Speaker 1: Welcome to Fantasy Football Weekly, a production of iHeart Radio.
Speaker 2: Time now for Fantasy Football Weekly from iHeart Radio, your
Speaker 2: weekly source for the nation's best fantasy football advice, speculation,
Speaker 2: and whatever stupid stuff they decided to drop into the show. Now,
Speaker 2: here's your host, Paul Archi.
Speaker 1: Hey everybody, welcome to another micro edition of Fantasy Football Weekly.
Speaker 1: I am Paul Charchi and co host his usual Tyler Cannabily.
Speaker 1: On Twitter at no, I changed my Twitter name. Oh
Speaker 1: you're dead?
Speaker 3: I did.
Speaker 1: I demande. It's something easy.
Speaker 3: It's something easier now.
Speaker 1: But I've gotten so good at singing the kN A B.
Speaker 3: Yeah. Well now it's you can still look that up.
Speaker 3: I'm pretty sure you still find me. It's a PPR
Speaker 3: Tyler now just pp R Tyler. I can't believe that
Speaker 3: name was still that PPR Tyler. I like it.
Speaker 1: It winks per.
Speaker 3: It's really come into my fantasy points per rash, my
Speaker 3: career fantasy.
Speaker 1: That's uh. I like that points per rash. Let's let's
Speaker 1: run that.
Speaker 2: Uh.
Speaker 1: Today, we're gonna break down James Connor.
Speaker 3: He just won't go away. The player won't go He
Speaker 3: wants a couple I thought when he went to the
Speaker 3: cards like he's done after this year, We're not gonna
Speaker 3: talk about anymore, right, And he's not. Only are we
Speaker 3: still talking about him, he's still producing, still producing. He
Speaker 3: was the RB nineteen last season, he was the RB
Speaker 3: ten and average points per game and he's going off
Speaker 3: the board is RB twenty seven the exact same story.
Speaker 3: It was like.
Speaker 1: Nobody wants him.
Speaker 3: Yeah, you know, he's not.
Speaker 1: A highlight guy.
Speaker 3: He's just a grinder, right yeah, And the definition of
Speaker 3: a grinder he is.
Speaker 1: And so you know, you don't get these explosive plays,
Speaker 1: you don't get red zone alerts, you know, you just
Speaker 1: he's just a guy in a bad offense. And yet
Speaker 1: at the end of the day.
Speaker 3: He gets it done. He does. I mean, after Kyler
Speaker 3: got hurt last season, he I mean, he just did
Speaker 3: what he did this season before. It was one hundred
Speaker 3: and forty against New England. And these are all good
Speaker 3: like running defenses for the most part.
Speaker 1: After Kyler got hurt. So this is like the final
Speaker 1: whatever six seven games this season.
Speaker 3: Against New England. One hundred fourteen yards in the touchdown
Speaker 3: against Denver, one hundred two yards in a touchdown against
Speaker 3: Tampa Bay, one hundred and twenty yards in the touchdown,
Speaker 3: and then against Atlanta one hundred and twenty eight yards
Speaker 3: no touchdown, But he was the RB four in that span.
Speaker 1: Wow, all right, James Connor, this guy quietly powering teams.
Speaker 1: Him and Jerick McKinnon powering teams through the fantasy playoffs.
Speaker 3: Another stat I like too, He hasn't caught less than
Speaker 3: thirty four passes since his rookie season where he had
Speaker 3: a zero and he had like two games.
Speaker 1: Yeah, we don't think of him as a PPR helper,
Speaker 1: but he is.
Speaker 3: But he is. And who's gonna take touches away from Connor?
Speaker 3: Like you think you thought, maybe, oh, Cardinal's gonna draft
Speaker 3: a running back maybe like round three, round four, Like
Speaker 3: they're definitely a candidate to do so. And right now,
Speaker 3: here's the depth chart. Keyonta Ingram no threat, Corey Clement
Speaker 3: no threat, and Tyson Williams who got cut when he
Speaker 3: was like the one, JK. Dobbins and Gus Edward J
Speaker 3: c Elsa.
Speaker 1: You remember that.
Speaker 3: Yeah, what a time.
