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, Paul in a scene
Speaker 1: of chaos and change. There is your every week destination
Speaker 1: for fantasy news and information, Fantasy Football Weekly. I am
Speaker 1: Paul Charchy and my co host is Brian Johnson. Normally
Speaker 1: um either in our studio or in my kitchen, but
Speaker 1: now thanks to social distancing at the at an extreme level,
Speaker 1: Brian is on the phone. Hi Brian, Hello from a
Speaker 1: chart making history on Fantasy Football Weekly episode. I'm honored
Speaker 1: to be a part of it. But absolutely, absolutely yeah,
Speaker 1: we'll take any and all human contact at this point
Speaker 1: is probably good human contact, right, no doubt, without a doubt,
Speaker 1: in any any free agent move at this point is
Speaker 1: the most captivating news in the NFL. But we've been lucky.
Speaker 1: There's been some some haymakers. Last week. Ye last week,
Speaker 1: Matt and I broke down the quarterbacks that moved and
Speaker 1: there were a ton of them. Huge Quarterback Week. If
Speaker 1: you missed that episode, we encourage you to go back
Speaker 1: to the podcast, and then this week you and I
Speaker 1: are going to break down all the running back changes,
Speaker 1: including the guys who have new destinations and even the
Speaker 1: guys who stayed in place in the fantasy value of
Speaker 1: those guys whom who had the chance to leave, like
Speaker 1: a Derrick Hennry but did not end up going anywhere.
Speaker 1: We'll talk about those guys too. Let's kick it off
Speaker 1: Brian with Todd Gurley. Last year, he was running back
Speaker 1: seventeen in points per game, ultimately released by the Rams
Speaker 1: due to the beloaded contract he had as much as
Speaker 1: anything else, and I think probably they're ongoing concerned with
Speaker 1: the me and subsequently signed by Atlanta where he replaces
Speaker 1: DeVonta Freeman, who is currently a free agent. What do
Speaker 1: you let's start here, what do you think of the
Speaker 1: Rams without Todd Gurley? Well, everyone uh immediately started jumping
Speaker 1: back on. I should say the Darryll. Is it the red?
Speaker 1: He's a Darrell. I think he's a straight Darrell. He
Speaker 1: got he basically was never mentioned on TV last season,
Speaker 1: so we never got to hear his name. Never. Yes,
Speaker 1: but but you know he's the guy everyone's talking about now.
Speaker 1: For the Rams outside of their awful new logo, of course,
Speaker 1: But I'm not getting too excited for Henderson. They didn't
Speaker 1: invested on a draft capital in him last year. He
Speaker 1: was the seventieth overall pick in the draft. That's not bad.
Speaker 1: That's not like a third or fourth running back taken,
Speaker 1: I think, But he never had like that the air
Speaker 1: apparent vibe to him, like you know, he was the
Speaker 1: guy after Girley, like, and even after they release Girly,
Speaker 1: it's not like because they have Henderson, I feel like
Speaker 1: they're gonna invest in another running back somewhere in the
Speaker 1: draft in the same region there, even though they don't
Speaker 1: really have many picks left to do they or money
Speaker 1: to pay players. But I don't know, he just doesn't
Speaker 1: have bell Cow potential to me, and he's his A
Speaker 1: DP is probably you know, crept up to two to
Speaker 1: three rounds since the Girly news. But I'm just fading
Speaker 1: it personally if it seems like it's gonna be another like,
Speaker 1: you know, a three headed monster that isn't very dangerous
Speaker 1: because that The running back usage was abysmal for the
Speaker 1: Rams last year. They weren't used in the passing game whatsoever.
Speaker 1: We're not sure if that's going to change. It's just
Speaker 1: like it's like the Patriots on the West Coast. You know,
Speaker 1: I hate the Patriots running back situation to always has
Speaker 1: and I'm getting that same vibe from l A. So
Speaker 1: I'm just out entirely on Henderson. I'm way more optimistic
Speaker 1: on Henderson. And here's why. Malcolm Brown to me is
Speaker 1: a middling talent. I don't think he's at all special.
Speaker 1: Brian Darryl Henderson flashed some really nice stuff in the
Speaker 1: preseason last year, and there's gonna be reps for him
Speaker 1: to have now. Obviously, if they burn a second round
Speaker 1: pick on at the running back position, you know, everything changes.
