Unless one has an affinity for looking ridiculously foolish, it is wise not to stumble aimlessly into a fantasy football draft. The Ultimate Draft Kit from the fantasy footballers contains all the information you need to avoid the jeers of your enemies and to snuff out any glint of hope in their souls. Imagine the gasps those trouser-wearing turrets will emit as you make yet another triumphant draft selection. Imagine their tears forming a formidable puddle as you assemble an unstoppable force.
The Ultimate Draft Kit comes bursting at the seams with fantasy goodness. When you enter the draft room, you'll feel as if you were a monstrous beast let loose in a chicken coop. Head over to ultimatedraftkit.com today. Welcome to the Fantasy Footballers Podcast with your hosts, Andy Holloway, Jason Moore, and Mike Wright.
Ah, welcome in. It's football time. Yay! Oh, you are the sir.
I don't know what I did. We have to keep it secret. Keep it secret. So you whispered it.
That was the... Yes. That was the solution? Let us whisper it together.
It's one half of teams playing one quarter of its football time. Soon. Soon, everyone. Yeah, I mean, I'm excited.
We shall rejoice. I'm very excited. It's Thursday. We do have football.
There's some football. There are a couple games tonight. Wait, I mean, it's how you talk in italics. How do you talk...
How do you speak in italics? I will say this. You know, the buzz. Football guy.
Wait a minute. That's Italian. No, okay. Not italic.
My bad. Those are different words. Yeah, they are. They really are.
That's a switch, Jay. That's incredible. I did watch the first episode of Hard Knocks, Mike, including the introduction of the... How off-putting was that?
It was pretty off... I mean, they should not have narrated. No. I think I know why they did it, though.
They shouldn't have. But what happens is they do the intro to Hard Knocks. And this is the Chicago Bears. Right.
I thought the episode was fun. It was okay. It was okay. Yeah, it was good.
Not enough keen now. But they go right into a musical intro to the episode. So you got the intro to the show. Then they go into this musical intro to the stadium and everything.
And I think they felt like they needed narration. It was a mistake. And the actual narration, to be fair, of setting up, reminding people that once upon a time, the Chicago Bears were a feared team in the NFL. And they're trying to get back to that.
So I understand what story they're setting up. I'm just saying that the first time you hear that music in August is like an electric jolt to your body. We have two games. Panthers, Patriots, Lions, Giants tonight.
Preseason week one officially getting started. What did you think of Iberflus? I think he's interesting. I thought he seemed like maybe a fun guy to be around.
Oh, really? Yeah. So I have not watched. But in press conferences, things I've watched there, Iberflus hasn't come across really as like the fun guy.
That would be interesting. He seems like a dad. Yeah, the one thing that hit me, for sure. His daughters are featured a lot, like knowing football, watching all these games.
And what was crazy to me is just that the dichotomy for the Bears and the Bears fans out there between keeping Justin Fields or making this transition. Because that was the discussion in the debate long ago. Justin Fields, the fantasy numbers, so prolific. And it's just such a different feeling for the future of this team to have Caleb Williams.
Yes. Very disappointed in his rookie performance. Oh, that was bad. Talk about singing in front of the...
Yeah, and like not going after it. You're the leader of the team, man. Get after it. And I'm not a good sign.
All right, ultimatedraftkit.com. Head over there. 100-plus player profile videos. We break down everybody.
We've got player projections. They're changing all the time. We've got our My Guys episode coming up soon, which is an outpouring. You know what?
I'm going to give a hint. Oh. I'm going to give a little hint. Because there's really no way for people to figure this out.
So I did notice. I have one of My Guys figured out. Like, they're locked. You're waiting for three?
Right next to each other in one of my positional rankings. So there's a little reveal. Is that next week? Yes, it is.
Oh, my gosh. Yeah. I've got, you know, high expectations. And I'm excited to hear you guys as My Guys on the show.
But ultimatedraftkit.com will now check that out. Let's do some preseason. Preseason power-up. All right.
What are you watching for this preseason? So this doesn't have to be just one player. This could be a team. This could be a position battle.
This could be Matt Eberflus' beard. I don't care. Tell me what you're looking for. I mean, the number one thing I've been wanting to see, and it's ironic that I haven't watched Hard Knocks, this is Caleb Williams.
I want to see the number one overall pick, the highest touted rookie in, you know, several years. I want to see what he looks like, because from a fantasy perspective, I, as well as all three of us, are still well behind ADP. His ADP on the what could be is really, really high. People want to take a shot at getting that superstar.
There's great potential. Oh, for sure. He comes in and rocks as a rookie. But that's why I want to see it, because I understand there is huge potential for success with the wider supercourt he has.
