← Fantasy Football Happy Hour with Matthew Berry
Fantasy Football Happy Hour with Matthew Berry
Biggest Fantasy Questions: RBs and WRs
00:51:59
August 7: Matthew (@MatthewBerryTMR), Jay (@croucherJD), and Lawrence (@LordDontLose) continue their biggest questions for positional groups entering 2025 by examining Saquon Barkley’s encore in Philadelphia, competition for RB touches with the Seahawks and Vikings, and expectations for Amon-Ra St. Brown with a new offensive coordinator. They also highlight Jordan Love gushing over Matthew Golden, and wrap up the show with their favorite bets for regular season rushing yards leader.
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- [00:00]
Matthew Berry
Morning. One sausage McMuffin with egg, please. Okay, your total is. Wait. Let's negotiate. How's about you throw in hash browns for a dollar? Well, yes sir, that price is already a dollar. Take it or leave it.
- [00:14]
Jay Croucher
Take it, I guess.
- [00:17]
Lawrence Jackson
Buy one, add one for a dollar on sausage McMuffin with egg, hash browns.
- [00:21]
Matthew Berry
And more with McValue.
- [00:22]
Lawrence Jackson
Most locations open 5am or earlier.
- [00:24]
Matthew Berry
Price and participation may vary. Limited time only. Valid for item of equal or lesser value. Ba da ba ba ba. And now a next level moment from ATT Business. Say you've sent out a gigantic shipment of pillows and they need to be there in time for International Sleep day. You've got AT and T5G so you're fully confident, but the vendor isn't responding. And International Sleep Day is tomorrow. Luckily, AT&T 5G lets you deal with any issues with ease. So the pillows will get delivered and everyone can sleep soundly, especially you. AT&T 5G requires a compatible plan and device. Coverage not available everywhere. Learn more@att.com 5G Network Quarterbacks don't need.
- [01:01]
Jay Croucher
To be ripped and like like it's not cardio out. Like you need some cushioning to absorb these ridiculous hits from like Miles Garrett.
- [01:09]
Matthew Berry
The most jacked quarterback in the league is Will Levis for context.
- [01:11]
Jay Croucher
Yeah. So it you seen Josh Allen with his shirt off? Josh Allen's not Cristiano Ronaldo. He's been some weak yeah, it's okay.
- [01:19]
Matthew Berry
By the way, I applaud your encyclopedic knowledge of what quarterback slip off without their shirts on.
- [01:25]
Jay Croucher
I can go deep power rank there.
- [01:27]
Matthew Berry
The most dad bodies bods of quarterbacks. Another guy here on the list gu.
- [01:32]
Lawrence Jackson
Guys that this daddy.
- [01:33]
Matthew Berry
What are you looking at? Shirtless photos of quarterbacks. Why do you ask Right now looking.
- [01:36]
Jay Croucher
For the cushion against the sacks.
- [01:41]
Matthew Berry
Fantasy Football Happy Hour with Matthew Barry.
- [01:47]
Jay Croucher
Welcome to the Fantasy Football Happy Hour. I'm Jay Croucher. Dad bod connoisseur. Matthew Barry, Lawrence Jackson, Connor Rogers. Not with us for some reason. Oddly coinciding with the Mets season falling apart as they almost get no hit by Gavin Williams.
- [02:01]
Matthew Berry
He's also. He's also the one guy of the four of us that doesn't have a D. The three of us are all dads. We all have bods. Ergo. Ergo dad bods. I apologize to you by the way. In the end of the clip I meant to say Rio and it just. I don't know why it came out Rylo or whatever. I don't.
- [02:15]
Jay Croucher
I wasn't listening to it as I.
- [02:17]
Matthew Berry
Often don't, which is fair. Yeah. You know, it's a good point here as we're live on YouTube. Danger Zone says if Barry could win it all last year with a dad bod, then why couldn't Mahomes? A very fair question, Jay Croucher. Because I did. I did win it all for the second straight year.
- [02:32]
Jay Croucher
Yeah. Well, I guess you had May and Lawrence coming after you instead of Jalen Carter and Josh Sweat.
- [02:36]
Matthew Berry
Probably the difference there is that it's.
- [02:38]
Lawrence Jackson
Got me rethinking my workout regimen ahead of our next show league draft. I might have to.
- [02:44]
Jay Croucher
Unbelievable. Matthew. Just kind of linking in your body with his body.
- [02:49]
Lawrence Jackson
Well, this is the thing.
- [02:50]
Matthew Berry
We've seen my. We saw a picture of me at the. At the beach club in, in Vegas.
- [02:54]
Jay Croucher
Don't link mine in with yours either. I'm not Lawrence, but I'm better than yours.
- [02:58]
Lawrence Jackson
So now we got to rank the fantasy football happy hour dad boss. But this is the thing though. What you said is correcting. We do all have dad. If you're a dad, you got a dad bod. It's just like fantasy football. There's different tiers.
- [03:12]
Matthew Berry
I will just say I will put my bo. Adjusted for age. Adjusted for age. We got a great bell curve here, let's be honest. But adjusted for age, I would put my body up against the two of you. Honestly. No, seriously. Because I am significantly older than both of you guys.
- [03:28]
Lawrence Jackson
You're not significantly older than me.
- [03:30]
Matthew Berry
Yeah, you just.
- [03:31]
Jay Croucher
You.
- [03:31]
Lawrence Jackson
I just play the role of a 28 year old fantasy football analyst. I am not that. Yeah, we could be brothers.
- [03:39]
Matthew Berry
Fair enough. We do have a lot in common. We look similar. I get that. Obviously we often. I often get asked, are you Lawrence Jackson? I'm like, no, no, that's.
- [03:47]
Lawrence Jackson
Look, we both have kids in college, you know.
- [03:51]
Matthew Berry
Correct.
- [03:52]
Jay Croucher
A lot in common. A lot to get to. Today we're going to check in on the Rotoworld player news. Take a look at some updated depth charts around the NFL. But we're going to start off by looking at some burning questions. We looked at quarterbacks and tight ends yesterday. We're going to take a look at running backs and wide receivers today. I'm going to start off with running backs. We're going to take a look at your top 10 rankings, Matthew, which are perhaps a little controversial and we'll get into it. But Bijan Robinson, new pronunciation of name. New ranking as RB1 for Matthew Jameer Gibbs, number 2 CMC, hopefully healthy 3 Saquon Barkley 4, which is a little controversial. Ashton Genty, 5, Devon, 8 Chan, Derek Henry, Jonathan Taylor, Bucky Irving and Josh Jacobs. But I think the most interesting one here, Matthew, is Saquon Barkley at number four after his historic season in 2024. We heard from Saquon Barkley talking about being more involved with the passing game.
- [04:45]
Matthew Berry
I don't know. I don't really know you guys.
- [04:49]
Jay Croucher
It's you, right?
- [04:49]
Matthew Berry
You don't want. You guys do the numbers and stuff.
- [04:51]
Lawrence Jackson
I don't.