Speaker 1: But I'm very intrigued by Anderson. We've seen a lot
Speaker 1: of cases where a young rookie running back doesn't get
Speaker 1: a lot of reps and then year two it all
Speaker 1: blossoms together. Devanta Freeman, who is relevant to this argument,
Speaker 1: is one of was one of those guys who blossomed
Speaker 1: in year two. Todd Gurley now goes to Atlanta and
Speaker 1: the Falcons have only got Edo Smith and Codrea Allison
Speaker 1: and Brian Hill. I mean, you know, the all those
Speaker 1: guys who did nothing last year. How do you see
Speaker 1: Todd Gurley working his way into the Falcons rotation here? Well,
Speaker 1: just a one year deal, correct, So it feels like
Speaker 1: they're just gonna sort of run him into the ground
Speaker 1: and see what they got. But listen to this. This
Speaker 1: is brutal for Atlanta running back. Since two thousand and twelve,
Speaker 1: Atlanta's lead back is averaging only eight hundred and thirteen
Speaker 1: rushing yards. Only twice has the lead back top the
Speaker 1: thousand yards, and that was DeVonta Freeman. And and he
Speaker 1: didn't even top eleven hundred yards in those years. So
Speaker 1: it's never been a real money spot for a lead
Speaker 1: back in Atlanta. They were ranks four and run blocking
Speaker 1: by Football Outsiders last season. For what I recall, they
Speaker 1: spent a couple of early picks on offensive line and
Speaker 1: those guys got hurt early that that old line was
Speaker 1: kind of ravaged by injuries. But you know, it's an
Speaker 1: exciting offense. Matt Ryan, Julio Jones, Calvin Ridley. Uh Now,
Speaker 1: I guess it's elite side and no Austin Hooper, but
Speaker 1: I hated Hirst. It seems pretty comparable, so I'm you know,
Speaker 1: I'm bullish on Gurly. I think, you know, it's just
Speaker 1: his home state. He's gonna be motivated. He's got money
Speaker 1: motivated again for for whatever. Although he's gonna come off
Speaker 1: a year in which he will have been paid by
Speaker 1: both teams. They bade him twenty million dollars to leave,
Speaker 1: and now he also gets paid by Atlanta. He's Todd
Speaker 1: Gurley is having a pretty good financial year. Yes, definitely,
Speaker 1: And you know it's I'm it's I'm a contender in
Speaker 1: a Dinasty or Empire league. Imn't willing to hold the
Speaker 1: dice on I'm short term in redraft. I think he's
Speaker 1: back up in like late second early third round tier
Speaker 1: right now, could creep up, you know. So, uh yeah,
Speaker 1: I'm optimistic for Girly. I hope he I hope he
Speaker 1: does well all right. I mean the part that you're
Speaker 1: not touching on with Gurley is the knee, Brian, Yeah,
Speaker 1: for you to touch on the actual body part, right
Speaker 1: if there's there's nothing I like better than touching body parts,
Speaker 1: does Todd. The worry for me is that Todd Gurley
Speaker 1: just is never going to be a workhorse back again ever.
Speaker 1: And if they if he really could be, then I
Speaker 1: think the Rams would have been a lot more open
Speaker 1: to keeping him. If um, you know, I think we're
Speaker 1: gonna see a lot of what we saw last year.
Speaker 1: Twelve carry games, fifteen twelve touch games, fifteen touch games,
Speaker 1: eight touch games, stuff like that. That's gonna make him
Speaker 1: really up and down for fantasy owners. But I do
Speaker 1: agree with with what you're saying about that offense as
Speaker 1: a whole. It's gonna be a very healthy offense. And
Speaker 1: he'll get the goal line work for sure. And you know,
Speaker 1: with Matt Ryan throwing balls to Julio Jones and and
Speaker 1: Calvin Ridley, there's there's certainly room for Todd Gurley to
Speaker 1: get some get some touchdowns, and I like that part
Speaker 1: of it. So if ore to summer, I se Girly
Speaker 1: this way, I'm gonna ask you this, does he have
Speaker 1: more or less fantasy value this year than he had
Speaker 1: last year? Well? I just know, you know this time
Speaker 1: last year, everyone was way down on Girly leading up
Speaker 1: into the summer, So I mean those feelings aren't the
Speaker 1: same right now for whatever reason, him going to a
Speaker 1: new team, So I'm just gonna go with more. I
Speaker 1: think that he's going to have more value, even though
Speaker 1: I think he quietly was still an RB two last
Speaker 1: year and where it was an awful year, but I
Speaker 1: do think, uh, we see some more production from Girly
Speaker 1: this year. Of course you can stay healthy. Who will
Speaker 1: cross their fingers for that? Yeah, let's hope. So reminder,
Speaker 1: he went off the board last year at the as
Speaker 1: ADP wise in the in in August, the preseason of
Speaker 1: last year, he was going off the board at roughly
Speaker 1: positioned ten, So there was there ended up being a
Speaker 1: lot of downside in Girly last season. Let's shift over
Speaker 1: to Melvin Gordon, who ends up signing a two year,
Speaker 1: sixteen million dollar deal after one of the dumbest holdouts
Speaker 1: in the history of the NFL and ultimately now gone
Speaker 1: from San Diego. He scored nine touchdowns last year despite
Speaker 1: missing those first four games, But Brian Melvin Gordon only
Speaker 1: averaged three point eight yards per carry. And I think
Speaker 1: I saw a stacko by my Twitter feet along the
Speaker 1: lines of this. So if I don't get this perfect um,
Speaker 1: I apologize, but it's close. I think it was. Pro
Speaker 1: Football Focus showed him as the league's worst starting running
Speaker 1: back on inside carries in the NFL. Yeah, I saw
Speaker 1: a similar stat uh, and again you gotta feel bad
Speaker 1: for Philip Lindsay here. It just feels like a region
Speaker 1: of last year where Gordon wasn't the best running back
Speaker 1: on his team, when Austin Eichler was the best running back.
Speaker 1: But when Gordon came back, he laws continually eight into
Speaker 1: echoed his touches. And that's what's gonna happen with Philip
Speaker 1: Lindsay right now is essentially the backup, which is insane
Speaker 1: because he's like a top twelve running back in the
Speaker 1: NFL running back and Lindsey is better. Yeah, don't you
Speaker 1: think the same thing can happen again, where you know,
Speaker 1: we roll into a season and thinking Melvin Gordon's gonna
Speaker 1: get most of the work and then you know, the
Speaker 1: the other guys sort of the backup and Ekeler ends
Speaker 1: up being the better back. I don't know that that
Speaker 1: doesn't happen again. That God, Gordon gets the first crack
Speaker 1: to show that he's good, but then Philip Lindsay is
Speaker 1: ultimately the better back and they go back to him. Hopefully.
Speaker 1: I think that's how it will play out, and we
Speaker 1: should quickly mention that Royce Freeman is non existence anymore.
