TOUGH TO RANK! Which RBs and WRs are We Struggling With? (05/14 Fantasy Football Podcast)

Summary

Fantasy Football Today: Episode Summary Episode Title: TOUGH TO RANK! Which RBs and WRs are We Struggling With?
Release Date: May 14, 2025
Hosts: Adam Azer, Jamie Eisenberg, Dan Schneier

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Introduction

In this episode of Fantasy Football Today from CBS Sports, host Adam Azer is joined by analysts Jamie Eisenberg and Dan Schneier to delve into the complexities of ranking running backs (RBs) and wide receivers (WRs) for the upcoming fantasy football season. The trio discusses the challenges of evaluating certain players, highlighting the factors that make them difficult to rank and offering insights to help listeners make informed decisions for their fantasy teams.

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News and Updates

Before diving into player rankings, the hosts touch upon recent NFL news that impacts fantasy football:

• Trey Hendrickson Situation (Timestamp: [10:20]): The Bengals' star defensive end is entangled in contract negotiations, potentially leading to him sitting out games or holding out during training camp.

• Jameson Williams' Projections (Timestamp: [12:23]): The Detroit Lions' offensive coordinator, John Morton, anticipates a breakout season for WR Jameson Williams, citing his attention to detail and performance in meetings. However, there are concerns about his current PPR and non-PPR rankings and whether he can exceed his previous performance metrics.

• New York Giants' Tough Schedule (Timestamp: [19:58]): The Giants are projected to have the hardest schedule in the NFL, facing teams with high winning percentages from the previous season. This poses concerns for fantasy players, especially those relying on Giants' RB Malik Neighbors.

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Running Backs: Tough to Rank

The discussion begins with the running back position, focusing on several players who present challenges in ranking due to varying factors such as team dynamics, usage, and injury histories.

Breece Hall vs. Joe Mixon

• Breece Hall (Detroit Lions):

  • Challenges: Sharing the backfield with up-and-coming RBs like Isaiah Davis and Braylon Allen reduces his workload. Additionally, his rushing yards per attempt have declined from 1.4 to 0.4 over three seasons ([26:11]).
  • Upside: Despite sharing touches, Hall remains a dynamic player with significant receiving capabilities.

• Joe Mixon (Cincinnati Bengals):

  • Discussion: Mixing Lock for Mixon is considered, but Hall is favored due to his all-around skill set.

Notable Quote:

Dan Schneier [26:11]: "Breece Hall is still fundamentally a talented player, but sharing the workload and decreased rushing efficiency make him a tricky prospect."

Amariampton vs. DeAndre Swift vs. Isaiah Pacheco

• Amari Hampton (Los Angeles Chargers):

  • Pros: High upside with potential to challenge top RBs; excellent receiving back with minimal fumbles.
  • Cons: May primarily serve as a second option to Naji Harris, limiting his touches.

• DeAndre Swift (Chicago Bears):

  • Pros: When fully utilized, Swift can be a monster RB with both rushing and receiving duties.
  • Cons: Past inconsistencies in performance and injury concerns make him a risky draft pick.

• Isaiah Pacheco (Kansas City Chiefs):

  • Pros: Currently favored due to his role in a strong offensive system and potential for significant usage.
  • Cons: Recent leg injury raises concerns about his long-term durability.

Notable Quote:

Jamie Eisenberg [26:11]: "Amari Hampton has tremendous upside, but his role might be limited by the presence of Naji Harris. DeAndre Swift's past performance makes him a high-risk, high-reward scenario."

Caleb Johnson vs. Quinn Junkins

• Caleb Johnson (Pittsburgh Steelers):

  • Pros: Fits well into the Steelers' outside zone scheme; expected to be a bruiser and lead back.
  • Cons: Limited receiving usage which may cap his fantasy potential.

• Quinn Junkins (Cleveland Browns):

  • Pros: Potential for significant workloads if he secures the lead role; solid offensive environment.
  • Cons: Comparatively lower yards per carry and uncertainty around offensive consistency.

Notable Quote:

Jamie Eisenberg [45:12]: "Caleb Johnson is a perfect fit for the Steelers' scheme, making him a promising fantasy option despite limited receiving roles."

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Wide Receivers: Tough to Rank

Transitioning to wide receivers, the hosts identify several players whose rankings are complicated by various team changes, competition for targets, and personal performance metrics.

DJ Moore (Chicago Bears)

• Challenges: Increased competition from rookies Romo Dunz and Luther Burden; role as a slot receiver is uncertain.
• Pros: Proven talent and consistency when fully utilized.
• Cons: Potential reduction in target volume due to new additions to the Bears' receiving corps.

Notable Quote:

Jamie Eisenberg [50:10]: "DJ Moore remains a solid option, but the emergence of new receivers in Chicago makes his target share uncertain."

Cortland Sutton vs. Chris Godwin

• Cortland Sutton (Kansas City Chiefs):

  • Pros: Demonstrated ability to finish strong; added targets with the acquisition of Evan Ingram.
  • Cons: Occasional drops and inconsistency pose minor concerns.

• Chris Godwin (Tampa Bay Buccaneers):

  • Pros: High touchdown potential and a reliable red-zone target.
  • Cons: Coming back from injury impacts his reliability and target volume.

Notable Quote:

Dan Schneier [54:16]: "Cortland Sutton has shown he can be a top receiver in the second half of the season, making him a dependable fantasy asset."

Jameson Williams vs. Devonte Adams

• Jameson Williams (Detroit Lions):

  • Pros: Tremendous talent with the potential for big plays; improving chemistry with quarterback Jared Goff.
  • Cons: Coming off a broken leg and earlier ACL injury may affect his performance.

• Devonte Adams (New York Jets):

  • Pros: High trust within the Sean McVeigh-led offense; expected to excel in a slot role.
  • Cons: Age and workload concerns might limit his upside.

Notable Quote:

Jamie Eisenberg [56:27]: "Devonte Adams benefits from a strong offensive system and quarterback trust, positioning him as a valuable mid-round pick despite age concerns."

Xavier Worthy vs. Rashid Rice

• Xavier Worthy (Kansas City Chiefs):

  • Pros: Explosive potential with a diverse route tree; significant upside in a high-powered offense.
  • Cons: Low Adjusted Yards After Catch (ADOT) may cap his overall fantasy production.

• Rashid Rice (New York Giants):

  • Pros: High target upside if fully healthy; part of one of the toughest NFL schedules potentially limiting defensive attention.
  • Cons: Ongoing knee injuries and limited performance metrics due to suspensions.

Notable Quote:

Dan Schneier [61:52]: "Rashid Rice offers immense target upside, but his injury history makes him a gamble for many fantasy owners."

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Conclusion

The episode concludes with Adam Azer sharing a personal anecdote about playing tennis, highlighting the camaraderie and light-hearted moments among the hosts. The primary focus remains on providing listeners with a nuanced analysis of RB and WR rankings, emphasizing the importance of understanding each player's context within their respective teams and offensive schemes.

Final Takeaway: Navigating the rankings of running backs and wide receivers requires a deep understanding of team dynamics, player roles, and potential external factors such as injuries and competition. By carefully evaluating these elements, fantasy football enthusiasts can make strategic decisions to optimize their teams for the upcoming season.

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For more expert analysis and fantasy football insights, tune into future episodes of Fantasy Football Today on CBS Sports.

Transcript

[Adam Azer]

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[Jamie Eisenberg]

This is Fantasy Football Today from CBS Sports.

[Adam Azer]

Wanna play? Can you believe this?

[Dan Schneier]

No, I can't.

[Adam Azer]

It's time to dominate your fantasy league. Off to the races and he stays his feet. This is going to go the distance. Now here's some combination of Adam, Dave, Jamie and he. It's mailbag time. Said it's not really mailbag time. It's just we got the Mailbag trio mailbag tomorrow, but mailbag vibe today. Mailbag vibe today on this Wednesday, May 14, Adam Azer, Jamie Eisenberg and Dan Schneier. Dan, I give you full license to make fun of my hair. I desperately need a haircut, so go for it.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

Pretty obvious you need a haircut right now. You got that, you got that Corey Matthews vibe going right now, which is not a terrible vibe, honestly, to be honest. For you, I Don't. While needing a haircut. I don't think it's actually a terrible look for you to give yourself a little bit of that like, you know, curly Jew fro y type look. I think it kind of works for you.

[Dan Schneier]

With that said, thank you.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

I'm just happy to be here, guys. It's been a while and I just had one of the worst 24 hours of my life. These last 24 hours. To spare you all from the gruesome details, let's just say this. I gave a whole new meaning to Dan on the can.

[Dan Schneier]

Cheese.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

Food poisoning. I don't know what it was, but it was bad.

[Adam Azer]

Well, glad you're healthy, man. Good to have you back. Wow, Jamie, how are you? How are you? How was your 24 hours?

[Dan Schneier]

That was great. It was great. Thank you. How was yours?

[Adam Azer]

I can't stop coughing.

[Dan Schneier]

All right, well, you're going to the finals, baby.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

Okay, well don't say that just yet. I have a feeling that type of comment like this is gonna this tonight's game is. Feels Adam to me, like it's going to be a weird game where the Knicks don't win and they took them for granted and everyone starts to feel a little bit of that tightness because.