- [04:52]
Matthew Berry
I don't really do the numbers. I just come out and practice and, you know, just try to execute the plays. But it's something that I'm really comfortable with, something I've did in my career, especially early on in my career, and I gotta be able to adapt. Like I said, the first press conference we had after last year, it gotta look different. What different looks like, I don't know. But, you know, I gotta be effective in many ways. And that's in pass pro. That's catching the ball, that's running the ball, that's leading. You know, only thing that matters is win a football game. So whatever I can to do to help, that's. That's my mindset.
- [05:30]
Jay Croucher
Okay, Matthew. So last year's sake, one 2K rushing wins the super bowl, historic season, one of the greatest seasons of all time. But the one thing outside of getting sniped by Jalen hurts at the one repeatedly. The one thing with his game that wasn't there was the passing game. And how much of that does. How much does that play into you only having him as RB4?
- [05:48]
Matthew Berry
Yeah, I mean, I think it's a concern, right? This question is like, you know, how concerned are you not? You know, what's the argument for not having Saquon Barclay at number one? And I think you just saw it there. The argument was the same as sort of last year. I mean, like, I was, you know, I didn't have a number one last year. Some of the concerns were going to Philadelphia, where you just mentioned it. Like, they don't really throw to the quarterback. They don't. Jalen hurts, doesn't really throw to the quarterback. I don't think this offense does. They also, you know, I'm also nervous about Jalen Hurts vulturing touchdowns at the goal line. What's crazy, Jay, is I was dead right about both of those things. Obviously hurts Bultrinum quite a bit. Saquon Barkley, only 43 targets last year. That was tied for 26th among running backs. So is dead right about those, both those things and yet wrong overall because Saquon was awesome because he kept breaking off these 60 yard runs. The question is, how sustainable is that? This is a, this is a guy who had 482 touches last season, including the playoffs. He had, you know, he had only 40% of the team's goal line rushes, 38th among running backs as well. Again, those are stats that tell you what, you know, he touched the ball a ton. He's not involved in the passing game. He gets vulture at the goal line. Is he amazing? Yes. Is it a good offensive line? Of course it is. But I think, and we'll talk about this a little bit later, we get into AJ Brown, but they were so significantly run heavy last year. Even if they just become kind of run heavy, like, I'm not saying they need to be normal, but just if they're like a normal run heavy team as opposed to a crazy run heavy team. I just think there are concerns, given the amount of usage and. And the other question marks, that there are three guys that I like better than Saquon Barkley there. Give me Bijan and what I think will be a better Falcons offense. Jameer Gibbs, no running back, had more fantasy points per touch last year. And then of course Christian McCaffrey, who the only question with him is health. We know if he's healthy, he's producing fantasy points. Yeah.
- [07:31]
Lawrence Jackson
The only difference here, I got Saquon at three, you got him at four. This is the thing. So all that is correct. All those Jameer Gibbs, Bajan Robinson, Christian McCaffrey. Can we all see those guys? Catches, 70 passes? Yes. That's probably not likely for a guy like Saquon Barkley. For me, I'm not too much concerned about the touches he had last year, more so than these guys that you just mentioned because of the fact that they can go out there and get 70 catches in their respective offenses. I mean, Christian McCaffrey, even when he was hurt last year, and they was kind of iffy about what they wanted to do with him when he played 16 touches per game for 87 yards from scrimmage, that was a small sample size, but again, he was hurt. So you see Christian McCaffrey is going to go out there and catch 80 plus passes this year. When you look at what's going on with the 49ers receivers and then they got Kittle there. Christian McCaffrey is going to be leaned heavily on. And then what Bijon Robinson, we talk a lot about Drake London and what he did with Michael Penix. But in those three games where Michael Penix started Bijan Robinson, he averaged 26.8 fantasy points per game. So if he's anything and we're talking about a guy who averaged 20 fantasy points per game, that went significantly higher when Michael Penis got in. So the concern is mainly the guys who's up there with him.
- [08:57]
Matthew Berry
I think that's a great point. Lawrence, just in terms of we always talk about this, targets are more valuable than carries when it comes to running backs, right. A lot of people have discussed this as, you know, well known sort of on, on fantasy Twitter, for lack of a better phrase. And to your point, Gibbs, Robinson and CMC are all going to be heavily featured in their team's passing attacks, whereas Saquon just isn't.
- [09:18]
Jay Croucher
Jay yeah, and I think that compared to Bijan in particular, there's regression coming both ways with one specific aspect and that Saquon is just not going to break off the same amount of 60, 70 yard touchdown runs. And Bidan Robinson is going to for the first time in his career this year break off a 40 yard run, which he's never done in the NFL like that. Just cannot endure. He's too good. He's put, he said that he has put a specific emphasis this off season on being able to break those explosives because I do think there is a luck aspect to that. I think there's also a skill aspect to it though where he hasn't been able to beat the last man and that seems like he's something that he has really worked on. Lawrence A guy who has been able to beat the last man and break 70 yard runs in the past is Jonathan Taylor, who I think is a little bit of an enigma because weird situation for the Colts all around. He ended the season on an absolute tear for last year, but he has this odd quarterback situation with Daniel Jones and Anthony Richardson. How do you think that how that turns out impacts Jonathan Taylor?
- [10:13]
Lawrence Jackson
I think it's for Jonathan Taylor, I think whatever the quarterback situation was last year was worse than what it's going to be this year because at least this year you kind of, you don't know who's going to be the starter yet, but you know what's going on. Like Anthony Richardson, he, whatever, whatever he was last year, you got to expect him to be somewhat better than that this year. And in last year with Anthony Richardson, the first four games of the season, Jonathan Taylor was running back seven in fantasy points per game. He comes back, Anthony Richardson gets back in weeks 11, weeks 11 through 16, he's only running back. 15. But here's the kicker, he only had one touchdown in that stretch. Why? Because Anthony Richardson had five. So the same thing we talk about with Saquon Barkley, we could be talking about it with either of the Colts running back, I'm sorry Colts quarterbacks, because they're quarterbacks who also run the ball. So that could be the concern. But then again, Jonathan Taylor is the last 200 rushing yard game we saw, so we know he's got it still.
- [11:20]
Matthew Berry
We love Jonathan Taylor, friend of the podcast here as well. But just to give some stats that, that underscore what you're talking about, last year, 38% of the team goal line rush attempts last season went to Anthony Richardson. That was fourth highest rate among quarterbacks. And then Daniel Jones last season, obviously playing for a different team, he got 44% of his team's goal line rush attempts. That was the second highest rate among quarterbacks. Again, so those are stats that just tell you what you know instinctively. And what Lawrence was just talking about here is that when they get in close, whether it's Anthony Richardson or Daniel Jones under center for the Colts, they're an option at the goal line. So there is a chance that Jonathan Taylor gets vultured. I just, we don't think that Taylor is going to be heavily involved in this passing game. 6% target share in the games last year with Anthony Richardson. Maybe Daniel Jones dumps off a little bit more to him. But just pass catching has never been a big part of Jonathan Taylor's game. Now is he somebody that can run the ball tremendously? Yes, he can, but. And I think they will want to go run heavy but especially if Daniel Jones is the quarterback and I think he will be at least for part of the season, if not for a decent chunk of it. Daniel Jones can at least complete passes. And so you think about Pittman and we were hearing and Josh Downs and we're hearing good reports about A.D. mitchell out of camp and we talked about Tyler Warren yesterday as well. So just there's more weapons there. Warren also waved by the way, another threat to vulture goal line touches from Jonathan Taylor. So we love the talent but there's a reason why I have him down at RB8 and not as a top five play because of some of these concerns.