Speaker 1: I think he is right now, Let's get the name
Speaker 1: for the border right now, Let's get the name right
Speaker 1: Royce dropped the piano freeman. Finished last year, I was
Speaker 1: running back fifty two in points per game. Royce dropped
Speaker 1: the piano freeman. What do you think about l A
Speaker 1: now with Austin Ekeler and Justin Jackson. I remember during
Speaker 1: the regular season on the show towards the end of
Speaker 1: the season, for premature speculation, we kind of we you know,
Speaker 1: we're recommending guys or a good dynasty stash if you're
Speaker 1: dead in the Dynasty League and grabbing a guy with
Speaker 1: virtually no value at the time, but if the cards
Speaker 1: following his favor, he might to have some value come
Speaker 1: start of twenty. And that's Justin Jackson right now, who's
Speaker 1: the number two behind Ekeler. And they like Justin Jackson,
Speaker 1: and Justin Jackson has looked good in his limited actions.
Speaker 1: So um Ekeler is right now in PPR leagues of
Speaker 1: borderline late round one pick, I think he is now.
Speaker 1: He finished last year's finished last year's RB six in
Speaker 1: PPR UM. I don't see why he wouldn't be RB
Speaker 1: six necessarily again this year. Offense can't be any more
Speaker 1: dysfunctional than it was last year in general, right, so
Speaker 1: you would think that this would be an opportunity for
Speaker 1: Austin Ekeler to potentially get even even better than what
Speaker 1: we saw last year, if that's possible. No, Melvin Gordon there, right,
Speaker 1: who's to say that at the one yard line that
Speaker 1: it's called gonna be Justin Jackson? You know, Austin Ekeler
Speaker 1: is not a scatback, definitely not. Yeah, So I'm excited
Speaker 1: for Echuler's prospects and Justin Jackson. I think it's a
Speaker 1: mustinkuff for Echler owners going into the season, throughout draft
Speaker 1: season and um. But yeah, and it's you know, there's
Speaker 1: it's gonna be a lot of playing from behind, most
Speaker 1: likely from the Chargers, which usually goes well for fantasy production.
Speaker 1: So I like the running back situation from a fantasy
Speaker 1: perspective in l A for the Chargers. I don't like
Speaker 1: it in Denver though. From the fantasy perspective, it's it's
Speaker 1: a great real life situation with Gordon and Philip Lindsay
Speaker 1: running behind uh an old line that was ranked ten
Speaker 1: and run blocking by Football Outsiders and all of those
Speaker 1: sudden this Broncos offense is pretty sexy with uh so
Speaker 1: and then Noah Fans, and they could they have the
Speaker 1: fifteenth overall pick. I think they're either gonna bolster that
Speaker 1: line or take one of these elite wide receivers there
Speaker 1: with Sutton and then I like Drew Locks. So all
Speaker 1: of a sudden, you got a really fun offense. And
Speaker 1: when it comes to the running back situation, one of
Speaker 1: these guys that has to go down really for uh
Speaker 1: for me to get excited about him. I'll probably be
Speaker 1: looking to pick up Lindsay on draft day because you
Speaker 1: know his ADP is gonna plummet a little bit with
Speaker 1: the Gordon signing. But I'll take the discount on him
Speaker 1: all day. Ten have a ten times overboarded, it's going
Speaker 1: to be heavily discounted. Melvin Gordon finished actually in points
Speaker 1: per game, and again, so this is after he missed
Speaker 1: those first four games, and actually I think he missed
Speaker 1: the fifth game too. Uh in points per game, he
Speaker 1: ended up BARB fift, which is not that bad in PPR.
Speaker 1: And so based on that, do you believe Melvin Gordon
Speaker 1: will have more or less fantasy value this year than last?
Speaker 1: If you're taking everything to account from last year, the
Speaker 1: fact that he missed, you know, the first hand full
Speaker 1: of games. But on a point three game basis, it
Speaker 1: almost feels like a lateral move because I feel like, uh, Windsley,
Speaker 1: you will eat into Gordon's numbers, as Ekeler did, rightfully.
Speaker 1: So so I'm on the fence here, but I'll say
Speaker 1: a little bit more because I think it's a better
Speaker 1: offense and I just think he'll score more touchdownts with
Speaker 1: the Broncos. And let's not forget this angle charge to
Speaker 1: guaranteed revenge games from Melvin Gordon the next two seasons.
Speaker 1: Right there you go in the division, so you got
Speaker 1: a lot of that. He'll be running hard for those games,
Speaker 1: right I like it. Let's go to David Johnson. He
Speaker 1: was a disaster last year, clocking in as RB thirty
Speaker 1: eight in points per game. But really it was worse
Speaker 1: than that, Brian, because after about week five he brought
Speaker 1: nothing to the table. He topped forty rushing yards two
Speaker 1: times last year, none of them after and by the way,
Speaker 1: that's it he started. You can stop right there. David
Speaker 1: Johnson top forty rushing yards twice last year. I mean,
Speaker 1: that's a disaster by itself. None of them were after
Speaker 1: Week five, so he was. He was a guy you
Speaker 1: could have dropped in early October and been better off
Speaker 1: having dropped him. Arguably Fantasy Football's biggest bust last year,
Speaker 1: David johnson average draft position was pick seven for David
Speaker 1: Johnson last year. He leaves Arizona with Kenyan Drake and
Speaker 1: Chase Edmonds. Let's start there. What do you think of
Speaker 1: the Arizona backfield now that David Johnson's out. Oh, Kenyan
Speaker 1: Drake is right up there with Austin ekelo almost in
Speaker 1: that an elite pier of late first early second round
Speaker 1: running backs. I think he's easily in PPR Top ten
Speaker 1: running back. Kenyan Drake and that Arizona offense without a doubt.
Speaker 1: We'll address their offensive line in the draft, starting with
Speaker 1: the eighth overall pick. If they don't go old line there. Uh,
Speaker 1: something is seriously in this. You know they added DeAndre Hopkins.