[Dan Schneier]

Now the Knicks not losing three straight without Tatum.

[Adam Azer]

Four and a half point favorites tonight. Yes, I was surprised by that. Listen, I want to talk about fantasy football here. Plenty of time to talk. Well, if the Knicks win, we'll just do a whole Eastern Conference finals breakdown on the mail. Yeah, also go Panthers tonight. Now I was. Jamie and I are, are doing these fantasy cares eliminator leagues. They're best ball leagues. They're wild formats. You can start up to three quarterbacks, you kickers, head coaches. It's insane. I even think punters if I'm not mistaken. But yeah, I said kickers, I meant punter. Like obviously you can start kicking but. But I think punting is part of this too. I think I gotta read the rules again. But I got on the clock yesterday and, and this is where I'm really struggling. Jamie, it's like late round three all the way to round six or so in a 12 team league it's the wide receiver position, man. And the guys I had to choose between like DK Metcalf and Marvin Harrison Jr. Devonte Adams, Zay Flowers. So I wouldn't have taken there. They had just gotten off the board. Also Debo Samuel was taken there. I didn't like that pick the way too early but for me it was DJ Moore devonte Smith. Rasheed Rice was. I don't know if I noticed Rashid Rice, because the rankings are very different than ours on this website. Chris Godwin was available. Jerry Judy was available. Jordan Addison, Cortland Sutton, Jameson Williams, Juwan Jennings. And I feel like I could make a case for any of them with that pick I took, DJ Moore. I don't even know if I'd make the same decision if I could do it again. But boy, this range of wide receiver, very difficult. So today's episode, Jamie, is toughest players to rank. That's where it starts for me is I just. There's a glut of wide receivers, over a dozen, I'd say. And I could see them finishing in any, any order.

[Dan Schneier]

It's really like after wide receiver, like 13, you know, where you start to get the questions of, you know, you mentioned a few names there. I think, you know, a handful of those guys don't really enter the conversation for me, but they're certainly in the next group of receivers. But yeah, you know, Devonte Adams and DJ Moore and you know, those, those guys, Rashi Rice, you know, Xavier Worthy, you know, those guys that have top 10 upside because we've seen it in spurts. We've seen it for seasons. You know, some of these guys are obviously a little older. You know, can Cortland Sutton continue to produce like he has, like he did last year? Can Terry McLaurin produced like he did last year? You know, so there's, there's a lot of guys at that position. And it's funny because I, I also, I'm in the same, same, same type of league as you are. I also did a magazine draft with other analysts from other industries, from other publications. Excuse me. It'd be fun with other engines.

[Adam Azer]

Yeah, right. I got some, some automakers in there. Coffee shop owner.

[Dan Schneier]

Great. From other, from other sites. And I had the fourth pick and I started with Bijan Robinson, which obviously is, you know, no brainer. And then I went Trey McBride in round two because I didn't love the receivers there because at that point there was 11 off the board and got lucky. I think in some sense that, that T. Higgins fell to me in round three. But it's a three receiver league. My starting receivers, I like, I just don't love. It's, it is T. Higgins, Cortland Sutton and Xavier Worthy, and it's a, it's a solid group. Knowing that you have, I like, number one running back. Number one. Yeah. But it's, it's like, should I have Gone, CD Lamb there and maybe you know, Kyron Williams or Chase Brown or you know, one of those guys in round two. And is that a better start knowing that receiver in a three receiver league kind of dries up a little bit.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

We've talked about this a lot, I feel like through the last 12 months of the calendar year and we saw it play out a little bit in the regular season last year, but more and more and more the running backs are making a comeback in fantasy. I feel like in that, in that range where we used to just pile on receivers and that's the range you're talking about. Some of the best plays are running backs. Which makes me feel like I do want to lean more toward receiver in, in that early round pick too. But how do you take Lamb over Bijan?

[Adam Azer]

That's right.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

It's just like it's a tough spot.

[Adam Azer]

I wouldn't do it. Had a better year like Lamb's 2023 was better than Bijan's best season. So you could make the case.

[Dan Schneier]

I also think, you know, we talk about draft slots and draft positions. Like the back end of round one almost feels like a better place to be than the beginning of round one. Now obviously you're getting one of the top five or six players clearly, but I don't know how much of a drop off there is at the back in the round one. Especially like when you start to compare Malik Neighbors and Nico Collins and getting two of those guys. So like the person that picked at 12, I don't remember the, the picks but they went back to back receiver might have been Nico and Brian Thomas and then ended up with two really good running backs in, in three and four. So you know that the, the two turns I was like I almost want to be there than where I was. You know, just from the, the caliber of running backs that follow you in that range while still getting two, you know, top five caliber receivers.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

I think that makes sense because of what we were just talking about with the running back depth as it goes through. But I will say this, as far as the high end outcomes go, I do feel like taking injuries out of it. There is more variance even with like Nico with Brian Thomas than there is with Bijan or something like, or a player of running back up there. Because with those receivers added to the mix, Travis Hunter and the two and the three receivers that Texans added with Christian Kirk as well coming in, there's going to be some touchdown variants there. It could, you could have some outcomes play out where Thomas doesn't Score all the touchdowns or Nico doesn't score all the touchdowns. But Dijon, you know what you're getting there.

[Dan Schneier]

Yeah, I mean, yeah, clearly. But I think just in terms of like roster build.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

Yes.

[Dan Schneier]

You know, like you're getting two and. And again, you know, could be Puka and. And neighbors. It could be right. Amara St. Brown. You know, we've seen him slip a little bit. A.J. brown, you know, still, if you want to, you know, sort of not necessarily go at the 12 spot. You know, so there's a lot of different ways it could work out for you. But I do think like your, your point is valid that the running back depth is so good in this case, for example. So I just told you my, my start running back tight end, three receivers, round six. I took R.J. harvey and I was dealing with that.

[Adam Azer]

Oh yeah, yeah, I took. He was my first running back in the eliminator.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

Is talking him up big too this so far this offseason. He's like. I don't see any reason to take him off on third downs.

[Adam Azer]

Yeah, I think my ideal start would be if I had a late pick. So I want to end up some way somehow with a top eight receiver. Chase Jefferson, Lamb, Puka, Nika. It's not my order. Hookah, nico, Brian Thomas Jr. I'm on Ross St. Brown, Malik, neighbors. That's eight. A.J. brown is a very good consolation prize. He's in his own tier at nine. For me, I would love to get. You know, obviously I don't think I'm going to get Bijan and a top eight receiver. I don't think I'm going to get Gibbs and a top eight receiver. I do think Genty and Achan and a top eight receiver is very doable if you have one of the later picks. And that's what I would be hoping for. And then there's another guy that none of us like ever talk about. He could have been on the players we don't talk about enough. I don't think any of us ever draft. It's Derrick Henry who was amazing last year in every format and don't even think he'll be a first round. He won't be a first round pick if we're. If just the CBS guys are drafting.

[Dan Schneier]

He was in this draft. I did. He was the 10th overall pick.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

That's crazy.

[Adam Azer]

Was that one of like the coffee guys or automakers? No, no. But I mean it was not a bad pick because he, he surprised us last year. No reason why I can't do it again. All right, so we'll get back to. We'll get to some players that are tough to rank in a moment. Let's do some news and notes. The Trey Hendrickson situation for the Bengals is coming to a bit of a boiling point and he obviously wants a new contract. He is one of the best defensive ends in football. Hopefully they can work it out. But he might sit out some games. He might hold out training camp. Certainly he's going to hold out if they don't have a contract in training camp. Baltimore safety are. Darius Washington tore his Achilles. He. That's so that's probably a season ender. He started 12 games for the Ravens in 2024. So. Detroit offensive coordinator John Morton said that Jameson Williams is going to have a breakout season. He cited Williams attention to detail and that he's been great in meetings. My question is Jameson Williams was wide receiver 17 per game and non PPR, 26 per game in full PPR because he was only on pace for 66 catches. Can he do better than that? Guys 26th per game in full PPR, 17th per game and non PPR. Can Jameson Williams do better than that?

[Dan Schneier]

Maybe 75, 80 catches. Yeah, I don't think he's going to be a 90 plus catch guy unless something happens to St. Brown or Laporta.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

The only.

[Dan Schneier]

There, there is a change clearly, you know, so Ben Johnson's gone, Johnny Morton is in and if they're designing a few more plays for him, that's obviously a bonus. You know, we'll see how much. I don't think Tesla or, you know, Tim Patrick being there is. Is that much of a detriment to what these guys do. You know, they're, they're pretty much gonna funnel targets to the main guys for the most part. So I think he's, you know, he's in the mix of that group that we talk about, you know, 20 through 40 of those wide receivers like anybody can be, you know, in a low end, number two receiver. I think for him to be a top 15 receiver and be in the 65 to 75 catch range, he's probably gonna have to score 10 touchdowns and that's something he could definitely do.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

I was going to say big play. Touchdowns are the only path forward I could see, but I don't personally think. I think the schedule breaks a little worse for the Lions passing game this year.

