Hunted much faster? Um,
Speaker 1: can I give you my Complttavius Murray straight ahead north
Speaker 1: south runner, absolutely, because Zack Moss has no lateral speed
Speaker 1: whatsoever and he needs to run run, needs to run
Speaker 1: north south, Um. And that's I think Latavius Murray's the
Speaker 1: guy that I'm watched him going that I've seen that guy.
Speaker 1: You know what, I'm gonna add one in le Roy Horde.
Speaker 1: You want one, I'll get you three. You want five,
Speaker 1: I'll get you three. Right. Um, yeah, maybe that's more
Speaker 1: Zack Moss right there is. I'm I didn't love him.
Speaker 1: I think he's got to be on a team that
Speaker 1: has a powerful offensive line, straight, straight ahead, bulldozing offensive
Speaker 1: line that's gonna open up holes for him to get through.
Speaker 1: And then I think he's got a little he's got
Speaker 1: a little bit of wiggle. He can he welcomes contact,
Speaker 1: he can break some tackles at the second level. I
Speaker 1: think I think he needs to be he needs to
Speaker 1: have just the right fit or I'm not interested in
Speaker 1: Zack moss It would be interesting to see Moss. I
Speaker 1: think he's a split backfield kind of runner um where
Speaker 1: he's going to end up in a spot with a
Speaker 1: guy who can be the pass catcher and the elusive back. Uh.
Speaker 1: Maybe he's somewhere like Cincinnati or something like that where
Speaker 1: they have Joe Mixon and and Zack Mosses is the
Speaker 1: second running back to come in and spell him and
Speaker 1: and just give a little bit of different flavor to
Speaker 1: that offense. I wouldn't be surprised if Zack Moss is
Speaker 1: it finds himself not as a bell cow but in
Speaker 1: some kind of a time shire. And I'm almost sure
Speaker 1: that he's in a time share. And frankly, there's not
Speaker 1: a lot of running backs in the rest of this draft.
Speaker 1: I mean, I really like those top five. When I
Speaker 1: when I got to six and I was ranking him,
Speaker 1: I was like, who's next, And I think Moss is
Speaker 1: the best of them. I see him ranked in the
Speaker 1: top fifty and some overall prospect list. I'm not seeing
Speaker 1: it either, And I think he's destined to be a
Speaker 1: split backfield, time share kind of a back. So if
Speaker 1: if you didn't if you think this draft is five
Speaker 1: guys deep, Matt, that means you're really jammed up. Brian
Speaker 1: Johnson and I for next week. Sorry, we have to
Speaker 1: We're going to do the next six guys. But you
Speaker 1: know what Brian is great at. Brian is great at
Speaker 1: uncovering these diamonds in the rough. He always finds two
Speaker 1: or three guys that really are way off my radar
Speaker 1: and he goes, no, check this dude out. This guy
Speaker 1: is really good, and he's absolutely great at that. You know,
Speaker 1: at this time three four I got four years ago,
Speaker 1: Kareem Hunt was not in anybody's top five or six,
Speaker 1: and you know, but eventually we got around to looking
Speaker 1: at Toledo tape and we're like, wow, you know, by
Speaker 1: the time the draft rolls around and you got a
Speaker 1: whole different opinion. Philip Lindsay is a guy like that too.
Speaker 1: Where he wasn't he wasn't on anybody's radar at all,
Speaker 1: not undrafted. We we went into the season not even
Speaker 1: talking about him, and then Week one boom, Hey, Philip Lindsay,
Speaker 1: I want to be a fantasy A couple of fantasy
Speaker 1: leagues after Week one, the best Week one pickups in
Speaker 1: in recent memory. All right, thanks for thanks for introducing
Speaker 1: a lot of our listeners to the top six rookie
Speaker 1: running backs. And frankly, I don't have a problem with
Speaker 1: the order you've got him. I expected to do battle
Speaker 1: with you on the but I think I think you
Speaker 1: got the order right. Jonathan Taylor is just if the
Speaker 1: wear and tear isn't too much for him. The nine
Speaker 1: hundred touches in three years, man, he's going to be special.
Speaker 1: The question I think for Dynasty and Empire owners is
Speaker 1: going to be, are you going to get four good
Speaker 1: years out of him? Five six? I don't mean I
Speaker 1: don't win. Do the when? Do all the carry when?
Speaker 1: When the contract runs out? That's when I'm starting to
Speaker 1: shop guys. Yeah at four years. Yeah, that's really it. Um,
Speaker 1: I was gonna ask you charge. Let's we're in a
Speaker 1: Empire league together where we draft rookies and it's a
Speaker 1: super flex league. In a super flex league right now,
Speaker 1: if you had the first overall pick, and if you
Speaker 1: have the first overall pick, obviously your team has some needs,
Speaker 1: probably running back, wide receiver, and quarterback. Who are you
Speaker 1: taking number one? I'm still taking probably Taylor, maybe Swift.
Speaker 1: I'm not going even in super flex. I'm not going
Speaker 1: Joe Burrow yet. Um, I think I think you can
Speaker 1: still find quarterback help later and so for me, I wouldn't.
Speaker 1: I wouldn't take Joe Burrow in the top two for
Speaker 1: sure at this point. I think it's going to be
Speaker 1: one of the deepest wide receiver classes and years too.
Speaker 1: And both Jerry Judy and Ceedee Lamb I think I
Speaker 1: am better. I do too. I think both of those
Speaker 1: guys are going to be in the conversation as the
Speaker 1: number one overall rookie pick as well. Um, it's a
Speaker 1: great year to be in a dynasty or Empire rookie draft.
Speaker 1: It's a great year to to have be in the
Speaker 1: middle of the first round. Absolutely, we're gonna get better
Speaker 1: guys in the middle of the first round than we
Speaker 1: got at the beginning of the first round last year.
Speaker 1: I don't mind trading some of the draft picks that
Speaker 1: you have next year to get into the first round
Speaker 1: this year either. That could that could be the values
Speaker 1: only going up. The value is only going up. I
Speaker 1: tend to agree with you on that. Um, we'll do
Speaker 1: We'll do more Empire dynasty strategy talk throughout throughout the
Speaker 1: course of the prefets it the other day. Yeah, we're
Speaker 1: Scott Fish as a frequent co host of mine as well.
Speaker 1: Here's the listeners. No, great job, Thanks Matt. We'll talk
Speaker 1: to everybody. Next week. We'll have we'll have more rookie
Speaker 1: running back Chatter with Brian Johnson. Talk to you then,
Speaker 1: bye bye. Fantasy Football Weekly is a production of I
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