Speaker 1: That's gonna be a very fun offense. Uh. Kyler Murray
Speaker 1: just spreads the field almost like no other. Last year,
Speaker 1: Drake faced eight plus men in the box on just
Speaker 1: eight percent of his carries with Arizona. That's the third
Speaker 1: lowest rate they did the opponent. Opponents aren't gonna be
Speaker 1: able to afford to stuff the box against Arizona with
Speaker 1: Kyler Murray and DeAndre Hopkins now Christian Kirk, so it's
Speaker 1: gonna be a very fun offense. And now, yeah, Kenyan Drake,
Speaker 1: I couldn't fault anyone for if taking him as their
Speaker 1: lead back in the late first, early second round of
Speaker 1: Chancy drafts. Really, I don't think I think Kenyan drakeson
Speaker 1: okay running back. They that offensive line has to get better,
Speaker 1: and Brian they just it's it's one of the four
Speaker 1: worst in the NFL. So hopefully this draft, and they
Speaker 1: have a ton of defensive need as well Arizona does,
Speaker 1: but hopefully in this draft they're serious about addressing their
Speaker 1: offensive line deficiencies. And if they do that, um, then
Speaker 1: I'm starting to listen to Kenyan Drake that high. But
Speaker 1: right now I'm not quite as enthusiastic as you are.
Speaker 1: Let's talk about where this puts David Johnson in the
Speaker 1: Houston with Houston where at least at at least he's
Speaker 1: he's gonna have to deal with Duke Johnson and what
Speaker 1: will likely be another situation where we'll have a split
Speaker 1: backfield right right. And just to talk reality football for
Speaker 1: a quick second, Bill O'Brien head coach and GM such
Speaker 1: a qualified to run a fantasy football team when he
Speaker 1: could have signed god Gurley or Melvin Gordon a couple
Speaker 1: of days later and then kept kept one of the
Speaker 1: five best wide receivers in the league. We have money
Speaker 1: and what a contract leastored with David Johnson. So for
Speaker 1: that reason talking about getting run into the ground, they
Speaker 1: are going to make do everything in their power in
Speaker 1: Houston to make that trade look like a good idea,
Speaker 1: which is impossible. It's never gonna happen. But as long
Speaker 1: as Johnson can stay healthy, he's gonna get used like
Speaker 1: a workhorse back duke Johnson into We're not so, but
Speaker 1: it's not. You know, running back hasn't been a great spot,
Speaker 1: uh since Arian Foster for the Texans. Last year. They
Speaker 1: were ranked in the bottom third when it comes to
Speaker 1: one block one blocking by Football Outsiders. David Johnson turns
Speaker 1: twenty nine this season. I'm out on Johnson pretty much,
Speaker 1: even though he just traded for him in an Empire
Speaker 1: league that I basically got him for free, because that's
Speaker 1: that's the general perspective that is, that's all you have
Speaker 1: to give up, That's all you have to give up
Speaker 1: for David Johnson is basically air um. We shaid know
Speaker 1: Carlos Hyde and Lamar Miller both unsigned free agents right now,
Speaker 1: and you know, as time goes on and neither there's
Speaker 1: not going to be a lot of value for these guys.
Speaker 1: And it's a running back rich draft. I think both
Speaker 1: of these guys have an excellent chance of being unsigned
Speaker 1: until after the draft when teams can you know, teams
Speaker 1: look and go, well, all right, we didn't walk out
Speaker 1: of the draft with any of the running backs we
Speaker 1: had hoped to get, so you know, we'll make do
Speaker 1: with Carlos Hide or whatever whatever is left of Lamar
Speaker 1: Miller's career. So it is it's David Johnson's job to take.
Speaker 1: And now the question is is he going to be
Speaker 1: in so much better shape now that they can actually
Speaker 1: get something useful and get some useful reps out of
Speaker 1: David Johnson. And you know, because if he if he
Speaker 1: shows up looking like he did last year, it doesn't matter.
Speaker 1: Guy can't play football at that size. Let's take a
Speaker 1: quick break then, I want to talk about two other
Speaker 1: guys that have that have moved Jordan Howard and Peyton Barber.
Speaker 1: I don't even spent a lot of time in either one,
Speaker 1: but we'll talk about those, and then some of the
Speaker 1: guys have stayed in place, like Damian Williams and Derrick
Speaker 1: Henry and Kenyan Drake back in moments, welcome back, Paul
Speaker 1: Charge and Brian Johnson with you. We are talking through
Speaker 1: the running backs in new places we've done Todd Gurley
Speaker 1: and Melvin Gordon and David Johnson. Let's turn our attention
Speaker 1: to briefly to two other guys that I don't think
Speaker 1: I have nearly as much impact and ultimately won't. That
Speaker 1: includes Jordan Howard. He was running back twenty eight in
Speaker 1: points per game last year. He goes to Miami where
Speaker 1: he's effectively the lead back for the moment. But let's
Speaker 1: start here, maybe more saliently than than Jordan Howard. This
Speaker 1: leaves the Eagles with Miles Sanders and Boston Scott. Now
Speaker 1: that becomes pretty intriguing. What do you think of those
Speaker 1: two players without Jordan Howard there in Philadelphia? Well, Miles Sanders,
Speaker 1: people are you know ringing the bell cow bell for him? Already?