[Adam Azer]

Well, big play touchdowns for Jameson Williams. That's what he did. He had six touchdowns of 35 or more yards last year. Only Jamar Chase had more. Chase had seven. Williams had six touchdowns of 35 or more yards. No other player had more than three. They were the only guys who had more than three and they had a combined 13. And then just. I'll just give you the target breakdown the last nine games of the season because the first half of the season was weird for, for Williams. The first two games he had 20 targets. The next four games he had 10 combined. And then he missed two games with an injury. The last nine games of the year. This was the peak of the Detroit passing game. Jared Goff, 36.4 pass attempts per game. On pace for 5,268 yards, 43 touchdowns. They were unbelievable. Jameson Williams was on pace for 115 targets. Sam Laporta was on pace for 121 targets. That's the problem. It's La Porta like you know St. Brown's gonna get his. But Laporta averaged more targets per game than Williams. Laporta did miss one game in that stretch. I'm on Ross St. Brown was on pace for 155 targets. They were all fantastic. But remember that's based on Jared Goff throwing for 5,5268 yards and 43 touchdowns. Next news item is our last one for now. The Giants have on paper the hardest schedule in the NFL. Their teams last year, their opponents last year had the highest winning percentage. When you look at the schedules of every team, the New York Giants, usually that's not a team, not a three win team getting the hardest schedule in football. But that is the case and I think it's very relevant. Now we have a bonus episode tonight. Dave and I are going to hop on at about 9pm to talk about the schedule. Won't be a long episode. We'll just give you some things that stand out. Teams that look like they have good playoff schedules or early season schedules or I'm going to look at maybe a couple of wide receivers that might have the worst cornerback matchups. I think Garrett Wilson might be on that list, but I also think Malik Neighbors might be on that list. So I'm, I'm worried about the Giants having the hardest schedule in the NFL. Dan. I'm worried about it from a neighbor's perspective because I think that gets Jackson Dart in there sooner and I don't know that I want that they're going to lose some games if they really have the hardest schedule. A lot of that is based on playing Philadelphia twice, Washington twice, Dallas not going to be. They never beat Dallas ever. They got the cheap they got the AFC west, right. So like that's very tough. So that's McDuffie and that's certain and that's obviously the Eagles with their young corners. And maybe Lattimore matters. Maybe Trayvon Diggs matters. I don't love this for, for Malik Neighbors personally.

[Dan Schneier]

I remember. Sorry.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

Go ahead, Jamie.

[Dan Schneier]

No, I was gonna say because you keep all your notes available. Do you remember who had the toughest schedule last year?

[Adam Azer]

I can look at. Let me look at the schedule release. Thomas, I'm sorry. If you could maybe try to find last year's date for the schedule release episode. I will look it up on my computer. Go on.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

I am curious too, because I would venture upon saying there's a little bit of, I don't want to say overthinking, but maybe putting a little too much weight on the matchups for Neighbors or the schedule for Neighbors in this regard just because of what he did last year and how much Dable designed that offense around him from a target volume standpoint, from a targets per game, the way they kind of designed different areas of the field to use him in, including even areas that he got open in the deep, the deep half and he just didn't get the ball or it was off target. Russell Wilson now comes in and he's the best. At least last year he was the most efficient deep ball passer in the NFL. Now if Jackson Dart plays. I'm with you, Adam. That could complicate things. But either way, the still the offense is still designed around getting neighbors the football and making the. Forcing the defense to do to either take him out of the game so they open up other stuff or you know, let him eat. So I don't, I, I think the target volume should still be there, which is ultimately what we're looking for. Will the matchups dictate how many points he can score? Maybe. Or how many touchdowns he can score? Maybe. But I'm not worried about neighbors at all.

[Adam Azer]

I'll give you a pretty hot take that Malik Neighbors, after he missed weeks five and six with a concussion was pretty disappointing for the rest of the season.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

I mean his quarterback was Drew Locke for most of the rest of the.

[Adam Azer]

Season, but he was, he was, he got so many targets. He really didn't do much with it. I remember in the Baltimore game. Cause he went, he went seven games without a touchdown. The Baltimore game he scored. They were down by like 30 points in the fourth quarter. He scored on some backup scrub. Then against the Colts he had a huge game. And then against the Eagles backups in week 18, he had a, he had 64 yards and a touchdown. He. I don't think it really matters, like, whatever, he's awesome, but he really wasn't that good after the concussion.

[Dan Schneier]

You have to put him in the category of most potential targets.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

Right? Yeah.

[Dan Schneier]

Of all players in fantasy, you have to hope that year two is better than year one. Forget about anything else around him, just from a growth standpoint as a player. So those two things alone, I think, make him that much of a better potential fantasy option, which is saying a lot because he was great last year.

[Adam Azer]

All right, I'm going to take a break and I'm going to tell you what the notes I have from my schedule release episode our schedule release episode mine last year. We'll be right back. Hey everyone, I want to talk about something really important. Life insurance and ethos.com FFT is the place to go to get affordable life insurance. When I became a father, it made me pause and think, if something happened to me, would my family be okay? Would they be financially prepared to handle everything from mortgage payments to everyday bills? This weighed on me. I need affordable life insurance. And you can get that through Ethos. And I love that. Ethos makes it simple. No medical exam required. You just answer a few health questions online. I got an instant rate and it took less than 10 minutes to get my free quote. It's all 100% online and you can even get same day coverage. Life insurance helps provide that financial cushion so your family can keep up with mortgage payments, college tuition, whatever life throws at them. And with Ethos, it's way more affordable than I thought. Some policies started just $2 a day. Build monthly. Protect your family with life insurance from Ethos. Get your free', @ethos.com FFT that's ES.com FFT this episode is brought to you by Disney's Lilo & Stitch. Only in theaters this Memorial Day. A reimagining of Disney's animated classic Lilo.

[Dan Schneier]

And Stitch is the wildly favorite, funny.

[Adam Azer]

And touching story of a lonely Hawaiian girl, Lilo, and the fugitive alien Stitch, who helps to mend her broken family. Lilo and Stitch crashes into theaters May 23rd. Rated PG. Get tickets now. All right, quick programming. So yeah, tonight Dave and I bonus episode on Wednesday night Thursday episode will be a mailbag fantasy football. Cbsi.com okay, here's what I had. Interesting stuff. The Tennessee wide receivers have tough matchups to start. I don't know if that played out at all, but they did. They had Jalen Johnson, Sauce Gardner, Jair Alexander, Jalen Ramsey. And then they had a buy. I don't know if Ramsey was even playing at that point. The Chicago wide receivers had a tough matchup to start. Three of Tampa Bay's first four games were against teams that finished in the bottom six in scoring defense. I bet they got off to a pretty damn good start against Washington, Detroit, Denver and Philadelphia. Although I guess Denver and Philadelphia were pretty good. Atlanta might have a good playoff schedule. Dallas has a tough start. They got off to a pretty bad start. The Rams have a tough postseason schedule. Niners and jets on the road. And then the Cardinals. I don't know. I like Seattle start. I don't know why I put that, but I like Seattle start. Did they get off to a good start? I think they got off to a pretty good start.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

They were. Yeah.

[Adam Azer]

Yeah.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

Okay.

[Adam Azer]

They had Miami, Detroit, the Giants early. They had New England early. They had Denver in Week one. But other than that, that's all I got in the notes. I don't know what else was said. Sorry. All right, let's get on to the crux of the show. Players who are difficult to rank. Jamie has a big old list and he's. Let's start with the running backs here. So definitely not breaking down every player. There's like 20 today, but Breece Hall, Omarion Hampton, DeAndre Swift, Isaiah Pacheco, Javante Williams, Tyrone Tracy, and Cam Scatterboo. Breeze Hall. Go ahead, Jamie.

[Dan Schneier]

I tried to give you like a sample size throughout the rankings, not just the guys at the top. So, I mean, look, we know what the situation is. The Breeze, all right, he's coming off a disappointing finish to last year. And then Aaron Glenn comes in and says he's going to use all three running backs. And so, you know, you have a quarterback that doesn't traditionally throw to his running backs and runs and gives you rushing touchdowns and Justin Fields. And you have a guy in Breece hall who when he was at his best has been a heavily involved receiver out of the backfield. And so those two things don't match on top of the fact that you have now maybe two other guys. I don't think that's necessarily a. It's going to be a 10, 10, 10 split if you're giving them 30 touches per game. But it could be maybe Isaiah Davis works on passing downs and Braylon Allen is a change of pace guy. And all these things just sort of become hugely problematic for Bries Hall. But we know what the upside is because the upside has Been amazing. You know, the, the year two post ACL when he was supposed to be terrible was his best season to date. And then he got off to a good start last year and the receptions really just cratered once they got Devonte Adams. Well, this receiving core is pretty miserable right now, so you would hope that there's some, you know, design plays, design options. And this is the Detroit offense to an extent, you know, coming to the jets. And so hopefully Breece hall gets a significant opportunity in all three facets of, you know, first and second down, short yardage and then, you know, working in the passing game. So there's still a lot to love about him, but there's also the potential downside of sharing work and losing rushing production and receiving production. And then we have a trap back.