I've done, you know, most of my statting on just historical truth, even great Hall of Fame, you know, first ballot quarterbacks that don't usually come out guns a-blazing in their rookie season, especially when it comes to throwing touchdowns. So, yeah, that's one thing that I will be certainly watching. And I'll double up, because the Chicago Bears are playing the Buffalo Bills, and we just got word that Josh Allen and the first team is going to play up to a quarter. We'll see if it might just end up being one drive.
The point being, who is out there? Like, who is out there immediately? The Bills wide receivers, it's a, an absolute, not an absolute mystery, but it is shrouded in a midst of war that we just, we aren't 100% sure of who's going to emerge and be the guy, if anyone. But on top of that, we know that Josh Allen is probably going to throw for 4,000 plus yards and a whole bunch of touchdowns, and someone could be incredible, and get the ADP on all these guys is at a point where, if one of them hits, it changes your entire fantasy roster.
All right, Mike, all right, Mike. Okay. The first team's playing. The first time they line up in three wide receiver sets, call your shot.
Who are the three wides? Well, Curtis and Shakir are locked. It's the, is Keon Coleman out there right away, or is it someone like Matt Collins who's gotten a little bit of buzz about being an outside wide receiver? Yeah, yeah, we don't even need.
And will Matt Collins be wearing cleats? I think by rule he has to, but will he be eight feet tall yet? Because the boy's still growing. The Bills, they might not be the guy, but we would like a guy or two to count on for fantasy.
But Josh is dealing with her bank account right now. Yeah, Yoshi Voss, Trenton Irwin, Jermaine Burden, and whether he can break into the rotation. We've seen big games from, you know, Jason, you talked all about Burrow and not forgetting how great Burrow is. And have we gotten news if Burrow is starting in preseason week?
Because he is someone that I really want to see, like his health. I'm so excited if he's back in health. My vague memory. Oh my gosh, I wouldn't play him if I were there.
Let's see. Okay, we have. We know Kyler's not playing. So Coach Taylor on Up and Adams on August 4th, I intend for Joe to play.
There was a point where we wouldn't have whispered his football time quite as quietly. But the preseason is so different now. Yes, it's been six years ago. Six, seven years ago.
It was just, it's football time. We get a quarter of football. This is like, you've got to sleuth down beat reporters to see who's playing in these games. And then you end up with situations where first team offenses play second team defenses.
And you're not really 100% sure. And like last year, the Pittsburgh Steelers look unstoppable. Do you remember this? How unstoppable their offense was.
Kenny Pickett's entire career in a week. He was like 90% completion through preseason. Every drive in a touchdown. He was like, wow, we should be in.
It turns out. Nope. It turns out it was preseason football against the vanilla second streamer. Here's who we thought he was.
Are they going to be great? You're not going to know that. But I can watch Bob Bowers run around. I can watch what he looks like against NFL level defensive players.
So, you know, seeing some signs and signals from individual players is, I think, the most valuable thing. It will get the hype chains going. It will move the ADP of players in different directions. We all remember the Kerryon Johnson run around the world.
You know, a couple preseason runs. Oh, Amir Abdullah. Yeah, Amir Abdullah had the one cut to rule them all. It's true.
So, yeah, it'll be a lot of fun. Those are a few things we're looking for. News and notes from around the league. Presented by USAA Insurance.
The Jets activated Mike Williams off the PUP list, which is, you know, to me, a great step towards not wasting the money you spent signing him. Yeah, that's great. I mean, if they got him week one, I think it changes the offense a little bit. Jaden Reed mispracticed with a calf injury.
He is back today. Christian Watson took a big hit. Stayed down for a while and then returned to practice and the team said they had just kind of avoided a major injury and they think Kobe could go. It's a little scary.
I don't want to be on this ride. Is it on the suit? It really was. I don't want to go on the ride.
You're saying that specifically only with Christian Watson ignoring the Jaden Reed calf? Yes. Okay, I just wanted to make sure. No, no, let's be fair.
Jaden Reed missed time at the end of last year. He dealt with injuries. He plays a little bit Devo-esque with not a Devo body, so you're going to get beaten up. But I, yeah, Christian Watson, we have the longer run of frustration, so I don't...
I actually did make a change in my rankings based on this combination of news. The fact that you got the calf injury, and yeah, you're back, so it's over. But it's like, Andy, you know this. When you tweak a calf, you better hope it's over because you don't know until you're out there, you know, exploding off of it.
And Christian Watson's just peanut brittle. So Romeo Thompson. I mean, maybe. It was actually flipping Jordan Love and Kyler Murray.
I had Jordan Love ahead of Kyler Murray. I just see that there's a little bit more risk there to me if you've got a questionable health of the very talented wide receivers. The Cowboys RB depth chart, there's some comments about Rico Dowdle. Mike would be remiss for us not to bring it up.
I didn't put this in. But you wanted it. It was like the record show. I didn't put it in.