Speaker 1: And uh, justifiably so. He looked he looked like he
Speaker 1: could play that role in the later later parts of
Speaker 1: the season last year, you know, and Boston Scott looked
Speaker 1: great when Sanders got hurt dead, he really did. He
Speaker 1: certainly has carved out a role for himself. He's gonna
Speaker 1: get at least of the touches agree with the Eagles. So, uh,
Speaker 1: you know, Sanders again, right with the other running backs
Speaker 1: we mentioned to have stayed put, he's right in that
Speaker 1: tear with Eckler and Kenyan Drake. He might even be
Speaker 1: viewed higher than those guys right now. I don't know
Speaker 1: how I would rank those three, but they're all safe
Speaker 1: RB twos with RB one upside. Yeah, and for Sanders,
Speaker 1: who's getting goal line carries? Not Boston Scott, that's for sure. Right,
Speaker 1: So I think I think the upside that Sanders springs
Speaker 1: is tremendous Brian from that standpoint that he never really
Speaker 1: you know, didn't have all Jordan Howard was there to
Speaker 1: a great extent with the Eagles. Now for the Dolphins,
Speaker 1: they have very little depth at running back. Patrick Laird
Speaker 1: and Miles Gascon, who proved themselves to be you know,
Speaker 1: completely ordinary at best last year. Where is I think
Speaker 1: Miami will bolster the running back position at some point,
Speaker 1: probably in the draft where they've got a billion picks,
Speaker 1: But assuming they don't, for the moment, what do you mean,
Speaker 1: just what we know right now? What do you think
Speaker 1: of Jordan Howard with the Dolphins. Jordan Howard turns in November,
Speaker 1: still pretty young, third, the third most rushing yards and
Speaker 1: seventh most rushing touchdowns since team So no, no, you know,
Speaker 1: he didn't lose his job last season with the Eagles.
Speaker 1: He got hurt. Now he's still starting running back. It's
Speaker 1: not like he was playing bad. But he isn't an
Speaker 1: exciting back fan. He means he's certainly is not known
Speaker 1: for his his past catching prowess. In his four seasons
Speaker 1: in the league, he owns a sixteenth percent drop rate,
Speaker 1: which is very high. Only he generates less than win
Speaker 1: eight yards per route run. Only two of his two
Speaker 1: career catches have gone for touchdown, so he's not really
Speaker 1: a bell cow type guy. And I can't envision Miami.
Speaker 1: I know you said, try to envision them not drafting
Speaker 1: running back. That's that's virtually impossible with four sick So
Speaker 1: definitely got to take it's not one made me maybe two,
Speaker 1: says how many and when? And I think they're gonna
Speaker 1: take one of these elite backs to the first round
Speaker 1: to be on raced Raft or Dobbins or you know,
Speaker 1: one of those guys. So I know, I know Howard's
Speaker 1: ADPs has left UH invest malls right now because he's
Speaker 1: just starting on my kind of team, no death. But
Speaker 1: his job is threatened already before the draft has even started.
Speaker 1: They're gonna draft someone to h seriously into his work.
Speaker 1: But he should be the goal line back. So don't
Speaker 1: be the goalne back. He'll get rotational work, right. I mean,
Speaker 1: you know, even if they draft somebody that you know,
Speaker 1: whoever that rookie is, is likely to end up sharing
Speaker 1: time with Jordan Howard at some point, let's go to
Speaker 1: Wells and then I'll ask again, does he have more
Speaker 1: or less fantasy value this year than last year? Jordan Howard,
Speaker 1: He's going from running hand arguably the best offensive line
Speaker 1: to the worst. The Dolphins ranked dead last UH in
Speaker 1: one blocking with Football Outsiders last year. The trade of
Speaker 1: learning the counsel to acquire some of these picks, and
Speaker 1: they again they got four keeen draft picks five in
Speaker 1: the first two rounds, so they seriously need to address
Speaker 1: their offensive line. But Miami was kind of you know,
Speaker 1: garbage time point Hayden towards the end of the year,
Speaker 1: which they couldn't be again, or they could be the
Speaker 1: best team in that division. Who knows. But it feels
Speaker 1: like another lateral move. But I think there's gonna be
Speaker 1: a little less value because that do you think Miami
Speaker 1: takes one of these leap running backs that don't have
Speaker 1: no choice? But you give the majority of touches too,
Speaker 1: all right, I don't want to spend a lot of
Speaker 1: time on Peyton Barber, who topped fifty rushing yards zero
Speaker 1: times after Week three last year and only and scored
Speaker 1: three times in the final eleven games of the season.
Speaker 1: He was nondescript. He goes to Washington Um where he
Speaker 1: adds he's into the mix with Adrian Peterson and Darius
Speaker 1: Guys and Bryce Love. He might not even make the cut.
Speaker 1: But maybe more importantly, Tampa's got this gaping hole now
Speaker 1: running back and they've got Ronald Jones. But he was
Speaker 1: completely incapable of stepping up when they repeatedly tried to
Speaker 1: get anything out of Ronald Jones I feel like this
Speaker 1: is Tampa's another team that's really set to draft another
Speaker 1: running back and uh and fill that that whole left
Speaker 1: by Peyton Barber. Yeah, I know people, a lot of
Speaker 1: people would love to see Kareem Hunt end up in Tampa,
Speaker 1: which is very unlikely now that Cleveland signed up to
Speaker 1: a second round of tender, right, But I don't Ronald
Speaker 1: Jones is not the guy. Even though Tom Brady has
Speaker 1: been heard calling him Ron That means they're pretty close already.
Speaker 1: But I don't pay Tom and Ron are going to
Speaker 1: be sharing the backfield as much as Ron would like.
Speaker 1: So yeah, hon with you. I think they draft a
Speaker 1: pretty big game running back who is going to be
Speaker 1: better than Ronald Jones and get a lot more touges.