- [12:48]
Jay Croucher
Yep. Another guy we love the talent on Matthew is Breece Hall. Two years ago, Breece hall broke off like a 70 yard touchdown run against the Denver Broncos. I remember watching that run and thinking that this is guy who's going to be the best running back in football for the next few years and then he tears his ACL that same day. He's never really looked like quite the same player though he has been in pretty rough context at the same time. And so now we come into this kind of make or break year for Breece Matthew. Where do you think that he will see enough volume to potentially finish as an RB one?
- [13:18]
Matthew Berry
No, to be perfectly honest with you, I don't. I mean we're hearing too much buzz about Braylon Allen again. You know, you think about Aaron Glenn coming over from Detroit now obviously he's a defensive, you know, he's from the defensive side of the ball but certainly he saw the success of having a multi pronged rush attack. Look the jets and we'll get more into this when Conor is over his Mets, you know his, his Mets misery and shows back up here. But the fact is is that the jets offenses here, whether it's Breece hall, whether it's Braylon Allen, whether it's Justin Fields, it is going to be a run heavy attack that they're going to try to use a bunch of different bodies to throw at you. It can't just be all Breeze Hall. So you know I have, I have some concern here, right. Like he's never had a thousand yard season. He's never had more than five rushing touchdowns. He, he's now got a head coach that came from a system that successfully used two running backs as, as well. And so I just, you can't, you can't tell me that there's not a concern about Breece hall in terms of usage here.
- [14:17]
Lawrence Jackson
Lawrence definitely a concern and where he's going to have to get it at is in the receiving game which Aaron Glenn has said that's where they're, where they'll use him now 20 in 20, 23 he has 76 catches that dropped down to 57 last year. If it's that number, I would say no. I actually have him at running back 14, which is not an RB1. But here's the thing too. Last season he was getting 5.7 targets and 4 receptions per game. When Devonta Adams came, both of those numbers dropped and Devonte Adams was getting 10 targets a game with his boy Aaron Rodgers. So only if he could get to that 70 catch mark I could see it. But otherwise than that it's looking like it's going to be closer to a committee.
- [15:04]
Matthew Berry
I'm at running back 14 as well. Lawrence, you and I right there together. But he did have a 12% target share as well. Cory Boudreaux. Bordreau.
- [15:14]
Jay Croucher
Boudreau.
- [15:15]
Matthew Berry
Boudreau. Very Canadian. Canada Corey. That's what I decided to call him. No idea where he's from, but Canadian Corey pops in with a YouTube comment. Field's going to be an issue for Breece hall as well, for sure. Again, just all the issues that we just talked about with Anthony Richardson and Jones, mobile quarterbacks at the goal line, that's going to be an issue for Breece hall because obviously Fields is such a weapon with his legs. So we like hall, but I think he's more of an RB2 than the RB1. Could he get there? Of course, we've seen it before, we've seen the talent, but I do think just the drumbeat of Braylon Allen and the fact that Fields is going to be used in the past, the running game as well, it's just, you know, I don't think hall gets the volume that we've seen previously. He will be involved in the passing game though. That's going to be the case.
- [16:00]
Lawrence Jackson
Yeah. The difference here, when you try to compare them to Jameer Gibbs and David Montgomery, that's cool. You could do that with the running backs themselves. But when you look at the quarterbacks they have in golf, he ain't never running nothing. Justin Fields, he running that football and we all know that. So that's going to be the big difference in whether or not Breece hall or how many. You said it, never more than five rushing touchdowns. That's going to be a bit fatter.
- [16:26]
Jay Croucher
Yep. Lawrence, Seattle Seahawks first a weird offense to think about in general between the new quarterback, new coordinator Cooper Cups on the team. But I think from a fancy perspective, the most important aspect is what's going to happen with the backfield. Do you think it's more likely that we see the breakout, healthy season from Kenneth Walker that we've kind of been waiting for since he had that great rookie year? Or do you think that it's more likely that we see a larger role for Zach Schobnay, who, you know, they spent real draft capital on and has shown real flashes when he's been given a chance.
- [16:56]
Lawrence Jackson
From a football standpoint, it seems like it depends on what they want to do. The past few years they want to make Kenneth Walker their top running back. He was a second round pick, obviously out of Michigan State. But the thing is, his thing is staying healthy. So can he do that? And when he does, can he keep Zach Charbonnet who performs as you just saw the stats on the screen pretty similar to Kenneth Walker whenever he gets his opportunities to replace him. So it's really going to be all about can he stay healthy. To this point, he hasn't proven that he can.
- [17:33]
Matthew Berry
Yeah, he's missed multiple games in all three career seasons. You know, it's weird, right? So, yes, new offense coordinator Clint Kubiak, but you know, Mike McDonald is still there as their head coach and ultimately that's the guy that has the say over personnel. All seen the production. When Zach Charbonnet is out there, he's been great. And yet when Kenneth Walker was healthy last year under the same head coach, Kenneth Walker was the guy that got all, all the work as well. General Kenobi, by the way, I believe that is his official rank. General Kenobi.
- [18:05]
Jay Croucher
He's also Canadian as well.
- [18:06]
Matthew Berry
Yes, exactly. Well, that's. I mean, you know, to become a general in the, in the Canadian army. Congratulations, General Kenobi, on your storied career. He says, I'd rather have sharpened than Ken Walker. I don't know if I agree with that. Maybe a Price, I think, I think here.
- [18:23]
Lawrence Jackson
Price.
- [18:24]
Matthew Berry
Yeah, yeah, maybe at price, I guess. Because we do think Walker probably missed some time and Charbonnet has proved he can be a true RB one when he gets there. But I think this is more likely Ken Walker's backfield. Because the other thing about Ken Walker is, is that he's just like he's this home run threat. And so when you have somebody like that that can break off those long runs, which we've seen before from Ken Walker, you need to keep giving him chances to do that. He is not a guy that I think will thrive in a true committee. Right. I mean, I think you need to commit to him in a big way. He. No one had a higher avoided tackle rate last year than Ken Walker. He was at 40%. So again, like, if you can get him to open space, if you can, like, guys bounce off him, he has that big playability. And so he was a top 12 running back in points per game last season. And the other thing is, is that if you're Mike McDonald, if you're Clint Kubiak, Glenn Kubiak's offense generally is a lot of play action. So you're going to want to. You're going to want to run the ball to establish this. And also, by the way, that offensive line is not going to be good. And Sam Darnold has been great under pressure. So I think if I'm Seattle, if I'm Mike McDonald looking at my team as a whole, I think their best chance at winning is running the hell out of the ball, playing great defense. And when they get a chance and they suck in the defense, taking a shot to jsn, maybe using Cooper cup to move the chains a little bit. But I don't expect this to be a high volume passing offense. I do think it's going to lean on the running game and when they lean on the running game, I think it's going to be Ken Walker more often than not.