I think the quote you're referring to is from John Machado. At this point, it would be a surprise for Rico Dowdle not to make it. He is my favorite to lead the team in rushing. I do want to point out it is this guy's favorite to lead the team in rushing, not necessarily Mike McCarthy's favorite.
Yeah, and we broke down Rico Dowdle a lot on this week's Dynasty podcast. So you can go back if you want more of an in-depth, but it's a, like the reporting out of Cowboys training camp has been since the pads have been on, Rico Dowdle is the one with the most juice, the most electric player. That doesn't mean that Mike McCarthy and crew will not feature Zeke. It just means that there is an opportunity here for Rico Dowdle.
Yeah, I think everyone would agree Rico Dowdle has more juice than Zeke at this point right now. The question is, is he as trustworthy, as reliable, as entrenched in the game plans? Yeah, the question is, do the Cowboys look at their offense and say, we need to play with the most juice here? Or do they look at their offense and say, look what we did last year, trusting the passing game in Dak and CD and Ferguson and do we just need reliability, like you said.
So the Ayuk trade watch continues. Oh man, I hope it never ends. Lame, lame morning, guys. I know no new news.
The past few mornings that you can wake up to find like 25 beat reporters talking about, he's going here, he's going there, and today was just nothing. Ayuk wants to thread the needle in such a way with this deal that I started to wonder, is he just going to play for the 49ers? Because, you know, I want $30 million. Okay, we'll give it to you.
Oh, not the Patriots? I'm not interested. He wants the 49ers to give them $30 million. We're at the point now of, has Ayuk seen what the market for?
Like, the team he actually wants to go to? Does he have a contract? Like, we've seen reports that him and Pittsburgh are aligned in what the contract would be, but San Francisco and Pittsburgh are not aligned in the compensation to trade for Ayuk. I've seen people disputing that, saying that no one has gotten to the finish line of an agreement.
It's all over the place. But we're now getting to the point of, we need a resolution. Like, if Brandon Ayuk is trading, they're changing teams next week, in preseason week too. I do worry about offensive integration.
It's football time. Yeah, we're already here, man. So, where are you guys, are you at the point of, can you just place it out? Yeah, I mean, it's the best thing for the 49ers.
Yes. Have you seen Nick Bosa's comments? I mean, he's just like, you could tell that dude who's depressed about losing Ayuk on this roster. It's a devastating blow to their Super Bowl chances if they actually trade him away.
That was today's news notes presented by USAA Insurance. Learn more at USA.com slash insurance. Let's take a quick break, and then we're jumping into running back rankings. I will say this before we jump in.
The Ayuk news and just the compensation requests from the 49ers. You know, there's rumors that they want Pickens back, they want Amari Cooper back, they want draft picks, all this money. Like, I do think the NFL looks at Brandon Ayuk as at least a player that could reach a top eight, top five range at the wide receiver position because the compensation, you know, the Patriots are going to give him $30 million in picks. That's just a lot.
So, I think the view of Brandon Ayuk is very, very, is very high in the NFL circles. Yeah, I think the one player not getting enough talk in this whole situation, both pro and con, is Ricky Pearsall. Their first round wide receiver they drafted this year, like, he's been injured a lot. If he was tearing up camp, would they be so, we have to get Shereens back, we have to get Cooper back?
Like, they draft, they knew that they might not be able to play both Debo and Brandon Ayuk, and so they draft the first round wide receiver, and it's like, that should be the solution. It seems like to the 49ers so far, it's like, I don't know. Well, look, it's not necessarily Pearsall, right? Like, Juwan Jennings has been a contributor on this roster for a while.
You talk about deeper leagues, you talk about dynasty leagues, there's no guarantee that Ricky Pearsall has taken all the snaps. Like, if this trade goes through and they don't get compensation back at wide receiver, but this conversation goes well beyond Ricky Pearsall. No, for sure. I'm just saying, I think Ricky Pearsall must not be impressing them that much.
Well, he's just not been on the field. Sure, that's right. Yeah, I mean, I think they drafted him, as you would say, to be great. Running backs.
All right, we are in our running backs ranking countdown 20 through 11 on today's show, looking at our half PPR consensus ranking, so this is not, you know, we have these guys at different spots, but this is where they landed on our big board together. And starting out at number 20, Ramondre Stevenson. I am currently the highest at 20 on the dot. You guys are a little bit behind on that one.
Got the bag of cash, obviously, on the dynasty team. I made sure to get that done for him. But a four-year extension, he's now the seventh highest paid running back on a per-year basis. And I have a lot of, I think he's capped by the offense and the team in terms of total fantasy finish upside, but I think Ramondre's going to do literally as much as he can possibly do this year from a workload perspective.