[Adam Azer]

Yeah. Naji Harris, first six games of last year with Justin Fields, he was on pace for 272 carries. He was on pace for 40 catches though, and that would be low for Breeze. And then the, you know, Justin Fields took most of the goal line carries. You know, I think he had more than Naji. Naji was on pace for three touchdowns. He had one touchdown in those six games. How many Justin Fields have he had? At least two. I'll look for you real quick, but that's a possibility for. Oh, not be. Yeah, he had, he had, he had five touchdowns. Naji had one in those six games. I'm not saying that's going to be the split, but it's a huge problem. All right, so Breece hall or Joe Mixon mixing.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

I'm still going with hall there. I, I understand the case against hall for sure, but I think there is some upside to the idea of with Justin Fields in there and I know they're going to try to bring that Lions offense over, but I think there's going to be, there's going to have to be different wrinkles to it. If you have Justin Fields, you have to design some quarterback run scheme around that. Like some running quarterback scheme around that. For example, like Zone Reed. I think they're going to run that and I think that's going to benefit Breeze. Hul. Give him better angles to attack and give him more space to work with, which I don't think he had a great amount of last year. Watching the jets, they were okay at times in pass production, not good in the run game. So that could work to his benefit. He's still ultimately a big play merchant. But you know, what you said, Jamie, about the passing game, that really is standing out because when he did have that. Those dominant fantasy seasons. It was on a lot of targets and I'm a little scared of where those will come from. I just think there's more upside with hall though, than mixing for me.

[Adam Azer]

Okay, so just last thing on Hall. According to ESPN Breeze, Hall's rush yards over expected per attempt has dropped from 1.4 to 0.7 to 0.4 in three seasons. So he's just hasn't been as good of a rusher even. You're looking at the advanced metrics. All right, next three running backs are all going to be, I think, in the same range. I don't. I mean, it's a big range, but they're definitely going to be ahead of Javante Williams, who's the next guy we'll talk about. So It's Omarion Hampton, DeAndre Swift and Isaiah Pacheco. Hampton for the Chargers, Swift for the Bears, Pacheco for the Chiefs. Think you probably all know that. But Jamie, is that how you rank them?

[Dan Schneier]

Hampton, Swift, Pacheco, currently, yes, Hampton, we know the upside could be amazing, but how much of this is going to be a split backfield where he's not even the lead guy because of Najee Harris for at least one more season? And so this is something that I don't know if you guys struggle with. I certainly do at this point in the season when we're in the midst of rookie only drafts and dynasty is so much on the forefront of our minds. The upside for Amari Hampton is through the roof because we know he could be just ridiculous and maybe, I don't know, it's not. I don't think it's stretch to say could challenge Genti to be the best running back of his class, given his destination and his talent and everything that goes along with it. I don't think he will, but he could. And then you have to take a step back and say, okay, the redraft proposition for him is he may be second fiddle to a guy that doesn't get hurt and doesn't fumble. For a coach, that's a pretty. No nonsense. I'll take the three yards as opposed to waiting for the, you know, 20 plus yard run. And Naji Harris is going to do that a lot. And so how much will Hampton be sort of second fiddle in an offense that we know can be multifaceted if they want to, which they showed us at the end of last season. You know, it was very run heavy early in the. Early in the process. And then as I think Herbert's foot got Better. They started to throw the ball a little bit more as lad McConkey developed and everything that sort of went along with that J.K. dobbins getting hurt. But you saw what Dobbins did in this offense. And Hampton, a younger version of Dobbins and maybe just as explosive. So there's, there's a lot to love about him. So I struggle with Hampton versus Harvey, for example, in redraft. I struggle with Hampton versus these other guys. You know, once you start to get to basically running back 20, it becomes a little bit of what you need versus how your roster build is going.

[Adam Azer]

Can I ask you a question, Dan? I haven't really gotten any of your NFL draft takes in a long time. So with the way I evaluate running backs and sure, for the draft is I look at rankings from other websites and I say, okay, these are the guys I'm going to look at. I honestly, and, and I, I had read, you know, going into the Omarion Hampton eval. For me, Everybody talking, he's RB2 in this class. He's so good. Some people have him ranked ahead of Genti this and that. Like, if I had not gone into the process with that, with knowing that information, let's call that like a bias, I never would have thought of Amari and Hampton in that way. And I just want to know how you felt about him. Like, to be, I, I, I mean, I guess where he went. You think about the guys who went in that range in the 20s in the NFL draft. You got guys like Najee Harris, Rashad Penny. It's actually kind of a lousy list of running backs who've been drafted. Josh Jacobs was there, though, but running backs drafted late in the first round, a little hit or miss, but did you ever, did you think of him as that kind of a prospect? Like, it was great. Can't miss guy.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

I, I personally did. He was my RB2 in this class by a, by a wide margin. I would say Henderson was my RB3 and he was, he's a different kind of back. But for me, the thing I like about Hampton the most is when I watch him run, he reminds me a lot of Jonathan Taylor at Wisconsin, except he has more to his game, which I'm about to go over, but just from the sense of big high runner, which is not always a good thing. You can get caught up at line liner, scrimmage. If you run high, you want really a low center of gravity. But after contact, he's just able to dominate and he's able to really get into that second gear which allows him to make those long runs like he doesn't. He's not a particularly fast straight line runner though he is for his size. But that second gear on, on tape really stands out to me and his whole profile to me is really impressive. Like very few fumbles, one in 2024 workhorse back, 25 or more touches and eight of his last 12 games to end the season last year he, he has that acceleration I talked about in and out of cuts which people love. He was a track star at the high school level. The jump, the broad jump, the long jump, the triple jump. He jumps out of the gym. And one thing I really liked about his game, which I think will stand out in year one with the Chargers, is he's a much better receiving back than people realize. Like when you watch the tape you'd see that North Carolina would design pivot routes for him which are not easy to run for running backs, those like angle Texas routes. And he would really do a good job in my opinion of beating the linebacker on those routes and getting open. He had had I think two drops on 80 career targets. So really short hands as well and a lot of experience in pass protection because they didn't take him off the field. He was their true workhorse there. I think he had what a single season record for UNC of 2033 all purpose yards. Just a totally dominant player at the college level who did everything for them. So for year one with the Chargers I like, I think Naji will eat into his workload a little bit but I'm thinking like why wouldn't Hampton be their passing down back? He can do it all in passing downs. He's a much better receiver than people realize. I think that'll give him extra value for fantasy.

[Dan Schneier]

Okay, all right, so just we didn't touch on the other two guys just entering.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

Yeah.

[Dan Schneier]

Case for Swift and Pacheco. You know, Swift could be an absolute monster if he's the guy for Ben Johnson and they don't add somebody else. You know, there's talk of maybe Nick Chubb going to Chicago that would clearly crush, you know, I think both guys. But right, look, if he's going to try and mirror his offense in, in Chicago that he did in Detroit and this is his Jameer Gibbs maybe without as good a David Montgomery because Roshan Johnson, I don't know if he's there yet. There's top 15 upside for Swift. So it's almost like he's one of those guys at this point. If you're Drafting could really be a huge difference maker. He could also be a backup if they bring in somebody like Chubb, which I don't think is necessarily a bad thing for him because we saw what Nick Chubb was at the end of last year and the, you know, injuries that he suffered. I'm. The only reason I bring up Chubb is because there's rumors of that. But yeah, yeah, I do think that there's so much upside for DeAndre Swift, but it's, you know, how do you. How, how high should he be ranked? Because he clearly has had opportunities before he was the guy in Philadelphia. We know he lost the rushing touchdowns and that was his detriment. He was with Ben Johnson in Detroit and was never used the same way that I think we hope he can be used. So I kind of just view him as a fallback RB2 as opposed to a guy I want to target in drafts.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

Can I mention one thing on Swift? Yeah, yeah, that, that's interesting to me just listening to the case. You broke down Jamie and you could even add in Chicago did so much to improve their offensive line this off season, which is true. And another benefit for Swift. It feels like we're running into a similar situation. We get these a lot in fantasy in this preseason time of the year. And I would, I would love to have AER stats on this or just like have some way to find out how often this doesn't. Doesn't work. That entire case, Jamie felt like it was situation based and that's okay. Like sometimes that does work out. But like we've seen Swift fail a lot as a runner at times we've seen him fail as a receiver. Just not being able to be the guy we thought he would be. He's had fumbling issues at times in his career that held him back in Detroit. Some injury concerns like his whole entire case for why you would, you know, bet on upside. There is the coaching and the cast around him.

[Dan Schneier]

Yep.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

So I just wonder how many, like how many times has that worked and how many times it failed. Just from my feeling on it, it feels like it fails a lot more than it works when the, when most of the cases situation based.

[Adam Azer]

But that's just an Azer stat. There you go. I think also with DeAndre Swift, he's. He's never been good in short yardage and last year he wasn't the goal line back. Obviously it's a new coaching staff, but I don't, I don't know that he's going to have that role. Yeah, and for as far as Pacheco goes, I'll just. He is totally my guy right now. Really? A hundred percent.

[Dan Schneier]

I mean, because of the value or because you think he's going to have a big.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

I think it's the value. Right.

[Adam Azer]

I'll start out by because of the value, but I'll say, like, there is no reason why he can't have a good season. I would say the only reason that Pacheco wouldn't be a great value and wouldn't have a really good season is that he's still not recovered from the broken leg. So I don't like guys coming off of leg surgery. He had leg surgery. It's just to me, the fact that he was able to return for much of the second half of the season and the super bowl run tells me that it wasn't as serious as like, what Chris Godwin went through. Right.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

And.

[Adam Azer]

And what Tony Pot? Well, Tony Pollard got hurt in the playoffs, but, you know, he, he was able to return after having surgeries. But goodness, I mean, look at his competition. Am I really supposed to be afraid of Kareem Hunt?