Speaker 1: So that guy's not going to be a factor. All right,
Speaker 1: So it's James Connor's job. We know they're going to
Speaker 1: use him prodigiously in Arizona. It's a bad team. They're
Speaker 1: going to be losing a lot of games, so we'll
Speaker 1: have to be worried a little bit about it's halftime
Speaker 1: and they're down by seventeen, So are the Cardinals going
Speaker 1: to be running a lot in the second half of games?
Speaker 1: But at the end of the day, we care a
Speaker 1: lot about opportunity, and He's and James Connor's gonna run
Speaker 1: the ball a lot.
Speaker 3: Yeah, and they might not even if they're down like
Speaker 3: twenty at half time. He might still be on the
Speaker 3: field just catching more passes. Anyway. If he's on the field,
Speaker 3: I mean it's first down, they're gonna throw, oh both
Speaker 3: swing pass at the James Connor for three yards. Yeah.
Speaker 1: In such a deep running back draft, I really thought
Speaker 1: the Cardinals would put a fourth rounder fifth runner. Now,
Speaker 1: they had need everywhere, so I get it, But I
Speaker 1: would have thought they'd have put a mid rounder on
Speaker 1: the running back position and got themselves a little more help. Instead,
Speaker 1: they didn't go that way. I love the fact that
Speaker 1: they did put a first rounder into the offensive line. Finally,
Speaker 1: addressing offensive line, they have a whole new coaching staff,
Speaker 1: including a new offensive coordinator, Drew Petzig, who had some
Speaker 1: time here in Minnesota but also with Cleveland. Then with
Speaker 1: those two offenses had in especially when he was in
Speaker 1: Minnesota and when he was in Cleveland powerful lead backs
Speaker 1: Nick Chubb, Dalvin Cook in those offenses.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean it's a it's kind of a great thing.
Speaker 3: You like to see that he spent I mean, I
Speaker 3: think his his most recent job was a quarterbacks coach
Speaker 3: in Cleveland, So I mean you kind of get the
Speaker 3: sense that hopefully he learned something from what's his flank,
Speaker 3: the fancy Yeah, and hopefully he can kind of bring
Speaker 3: that scheme over to Arizona. I mean, it's it's a
Speaker 3: new coaching staff than we've seen. I mean, obviously James
Speaker 3: Connor was with Kingsbury for a while, so we'll see
Speaker 3: how the this new offense will look. But it's like
Speaker 3: I said, we're gonna take.
Speaker 1: This was a deeper this was a deeper depth chart
Speaker 1: in Arizona. Yes, I'd be more worried about James Connor,
Speaker 1: but I'm not. Kante Ingram and Corey Clement and Tyson
Speaker 1: Williams not factors.
Speaker 3: Not worried about those, And it's not like you're even
Speaker 3: drafting him anywhere close to his ceiling. He's going as
Speaker 3: an RB three right now, RB twenty seven, Like, that's
Speaker 3: an R three.
Speaker 1: This guy's a Guillotine League gold mine. Oh, by the way,
Speaker 1: Guillotine League's open at Gayotine leagues dot com. It's official
Speaker 1: right now. This is exactly the kind of guy that
Speaker 1: you want because James Connor just gives you a safe
Speaker 1: floor every week. And of course in the Guillotine League,
Speaker 1: all we're trying to do is not finish last, so
Speaker 1: you want that's such a great spot for James Connor,
Speaker 1: and especially if in Guillotine Leagues he continues going at
Speaker 1: his average draft position of RB twenty seven, that's a
Speaker 1: gift in that format. In particular, let's talk about Kyler
Speaker 1: Murray because Murray obviously siphons off a lot of running,
Speaker 1: but he's also a better passer. This team's gonna start
Speaker 1: Colt McCoy in all probability for some part of the season.
Speaker 1: What do you think the Kyler Murray factor is and
Speaker 1: how does it affect James Connor well when.
Speaker 3: He's there, I like, at least for the season, especially
Speaker 3: how much is he gonna run? Like, is he really
Speaker 3: gonna trust that knee again kind of coming out of
Speaker 3: Like I mean, I don't know when we're going to
Speaker 3: see him. I'd say maybe like midway through the season.
Speaker 3: I saw something on Twitter though, was like Joe Burrow
Speaker 3: tores ACL started the next the season like week one
Speaker 3: RG three.
Speaker 1: Yeah, so I mean, like I think RG three shouldn't
Speaker 1: have but.