And so I'm pretty enthusiastic about, you know, his chances to finish between 12 and 20. I think he's like one of the more solid RB2s you can get. And right now the draft cost is at the back of that range. He's a six-round draft pick.
I could see his name slipping in certain drafts, right? Where, you know, there's just not an interest in Ramondre coming off a RB36 year. Where are you with Ramondre? Yeah, I'm very, very similar to what you just described.
I'm confident in his ability. I'm confident in his workload. Those are great things. I'm also pretty confident in his health.
I know he missed four games at the end of last season with an ankle sprain. However, this was a team that was on track for a quarterback pick, and when he got injured in week 14, it was like, hey, let's shut him down. You know, this was not a team trying to make the playoffs where he was trying to rush back from the ankle injury. He's got the body, the size to be able to take a workload, you know, workload.
What? Allow myself to introduce myself. Hold on, let me get that right. To take a workload workload.
Yes. The team loves him. The team is confident in him. They do.
It's just a matter of are they going to be ahead in enough games in enough scoring positions to have, I mean, if at the end of the year you've got five total touchdowns for Andre Stevenson because the offense wasn't very good, you're going to have the running back 26, 27. But if he ends up with eight or nine, ten touchdowns, he very well should be around running back 15 or higher. He was on the My Guy finalist list for me, and I just, the four and a half win total for New England hurt that. But Mike, could he finish as the running back 10?
No. No, I do not think that he can get there, though. Look, an offense can turn things around. The Houston Texans were projected to be the second or first worst team last year.
Obviously, CJ Stroud came in and put that into the garbage can. Can Drake May do something similar? I mean, at this point, it doesn't seem like it because it certainly feels like Jacoby Brissett is going to start the year for the New England Patriots, and then they'll eventually make a changeover to Drake May. It's, I don't want a, I don't want to bet on a running back in such a bad offense.
You know, when the guys around him is, like, DeAndre Swift. I have a lifelong feud with DeAndre Swift, but... You guys are in civil court right now. We're hashing it out.
We're hashing it out. And I have Ramondre, you know, just in my media projection slightly ahead of DeAndre Swift, probably because of the feud. It's personal for me, but, like, Swift or Najee, he's more of a question. Like, he's kind of really similar, I think, to Ramondre Stephenson.
But there's, like, there's guys going right around Ramondre that he feels more like the consolation prize of the running back in that range as opposed to someone who I think that the offense could really take off. Yeah, the money says that he should be the guy. He was the RB11 in 2022. Yes.
It's not like they won the division that year. Right, but the, what was his reception point? Yeah, I was right there. Yeah, Mac Dump-offs.
So that's... I don't think that's going to be part of his recipe this year with the white receiver, 100%. Yeah, he had 88 targets, which is a great way to become an RB1. Without Drake May turning things around, I don't see running back 10 in Ramondre's outlook.
However, I disagree with you, Mike. I think when I look at the running backs, he's going around Swift, Najee, Samir White. He's steadier. I would much rather have Ramondre of all of them.
Josh Jacobs comes in at 19. 26 years old. Being drafted as the RB11 right now. That is a big...
I mean, that's one of the areas where we unanimously have him a little bit lower than... I think that's one of the areas we could just be wrong. Oh, for sure. I mean, this is the number one area where I could see...
Good offense, check. Yeah, and then workhorse guy, pass catcher, a lot of talk about that. Marshawn Lloyd, ball security issues, and... There is a lot of talk of...
AJ Dillon being a running back, too. I think I said we were bringing this up a few weeks ago. This is one of those situations. You may want Marshawn Lloyd to get an opportunity, but they like what they have in AJ Dillon right now.
I felt far more confident in our take of Josh Jacobs when it seemed like Marshawn Lloyd's the deciding rookie who's going to come in. And Green Bay will platoon. They're going to 100% platoon. I know that Jacobs, in his history, has shown not to be the free-down guy.
I don't think that's how they're going to use him. And if you have an electric player behind him getting those efficient... He's ripping off chunk runs. I'm less confident in Jacobs.
But if it seriously is AJ Dillon as the running back, too, then this will be a ranking that I move... I eventually scooch him up a little bit. Yeah, obviously everything you're saying is good. And the fact that there's ball security issues right now with Marshawn Lloyd is concerning because that was one of the major knocks on him in college.
He put the ball on the ground a lot. So if you're a rookie and you're doing that, it's very hard to trust. For a team that has championship aspirations to say, hey, put the rookie who's going to put the ball on the ground out there, it's tough. But Josh Jacobs is not going to be a workhorse back.
It's just not the system that has ever been here. AJ Dillon, we all remember how bad he was last year. And he missed games. And he had 208 opportunities.
They don't give it to anyone. And they had Aaron Jones, who was well. So I will agree that this could be a huge whiff. Josh Jacobs, on a good offense, who just led the NFL in rushing two years ago, should have goal line opportunities and catches the ball.