Speaker 1: So I'm not I'm not buying a spike in value
Speaker 1: for Ronald Jones. Now that's all right. Paul charge And
Speaker 1: is gone. Yeah, And Paul Charchy and Brian Johnson. You
Speaker 1: can follow Brian on Twitter at b t x J
Speaker 1: and I am at Paul CHARCHI. And let's talk about
Speaker 1: some of the runners who are staying in place. Beginning
Speaker 1: with Damian Williams. The Chiefs ex exercised a team option
Speaker 1: on him and bring it will bring him back. Now
Speaker 1: he was running, He's going to be one of the
Speaker 1: most divisive players for fantasy owners. Anybody who tried to
Speaker 1: get through the regular season with him suffered badly because
Speaker 1: Damian Williams was hurt basically all season long, and they
Speaker 1: got virtually nothing out of him, and you didn't know
Speaker 1: if he was gonna start or not start, and even
Speaker 1: who's active was going to get the ball. It was
Speaker 1: a disaster for Damian Williams. And then here comes Week
Speaker 1: seventeen through the Super Bowl, and he couldn't have been
Speaker 1: a better fantasy producer. An astounding run for Damian Williams
Speaker 1: in the postseason and Week seventeen, So he's gonna stay
Speaker 1: in place here. He's currently the team's clear number one.
Speaker 1: To the point that I feel like all the rest
Speaker 1: of the mismatch of guys that Kansas City trolled out
Speaker 1: last year, I don't think any of them are necessarily
Speaker 1: even guaranteed to be back to the team. They're all terrible.
Speaker 1: So where do you feel like Damian Williams fits in
Speaker 1: this year? As he stays with this team, probably doesn't
Speaker 1: have to sweat the Darryl Williams of the world. Lashawn
Speaker 1: McCoy is gonna be gone, Spencer wears be gone. You
Speaker 1: know where where do you feel like he fits in?
Speaker 1: This is a play where you know owners are really
Speaker 1: going to be holding their breath during the NFL Draft,
Speaker 1: and if they might be holding their breath for a
Speaker 1: very long time, if they draw out the draft for
Speaker 1: a whole week, we could both think we should. By
Speaker 1: the way, it's a great idea in these times. But
Speaker 1: it's all about it. The Chiefs invest in any serious
Speaker 1: draft capital in a running back, and if they don't,
Speaker 1: then it's yatsi for Damian Williams owners. If they do,
Speaker 1: then you know it's gonna be a little more trepidation
Speaker 1: if you're going to draft them on draft day. But
Speaker 1: as of right now, he is the guy like he said,
Speaker 1: and he's not he's He's almost fits right in the
Speaker 1: Austin Ekelers and the Melbourne Gordon's of the world. Now.
Speaker 1: I think he has RV two uh safe RV two
Speaker 1: floor with RB one that lead upside if he can
Speaker 1: stay healthy, like any running back, his upside. If they
Speaker 1: don't draft a running back, the Chiefs don't draft a
Speaker 1: running back Damien Williams has the upside to be the
Speaker 1: highest scoring running back in fantasy football. He's not the
Speaker 1: best running back, and not by a fair margin, but
Speaker 1: in that off fence, as we saw in the playoffs,
Speaker 1: he can be an elite fantasy point producer. And that's
Speaker 1: the kind of upside we're talking about. It'll be fascinating
Speaker 1: to see if the Chiefs go there not. It's safe
Speaker 1: to say I'll ask you the same question, Masks, for
Speaker 1: all these guys, does Damian Williams have more or less
Speaker 1: fantasy value this year than last year? The answer has
Speaker 1: got to be more right because he missed so much
Speaker 1: time and played so sporadically with the injury last year. Yeah,
Speaker 1: assuming you see his selvy again and Kingado doesn't doesn't
Speaker 1: draft a premiere back, he's got to have more going
Speaker 1: into this year. I would agree. I think so too.
Speaker 1: Let's talk Let's talk Derrick Henry. He was running back
Speaker 1: three even in even in PPR leagues last year, and
Speaker 1: if you were non PPR, he may have been running
Speaker 1: back one for you. Um, he gets the Titans franchise
Speaker 1: tag and the team released Dion Lewis, player very near
Speaker 1: and dear to your heart where How do you how
Speaker 1: do you think this shapes up? Is there any reason
Speaker 1: to think there's gonna be any different for Derrick Henry
Speaker 1: this year than last year? But he's probably gonna be
Speaker 1: running a little angrier getting the franchise tag he wanted
Speaker 1: to exec money didn't get that. This is where my
Speaker 1: stance on Henry right now is. I think, with Danny
Speaker 1: and Tomlinson, was the only runner in the two thousands
Speaker 1: to repeat as rushing champion, and that was back in
Speaker 1: the O six or seven uh times. So I don't
Speaker 1: like Hendrick Chansons repeating as the rusting champ. Uh his
Speaker 1: his a dps right, it's probably right right around running
Speaker 1: backs five six, I don't know. I think not a
Speaker 1: whole lot is going to change for him. It appears
Speaker 1: Ryan cannon Hill will be the quarterback, No major changes there.
Speaker 1: They might draft a wide receiver Corey Davis looking like
Speaker 1: a bus. They got a J. Brown, of course, So
Speaker 1: I don't know. Henry's right around where he's at, and
Speaker 1: there's nothing that's really changed here. We just know Definity
Speaker 1: to believe it will be playing for Tennessee this season.
Speaker 1: Where does Henry I believe Derrick Henry will go roughly
Speaker 1: pick two, pick three, maybe as low as pick four
Speaker 1: in some leagues. But I think that's it, don't don't
Speaker 1: you see he's say he's at the beginning of the
Speaker 1: first round in most fantasy drafts. Yeah, definitely. And in
Speaker 1: standard leagues you can make the case for him to
Speaker 1: be the top overall running back. That's over McCaffrey. But
Speaker 1: you could make the case in standard leagues non PPR,
Speaker 1: you can. You can although Teddy Bridgewater just the dump
Speaker 1: offs that are coming, it's gonna be. Yeah, you know,
Speaker 1: I I would not be surprised to see a one
Speaker 1: hundred catch season for for Christian McCaffrey. Let's say, don't
Speaker 1: rule out p J Walker XFL will start p J
Speaker 1: Walker beating out beating out Teddy altogether. Right, you never know,
Speaker 1: you never know. You looked pretty good. Um, let's take
Speaker 1: one more quick break. When you come back, I want
Speaker 1: to talk to you about some of the other non
Speaker 1: moves and some of the unsigned running backs. It's Fantasy
Speaker 1: Football Weekly. Alright, we're back. Paul Chargie and Brian Johnson
Speaker 1: with you. Brian Gus Edwards resigned by Baltimore is not
Speaker 1: a big move by itself, but it really doesn't utterly
Speaker 1: muddy the waters for those of us that are drafted
Speaker 1: and have held Justice Hill for a while, hoping that
Speaker 1: he would emerge out of this ackfield either through maybe
Speaker 1: middling play from mark Ingram, which he was anything but middling.
