Fantasy Football Podcast 2016 - Top 15 Running Backs Part 2

Summary

Fantasy Footballers Podcast Summary: "Top 15 Running Backs Part 2"

Release Date: August 4, 2016
Hosts: Andy Holloway, Jason Moore, Mike "The Fantasy Hitman" Wright

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1. Introduction

The podcast kicks off with the hosts expressing their excitement for the upcoming fantasy football season as August marks its official start.

• Andy Holloway [01:06]: "There is something magical in the air this time of year, man."
• Jason Moore [01:14]: "When it hits August, it's just official. It's fantasy football season."

They briefly mention the previous episode where they discussed the top seven running backs and set the stage for today's continuation covering ranks eight through fifteen.

2. Underrated NFL Offenses

A listener from Philadelphia, AJ5, posed a question about which NFL offense is the most underrated heading into the season. This segment delves into evaluating teams that may not be favored but possess hidden strengths beneficial for fantasy football strategies.

• Jason Moore [04:02]: "So here's one team that I think people avoid because of the offense, and I think it's unwarranted in 2016. That's the Buffalo Bills."

Buffalo Bills
The Buffalo Bills are highlighted as an underrated offense. Despite negative narratives surrounding Rex Ryan’s defensive focus, the Bills showcase potential through key players like LaShawn McCoy and Sammy Watkins. The discussion includes Tyrod Taylor's capabilities as a quarterback and the team's deep passing attempts when not relying heavily on tight ends.

• Andy Holloway [05:50]: "Because, you know, I haven't been the biggest Sammy Watkins fan over the years."

Baltimore Ravens Raiders
The Baltimore Raiders are another team discussed for their prolific passing game last year, leveraging Joe Flacco and Steve Smith as primary weapons. Despite fantasy question marks regarding player roles and potential injuries, the Ravens' offensive output makes them a potential undervalued asset.

• Mike Wright [06:04]: "We are in agreement."

3. Top 15 Running Backs Discussion

a. Recap of Top 7 Running Backs

The hosts briefly revisit last week's top seven running backs to maintain continuity.

• Mike Wright [20:47]: "Our number one consensus running back is David Johnson."

b. Running Backs 8-15

The core of the episode revolves around discussing running backs ranked eight through fifteen, evaluating their upside, potential downsides, and overall fantasy value.

Mark Ingram – Rank #8
Mark Ingram is praised for his dual-threat capability both rushing and receiving. His performance last year, especially in the passing game, makes him a valuable asset.

• Jason Moore [21:30]: "If he is what he was last year and he's catching passes out of the backfield, it's going to be very hard for him to not be a top 10 running back."

Le'Veon Bell – Rank #9
Le'Veon Bell's suspension for the first four games poses a strategic dilemma. The hosts discuss the necessity of drafting him despite the suspension, emphasizing the importance of planning for his return to maximize his elite potential.

• Jason Moore [26:34]: "When you talk about the all suspended team yesterday... finding a running back today is do they have a coach that wants to run the football."

Doug Martin vs. Eddie Lacy – Ranks #5, #6, #11-#15
A significant debate arises around Doug Martin's ranking. Andy positions Doug Martin higher (Rank #5-#6) based on his past performance and yards after contact, while Mike is more skeptical due to inconsistent recent performances. The hosts compare Martin to Eddie Lacy, discussing contract motivations and physical conditioning.

• Andy Holloway [28:43]: "I believe Doug Martin is an elite running back. Doug Martin only had... he had the most yards after contact of anybody in the league."

Devonta Freeman – Rank #11
Freeman's transition into becoming the main running back for Atlanta presents uncertainties. While his past performance was stellar, questions about his current form and the involvement of Tevin Coleman add complexity to his fantasy value.

• Mike Wright [35:53]: "Devonta Freeman is difficult for me to gauge what he's going to do."

Latavius Murray – Rank #14
Latavius Murray is lauded for his workload and involvement in the Raiders' offense. Despite concerns about efficiency, his volume provides consistent fantasy points, making him a reliable RB2 option.

• Jason Moore [48:18]: "I would love to go into a year with Latavius Murray and Deandre Washington. Absolutely tandem on my team."

Jonathan Stewart – Rank #15
Jonathan Stewart's reliability despite missing some games is discussed. His consistent performance when available positions him as a potential RB2 with borderline RB1 upside.

• Andy Holloway [50:28]: "It's Latavius, but I don't know. Yeah, it depends on my team makeup because I feel like Stewart is just..."

4. Injury Reports and Their Impact

The hosts address recent injury news, particularly focusing on key players like Ezekiel Elliott and Jonathan Stewart, analyzing how these injuries might affect their rankings and fantasy projections.

• Mike Wright [12:00]: "Missing two weeks of training camp, not good for a rookie running back who they need to perform."

5. Predicting Player Performances

Using preseason performance, training camp reports, and historical data, the hosts predict how running backs might perform in the upcoming season. They emphasize the importance of visual scouting and not solely relying on statistics.

• Andy Holloway [23:25]: "You need to trust your eyes a little bit. You can watch those preseason games and... trust your eyes on the individual player."