This could be a massive mistake. But he was very inefficient last year and won't have the total volume he's had over the last several years. Yeah. He's only 26.
He might get a lot of that volume. I think that might be one area I disagree. But I think that there's a very good chance he could be the workhorse for this team. LaFleur, I mean, if you listen to LaFleur, he has said this more than 100 times.
He said, I don't believe in having a workhorse back. He believes in using multiple backs to keep them fresh through the season. I mean, I would be so shocked if it was like, now he changes his mind when he said that. So he said that to the beat reporters, like, you guys know me.
You know that's not what I do. So that's what I'm basing on. Certainly, Josh Jacobs, just based on the talent, if you've got a rookie putting the ball on the ground and you've got A.J. Dillon behind you, you would want him to get all the work to be a workhorse.
We talked about injuries with Watson and Reed earlier. Like, Jacobs in the passing game is something they've talked about extensively and that's something they want to use. So he does have opportunity. I don't think he's realistic to finish at 19 where we have him.
I think you either have more disappointment or you end up with way more upside. We're just not willing to throw. He's at like a 2-3 turn right now. So that's where I have ended up with none of him.
If he was, you know, where we have him ranked, I would love to take the shot at the upside. But if you look at who's going around him, he is. Okay, so around the 2-3 turn. Pacheco.
Yeah, I mean, I'm easily on the Pacheco. So right in front of him, ADP-wise on sleeper will be Derek Henry. I'll take Derek Henry. Pacheco, that one is, like, that one's not even close for me.
But like Rashad White, who is about a round later. Let's say you're, you know, you are in the back of the third. You're targeting a running back. And Josh Jacobs slips a little bit.
Are you going to go with him or are you going to take Rashad White? No comment. I thought you were asking Andy because Rashad White is a good one. I would take Rashad White there personally.
And it's not just the running backs there. I mean, you look at the wide receivers that are around where he's being picked and the tight ends, you know, Nico Collins. I would much rather have Nico Collins than Josh Jacobs. I'm curious.
Do you guys have the ADP comparison tool up right now with Jacobs? I can grab that for you. Because, okay, so he's going, he's at fourth round pick in ESPN. Underdog.
He's at fifth round pick in underdog. That's wild. But then his highest ranking right now is that sleepers at 302. So if you've got the UDK, we have under the research tab an ADP comparison tool.
Go look at what platform you're on and take a look at some of the differences there. We might highlight some here coming up. 18. Raheem Moster.
Wow, he made it up this high? He did. Whose fault is that? Jason.
Yeah, and it is my fault. I am... You got an apology for us? I didn't mean a fault.
I meant more like, who's doing it? Whose responsibility? No, look, he was a running back two last year. He got money this offseason.
He's perfect for the system. I do believe when they get near the goal line, even though you know I love the Baniacian, I think Mostert is a better option for goal line opportunities. But goodness gracious. I mean, he had 22 touchdowns last year.
I think he had 19 in his career heading into last season. He had an outrageous amount of his total fantasy points come from touchdowns. So my ranking of Raheem Mostert, I believe, is needing an update. Mostert, yeah, you were really in on Mostert a couple of months ago.
His two seasons in Miami was RB26 and RB2. His ADP is RB25. The excitement around Mostert needs to be about the value that he represents in fantasy draft more than the opportunity This is a machine and the machine worked with Mostert as a key cog in the red zone. It just was too abundant to repeat.
It was nearly 50% of his fantasy points came via touchdowns that was the highest of any top 12 running backs since 2018. Only three games without a touchdown and those games were flops. How often do you have a 7th round draft pick in fantasy that you feel like has no chance of failing for you? That's what Mostert feels like right now is that he's like the safest 7th round pick in the history of the game.
What do you put his touchdown floor at? Eight? Eight is seriously what I was going to say. So like eight touchdowns in the 7th round for the running back position with what if A-chan gets hurt?
Right. I love where he's going. Yeah, Kyle just pulled up his line on underdogs eight and a half rushing touchdowns. He's going that late.
That's a stabilizer. Me having him at running back 14 feels too high but where he is he's an exceptional value and this is one of those things where sometimes you want to know if you love him. If you love Raheem Mostert you're like that is I think the best value in the draft then bypass Devon A-chan earlier so that you can grab him later. Having ideas of where you're going when you start your draft.
He had 19 career touchdowns going into last year. He had 21 last year. The thing about both A-chan and Mostert is we build our rankings off of a median projection kind of calling your shot on some guys where you see an upside or you see some regression coming. Truly projecting the Miami running backs is very difficult.