Speaker 1: He was great last year um or just like Gus
Speaker 1: Edwards will leave and then you know, just as Hill
Speaker 1: could maybe step up. What are your thoughts on that
Speaker 1: Baltimore backfield with Gus Edwards back in it. Yeah, gust
Speaker 1: Edwards will continue to muddy the water is there. Justice
Speaker 1: Hill had a lot of hype last summer as a
Speaker 1: potential you know, Bell Cow if anything would have happened
Speaker 1: to mark Ingram, but it was Gus Edwards who is
Speaker 1: kind of always the number two throughout the season. So
Speaker 1: it's a it's another three headed monster that's you know,
Speaker 1: it's tough to dissect or do you want to take
Speaker 1: it on draft day. It's almost one of those back
Speaker 1: deals that you want to target invest ball where you
Speaker 1: know you can get Ingram this season in the fourth,
Speaker 1: fifth round and then a lot of people can be
Speaker 1: into Gusts Edwards and Justice Hill and not owning Ingram.
Speaker 1: So that's a good back filled the target in best
Speaker 1: ball where you can kind of try handcuff those three
Speaker 1: guys to each other. But yeah, again and muddies the
Speaker 1: water big times and uh n C League's Justice Hill
Speaker 1: might be more of a long play than people were
Speaker 1: hoping for. Mark Ingram shockingly good last year, finished his
Speaker 1: running back eight in PPR, including five receiving touchdowns to
Speaker 1: go with his ten rushing touchdowns and a total of
Speaker 1: almost hundred yards. Most people did not see a top
Speaker 1: ten performance of mark from mark Ingram, coming in part
Speaker 1: because your quarterback stealing so much of the running work
Speaker 1: that I think most people felt like there wasn't that
Speaker 1: the time share and the presence of Lamar Jackson was
Speaker 1: just going to be too much for mark Ingram to overcome.
Speaker 1: But to his credit, he he had a fantastic season,
Speaker 1: one of the best seasons of his career, and rolls
Speaker 1: into this year and it also be I think his
Speaker 1: tenth season now, um, and he rolls in feeling like
Speaker 1: he's another guy that you could just you can safely draft.
Speaker 1: And I don't feel like there's requisite buzz and recognition
Speaker 1: for mark Ingram for what he did last year. Yeah,
Speaker 1: and people are scared off by the age and he's
Speaker 1: thirty one now, thirty returns through he won this season,
Speaker 1: but he still had a lot of tread on the
Speaker 1: tires for a thirty thirty one year old. Never you know,
Speaker 1: it was never went into the ground in New Orleans,
Speaker 1: was always splitting time. So that helps. Yeah, I think
Speaker 1: I think he's seriously under value too. And you know, Baltimore,
Speaker 1: they're just gonna they're gonna run the ball, whether it's
Speaker 1: Lamar Jackson or Mark Ingram and play great defense or not.
Speaker 1: Gonna be bearing it out a ton. Uh one would
Speaker 1: one would think it's gonna be They're gonna play it
Speaker 1: like last year. And if that happens in Ingram states healthy.
Speaker 1: He's another guy safe RB two flour with RB one
Speaker 1: potential if he can get the two carries it will need.
Speaker 1: Kareem Hunt's got a new head coach, Kevin Stefanski, who
Speaker 1: were familiar with here in Minnesota. Uh. Stefanski has done
Speaker 1: a nice job getting fantasy values out of out of
Speaker 1: his running back for for the last several years. And
Speaker 1: needless to say, Dalvin Cook was electric and he was
Speaker 1: a fantastic fantasy back last season. I think Kareem Hunt,
Speaker 1: who will continue to share time with Nick Chubb and
Speaker 1: much the same role that we saw last year. Even
Speaker 1: though there's a new offense. You can't take Nick Chubb
Speaker 1: off the field, and they still used Kareem Hunt a
Speaker 1: lot last season once he was available on the second
Speaker 1: half of the year. What do you think, Yeah, I mean,
Speaker 1: once Hunt came off the suspension and it didn't take
Speaker 1: him mom and getting warmed up, he was outscoring Nick
Speaker 1: Chubb in PPR leagues and he finished the top twelve
Speaker 1: PPR back more like top seven in the in the
Speaker 1: second half of the season. He was an elite option.
Speaker 1: And Cleveland's got their hands full in a good way
Speaker 1: with Chubb and Hunt. And you know, it's an easy
Speaker 1: call for me on draft if I have to pick one,
Speaker 1: if it's Chubb in the the late first, early second,
Speaker 1: or if it's Hunt in the sixth seventh, Rott will
Speaker 1: take Hunt all day long because he could be the
Speaker 1: better running back. They're both elite. But Hunt led the
Speaker 1: league in rushing as a rookie. I don't think that
Speaker 1: happens very often. Not a couple of years ago the Chiefs,
Speaker 1: he led the league and rushing as a rookie, so
Speaker 1: Seek might have done the same thing. I don't remember.
Speaker 1: It was it was close, I think, and he was
Speaker 1: up there, and then there was Barkley too, I think.