- [19:44]
Lawrence Jackson
Yeah, I mean the thing is, you say he don't thrive in the committee. He can't thrive being a guy either because when we, when he, when we try to get him to do that, he get hurt all the time. So that's, that's really what it is. That's, that's what like.
- [19:59]
Matthew Berry
But it doesn't feel like it. Again, I don't have it off the top of my head, but it doesn't feel like it's the same injury. It just feels like it's been. No, it's not, it's been. Right.
- [20:09]
Lawrence Jackson
Notice I'm not saying he's injury prone, right? No, I'm not gonna go there with it. But these guys, the stat like production wise, very similar for these guys.
- [20:19]
Matthew Berry
Lawrence, Austin Wiley's got a question.
- [20:21]
Jay Croucher
Yep. Thoughts on drafting both to lock up the backfield?
- [20:24]
Matthew Berry
Lawrence, by the way, Austin Wiley. That sounds like an American name. Or Australian. That could be an Australian name. Wiley.
- [20:31]
Jay Croucher
Yeah, I know some Wiley's.
- [20:32]
Matthew Berry
Yeah, I'm sure you do.
- [20:33]
Jay Croucher
In Melbourne.
- [20:34]
Lawrence Jackson
Yeah, the, the thing with that is I do believe they're gonna. As long as Kenneth Walker's in there, he's getting that 15 to 20 carries, definitely touches per game. It's just, they just don't seem to mess with Charbonne that much when Kenneth Walker is healthy. So I don't know if this is the type of backfield where you want to draft both guys. If we're talking about the Detroit Lions, that's another story.
- [20:59]
Matthew Berry
Well, hang on though. I think it depends on roster construction here. I don't think you want to draft both guys with the idea of like, because you can draft Gibbs and Montgomery.
- [21:07]
Lawrence Jackson
If you talk about injury, then.
- [21:09]
Matthew Berry
Right, exactly. So I'm just saying it sort of depends on your philosophy, sort of the size of your league, how, how, how deep you think your waiver pool is going to be. Because there is one argument to be like, yes, draft an insurance back so that you just, you have that backfield locked up and there's other people that like, no, no, no. You want to swing for the fence, especially if you're in a larger field tournament, you may want to, you know, draft backups for other players. Right. And then hope that, that they get an opportunity here. To me, Charbonnet is going late enough and he's been productive enough when Walkers have been out that I do like the idea of sort of locking up this backfield. But yes, I'm not. He's only like after the 10th round. Like, if you have. I only want to draft him.
- [21:49]
Lawrence Jackson
Let it fall to you.
- [21:50]
Matthew Berry
Let it fall to you. And only like, again, you're only using as a backup. In the games in which Walker was healthy last year, average six touches a game. Like, again, maybe Clint Kubiak changes that, but it just. In terms of what we're hearing at a camp, it doesn't seem like roles are going to change anytime soon. Yep.
- [22:05]
Jay Croucher
Another complicated backfield is in Minnesota and we heard from friend of the show Kevin O' Connell back on April 1st talking about the potential split between Aaron Jones and Jordan Mace.
- [22:16]
Matthew Berry
The big thing we learned about Aaron.
- [22:17]
Jay Croucher
Jones last year is he can be.
- [22:19]
Matthew Berry
In every down back. He can be, you know, he was a featured part of our offense. But what we wanted to make sure that we were doing is we were using him in a way that allowed him to be his most impactful self when he has historically had that 1A, 1B backfield structure. He can be a total game changer every time he touches the ball. So it was always about bringing Aaron back. Huge leadership role on our team. Really assumed that from day one. But what are we going to pair him with? I do think Jordan's going to bring something to the table. You know, in those short yardage situations, those, those goal line situations. Goal to go where we've really left a lot to be desired as a football team.
- [23:01]
Jay Croucher
The great Kevin o', Connell, Coach of the year.
- [23:03]
Matthew Berry
Yeah, literally. Well, look at that. Look at the, look at the dramatic pullback from the Vikings helmet on our wall. It's very artistic.
- [23:10]
Jay Croucher
Wow.
- [23:10]
Matthew Berry
We're getting, we're getting Artie on Goodfellas. Yeah, exactly. Scorsese back there. That's awesome. I love it. I'm digging that. That's nice. A little not. We're not just your average fantasy football show. We've got tracking shots and ISOs and. Yeah, maybe we'll do some special effects tomorrow.
- [23:25]
Jay Croucher
Yeah, maybe. Well, how much do you love an Aaron Jones or Jordan Mason? And my main question here is how run heavy do you think that the Vikings will be with, you know, effectively a rookie quarterback and J.J. mcCarthy?
- [23:37]
Matthew Berry
I think they're probably a little bit, you know, I think it's, I think it's a pretty good offensive line. I think they will be reasonably run heavy, try to take some pressure off of McCarthy. They also use their running backs in the passing game quite a bit. You know, Aaron Jones last year, 12% target share. He was top eight among running backs in both receptions and receiving yards among running backs. Listen, free Aaron Jones. You guys know this. You know, I've loved Aaron Jones forever and ever. He's one of my favorite players in the NFL. He was really productive last year, but I think you heard it from Kevin o' Connell right there. If you're reading between the lines, like they think he can be a feature back, but they also look, he's, he's on the wrong side of 30. He is somebody that does get banged up. And so I think what they want to do here is try to ease the burden on him. I think people were surprised when they actively traded for Jordan Mason. Like, and we've seen them, they've sort of gone through these like, let's kick the tires on Cam Acres again. Like, they've sort of tried to find complimentary running backs, you know, in the tight channel's of the world and they haven't really landed anyone. I think Jordan Mason is a really, really great value this year. I'm at running back 34, basically as a top 100 player overall. A guy who averaged over five yards a carry in 2024. Again, that was with the Niners, but he's not really involved in the passing game that much. But I do think when you're hearing the camp reports, it really feels like it's going to be 1A, 1B that they're going to split. They're going to split the workload in the backfield. Jones is going to be the passing down back, but Mason's going to be more of the goal line back. So you figure maybe they each get 10 carries a game. Jones gets like four targets a game, but then two out of three goal line carries goes to Jordan Mason. And so I do think Jordan Mason especially because younger, more explosive, less injury prone, potentially I think he might be the better value in drafts this year.
- [25:19]
Jay Croucher
Question for you, Lawrence from Liberty Hog 42, probably American resident.
- [25:25]
Matthew Berry
Yeah.
- [25:25]
Jay Croucher
Even if Aaron Jones stays healthy, do you guys think Mason will outscore him in touchdowns this year?
- [25:30]
Lawrence Jackson
Lawrence touchdowns, wow, that is a big one. That, that could definitely go even I could see it. Yeah.
- [25:38]
Matthew Berry
Because I say yes.