Speaker 3: Yeah, he definitely shouldn't. He said that too, like he
Speaker 3: tweeted that out. But I mean, I don't know, but
Speaker 3: I feel like they're not gonna run as much like
Speaker 3: I think. I mean, especially when Joe Burrow came back
Speaker 3: from that season, Yeah, later he run at all. And
Speaker 3: now last year he looks like, I don't know, it
Speaker 3: looks like he can, looks like Danny Dimes can move
Speaker 3: a little bit.
Speaker 1: So Murray when even when Murray comes back, he doesn't
Speaker 1: run much because it's he's off of fresh ACL. And
Speaker 1: here's the thing about Murray that I think is widely
Speaker 1: under misunderstood by the fantasy community at large. Dude's never
Speaker 1: been a goal line runner. They don't run him inside
Speaker 1: the five, and that's just not his bit. He's not
Speaker 1: Jalen Hurts, he's not Josh Allen. They don't use him
Speaker 1: that way, his rushing touchdowns come from distance unless except
Speaker 1: for a handful of games like James Connor hasn't been
Speaker 1: there and then out of necessity they've run a couple
Speaker 1: of times. But Condler Murray is he could be sitting
Speaker 1: on like a two rushing touchdown season. I don't think
Speaker 1: Murray takes really anything away from James Connor.
Speaker 3: You're You're totally right. I've had Kyler Murray on Dynasty's
Speaker 3: in the past couple of years. So when I'm watching
Speaker 3: red zone and it's at the one yard line and
Speaker 3: Kyler Murray's under center, I'm like, they're not gonna sneak
Speaker 3: this because he's he's five nine, rightee, No sneak this.
Speaker 3: You know what they do? They give the James Connor,
Speaker 3: or at least under the Kingsbury offense, it'd be like
Speaker 3: one yard line shotgun James Connor offset, which is a horrible.
Speaker 1: Playing design, by the way, shot like this shotgun. The
Speaker 1: one is so stupid.
Speaker 3: You don't like the threat of the past.
Speaker 1: The one.
Speaker 3: I get a Kirk Cousins back there, for sure. That's
Speaker 3: more fantasy points.
Speaker 1: Everybody thinks of James Connor and you think of injury
Speaker 1: I think that's one of the very first things that
Speaker 1: come to mind, not just the cancer, but it feels
Speaker 1: like he's a guy who has missed a lot of time.
Speaker 1: But I think that's largely a misconception.
Speaker 3: Yeah, he had thirteen games played in twenty twenty, I mean,
Speaker 3: not bad for a running back, and yeah he missed
Speaker 3: a couple, but not bad thirteen games in twenty twenty one,
Speaker 3: and he had fifteen games played last season, and he's
Speaker 3: only getting older from maybe the like it's maybe it's
Speaker 3: one of those things where like the McCaffrey, it's everyone
Speaker 3: thought always injury prone, Saquon always injury prone. James Connor
Speaker 3: kind of was the same way, where he's injury prone
Speaker 3: for two seasons, but he's played the better half of
Speaker 3: three seasons here in a row. So I mean, we'll see.
Speaker 1: James Connors not particularly good. He's not a special runner.
Speaker 1: His PFF ranking was forty eighth. He's not even the
Speaker 1: highest ranked Connor by Pro Football Focus. Snoop Connor had
Speaker 1: a higher PFF rating than James Connor did.
Speaker 3: Well, let's factor in some attempts for that though, Connor
Speaker 3: get like three carries, not.
Speaker 1: As many as i'd have given him. I'll tell you
Speaker 1: that much. He ranked twenty fifth in efficiency by Next
Speaker 1: Gen Stats, and he ranked thirty first in rushing yards
Speaker 1: over expectation by Next Gen Stats. James Condors not special,
Speaker 1: but this is all about opportunity and it's all about
Speaker 1: how you get used, including inside the five, which we've
Speaker 1: alluded to in two years with Arizona. These are Kingsbury offenses.
Speaker 1: Still twenty seven rushes from inside the five. We always
Speaker 1: talk about on carries inside the five. Your great goal linebacks,
Speaker 1: you're Ezekiel Elliott's, you're Derrick Henry's. They convert half of
Speaker 1: their carries inside the five to touchdowns on twenty seven
Speaker 1: rushes from inside the five, James Connor fourteen touchdowns.