Speaker 1: I see it does happen a lot Barkley. It was
Speaker 1: awesome in his rookie year. Zeke was awesome. Hunt was
Speaker 1: awesome happy last year. Zeke led the league. Last year
Speaker 1: in Barkley's rookie year, Barkley didn't do it. Barkley was president.
Speaker 1: Barkley may have had more total yards than Zeke dip
Speaker 1: but maybe now I don't remember. Um, probably because he
Speaker 1: had like twenty catches of one game. You like manning
Speaker 1: all day long, right back from Rose days. All right, So,
Speaker 1: just from a PPR standpoint, I'm sorry, from a points
Speaker 1: per game standpoint, do you believe Kareem Hunt will have
Speaker 1: more or less fantasy value this year than last year?
Speaker 1: From a per game standpoint? Uh, I would have to
Speaker 1: say more, because that offense was so dysfunctional even when
Speaker 1: Hunt came back. The whole team in general, like, it
Speaker 1: just has to improve. It just it has to, even
Speaker 1: though it's Cleveland and uh. And for that reason, I
Speaker 1: think we'll see a slight uptick in uh, Hunt's production
Speaker 1: and that probably you don't want to not mean on
Speaker 1: Shub as much as they did last year, you know,
Speaker 1: keep him fresh for what they hope is the potential
Speaker 1: playoff runs. So I think, you know, we see a
Speaker 1: little more touches for Hunting, a little less for SHUBs
Speaker 1: and what we saw the latter parts of the season
Speaker 1: last year. So I'll get a little more on a
Speaker 1: per game basis for Hunt. Yeah, you know, Hunt on
Speaker 1: they had five carries per game and he only scored
Speaker 1: three touchdowns, which really torpedoed his fantasy value, but he
Speaker 1: was he was still the receiving numbers for there. He
Speaker 1: was getting targeted four or five, eight, nine times per
Speaker 1: game targeted, and so the targets were there. I think
Speaker 1: things it's easy to see a scenario where he gets
Speaker 1: more rushes and maintains the receiving that he was getting
Speaker 1: last year and just converts it into more touchdowns than
Speaker 1: just the only three that he ended up scoring through
Speaker 1: the second half of last season. Fantasy value does go
Speaker 1: up any of the unsigned guys, Yeah, sorry, go ahead.
Speaker 1: The door open a little bit for Cleveland to deal
Speaker 1: Hunts still. I mean, the course they could train him,
Speaker 1: but how they signed him to the ten. He's not
Speaker 1: He's not a lock to be a Cleveland Browns, right, Yeah,
Speaker 1: I don't think anybody's I don't think any team is
Speaker 1: going to match his second round tender. But you're right,
Speaker 1: there's there is a trade scenario out there for some
Speaker 1: contending team that loses a running back. Um, so yeah,
Speaker 1: maybe that maybe it does work out that way. Let
Speaker 1: me hit you with some of the unsigned guys and
Speaker 1: tell me if you think these guys are totally cooked
Speaker 1: or is there fantasy value left for any of these guys.
Speaker 1: Davanta Freeman, Lamar Miller, Carlos Hyde, Frank Gore, Well, Frank
Speaker 1: or who want to joke too much about the times
Speaker 1: when he's away, jokes he's gonna survive, you know, the
Speaker 1: dup all out and whenever that comes to Frank Gore.
Speaker 1: But no fantasy value. He hasn't been a meaningful fantasy
Speaker 1: player for a long time. He was the guy you
Speaker 1: picked up off the waiver wire when there was nobody
Speaker 1: else left over the past several seasons to just start
Speaker 1: in a bye week, you know, bye week desperation scenario. Yeah,
Speaker 1: here has no value. We shouldn't talk about Frank Gore anymore.
Speaker 1: Out of all those guys, you hope it's Devanta Freeman.
Speaker 1: He's not fully cooked, he's he needs to land in
Speaker 1: the right uh scenario. Of course, all these guys do.
Speaker 1: And you're gonna you're gonna give me a hard time
Speaker 1: about Lamar Miller. I know, but I still think so.
Speaker 1: For Lamar Miller, things have been worked out for him
Speaker 1: in Houston. He never ran behind a competent line, but
Speaker 1: the offensive line was always ranked basically dead last in
Speaker 1: his three or four years in Houston. He needs to
Speaker 1: be land in the right spot. Though he's coming off
Speaker 1: in m c L and in the E c L.
Speaker 1: There's nothing too exciting about any of those guys, and
Speaker 1: that's probably why they're still Yeah, I think so too.
Speaker 1: I don't. I don't think I think it'll. You know,
Speaker 1: Carlos Hyde surprises. We didn't think you'd have any fantasy
Speaker 1: value who ended up being a fairly meaningful fantasy guy
Speaker 1: and somebody that if you were start your flexing Carlos
Speaker 1: Hyde most weeks you felt pretty you felt okay about that,
Speaker 1: and he did all right for your team. So you know,
Speaker 1: there's a scenario out there with injuries and just the
Speaker 1: right spot where Freeman, Miller, Hyde, Gorere is dead. One
Speaker 1: of these guys will end up having some value. I
Speaker 1: they'll they'll all be drafted, I'm sure in the later
Speaker 1: stages of drafts as handcuffs and maybe maybe as a starter,
Speaker 1: you know, a free starter like like Freeman has that potential.
Speaker 1: But yeah, again, not too excited about any of them.
Speaker 1: Great job, Brian, thanks for all the help to this week.
Speaker 1: Next week, I think we're back to I think we're
Speaker 1: back to Matt Harrison a little explosive output. We're gonna
Speaker 1: break break down the wide receiver and tight end moves
Speaker 1: much like we have running backs in this show and
Speaker 1: quarterbacks last week. Thanks for listening for everybody, and we'll
Speaker 1: talk to you in one week. Fantasy Football Weekly is
Speaker 1: a production of I Heart Radio. For more podcasts from
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