[Jamie Eisenberg]

Yes.

[Adam Azer]

No. Are you kidding? Kareem Hunt. Kareem can only run straight for 8 yards.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

I know, but they. It's not about what Kareem Hunt can do to us, to our eye test. It's about what the Chiefs. You think of Korean Hunt.

[Adam Azer]

You don't know what the Chiefs think of Kareem Hunt because Kareem Hunt has never competed with a healthy, good Isaiah Pacheco. Isaiah Pacheco from week three of the 2023 season through his week two injury. Okay, that's 20 games, I believe, because it includes the super bowl run from the previous year. He averaged 16.7 yards, 16.7 carries per game, and he was on pace for over 50 catches. He was basically a workhorse for the Kansas City Chiefs. Okay, if he, he's gonna, he's gonna blow away Kareem Hunt if he's healthy and he's right. And I think he could be just outstanding. We were taking him in the second or third round last year. I really hope that Kareem Hunt is not the reason why he should be a 6th round pick or something like that this year. Like, I just don't buy it with Kareem Hunt and the other guys they have there.

[Dan Schneier]

I, I think taking him in the sixth round makes the most sense because I think if you're reaching for him, you're trying to get that player once again, which he still could be.

[Adam Azer]

Well, yeah, that's my point. He's going late enough where he still could be the player we were taking.

[Dan Schneier]

No, no, the value is fantastic. That's what I was asking. Are you, are you reaching for him? Was basically what I was asking. Or are you waiting to get him in that round six range? I do think that we have a lot of moving parts here because they seemingly are trying to put this backfield together on a very cheap process. And so bringing back Kareem Hunt makes a lot of sense for exactly what Dan was saying. We look at it and we say if Isaiah Pacheco is right, he is going to blow away anything Kareem Hunt could do at this point in his career. But we talk about this a lot. Coaches like certain things out of certain players. And exactly what you said, Adam. Kareem Hunt can run forward and fall forward fast. To quote the great.

[Adam Azer]

Not fast. There's nothing fast about it.

[Dan Schneier]

He can fall forward sufficiently enough.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

Yeah.

[Dan Schneier]

That he doesn't hurt the team. And Elijah Mitchell is now going to be there and maybe take some of that work. And Rashard Smith is going to be there now and maybe take some of that work.

[Adam Azer]

I don't know.

[Dan Schneier]

And I don't know if Kareem, if, if Isaiah Pacheco has any sort of slip up or, you know, mishap or the, the leg is not 100. Right. And he's not back. Think about the metric we talked about with Tony Pollard on, on Monday. Right?

[Adam Azer]

Yeah.

[Dan Schneier]

The, the four, four year span that he's been a guy. Not a, not a featured guy, but I guess a featured guy with Dallas and then with Tennessee. The, the one year full year. To your point about coming back full year. His yards after contact metric was terrible. And the other three years he was top five.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

Right.

[Dan Schneier]

And so if Isaiah Pacheco is not back to being that guy, I don't think the Chiefs will have any problem pivoting to multiple guys.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

Yes.

[Dan Schneier]

And so that's the gamble. Right. And this is why he's part of this conversation. The gamble is, is like when do you take him? So I think if we had this, if I remember correctly, Dave has him ranked ahead of maybe Henderson. If I think going back to the draft we had this, you know, Pacheco versus some of these guys. You asked that question. Yeah. Yeah. I would rather gamble on the upside of Henderson right now than I would the upside of Pacheco just knowing that he's coming back from this injury. Even in both guys being in shared situations.

[Adam Azer]

Okay. I think I'd rather take. I think I said Pacheco originally, but maybe I'd go Henderson Pacheco. But I would take Pacheco over Judkins and Caleb Johnson.

[Dan Schneier]

See, I would not.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

All right, well, those, not Caleb Johnson.

[Adam Azer]

Those two guys are two running backs that I wanted to get your opinions on. But why don't we take a quick break here. We'll finish up running backs and we have three more positions after that. We'll be right back on Fantasy football today. Just because the college basketball season is over does not mean the fun has to stop. And it will not stop. On the Ion College Basketball podcast, I'm Matt Norlander and every week me and Gary Parish will continue throughout the off season to give you multiple shows weekly that dive into the stories, the interesting trends, what you need to know, portal comings and goings, the new coaches in new spots, and of course, as we move into the NBA draft season, we'll give you deep dives on the players to know and give you mock drafts as well. So continue to subscribe and listen because we still got the goods and really, really appreciate all you've done to help build out this podcast over the years. Subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts or if you want to watch us, we'd love that as well. You can subscribe to the Ion college Basketball podcast on CBS Sports College Basketball on YouTube. Now get ready to laugh until it hurts. You're going to love this. Novocaine is now streaming on Paramount. Plus, I got this condition. I don't feel pain.

[Dan Schneier]

You're a superhero.

[Adam Azer]

Yeah, it's an adrenaline rush of fun.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

Oh, this is the best.

[Adam Azer]

And a bloody good time.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

Almost got the best part.

[Adam Azer]

It's the first great action comedy of the year. Let the magic happen.

[Dan Schneier]

That's good.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

Looking forward to it.

[Adam Azer]

Novocaine, Rated R. Now streaming on Paramount plus. Dan, would you agree with this statement the best quarterbacks in the NFL are really good at auto. At calling an audible at the line of scrimmage.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

I. Yeah, I wouldn't say exactly audible, but they're really good at their checks and. And working with receivers. This is similar to an audible. Yes, really good pre snap.

[Adam Azer]

Well, you're ruining what I'm going for here because I'm gonna call him.

[Dan Schneier]

He's a great quarterback and he's going to change the show.

[Adam Azer]

I am going to change the show. I'm going to call an audible here. Why don't we save wide receivers and tight ends for another episode and we'll just focus on running backs and quarterbacks today. That way we can. Oh, no. You don't like that Thomas. DJ Moore's the thumbnail, so you guys should talk. All right, we'll do receivers. We'll do wide receivers. And he didn't even let Thomas make his case.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

He just got running backs and receivers.

[Dan Schneier]

It's fine.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

Just got scared.

[Adam Azer]

We'll do running backs and receivers, Running backs and receivers today, and we'll do quarterbacks and tight ends another day. Sorry about that. Okay, so Javante Williams and then the Giants running backs are on this list for you, Jamie, of tough players to rank. How do you rank Javante and the Giants running backs?

[Dan Schneier]

I mean, Javante is an easy conversation. If he's the lead running back for the Cowboys, I have him ranked too low. You know, just based on this, the simple fact of the workload that he'll get. And even if he's not the most talented running back, he showed the passing game chops in Denver last year with Sean Payton, and he'll get those, get the volume that we will look for. So right now I have him ranked in the early 30s. If he enters the season, even if you like Jaden Blue or Jade on Blue and and Mafa and whoever else, you know, Miles Sanders, he should still be the best of that group going into the season. He deserves to be ranked a little bit higher. So it's more of a cautiously optimistic approach for the Giants. This is going to be one of my favorite training cap battles to watch. Tracy closed the season getting a lot of work. I don't know how great he was with that work, but also the environment around him was pretty terrible. I think it'll be a better situation just with better quarterback play with Russell Wilson. But Scatterboo may be a better version of Tracy just based on his college pedigree. We know he's going to run hard. He's going to be involved in the passing game. And so I have a tough time of who should be ranked ahead of who. And it's one of those battles that I'm going to be, you know, keeping an eye on just to see if maybe Scatter Boo can win the job early in season.

[Adam Azer]

All right, Dan, who should be ranked ahead of who in that Giants backfield?

[Jamie Eisenberg]

That's a great question. I'm going to put Scatter Boo ahead of Tracy and put on the clock here. And the reason why is I think Scatter Boo is a more natural receiver despite Tracy playing receiver in college. I think Scottaboo's a better receiver both in route running and on Broken plays. I think he'll earn that role. And then it just comes down to who's in the red zone. And we know that Brian Dable's been very, very fickle with who he used in the red zone. And Tracy has a fumbling issue. Scatterbukon has a fumbling issue too, a little bit. But Tracy's was worse, at least at the NFL level, like with what we've seen so far and it took him off the field. I will say this though, about this backfield. I wouldn't invest much in fantasy in any of these guys because Devin Singletary is going to play. That's just how it's going to go. They like Singletary. He was better than people realize on tape. And throughout his time. Dable with the Bills, there were a lot of backs getting in the mix there. And so we're looking at, in my opinion, one of the bigger splits probably if we look across the NFL. I don't know how many teams are going to be employing deploying a three man backfield. So on a team with a tough schedule. Tough schedule, not a good offense. The toughest schedule, I should say. Yeah, maybe not a good offense. I just think we're maybe a little too. Or it's. It just doesn't set up for great fantasy success.

[Adam Azer]

Yeah. All right, so can I add Quinton Judkins vs. Caleb Johnson to this list here? My struggle is I feel like they're in similar situations. I don't think they're going to be big time pass catchers. I do think they're going to get at some point a lot of work. I, you know, in terms of carries, I think an earlier path to that maybe for Judkins than Johnson. Because Judkins with Cleveland, I just don't really, I'm not afraid of his competition. Jalen Warren's a good player. Jalen Warren deserves carries for the Steelers. And yeah, I don't know, is there, is there clarity for you guys who you like better between Pittsburgh's Caleb Johnson and Cleveland's Quinn San Juan?