Like to say what A-chan was like eight yards a carry or something absolutely ridiculous. You can't within good conscience say this guy's going to carry the ball for six plus yards a carry. It can't happen. So both of these guys A-chan on the upper end and Mostert has value.
They're both hard to project but I want them both on my team. At number 17 James Conner of the Arizona Cardinals 29 years old being drafted as the RB19 in the late fifth round. His body is 42 years old. No he's like he's got old man strength but he's got wear and tear on his body because the way he plays it takes usually about four or five guys to bring him down.
So he takes like six hits every play where most players are just like you know every now and then that first hit brings you down and that's good for your body. Yeah he said if there's a certain guy that starts to fall off because of HG he'd be the one to delay that. That's Gannon's thoughts on him. He is the guy in Arizona right now.
Yeah I mean all the talk of Trey Benson early in the offseason the fact that they spent a day two capital on a really talented back right now he has not established himself as even the backup to James Conner. There's a three-way competition for that. The clarity in the Arizona Cardinals offense is that James Conner's the dude and then there are backups. He's a team leader, team captain, they run the ball at Tani.
He was a league winner last year. This is not James Conner this is just a recent update if you had not caught it. The preliminary depth charts are coming out. These are always to be taken with a grain of salt.
Trey Benson was the RB2 listed on that initial depth chart despite all of the rumblings coming out of training camp so that is something to pay attention to. What is the chance that James Conner finishes in an RB1? I think he has a very good chance. So you look at him much differently than you look at Ramondre Stevenson?
Yes. In terms of I mean from a projected the nice thing about this I mean obviously the Cardinals win total is higher than the Patriots. The Patriots have a really really really good defense and the Cardinals have a really really really bad defense. So from a fantasy football perspective the Cardinals are going to have to put up a lot of points and they have the weapons now with Kyler fully healthy Marvin Harrison Jr.
here where you don't look at the Cardinals offense as a bad offense even though you look at the Cardinals as not a great team. RB5, 11, 5, 3, and 1 to finish the season last year. That was fun. Alright number 16.
RB6, 4, 12, 5, 15 to finish the year prior. He loves the end of the year. He does. See the defenders get tired.
What is a Yeti in the desert? That's a bigfoot. No, too much fur, man. A desert Yeti has to be hairless.
Yeah, oh for sure. Really? Yeah, yeah. I would not look at that.
I would not want to look at that. When I see hairless furred animals. Oh, cat, yeah. Is this a squirrel?
Yeah, with legs. Come on, screw downward. Kenneth Walker comes in at 16. Mike, I feel like you have things to say about Kenneth Walker.
Right now you have him at 9. You are keeping him inside this top 24. That's a very good word from Ryan Grubb over there last week about Kenneth Walker and all of his potential in this offense. I feel like there's a player it felt really like radio silence on Kenneth Walker but the thing about that is to not let just a silence dictate what your complete thoughts about a fantasy player who when he's on the field and healthy, the guy is an electric home run hitter.
Loving the fact that Ryan Grubb specifically on the quote that came out, he's electric out of the backfield as a pass catcher. Could be coach speed, 100%. But the fact that we're even talking about Kenneth Walker as a pass catcher from the coaching staff is a very positive sign. You want to talk about if in radio silence on Kenneth Walker, what about Zach Charbonne?
Who? Exactly. I'm attributing that to both of them of that silence means that nothing has really changed. That win on the field Kenneth Walker is the guy and Zach Charbonne is just a backup.
A capable backup that would become a bell cow running back should Walker miss time but in the meantime it's Kenneth Walker's backfield and he's one of the running backs like young Saquon where if you're at the 50 you go, there's a chance that he houses this. Kenneth Walker is not yet 24 years old. I don't know why it doesn't feel that way. His road has been exhausting already.
Yeah, exactly. And if you look, he's being drafted next to Aaron Jones. Kenneth Walker has physical capabilities to have upside that other guys just don't because you can end up the season with four different games where you have a 40 yard touchdown. The pass catching would stabilize him and I don't think when we did the divisional breakdown show I think all three of us had Seattle at the bottom of the division which, you know, so much talk about the offense and Metcalf and yesterday was JSN and Gino but like winning ball games is going to be essential because he's been game script dependent a little bit.
Long games he's much better. Wins he's much better. So that is just something to pay attention to but at 16 and his ADP right now is right around there so RB 16 fifth round pick. Joe Mixon coming in at 15 look, Joe Mixon is going to be a selection that you don't take pleasure in making.
You don't make that draft pick and say to yourself oh boy it's James Cook and Pacheco and youth and upside and unseen capability it's probably just a pick that you make and you're like you look back five weeks and you're like you know I'm really glad I made that draft pick because Mixon's going to he's getting all the praise from the entire coaching staff we are long we are gone with the Pierce excitement in Houston and Mixon's been brought in to be the workhorse. Yeah I mean I have excitement over Joe Mixon you saw the Damien Pierce experiment the first half of last year it wasn't working in the system and he's been talked up kindly from the coaches but I think they're really going to utilize him in the special teams kickoff return rules. Joe Mixon was brought in and traded for it and then paid a ton of money. When you listen to them talk about Joe Mixon, they can't speak kind enough words.