- [25:40]
Lawrence Jackson
Yeah, I would take that back. I'm going to go with yeah too. But the thing about Jordan Mason for what he does, well, he is a really good back. This is a guy who would have ran for 1300, 1400 yards last season had he got the opportunity to start every game. And Matthew, you mentioned the 5 yards per carry. He averages 5.3 yards per carry for his career. So every year he's averaged 1 year, 6 yards a carry, 5.2, 5.3. So he's consistently over 5 yards of carry. So when you talk about Aaron Jones who got 15 carries last season, we do want to get that down to 10 to 12 for Aaron Jones, get some more carries in there for Jordan Mason. So if we expect them to be by the goal line and if they're going to get there by the run game, Jordan Mason can score more touchdowns.
- [26:29]
Matthew Berry
Aaron Jones had 20. Aaron Jones had 20 goal to go rush attempts last year, 20 gold to go rush attempts. He converted five of them.
- [26:36]
Lawrence Jackson
Yeah. So that's going to be Jordan Mason right there.
- [26:39]
Jay Croucher
I think the smoking gun there too is that Jordan Mason could have gotten a bigger role somewhere else. The Vikings must have promised it or at least given him confident assurance. Yeah, they must have given him some confidence assurances that he was going to have a real role there and logic would dictate that he should. Let's jump to burning questions for wide receivers and take a look at your top 10. Matthew, Jamar Chase coming off a triple.
- [27:03]
Matthew Berry
Crown, Justin Jefferson, proud fantasy life investor, Jamar Chase.
- [27:06]
Jay Croucher
Yes, indeed, very much so. Justin Jefferson, number two CD Lamb, Malik Neighbours, Puka Nukua, Amonra St Brown, Nico Collins, the ride or die runner up. Then Brian Thomas Jr. Detective Drake London and A.J. brown. And we heard from Amonra St. Brown on how his teammate Jameson Williams looks this pre season.
- [27:29]
Matthew Berry
JMO just keeps getting better. You know, I feel like I get the JMO question every year. You guys. Don't let it go. So this is my fourth year now answering how is Jaymo doing? And it's going to be the same answer every year. He's doing great. He's gotten better every year in this league and I mean, you guys know who Jaymo is now, so yeah, Jaymo is jmo. He's fast. You guys know that he's going to.
- [27:51]
Lawrence Jackson
Make plays.
- [27:54]
Matthew Berry
And we're happy to have him on our team.
- [27:56]
Jay Croucher
He's a beast. Okay, Matthew, now that you're our Detroit Lions insider, given your close relationship with Jared Gough, how do you think a larger role for Jameson Williams would affect the sun God, Amon Ross St. Brown?
- [28:09]
Matthew Berry
I don't think it affects it in any way that would matter to us. And by that I mean you're still drafting a mon. Ross St. Brown as one of the top six or seven wide receivers off the board this year. I'm at wide receiver six. I'm as a top 12 player overall. I can't imagine our first round that he doesn't get drafted in towards the end of the first round. I mean maybe top of the second. But like for our purposes, I don't think it affects that much because Jameson Williams is not a volume guy. He's never going to be a volume guy. Does he get a few more targets? Okay, but like he's somebody that he's a home run threat. They're going to make big plays. Maybe they try to manufacture a few more touches but like they have such different roles in the offense and there's such a connection between Jared Goff and Amon Ross St. Brown. Like there's no scenario in which if Amon Ross St. Brown is healthy that he is not the focal point of this passing game. Yes, laporte will be involved. Yes, Jameson Williams may get a few more targets per game, but it's still going to be Amon Ross St. Brown, who is one of only two wide receivers in the NFL with at least 100 receptions each of the past three seasons. It's literally him and Ceedee Lamb, my guy eights. I call him eights, but literally Eights and Aman Ross St. Brown are the only two guys with 100 receptions each of the last three years. I don't see that changing in year four.
- [29:19]
Lawrence Jackson
There's enough volume for everybody. Jared Goff the last three seasons averages 577 passing attempts per season. And out of those three years, last year was the lowest, only 539 passing attempts. But here's the thing. He threw for his highest yards, over 4,600 yards. And with all that being said, Jameson Williams, because Amon Ross St. Brown is correct, he gets better every year. Jameson Williams does. The numbers show that. And even in Jameson Williams best season last year goes over 1,000 yards. What does Amon Ross St. Brown do? He has a career high and receiving touchdowns with 12.
- [29:56]
Matthew Berry
So I think that's what's shocking when you think about Amon Ross St. Brown's size. And he's a slot guy. He was second in the NFL in red zone targets last year. He had 31 red zone targets like Jared Goff trusts him when they get a close. Yes, it is. Yes, sir. Yep.
- [30:11]
Jay Croucher
Lawrence. A year and a half ago, the two best wide receivers in football, statistically at least, were Tyree Kill and AJ Brown, who was on his way to being. He was looking like a top three candidate for offensive player of the year. Production fell off a little bit last year as the Eagles leaned into the run almost like no team ever before. Do you think his ADP has fallen too far this time around?
- [30:31]
Lawrence Jackson
Yeah, and I, and I want to be there for that. I want to be the guy who catches his ADP when it falls. A.J. brown, a thousand receiving yards, 67 catches. The thing here is he, he only played 13 games. That's the biggest thing here. So when you can, when you can go for over a thousand yards in 13 games and your quarterback is 22nd in the NFL and passing, it says, mind you, you got another receiver over there who's wide receiver 17 in fantasy points per game in Devonta Smith and you still get these numbers. Yeah, AJ Brown's ADP has fallen too far. He's still one of the best wide receivers in the game and I'm going to enjoy getting him a little later.
- [31:16]
Matthew Berry
One of the best wide receivers in the game. One of the most well read wide receivers in the game as well. We appreciate AJ Always doing the research as well. Again, I sort of talked about with Saquon Barkley. The Eagles were so incredibly run heavy. Right. Last year they were 23rd in pass attempts. I'm sorry, last year they were last in the NFL and pass attempts per game they were 32nd. They attempted 26 passes attempts per game, last in the NFL. So the previous two years they were like 21st, 23rd. So again, this is what I'm saying. Like if they last last year was such an outlier and they, you know, and Saquon is breaking up these crazy long runs. If they go back to being just a bottom third team in terms of, in terms of past attempts as opposed to like last in the NFL in pass attempts, which I think is completely reasonable to say, like maybe they're somewhere in the, you know, the 20 to 22 range in terms of pass attempts per game.
- [32:10]
Lawrence Jackson
A.J.
- [32:11]
Matthew Berry
Brown, because he's such an alpha, because he is so talented, he gets right back up there. I agree with you. I think he's a value this season for sure. You know, 34% target share. Like, I mean like A.J. brown, I think you're like really? We're a year removed from him being one of the elite guys in the NFL. So I do think people are just putting too much into last year's stats.
- [32:34]
Jay Croucher
Yep, guys got the talent, Matthew, to break into the elite as well as Garrett Wilson. Even if we haven't quite seen him put it all together. Though that may not be his fault entirely. What do you think the scope is for him to have a career best season with former OSU teammate Justin Fields?
- [32:49]
Matthew Berry
Garrett Wilson? Yeah, I mean I, I think a decent amount.