[Dan Schneier]

Jamie, you said it. The backup in Pittsburgh to me is a little bit more scary to the starter than the ones in Cleveland. And Jerome Ford and Dylan Sampson I think are good players and they're gonna have an opportunity. But Jalen Warren may end up getting too much work. He may certainly. I don't think he may. He's certainly going to get more passing downs work and is noted as a very good pass blocker. And we saw what he was in 2023. Granted, that was not with Arthur Smith, but he did suffer some injury, did deal with some injuries last year. I think that derailed him in the first part of the season. He was much more involved and more productive in the second part of the season. So I think when you look at what the Steelers have in relation to their backfield versus another rookie in Samson who may end up being, who knows, taking more work than we, we anticipate because he's an explosive type of guy and Jerome Ford is there. I just think Judkin's situation, his path to getting more work a little bit and they're back to back for me. So it's, it's. I struggle with it as well but I feel a little bit safer about his situation and really his offensive environment right now than I do about Caleb Johnson. Because if it's Mason Rudolph then that's a little more terrifying than the Joe Flacco led quartet of quarterbacks that the Browns have.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

I feel strongly actually in the other other way for this. I'm a huge fan of Caleb Johnson in this fit. A long time ago in fantasy another Big Ten back entered the NFL and he ran behind. I believe he played at UAB and then Indiana and he ran behind a very similar scheme that he broke out with at colle level, an outside zone scheme and that was Jordan Howard. He didn't last long in fantasy but he was really good at the beginning. And Caleb Johnson in this Arthur Smith led outside zone run scheme is the perfect fit. If I could pick one running back who had the best fit of any running back draft in this class it was a hundred percent Caleb Johnson to the Steelers. Now I trust Arthur Smith. He's designed really good strong run games over the years despite bad quarterback play. He did it in Atlanta. That used to be the case for Stefanski. It wasn't the case last season when quarterback play really fell off. Now Jamie makes a good point. If it's Joe Flacco for the whole season versus Mason Rudolph then yes, I'm a little bit concerned. But I do think Aaron Rodgers will sign and more importantly I think we're going to see Sanders or Dylan Gabriel. I think they will completely crater the offense. I don't love the fit for Judkins there at all. I don't think, I think neither is getting a lot of receiving work but I trust that Caleb Johnson fits this outside zone scheme. He's going to be a bruiser, he's going to be a lead back like Naji was. Warren will be more of a change of pace and they're going to get, they're going to have success in the red zone scoring touchdowns. So it just feels like the fit is better for me with Johnson and I really like Johnson in fantasy this year.

[Adam Azer]

It's kind of interesting because Johnson and Judkins I think are a really good comparison. They were drafted fairly similarly Judkins earlier for second round, Caleb in the third, but they basically the same height and weight going into the combine. Johnson 6, 1, 2, 24, Judkins 6 foot 2, 21. And Judkins ran a 4, 4, 8, 40 and Johnson ran a 4, 5, 7 and Johnson had the worst 10 yard split. Yeah, and Judkins had a very good one. But when I, when I personally watched them, I liked Johnson substantially more than Judkins. I, I can't, I, like I say it all the time, I just can't get over this pretty pedestrian yards per carry for Judkins, especially compared to Treveon Henderson who shared a backfield with him. And if you just look at them in the Big Ten last year it was five, what was it, 5.7 yards per carry for Judkins. No, no, no, that was for the season. Oh, 4.2 yards per carry for Judkins in the Big Ten and Caleb Johnson was at 5.9 yards per carry in the Big Ten. So I maybe I just, I guess I'm just not caring as much about the combine stuff.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

Well, yeah, I'm with you and I have a couple other sets. This is courtesy of Jacob Gibbs. Is it Quinch on or Keen Sean Junkins? I don't know for sure.

[Adam Azer]

I think it's Quinn.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

That's why I always thought it was key. Okay, Quinn. Sean. I wasn't sure he was one of the biggest benefactors in all of this class against non Power 4 competition. According to Jacob Gibbs, he had a 40.1% avoided tackle rate versus non Power 4. Only 23.6% against Power 4. Brady pretty much all of the metrics fell apart against non power 4 or against power 4 team last year for him. And one weird thing about him he's never had despite like playing a lot at Ole Miss, he never had more than 200 yards receiving in a season. Wasn't really a great pass catching back and he never was trusted to handle more than 40 pass protection reps in a season. And when he was like the only time he allowed almost a 10 pressure rate. And so they used Trayvon Henderson in pass protection despite being a smaller back there. That scares me not to say Caleb Johnson can Definitely play that role, though. I did think he was a more natural receiving back than people gave him. Him credit for. But I just think that the Judkins profile, to me, it's. It's very scary on that Browns roster. I don't foresee myself investing much in him this year.

[Dan Schneier]

The Browns did have the choice of the two, though.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

Yeah. Yeah, for sure they did.

[Adam Azer]

I just wonder. Yeah. I just wonder about the combine and if that's what pushed Judkins up. And you know, you just go back and, and look at the, the way guys are drafted, it certainly doesn't always show up in the. How they produce. Right. You know.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

Yeah.

[Adam Azer]

DeAndre's quiet Edward Z layer. Was DeAndre Swift also taken ahead of Jonathan Taylor? They were really close. They were.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

Yeah. Both were ahead of Taylor, which is crazy that I couldn't believe that.

[Adam Azer]

All right, let's go to wide receiver here for the sake of the thumbnail. So. And I'm going to start with DJ Moore. Jamie did have Chris Godwin and Mike Evans on this list. Understandably. They are. I think we've talked about them a lot. So just in this for. To save some time, let's go to DJ Moore here. He was the one guy I really wanted to highlight. Man, Jamie, there are so many angles to this. There's positives and negatives. There's target competition. There's Ben Johnson, there's Caleb Williams. Is he good? Caleb Williams? Does he stink? There are so many things here for DJ Moore, who he himself has been one of the most. One of the most exciting roller coaster rides in fantasy throughout his career. You never know what he's gonna do. So I find him very difficult. And how do you find him?

[Dan Schneier]

Same. You know, I think you look at all the moving parts. Yep. The one thing that's the constant for him is he's the proven guy. You have a second year, Romo Dunes, a rookie, Luther Burden, a rookie, Colston Loveland. And we'll see how much Cole Comet still is a factor as more of a pass catcher than a blocker or role player. But if you're Caleb Williams and things are. We're hoping he's going to play more on schedule and, and, you know, run a more rhythmic offense under Ben Johnson and better protection. But who's still the guy that I think he's going to lean on, I would hope it's DJ Moore. And the, the question becomes a, Is he the slot guy? Because that's the thing that I think we're all waiting to find out, you know, it seems as if maybe Burton's going to play that role. We've heard some, you know, Romo Dunze being the big slot receiver. Obviously there's been a lot of DJ Moore doing that in his career. So it may just be they're moving all over the place, which I think would benefit more as opposed to if somebody else is in that role comparatively. But there are now, you know, significant target competition. Not that there wasn't last year, but how much of it will be Ben Johnson leaning on the two guys that he just brought in in Loveland and Burden. And his excitement for them is clearly very evident. So I went from D.J. moore as a borderline wide receiver one prior to the NFL draft and now he's a mid wide receiver too. Still very happy to draft him, but he's in that questionable range as opposed to where he was firmly entrenched in the. I'm, I'm okay with him if I go running back, tight end. Round one, running back, running back. First two rounds and then going DJ more. Round three like now he's a round four, round five pick for me. Yeah.

[Adam Azer]

Honestly, the look at this stretch of picks, six consecutive wide receivers in the draft that we did last week, our first draft since the NFL draft. I just want to quit fantasy. It stresses me out so much. No. 1 QB. Okay, we're in rounds. Oh, I was seven. Seven wide receivers in a row. We're in round six here. No, we're in round five. I'm sorry, we're in round five. So we're at pick 50. Zay Flowers. DJ Moore, Jameson Williams, Cortland Sutton, Chris Godwin, Devonte Smith, Jerry Judy. Zay Flowers, DJ Moore, Jameson Williams, Cortland Sutton, Chris Godwin, Devonte Smith, Jerry Judy. I hate, I mean I like all these picks. I hate having to make the choice. I don't know if I like flowers.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

Here, by the way.

[Adam Azer]

That's. I know Jacob took him. Jacob really likes say flowers. I think he's terrific player. He's going to run into the same problems that he has run into his whole career. He's on a very run heavy offense. He doesn't get targeted in the end zone. It's the Mark Andrews world. And you know, I don't say flowers belong in this group. Jamie.

[Dan Schneier]

I don't believe so.

[Adam Azer]

Dan, what do you make of that group?

[Dan Schneier]

Flowers?