They are just espousing glorious adjectives all over Joe Mixon, what a pro he is, how he can do everything, his work ethic. They're very excited to unleash him. When they changed to Devin Singletary in this offense last year, from the time that he started getting the majority of snaps on, Devin Singletary was the running back nine and he had, I don't have the stat in front of me, but I want to say he was on a 17-game pace of 50 targets. So I do think there's a world where scoring opportunity is up from the Houston Texans offense.
Raheem Mostert, same team and all that, but Joe Mixon was the running back five last season. Yeah, he was. He was so solid. He had the second lowest bust rate of any running back, only behind CMC at the running back position and I just think he's so steady.
When you look at Mixon and Walker who are back-to-back in ADP, Mike, that's a very difficult decision to make based on your team makeup. Yeah, and to be fair, I felt down, I felt low on Joe Mixon last year and I was a complete L. He was the workhorse for the Cincinnati Bengals. I mean, a difficult part is one is his age and the amount of seasons that he has played in the NFL.
He is at the cliff of a situation where it could just evaporate and be absolutely gone. Like I'm talking about, he's two steps too slow. He's been very inefficient the last few years and he's getting it done on volume. The volume is probably the same for there.
I'm concerned about the running back targets. Well, I know Singletary started getting more involved. I've got it now. He was on pace for 51 targets and 40 receptions.
But on the course of the season, it was still the second fewest targets to the running back position and I just, looking at him compared to other guys, I have huge red flags that I'm concerned about where even when Singletary took over, I mean, you had, you had those outrageous games where he was running back three, running back four, but then 20, 33, a couple good games. So I just, I have concern for the ADP of Joe Mixon. You would take Walker? I would take Kenneth Walker.
What would you do, Andy? I would take Mixon. Cool. Next guy.
That didn't help you? No, it didn't. I just didn't want to answer the question. I would take him.
This team could have brought Devin Singletary back. Yeah. And they went out and got Joe Mixon. They had to make that effort.
So we'll take a break and then we will come back with the remainder running backs on the countdown. Well, it wouldn't be another year of fantasy football unless we were talking about I forgot this existed. Alvin Kamara, Super Mario. I feel like we didn't get to play that last year even though he was great for fantasy.
It implies speed. Yeah. You know? It implies not getting tackled by the first guy.
You know? Yeah, star power. Yeah, you're flashing. Yeah, he was maybe the smaller version of Mario last year, but it's still like a pretty great.
I mean, we're going to talk a lot about Alvin Kamara over the next few weeks as we lead into the season because you talk about my guy hands. That's no way. That's no way, is it? He's 29 years old.
Last season was awesome once he got out on the field and his skill set is the kind that translates better over time, right? He is sure-handed, knows the offense, can pass block, great release valfer. What do you call somebody who's not courageous? Coward.
Ah, Derek Coward. Derek Coward. Yes. Derek Coward?
Sure. Derek Coward. No, yeah, I'm fine on that one. Airball.
The reality for Alvin Kamara is that you just need to accept the boring points. Kyle just highlighted it because we all remember. Oh, boy. We all remember how disgusting it was to watch the offense.
I'm at the Saints' offense. If you're in a PPR, absolutely delightful and delicious. Kamara's first came back 14 targets. Oh, heck yeah.
Wide receivers don't get 14 targets. How many of those did he catch? He got 13 receptions and unbelievable catch. What, 200, 300 yards?
33. 33 yards on 13 receptions. Don't care. 13 receptions.
Point, point, point. If you're in a PPR, fantastic. I hate it. I hate it, but I hate it and I accept that this is probably another re-roll, a good situation for fantasy.
You don't have to spend a third on him. You can load up on wide receivers. You can literally go get three elite wide receivers. You throw a tight end in there.
And then Alvin Kamara's there just catching. How old is Raheem Mostert? 31, right? Yeah, 31, 30.
Alvin Kamara's 29. He was the RB2 in fantasy point score from weeks 4 through 15. Yeah, and he's in the same system. And the thing is...
And who did they find in the passing game? That's what I was going to bring up. You might like Rashid Shaheed and believe, like, oh, I think he can catch some downfield bombs and has good sync with partners. This is not a guy that's going to be up there at 140 targets.
A.T. Perry, you know, it's not coming into his second year. You've got Dennis the Menace. Dennis the Menace up there.
No, Dennis the Menace does not like A.T. I don't think he likes his players. I think he likes Alvin Kamara. Yeah, I mean, like, he's in his will.