- [32:53]
Jay Croucher
Right.
- [32:53]
Matthew Berry
Like, so when you're, when you're looking at fantasy success, a potential fantasy success, it's very simple. Talent and opportunity. No one's going to question Garrett Wilson's talent. Like he was a highly drafted wide receiver, you know, out of Ohio State. Everyone, like this guy's a superstar. He's proven that every single year he's been in the NFL. And then you talk about, you know, target competition, right? He's got in literally the other wide. He's competing with Josh Reynolds, Alan Lazard, rookie Mason Taylor, the tight end. I mean like, I mean like, I mean they got, it's really, it is the Garrett Wilson show. And then you think about last year. There were six games before Devonte Adams showed up. And I get it, different coordinator, you know, Aaron Rodgers there, different quarterback, whole thing. But still before the Devontae Adams trade, he had a 30% target share. The six games before Devontae Adams showed up, 30% target share, he was wide receiver 11. He's averaging over 16 fantasy points per game. Once Adams showed up, it went down to like a 23.5% target share. So I really think he's going to be like at a close to 30% target share, if not more. It will be run heavy, but when they throw, they're throwing to Garrett Wilson. And whatever you think of Justin Fields, like we've like, you know, DJ Moore had a decent season with him. Darnell Mooney had flashes with him. We saw last year George Pickens have some, you know, some nice plays with Justin Fields as well. So I think Garrett Wilson, who produced with Zach Wilson, you know, I mean like he produced with Aaron Rodgers last.
- [34:23]
Jay Croucher
Year on Wilson production.
- [34:24]
Matthew Berry
Yeah, just, I don't know. I'm a big fan of Garrett Wilson. 2023, D.J. moore was the ninth best wide receiver in fantasy with Justin Fields as his quarterback. He can support a wide receiver one.
- [34:37]
Lawrence Jackson
And that's where I think Garrett Wilson can finish around this year in fantasy. And when you think about it, you mentioned Zach Wilson. Garrett Wilson has been a guy so far in his career that's a thousand yards, eleven hundred yards. So when we talk about his career best season, yes, he could have that. He definitely could have it. Here with Justin Fields we're talking about Garrett Wilson, a guy whose most yards he's had in the season is 1104. I don't think that's going to be hard to beat even in a run oriented offense when you're the main target. By far he saw 154 targets last year, but the year before that was 168. That's his career high. I expect that number to be closer to that. 168 this season.
- [35:21]
Jay Croucher
Yep. Lawrence, think maybe the biggest story in the NFL this year in terms of actually impacting the super bowl and its outcome is can the Chiefs get back to being a super explosive offense that they were even post Tyreek Hill in 2022. They were explosive, but they haven't been the past two years even though they made the super bowl each of those years despite that. And a big part of them getting back to being explosive will be their receivers stepping up. And the two most prominent one Xavier Worthy, Rasheed Rice. Who do you think ends up scoring those fantasy points?
- [35:49]
Lawrence Jackson
I'm going to go with Rasheed Rice mainly because for Xavier Worthy, his role in that offense, we the last time we saw it was in the Super Bowl. We saw him catching Those garbage touchdowns 60 yards down the field. But with Rasheed Rice, we saw those first three games last year before he got hurt and we was like damn, that's Patrick Mahomes new guy. Like he, he was playing there in the slot. He was wide receiver two in fantasy points per game those first three weeks. Eight receptions, 96 yards on almost 10 targets a game. In those first three games they were scheming to get Rasheed Rice the ball. You saw it instantly week one when they played, he was killing the Ravens.
- [36:35]
Matthew Berry
33, 33, 33% target share right there. He runs a lot of the same routes as Travis Kelce, which sort of opens up the middle of the field. I think. Look, I think it's close to be perfectly honest with you.
- [36:46]
Jay Croucher
Got to be a lawyer to really know the answer to this one, right? Because if you told me that I'd rather have 13 games of Rashee rice and 17 of worthy if it's 12 visa like that's when it starts getting a bit dicier.
- [36:56]
Matthew Berry
Well, right. And that's why I have Worthy ranked higher like I have Worthy ranked higher as I have him wide receiver 19. I have rice at wide receiver 22, because we feel better about getting more games out of Worthy this year than Rice because of the offseason off the field issues. But if you're asking me on a points per game basis, which wide receiver would rather have, I think obviously they're very close. But give me Rasheed Rice. I agree with Lawrence. I just think he does more. I think he's got. I think he's got a more expanded route tree. I think he will. I think that he will because of Kelce being there and it's the middle of the field and the different ways they use him. I think he will see more favorable coverage than Xavier Worthy, who's likely going to be out wide and, you know, probably getting whoever the other team's best corner is. I will say this last year the Chiefs did manufacture touches for Worthy, which I don't know if they're going to do for Rice. So again, I think it's close. But yes, on a per game basis can be Rice, but because of the suspension, I have Worthy ranked higher by a little bit. Yeah.
- [37:48]
Jay Croucher
Bit of a forgotten man, Matthew. Chris Olave, who has all the talent in the world, he's been dealing with these concussion issues, but he's healthy at the moment. He has quarterback uncertainty. Nick Underhill, who does great work covering the Saints, he's reported that Spencer Rattler is clearly out playing Tyler Schuck in training camp. So uncertainty there.
- [38:07]
Matthew Berry
But what about Jack Hayner? No, Jake Hayner gets the job.
- [38:11]
Lawrence Jackson
He the model, ain't he? That's.
- [38:13]
Jay Croucher
It's big trouble. What do you think the scope is for Chris Olave to be a top 20 wide receiver?
- [38:19]
Matthew Berry
I think it's certainly right there. I think it's. Honestly, it's a health question. I mean, because Olavi's had inconsistent quarterback play recently for sure, but during his healthy games in his career, and obviously that's a big if, but during this is a guy that had basically a 26% target share. He was wide receiver 23 in points per game over his first two years in the NFL. And so he is somebody that earns targets at a high rate. I don't think they're going to be particularly good this year. And I will say that Kellen Moore, their new head coach, comes there and we've seen, you know, we've seen under Kellen Moore, especially when you think about his days in Dallas, him produce high production. Kellen Moore is not stupid. Kellen Moore is going to look around at the Saints and be like, what do I got to work with here? I got, you know, I got questionable quarterback play. It's like, all right, I got Alvin Kamara and I get Chris Olave. Like, those are my two best chances of being somewhat competitive here. So I think both guys end up touching the ball a lot. I do think Camara is kind of an interesting sleeper. Once again, we slept on them all last year. We're like, oh, they're going to be bad, bad quarterback. And yet Kamara was a PPR merchant. And so whether it's Spencer Rattler or Tyler Schuck or, you know, whoever, ultimately I think they'll be good enough to get the ball to a lobby if he can stay healthy again. Think about the conversations people were having about Brock Bowers or Malik Neighbors last year. Yes, they're super talented, but who's their quarterback? It's going to be a disaster. It doesn't matter. Those guys earned targets at a high level. Those guys both produced massive fantasy points last year.