Speaker 3: There you go.
Speaker 1: That's above at is one more than fifty n me up, yep.
Speaker 1: So we're fans of where we you know, we're we're
Speaker 1: fans of where James Connor is going in ADP. Let's
Speaker 1: talk it through who's going around him, because I think
Speaker 1: we're gonna like James Connor better than a lot of
Speaker 1: these guys.
Speaker 3: First one we got is Rashad White at RB twenty five.
Speaker 1: Tampa could have the worst offense in the NFL, maybe
Speaker 1: even worse than the Cardinals.
Speaker 3: It's possible he could. He could kind of be like
Speaker 3: a smaller version of James Connor though, where he has
Speaker 3: a receiving upside. He flies some power last year in London.
Speaker 1: So I think i'd go I'd go white for the PPR.
Speaker 3: Yeah that's fair. Uh, this is tough. I'll go white.
Speaker 3: I like his college mixtape. Alexander Madison RB twenty six.
Speaker 1: There's still way too much weird stuff happening with the Vikings,
Speaker 1: including the very real threat that Dalvin Cook's gonna stay
Speaker 1: a Viking.
Speaker 3: Yeah, it went from he's cut and he's gonna go
Speaker 3: somewhere else to now like he's gonna take a pa
Speaker 3: Cup because he can't get any more money.
Speaker 1: Nobody's gonna pay him anything. So yeah, I think he's
Speaker 1: I think Dalvin Cook's people have started to realize there's
Speaker 1: no market and if the Vikings cut him, he's gonna
Speaker 1: get X amount of dollars as a cut player, which
Speaker 1: isn't very much, and he's better off just sticking. So
Speaker 1: I'm out on Madison next.
Speaker 3: David Montgomery RB twenty eight. Guy we loves talking about
Speaker 3: a micro a couple of weeks back.
Speaker 1: Yeah, we did, but he's in a split backfield. James
Speaker 1: Conner owns this backfield. I'm taking James Conner over David Montgomery.
Speaker 3: I'm gonna go David Montgomery because I think the offense
Speaker 3: cancels it out for me where that could be. I
Speaker 3: think I think it outweighs the opportunity and the I
Speaker 3: think the offense could better. He's gonna have more touches, Okay,
Speaker 3: Javonte Williams RB twenty nine some like he's actually at
Speaker 3: OTA's running routes. I know it's really nothing. But when
Speaker 3: Sean Payton said he's having to go on the pub
Speaker 3: for training camp, like what's going on here? You have
Speaker 3: one of the words and the injuries of like, I know.
Speaker 1: I'm nervous this thing. It's I'm nervous. It feels like JK.
Speaker 1: Dobbins last year.
Speaker 3: Yeah.
Speaker 1: Remember Dobbins was doing all this work through the summer
Speaker 1: and everything, and he participated in training camp and like, oh,
Speaker 1: he's better. Sometimes it's not. You don't want to be
Speaker 1: the first guy.
Speaker 3: Yeah. Schefter was like he won't be back for week
Speaker 3: one and then Dobbin's like, yes, I will. He wasn't.
Speaker 1: That's right, exactly exactly, all right.
Speaker 3: Last one we got James Cook at RB thirty.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I'm taking James Conner. Yeah, I'll take the number.
Speaker 1: I'll take the lead, you know, the lead back.
Speaker 3: I will not have any James Cook this year.
Speaker 1: Yeah. There's a lot of momentum for James Cook out there,
Speaker 1: and you and I are about the only naysayers out there.
Speaker 3: I don't know why there is. I mean, we talked
Speaker 3: about him and he had nice efficiency stats.
Speaker 1: But no, look, it's not that he's not a good player.
Speaker 3: It's yeah, it's just the offense that he's in, right,
Speaker 3: He's not even like the third rushing option. It's it
Speaker 3: goes probably Damien Harris, Josh Allen, then James Cook.
Speaker 1: That may very well be true. Thank you for listening
Speaker 1: to this edition of Fantasy for Micro Edition. We've got
Speaker 1: another one coming up tomorrow. Then we've got the full
Speaker 1: edition coming up on Friday. Talk to you soon, everybody.
Speaker 1: Bye bye,