Like, Dennis Allen's house goes to Taysom. So I think the headline here is... We do have him free. You know, you know Dennis Allen has a vet.
Oh, he is 100% driving a Corvette. If there's some Saints players listening, we'll have to take a picture of his vet because I know it's there. He drives a Corvette for sure. I can't stand that guy.
You really can't. Take the disgusting points with Alvin Kamara. We've got three spots ahead of his average draft position. Oh, man, I hate it.
Yeah, but he's going to be very good for any kind of half PPR, full PPR. Kyle's going to do the research on the vet. If it pans out just on point. Rashad White at 13.
25 years old. Also gross. RB7. He's like young Kamara.
I do think that... I think he's a very talented player. I love him in the open field when he has the opportunity to get the football and it's not, you know, your traditional lineup behind the fragmented broken offensive line. I still saw a lot from Rashad White that was, I think, better than other players in the receiving game, obviously.
Nearly 100% catch rate. And the question with Rashad White is just what you believe about this offensive ability to come back and do enough. Yeah, it is. There's concerns about the offensive coordinator change and it just...
Like, at this point of the career, it would, I think, be shocking if Rashad White is all of a sudden like an explosive rusher. You know what I mean? Like, if he jumps up to a high four yards per carry, that would be very surprising. So it seems like he is who he is.
Is this the right price? Jason, give me the 80 pick again. He's already 13 off the board. He finished his seven last year.
Is this the right price for Rashad White? Early fourth round pick. I think it's a fine price for him and I'll be taking a wide receiver next to him. It's not that he is a bad player.
He's very Leonard Fournette. I think he will get a ton of work. He will receive a lot of passes. So this is, you know, this is, you know, that's not bad.
It's very similar to Al Camara. What round was Camara? Fifth. Yeah, I mean, I would rather have a fourth round wide receiver in Camara than a fifth round wide receiver in Rashad White.
It seems like though Rashad White is somehow, it feels like a rock solid volume play, but also a house of cards of the fragility of if his inefficiencies continue and the new old coordinator or whatever, maybe they like what they see from Bucky Irving or something like that for pass catching. If the volume dwindles at all, there's nothing to fall back on should that crumble. He's already seven. They were dead last in the NFL in yards per carry.
You got Liam Cohen now as the offensive coordinator. Canales is gone, but you have stability at quarterback and the head coach and what they've been doing. So I'm very comfortable with that spot personally and depending on what you believe about the player, I don't think Rashad White is, I think the efficiency can improve. I really do.
Yeah, if the offensive line takes strides, he had a real bad offensive line last year and I don't think he's got a great one this year, but if it does take strides and steps forward, maybe opening up some stuff for him because he was very efficient in the past catching game. And so it's like, I think some of his inefficiencies in running the ball are team. I don't want to make a Travis Etienne mistake with him either. Sure.
Like the depth chart is as terrible as a depth chart as you can really get in football. But for Travis Etienne, I know that if some snaps go away, that this guy can run it in for 30 yards out where Rashad White's not going to do that. Since 2019, 14 fantasy running backs finished top 10 but at .75 fantasy points or fewer and then 13 of those 14 dropped in fantasy points the next season. So it's a very fragile situation.
I think I like Jason's take of it. If he drops in a draft, I'm happy to take him, but where it is at ADP, I'm probably going to look at a wide receiver or maybe even a tight end. James Cook comes in at 12. James Cook.
Oh, James Cook, baby. Yeah, okay. Yeah, he's one behind Rashad White right now. Keep it that way, people.
I talk a lot about the Buffalo offense and the question marks that I believe exists when I was bringing up Josh Allen earlier. Top division. Sure, your offense worked for a little while, but is Joe Brady going to get figured out? Here's what we can say.
James Cook was an extremely effective player for this football team. 20 opportunities per game over the back half of the year as the offense turned into a running offense. Number one in yards before contact, super explosive. RB 11 on the year last year.
There's tons of reasons to love James Cook this season. Absolutely. The second half was fantastic and we have seen, Kyle, we have an article still on the website about vacated targets and running backs. Still there.
So you can go check it out at the fantasyfootballers.com. Tons and tons of articles going up there every day. But our team looked into it of vacated targets. It's so easy for us to put the puzzle piece down.
Oh, Stephon Diggs is gone and he vacated whatever high 20% of the targets. Let's just put Keon Coleman in here and we'll give him whatever 20 plus percent. It rarely works like that and often we see the running back is the one who benefits the most from siphoning some of those things off. And James Cook, more than capable.
Should those targets go his way, I think that he would be an absolute steal at his ADP by the end of the year. Yeah, I'm not going to overstate this. This stat sounds pretty cool. I'm not saying that James Cook is a Brees Hall level.