- [39:42]
Lawrence Jackson
If I had to choose which quarterback that I would want for the success of Chris Olave, it would easily be Spencer Rattler for me. Been in the building already. He kind of, he didn't get a, you know, he, he, he, he was a rookie himself, but he didn't play with Alvin Kamara, he didn't play with Chris Olive, he didn't play with starting offensive lineman. And if he outplaying Tyler Schuck easily, then that, that's the guy. Well, I got Chris olave at wide receiver 32 right now, but I definitely think he could be a top.
- [40:16]
Matthew Berry
He's a really good sleeper and Spencer Rattler has a little bit of that effort. Chris Olave's down there somewhere. Heat, right? Exactly. He'll chuck it deep and we love to see that.
- [40:26]
Jay Croucher
Okay, well, we're going to hit our first break, but a reminder to everyone that if you want to join the conversation live, give us feedback on Matthew Berry grading his body on an aging curve. Tune in daily to the NFL on NBC YouTube channel at noon Eastern for our live stream of happy hour. And you can still catch us on peacock at 5 Eastern. After the break, we'll get some Rotoworld player news and take a look at some interesting depth charts.
- [40:54]
Matthew Berry
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Lawrence Jackson
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Matthew Berry
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Jay Croucher
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- [42:10]
Matthew Berry
Cliff Hitters Most impressive newcomer so far.
- [42:13]
Jay Croucher
Matthew Golden Man. I think he's shown up since day one and just really shown his play.
- [42:18]
Matthew Berry
Style, you know, showing what he's all about. I think he's, he came in really polished and has been making plays since day one. He's got very aggressive hands. He's a smooth route runner.
- [42:25]
Jay Croucher
He's got speed. So I think for him it's just continue to understand the playbook and wrap his head around everything that he have in because we have a very deep system. But when you can see, when he knows what he's doing, he's feeling confident.
- [42:37]
Matthew Berry
He's been playing lights out.
- [42:44]
Jay Croucher
Okay. Rotor World Play News that was our friend Kevin Clark on this is Football talking to Jordan Love. The packers wide receiver room. Matthew is an annual discussion. A lot of names, a lot of just human beings in this receiver room. Not even to mention the great Tucker Kraft. Musgrave's still around too. But the receivers.
- [43:03]
Matthew Berry
Me Cole Hardman was there by the way. Who knew me Cole Hardman. Be honest. At home you guys didn't know. Yeah.
- [43:10]
Jay Croucher
Dantavian Wicks has been a breakout candidate.
- [43:13]
Lawrence Jackson
Savion Williams might's good for real. Yeah, you just can't tell right now because there's 82 receivers on the team.
- [43:20]
Matthew Berry
That's true. But that's a Savion Williams is kind of like a nice trendy dynasty pick.
- [43:25]
Jay Croucher
Who do you think is going to be the best receiver on the Packers?
- [43:28]
Matthew Berry
I'm going to say Jaden Reed is going to be sort of my call. I think I know Matthew Goldman getting all sorts of, getting all sorts of love, you know and they use he's got the, he's got the draft capital obviously and Christian Watson's, you know, struggles to stay in that lineup hurt again as well. But I just feel like Jane Reed, because he's in the slot, I think, in terms of just sort of overall value, like, I'm. I'm answering that question from a. Both where he's being drafted and production standpoint, because I think maybe golden out produces, but I think with Jaden Reed, because he's in the slot, they do manufacture touches for him a little bit as well. So it's close. But if you're asking me to pick one packers wide receiver this year, give me Jaden Reed.
- [44:08]
Lawrence Jackson
Give me Romeo Dobbs.
- [44:09]
Jay Croucher
Okay.
- [44:10]
Matthew Berry
All right. Interesting.
- [44:11]
Lawrence Jackson
He's got great. That's proven good rapport with just Jordan Love in the passing game. Jordan Love just said the best newcomer was Matthew Golden. Right. About a month before that, he was asked to name his top five receivers in the league. He named four. That was legit, you know what I'm saying? Then the fifth one was Romeo Dobbs. Now, why did he pick him? Out of all 12 Green Bay receivers, he picked Romeo Dobbs, remember, like, two.
- [44:40]
Matthew Berry
I'll tell you why. Because he knows that, like, he needed to, like, boost his ego because the rest of the guys are actually good. Yeah.
- [44:48]
Lawrence Jackson
Romeo Dobbs. What did he do last year where he, like, cursed out the team? He came back and had eight catches, almost 100 yard. They was like, he's so good that we don't care what he said to us. He's getting these targets. So I'm gonna go Romeo Dodds for now.
- [45:05]
Matthew Berry
Jordan Love is ranked top six in touchdown rate both seasons as a starter. He's been productive. He can get the ball there. The challenge of the packers really isn't the talent. It's just. It's so many mouths to feed on a team that does want to be balanced and likes to run the ball with Jacobs. And so that's why I sort of like Reed, because I feel like of all the guys, Reed has the most secure role. The other guys are going to go in and out on the outside and everything like that. And I know they played some of those other guys in the slot, but really, Jaden Reed is their slot guy. And so I feel like he's got the most secure role as golden is battling with Dobbs. And you've got Wicks in the mix and, you know, and me, Cole, you know, like, we're going to send a few wind sprints. That's what's really going to be watch. Right. Exactly.
- [45:48]
Jay Croucher
Positive regression for Jaden Rigg coming out. A lot of drops last Year the Athletics Dan Duggan believes it's unclear how long Cam Scatterboo will be sidelined dealing with a hamstring injury. Lawrence so this is good news for Tyrone Tracy from a fancy perspective.
- [46:02]
Matthew Berry
Yeah.
- [46:03]
Lawrence Jackson
And let me be honest here about this Giants batfield, because I've been going to the practice watching with my eyes without Cam Scatter Boot.
- [46:11]
Matthew Berry
He's hurt.
- [46:12]
Lawrence Jackson
Lawrence Little scout, you know. You know, that's why I think people should draft Wondell Robinson with their last pick. But about this Giants backfield, Cam Scatter Boo, he's been. He's getting first team reps.
- [46:25]
Matthew Berry
Okay.
- [46:25]
Lawrence Jackson
But not significant enough to like Tyrone Tracy is the dude, easily the dude. Cam Scatter Boo who he'll have some good runs here and there. He's had a good camp, but mostly he's been rotating in with the twos. He's probably going to be the backup when he comes back and is healthy and they'll work his way in, but not a situation where like we saw Bucky Irving and Rashad White last year. He'll get his run because he's a good running back. Scatterboo hasn't got a good skill set, but Tyrone Tracy for now.
- [46:57]
Matthew Berry
Tracy averaged over 13 fantasy points per game last year in the 12 starts that he had. Talented guy. Questions about the offensive line here with the Giants as well. And if Scatterbo, you know, takes some of those touches away, it's not ideal, but Scatterbo will drop a few spots when I do my more my next rankings update as well. I don't mind a flyer on Tyrone Tracy. Like, I love Tyrone Tracy as a place. I was bummed when they took Scatterbo just from a fantasy perspective, but I do think there's going to be a little bit of a committee and so Tracy probably has the upper hand in that committee. It might be more of the value, but like, not gonna be the best offense in the world. Yep.