[Adam Azer]

Yeah, yeah. Flowers, DJ Moore, Jameson, Cortland Sutton, Chris Godwin, Devonte Smith, Jerry Judy.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

It's an interesting group. I think the only one who has like the target upside. I'm looking for would be Cortland Sutton, though there's obviously more competition there, so I may put him a little bit ahead. Godwin scares the hell out of me. Not just because of the competition they had. Because he's coming back off an injury, he would be the one I put lowest. I think DJ Moore, for me, like, I think about what Jamie said and I thought he did a great job breaking that situation down. When I watched the Ben Johnson offense over the years, it relied less on like rhythmic passing and like back shoulders. Most of what Amon Ross St. Brown did with Jared Goff was. Was by design by Ben Johnson. So I do just kind of think I need to know who's in that slot role and may they will mix it up, as Jamie said, and move different guys in. But I don't know if that's the case and if that ends up being Roman Dun, which would surprise some people, but not me because I kind of feel like he would be good in that role. That's probably the guy I'm gonna want to get. So with DJ Moore, I need to just. That's the one I need most information on. Sure. There's upside there, but I don't know. I think all this entire group is going to struggle with target volume.

[Adam Azer]

Yeah. Except for Sutton.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

Except for Sutton.

[Adam Azer]

Last half of the season, I put.

[Dan Schneier]

Sutton, I don't want to say way ahead of this group, but ahead of this.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

But ahead.

[Adam Azer]

Yeah, same the last half of the season, remember he had, I think, did this. Name that player the other day, zero targets against New Orleans in a game where Bo Nicks looked like he was going to be out of the NFL pretty soon. He was absolutely horrible. And then every. Everything changed for Nixon, for Sutton after that.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

Right.

[Adam Azer]

The last like eight games. Whatever. Approximately eight games. I don't remember what it was. He was the number 10 wide receiver per game. Cortland Sutton. He was a true number one wide receiver. And they added Evan Ingram. That's not nothing but not much else.

[Dan Schneier]

Right.

[Adam Azer]

Okay.

[Dan Schneier]

I. I was surprised when I saw, you know, how many touchdowns he scored in the last two years.

[Adam Azer]

18.

[Dan Schneier]

18 with Sean Payton. So since Sean Payton has taken over two different quarterbacks. Eighteen incredible. Ten with Russ and eight with Bonix. Like, that's impressive.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

Yeah. You got to put him ahead of that group. I think besides, I mean, DJ Moore is the one you can maybe say, well, there is an upside case for. But even so, I put Sutton ahead of all them.

[Adam Azer]

The only thing with Sutton is that, you know, he's basically the worst Yak guy Again I mentioned this last show or when we did name that player worst Jack guy in. In football basically for any established receiver, I mean it's unbelievable. So like Jameson Williams is a much more talented player in my opinion than. Than Sutton. Jameson Williams, don't forget, he was once upon a time. What was he like the 10th ish pick? I don't remember. But 6th I think overall no, he wasn't that high. But he's coming off broken leg and he was an early torn acl. Thank you.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

You're right, it wasn't six.

[Adam Azer]

Maybe James Williams is just is a tremendously talented player like Coral and Sutton is probably not going to have six catches of six touchdown catches of 35 or more yards.

[Dan Schneier]

Right.

[Adam Azer]

All right. Well, anyway, I think I'm going to be dedicating a lot of time to trying to figure out who I like in this range and hopefully getting some clarity here. But I, I think at least we can come away thinking Cortland Sutton has a chance to really out target the guys in this range. All right, what else we got here? Devonte Adams. Where. Where is he in that group? You know, I named those seven wide receivers. Where's Devonte Adams for you, Jamie. You call him tough to rank.

[Dan Schneier]

I have Sutton slightly ahead of Adams, Adam slightly ahead of DJ Moore. So the thing that again, I want to kind of separate myself from being the ageist because he's at that age where you really got to panic a little bit. And I don't think he's going to be the most targeted wide receiver for his team because he's been that everywhere he's been since he broke out for the Packers. But if he's not and he's a little bit of a shell of himself, is this too high? At the same time, could he maybe supplant Pukinakua as the go to guy for Matthew Stafford? Because we know in Stafford finds a guy, he loves him.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

Yep.

[Dan Schneier]

And this is an extremely talented player that was great once he got to the jets last year and how he performed fantasy wise because he commanded a lot of targets from a guy who he has a huge history with. So I don't want to run away from Devonte Adams. I also don't want to get too excited about Devonte Adams. So he's a tough guy for me to rank. But I do think he's in that middle tier of wide receiver twos of guys that you look for in round four and can still be a very productive fantasy option.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

He, he would be number One for me among that group. I'm gonna be probably high man on Adams this off season, I imagine among us. I just love the fit for him there with Sean McVeigh in that offense. I was watching a clip of McVeigh with the Rams and Stafford and everybody in the room breaking down Adams film and he still got it. And the reason I love the fit so much is the trust in the offense, the trust in McVeigh and the trust in Stafford to protect reduce passing yards and passing touchdowns more than a lot of the quarterbacks of the receivers we just discussed. And the idea that yeah, during the packers years Adams was really good as a boundary receiver on the outside because he worked with Aaron Rodgers when he was at his best. For me it's kind of when he's been lined up in the slot and all McVeigh likes to do is run tight splits where he's going to have all those receivers make around the line of scrimmage. I almost wonder if like this new role for him, more of like a Cooper Cup Puka role where he's around the line of scrimmage. He's allowed to use his best trait in my opinion, which is his footwork and his release package, package off the line of scrimmage to create separation. When he's given a two way go every time instead of on the boundary where he's not given the two way, two way route. I think he might just dominate in that role and be open all the time for Matthew Stafford. So I just love the fit there and I'm buying in on Adams this year. I know he's old, I know it's a risk because of that.

[Adam Azer]

And another thing that I mentioned recently was Cooper Cup. I think we have this idea that Cooper cup cup wasn't so good last year. Well, in his last three games he had nine targets and four catches combined in his first nine games. And almost all of that was with Puka Nakua. They basically missed the same games. Week two, Puka was out. Week two Cooper cup played half the snaps and left. But in his first nine games, Cooper cup was on pace for 10. He averaged 10 targets per game. He was on pace for 119 catches, 172 targets, 11 touchdowns. Puka Nakua actually got out targeted by cup because cup played that one extra half a game. But Pukinaku was on pace for 115 catches, 1500 yards, six touchdowns. Like, like those guys were both incredible. And Matthew Stafford by the way was putting up, you know, pretty big numbers actually so if he can just do what cup did, maybe he trails off at the end of the season too. But if he can just do a cup did, that's actually not just must start. I mean that's like league winner. You know, it's insane. 119 catches. Not don't be this exactly the same.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

But it's always very two man game for. I feel like for McVeigh at the wide receiver, his offense, in his passing game, it's always been two wide receivers who have really stood out. That's why I just think it sets up nice for him.

[Adam Azer]

Rashid Rice versus Xavier Worthy. Jamie, you call that tough to rank? Where are you on those guys?

[Jamie Eisenberg]

Very tough.

[Dan Schneier]

Rice over Worthy right now. We get to camp and Rice is still beaten up with the knee and not 100%, then it'll be Worthy over Rice. But I kind of want to take one of them in almost every draft that I do because there's so much upside. We saw what Rice was doing in the first three games for the knee injury. We saw what Worthy did in the last five plus games, you know, going into the playoffs and clearly the Super Bowl. So when you look at these two guys, there's immense opportunity here, especially as Travis Kelsey is not the same guy. I do think there's the wrinkle of Marquis Brown that we didn't get a chance to see fully because he was coming back from the shoulder injury. Wasn't really part of what Rice was doing in the beginning part of the season because he wasn't there and then wasn't right when he was, you know, back at the end of the season. Jalen Royals being part of this, we'll see how that goes. You know, as a rookie that might be able to mix plays, but I think when you look at what Rice has been when healthy and maybe what Worthy can be, hopefully there's enough targets and opportunity to go around for both of them with Kelsey still getting his chances. Also, and this is reason to sort of buy back into Patrick Mahomes as hopefully an elite fantasy quarterback because we haven't seen that for the last two years. So I like the upside of Rice still a little bit more than Worthy, but if they're, if they're both staring me in the face on draft day, I'm going to take Rice right now. If somebody takes Rice early, I'm going to try and make a play for Xavier Worthy. I don't see myself taking Worthy over Rice at this particular point.

[Adam Azer]

Dan, how about you?

[Jamie Eisenberg]

I'm Worthy over Rice. I think we need more clarity not just on the situation with the injury with Rice, but just like what the suspension, if it's happening, what we're going to get, how many games, maybe we'll get that as we move forward, but.

[Dan Schneier]

It'S most likely going to be sub four.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

Okay, let's just like go under that assumption then.

[Dan Schneier]

I, I, I Again this is based on speculation of him not getting charged if he gets charged story, but at this point it doesn't seem like that's going to be the case. And so I don't know how they can, you know, code of conduct give him more than a four game suspension which would probably be appealed down to three or two.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

I think for me it comes down to Worthy did more it's tough for any wide receiver in Andy Reid's offense as a rookie, but Worthy did more in my opinion than Rice did down the stretch of the rookie season. And Rice also was good down the stretch of his rookie season. But I like the route tree that Worthy had more and I like the prospect more coming out of college. Tex out of Texas, I think he's just a better overall player to me than Rice. He had some issues like just with sideline awareness last year. Worthy seemed like he did a much better job of that toward the end of the year though, and that wasn't an issue for him and that routery really opened up for him. So I just like the talent better. I do agree with Jamie though. I like the idea of getting both of those. They're still both really good values. As I'm looking at our like mock draft versus the recent drafts we've done, they still go in a range where I feel like you still get to play into the upside of the Chiefs offense there.

[Adam Azer]

Not to promote another website too much, but there was a very good article on ESPN.com written by Ben Solak and it's called Answering Big Questions on second year NFL Wide Receivers. It was a very good breakdown of all of the relevant NFL second year wide receivers starting with Lad McConkey and all the guys Xavier Worthy included and one of the things he goes it's pretty good stat stuff. There's some film in there as well. But one of the things I didn't really realize was that when Xavier Worthy broke out late, kind of a mild breakout, but he did have a very good finish to the season. He scored 19.6 or more PPR fantasy points in five of six games. Just a lot of that was touchdowns. There were some rushing totals in there as well, but his a Dot went way down. And you know, I don't think that's going to happen with Rice on the field. So we don't, we haven't really seen a successful Xavier Worthy with a higher 8. I don't have to be super high, but a higher adot because Rice's A dot is like laughably low, could be one of the lowest in the NFL. And Xavier Worthy basically became that. I mean, let's see, a dot, 6.1, 0.7, 1.5 yards, like it's crazy low. So I'm just saying the, the only time I really saw him have a big game with a high adot was the Super Bowl.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

I'm not sold that the A dot is guaranteed to go back up. I think a big reason the A dot was so high at the beginning of the season versus the end is because they didn't trust him to run all the routes. So they had him running a lot of those clear out routes toward the end of the season. More trust within the system. He's in the right place at the right time. He understands where to be on the field. That's why the adot comes down, in my opinion.

[Adam Azer]

Maybe, but it's, it was so low and he's not a guy that should have a Rasheed Rice type of adot, I don't think.

[Dan Schneier]

Unless you're just wanting to make sure the ball gets in his hands.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

Right. That's what I say. Getting the ball in space.

[Dan Schneier]

Yeah.

[Adam Azer]

Also they give him the giving carries. We can't forget about that.

[Dan Schneier]

He, he feels, we talked about this last year, like very similar to what Tyree Kill was doing as a rookie.

[Adam Azer]

Yeah, yeah.

[Dan Schneier]

And we saw what that became.

[Adam Azer]

All right, I have a question for you guys before we go. And it's kind of came up, you know, we had, we had a, a comment from Michael in here. He asked the question or he said like, hey guys, like, thanks for doing the show. And I said, thanks for being here. Michael. Would it have been bad for me to call him Mike? His screen name is Michael. You mean you send an email to a guy you've never met before? Maybe, and his name is Michael in the email. And then you meet him, he's. Would you go, hey, Mike? Or we just call him Mike?

[Jamie Eisenberg]

Michael now? Michael. Michael for sure.

[Dan Schneier]

Yeah.

[Adam Azer]

What about, what about. Okay, what about this? I played tennis with a guy that I had never met before on Monday. And his name, when I saw it written out was Joshua. No, like, I think I called him Josh.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

I think you call him Joshua. You Got to go by the written out name. If I wrote my name out as Daniel, I would want you to call me Daniel.

[Adam Azer]

No, you wouldn't.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

I wouldn't write my name out as Daniel ever. So. No, of course not. But, you know, all I took away from that interaction just now, Adam, was. I'm a little worried because I haven't picked up a racket in a long time. It sounds like you're just playing, like, four times a week.

[Adam Azer]

I played a lot. I played a lot. Yeah. Play tomorrow.

[Dan Schneier]

How'd you do?

[Adam Azer]

So it was. It was my first match at the 3, 5 level. It was a doubles match. Got off to a pretty bad start. I came straight from softball to tennis, so that was a challenge. Luckily, I didn't do a lot of running in softball, you know, but we. We won. We lost the first set, three, six, and then we won the second set in a tiebreaker. We were. We were down six, five, and love 30. We came back. We forced the tiebreaker, won the tiebreaker, and then we won the super tiebreaker, which is first 10 points. We won that 11, nine. So it was actually great match. It was a great match. Yeah. Great match. It was a lot of fun.

[Dan Schneier]

This was a partner you've never played with before.

[Adam Azer]

Yeah, I've never played with him, but he was really good. He played great.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

Jamie, probably. Jamie, I'll probably play, let's say, five times, I think, until my. I play Adam again this summer. It was 6,260 me last year. What would be your prediction for this year's match?

[Dan Schneier]

I think he takes it to a tiebreaker in one set, and you beat him six, four in the other one.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

God, that's horrible.

[Adam Azer]

Not gonna be that close.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

It's not gonna be.

[Adam Azer]

Can I give you. Let me give you a little perspective. I think I currently would beat last summer, Adam six, three, six, four, something.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

Yeah, that's right.

[Adam Azer]

So you're not gonna bagel me like.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

You think you've not made such a huge jump? I'm. I'm. My goal is to go 6060. I think there were little intricacies to those two games I lost that I can clean up and. And honestly take care of.

[Adam Azer]

Yeah, right. And then, like, every. Like, you won. There's nothing that I could clean up and take care of. It was. It's like, it's all you. Every game was just determined by your play. Had nothing to do with me.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

I've also lost £17 since last year. That's something to consider.

[Adam Azer]

I gained some of that.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

I'M gonna be a little quicker on the court. Okay.

[Adam Azer]

All right.

[Dan Schneier]

That was softball.

[Adam Azer]

Oh, geez. Softball. I've been demoted to right field.

[Dan Schneier]

Oh, no.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

They're putting. You're the worst player on the team.

[Adam Azer]

Yeah, I'm pretty bad. It's so embarrassing.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

Why are you so bad?

[Adam Azer]

What happens? I have a terrible. I just. It's not my sport. It's not my.

[Dan Schneier]

Wait, you were demoted pre game or mid game?

[Adam Azer]

Pregame.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

We dropped mid game.

[Adam Azer]

No, pregame. I mean, we. We. We have better play. We have better players this year, so we. We added some better players. So one of the guys used to play like short and third. Well, we've replaced him on the. On the. The left side of the diamond, so now he plays second. He's a better second baseman than he should play second. I made a very good play, though. I threw a runner out going first to third from. From.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

Wow. From right field.

[Adam Azer]

Yeah.

[Dan Schneier]

The cutoff man or.

[Adam Azer]

No, you could get it there.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

Your arm could.

[Adam Azer]

I1 hopped it there, but like, perfectly accurate. I couldn't get it. It was shallow enough, but I intentionally one hopped it because I didn't want to sail it over the guy's head. Was really. Yeah, yeah.

[Dan Schneier]

Well, I was pretty sure it's either one hop or no hop.

[Adam Azer]

Yeah, it was. It was really. It was the best play that anyone made all game.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

You know, hopefully they just get. The manager goes back to the tape, reviews it, and says, this is. This is the type of town we can't leave in right field.

[Dan Schneier]

Or he's now found his home.

[Adam Azer]

You know what the bottom line is I took it in stride. I just played, played as hard as I could, and I got called out when I was safe at first base and I went pretty pissed off. And I apologized to the umpire afterwards.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

Oh, you went off on a numb now.

[Adam Azer]

I nothing at him. I was just like really mad. And then I was coming back to the bench and I was visibly mad and I felt bad. It was. It was a terrible call. I mean, horrible. Had I hit horrible. I can't. Two ground outs to short. I was safe on one of them, but Azer, did you throw the anticipation?

[Dan Schneier]

Yes, I did.

[Adam Azer]

I did. That's great. Yeah.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

They bad unites in the order.

[Adam Azer]

12Th, I think yesterday. So 12th?

[Jamie Eisenberg]

What does that even mean?

[Adam Azer]

Well, we. Everyone bats. Yeah, we had more than nine.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

Oh, I've never played softball. I didn't know there were more than nine people.

[Adam Azer]

10. You play four outfielders, first of all.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

But I think you're literally batting. You're playing right field and batting last.

[Adam Azer]

Second to last.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

Okay, that's rough.

[Adam Azer]

Yeah, it's very rough. It's embarrassing, you know, Are you.

[Dan Schneier]

Are you also rotating in or you just want. Are you always on the field?

[Adam Azer]

No, I rotated in that game, but I'm not the worst fielder on the team, but I rotated. We. Most people rotated. Only a few players played every inning. All right, well, that was a fun trip down horrible memory lane. We lost one nothing, by the way. We'll talk.

[Dan Schneier]

One nothing.

[Adam Azer]

Yeah, I know, right? It's crazy. It was like I said, it's wooden bats. There's not a ton of runs being scored. Let's set the other team sometime against us. All right. We will talk to you tonight. 9ish Eastern Schedule release with Dan and Jamie. I'm Adam. Let's do it. Paramount podcast.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

Now Streaming.

[Dan Schneier]

Hi again, TV's quirkiest crime solver.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

I'm Elspeth Tasioni.

[Adam Azer]

I work with the police. Is on the case. I like my outlandish theories with a heavy dose of evidence and ready to go toe to toe with a cavalcade of guest stars.

[Dan Schneier]

Are you saying that this is now a murder investigation?

[Jamie Eisenberg]

It's starting to look that way.

[Adam Azer]

Don't miss a moment of the critically acclaimed hit Elsbeth. All episodes now streaming on Paramount and return CBS fall. That sounds like fun.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

Obviously, murder's not fun.