- [47:36]
Jay Croucher
Well, it's first week of August, so let's get to some Niners running back injury news. It is the time of year Isaac Garendo, according to head coach Kyle Shanahan is going to miss a few weeks with a shoulder, so I'll see you in 2026. Isaac Garendo yeah, the last time we.
- [47:51]
Matthew Berry
Heard Kyle Shanahan say, like, oh, yeah, McCaffrey's gonna be ready for the season now. He'll be there after week one. No, it was four weeks. Then ultimately, you know, missed all those games. You know, missed the first eight games. I believe everything, like that Jordan James I think is really interesting. Now they've got Amira Dueler there, they've got Patrick Taylor, you know, they got a couple of guys. But Jordan James is the rookie they drafted that Connor Rogers and all of us talked about this when he got drafted. He's the one that feels the most skill set wise as to what Cal Shanahan likes to run. And as you know, like whether it's Garendo or Jordan Mason or Elijah Mitchell or whatever, Shanahan just finds these running backs. So I do feel like as we sort of try to figure out the pecking order of who is behind cmc, kind of like Jordan James and this injury to Grendo doesn't help.
- [48:35]
Jay Croucher
Okay, let's take a look at some depth charts that have been released.
- [48:39]
Matthew Berry
Now.
- [48:39]
Jay Croucher
These are unofficial depth charts and I find.
- [48:42]
Matthew Berry
And they're often put together by interns.
- [48:44]
Jay Croucher
Yeah, it's like put together by interns. And the head coach doesn't necessarily always have a say. And it seems like there is a default to putting rookies at the end of the depth chart and like a just a thing that teams do each year. So we look at the Broncos unofficial running back depth chart. J.K. dobbins coming over from the Chargers after his great comeback season. Jalil McLaughlin, the immortal Audrick Estimate, Tyler Beatty, Blake Watson and then RJ Harvey who in reality is going to be higher than that. Jags wide receivers not that many of them in Washington, but Brian Thomas Jr. He's the number one. Travis Hunter who was very interesting. Liam Cohen saying on the Rich Eisen show that Travis Hunter the expectations he's going to end up playing up to 80% of the snaps on offense when they get him fully ramped up. Diamond Brown and then Parker Washington Matthews secret crush and then the Steelers unofficial running back depth chart. Jaylen Warren listed as the starter with Najee Harris Gaun, Kenneth Gainwell coming across from Philadelphia, Caleb Johnson who I still think has the most upside of anyone in this group and then Trace Sermon who feels like he's off in fourth on depth charts.
- [49:58]
Matthew Berry
Yeah, I don't think there's any surprise with the Steelers, especially as Caleb Jensen gets up to speed on pass production that Jaylen Warren is going to be somebody that Arthur Smith trusts quite a bit. The Broncos backfield like okay, I mean that's a Sean Payton thing but it's going to be Dobbins and Harvey. Yeah, I am the more who is on YouTube asking what do y' all think of this Harvey news being the Broncos fifth String coaches playing tricks.
- [50:21]
Jay Croucher
Yes.
- [50:21]
Matthew Berry
I don't even think it's the coach playing tricks. I think it's just he's a rookie. Yeah. Intern playing tricks. Lawrence, he has too much draft capital for them to have him be fifth string.
- [50:33]
Lawrence Jackson
Draft capital? How about talent, skill and ability? If RJ Harvey was drafted in sixth round, I would still be thinking his depth chart look crazy right now. But it's, you know, we ain't hit the season yet, so.
- [50:46]
Jay Croucher
Yeah. Okay.
- [50:47]
Matthew Berry
The most interesting thing of all those depth charts was again, was Travis Hunter being listed as a starting wide receiver and as a backup corner. Thousands. You combine that with the comments that Cohen made on Eisen's show that you're sort of like, if you knew right now he was playing 80% of the snaps on offense, Travis Hunter should be going inside the top 20, maybe in the top 15. He is that good.
- [51:10]
Jay Croucher
Agreed. Our last item here, cleveland.com's Mary Kay Cabot reports that Shadow Sanders will start the Browns first preseason game against the Panthers. Football is back. Shedeur against the Panthers, and Shadow Sanders, he breaks free.
- [51:24]
Matthew Berry
Matthew, you know what? Yeah. And I'll turn this over to Lawrence because I will say this, this kid, this poor kid, Shadar Sanders just took so much grief throughout the draft process. And it's. Look, I think some of it he brought on himself. Lawrence. You have to admit that him and him and the family in terms of how they handle it. But he got way more crap than he deserved. And so I think it's good, you know, good for the team.
- [51:44]
Lawrence Jackson
All he did was play football and be handsome. I don't know what Shadir did, but.
- [51:48]
Matthew Berry
At least some of the. Some of the attitude and the dad saying he doesn't want to be drafted by certain teams and.
- [51:54]
Lawrence Jackson
Oh, I didn't know that was true.
- [51:55]
Matthew Berry
Yeah, I didn't. No, he did a TV interview. Deion.
- [51:58]
Lawrence Jackson
The Browns will finally get to see that he's their best quarterback, so they should be able to drink free, too.
- [52:04]
Jay Croucher
Okay, we're gonna hit our last break. Last call is next. Our picks for regular season rushing yards leader.
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- [53:58]
Matthew Berry
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- [54:03]
Jay Croucher
Okay, regular season rushing yards Leader Favorite Saquon Barkley +275 who's the champion last year? Derek Henry, second favorite of 4 1. My pick here, gentlemen is Ashton Genty. You have Matthew as RB5. Think there is perhaps a little bit of a premium that you can get here because just because he's a rookie, I don't think he's less likely than Jameer Gibbs in a timeshare to win the rushing yards title. So Ashton genty for me at + 1800. Who do you like?
- [54:31]
Lawrence Jackson
I'm going to go with Jonathan Taylor. Last five games last season, 28 rushes, 144 yards per game, 1.2 touchdown, put that in the average and over 5 yards of carry. That's what both quarterbacks so I like Jonathan Taylor.
- [54:47]
Jay Croucher
JT 10 to 1 he did it in 2021.
- [54:49]
Matthew Berry
Yeah, I was going to say he could absolutely see it. How? No, no, I'm joking. Look, a real pick though would be Josh Jacobs, who has also previously done this. Jay, you've won some real money on.
- [55:01]
Jay Croucher
Josh Jacobs winning 2022 the year after JT yes, exactly.
- [55:05]
Matthew Berry
On the Raiders friend of the podcast, Josh Jacobs as well. My only concern on Genty I really like the pick is do they use him more in the passing game, so they can't. Because the question here is rushing yards. Okay, so tomorrow is Friday. We're off tomorrow, but then Monday, we are starting our full season. We are here Monday through Friday, live at noon on YouTube, every single day. For Lawrence Jackson, Jay Croucher, wherever Connor Rogers is, I'm Matthew Berry. You don't have to go home, but you can't stay here. We'll see you on Monday. Have a great weekend. Go, Shedeur. Peace out.