6. Humor and Team Dynamics

Interspersed with the analytical discussions are humorous exchanges among the hosts, including jokes about the "Bumblebee jersey" and friendly bets involving water-themed penalties for losing bets.

• Jason Moore [34:13]: "You lose a bet, you get wet."
• Andy Holloway [34:24]: "We spin. And if you lose a bet, you have to..."

7. Final Thoughts and Rankings

The episode concludes with final rankings and reflections on key players' potential value. The hosts reiterate their enthusiasm for the upcoming draft and encourage listeners to engage with their fantasy football community.

• Andy Holloway [53:43]: "Yeah, I agree with that."

Final Running Back Rankings Overview:

1. David Johnson
2. Todd Gurley
3. Jamal Charles
4. Lamar Miller
5. Adrian Peterson
6. Shady McCoy
7. Ezekiel Elliott
8. Mark Ingram
9. Le'Veon Bell
10. (Not specifically mentioned in the transcript)
11. Devonta Freeman
12. Eddie Lacy
13. Eddie Lacy
14. Latavius Murray
15. Jonathan Stewart

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Notable Quotes:

• Jason Moore [07:22]: "ASJ is fantasy football wise, currently dead to me."
• Mike Wright [32:07]: "He was the running back three."
• Andy Holloway [22:56]: "Trust your eyes on the individual player."
• Jason Moore [27:11]: "The combine is going to be... if you take him in the second is a very good pick."

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Conclusion

This episode of the Fantasy Footballers Podcast offers an in-depth analysis of running backs ranked eight through fifteen, debates on player motivations and performance, insights into underrated NFL offenses, and strategic advice for fantasy football enthusiasts. The blend of humor and expertise provides a comprehensive guide for listeners preparing for their fantasy drafts.

Transcript

[Mike Wright]

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[Jason Moore]

Welcome to the Fantasy Footballers podcast coming to you from the fantasyjocks.com studio with your hosts, Andy Holloway, Jason Moore and Mike Wright.

[Andy Holloway]

Ah, welcome to the show. There is something magical in the air this time of year, man.

[Jason Moore]

When it hits August, it's just official. It's fantasy football season.

[Andy Holloway]

When the calendar flips to August, mayhem ensues and it is all good.

[Mike Wright]

I go outside, there is a crisp 105 degree muggy weather.

[Andy Holloway]

Yep. Wait, that's just Arizona. We don't talk about the weather, we talk about the football. Welcome to the show. Thursday, August 4th. We are the fantasy Footballers. Welcome in. We have a great show ready to go. We're talking the running backs, our rank. We did the top seven running backs on Tuesday show. If you have not heard that episode, go back and listen. We debuted our consensus top seven. We've got eight through 15 today. So we're giving you the top 15 running backs this week talking through all of their warts, all of their upside, all their downside, everything. We're expecting we'll get into some debates today because, well, let's just say this Doug Martin's a part of the conversation today and I know that some debates will ensue when Doug Martin is brought.

[Jason Moore]

Up according to our rankings. There will be some fire.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, yeah, big time. So very excited about that. I have a good quick question for everybody. Like Jason said, I mean, August is here and so everything is happening and along with that comes a big giveaway. We're doing on jointhefoot.com on Friday. Okay. So that's tomorrow. So we're giving away a ton of things on the website if you want to be involved. In that, go to jointhefoot.com join our fantasy football community and we're giving away some autographed jerseys and a bunch of other gear. Some. Jason was wearing a Bling ring, a championship ring. Yeah, it was yesterday. The YouTubers, they saw that on your. On your hand and they said, champs going to champ.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah. They said they were blinded by the brilliance of the ring.

[Andy Holloway]

Blinded. So here's a quick question, guys. We'll get right into it from at Philly AJ5. Which NFL offense is the most underrated heading into the season? Which NFL offense is the most underrated? Because look, we just talked about this on the last show, how important that offensive system can be toward when it comes to fantasy players. Those are the only offenses that I will stack a running back and a wide receiver on. Those are the only offenses that I will really indulge the quarterback, wide receiver stack. So is there a very underrated offense right now?

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, I think that there is one that's underrated. And of course, when we talk about underrated offenses, we have to talk about offenses that are considered bottom half. Right. I mean that. Can you really say that, you know, the Cardinals are underrated even if you expect them to?

[Andy Holloway]

No. No.

[Mike Wright]

Certainly can.

[Jason Moore]

So here's one team that I think people avoid because of the offense, and I think it's unwarranted in 2016. That's the Buffalo Bills. The Buffalo Bills, they don't pass a lot. They get knocked for, you know, they have, you know, not enough attempts.

[Andy Holloway]

They pass the least.

[Jason Moore]

Exactly. Last year they passed the least. There's a lot of negative narratives. It's a Rex Ryan team, and Rex Ryan's about defense and those type of things. But I see a lot of weapons there, and I saw a different Buffalo the second half of last year than the first half of last year. I believe that LaShawn McCoy is their most talented runner. And some of the nonsense that's happened with the running back core is really going to just push him to be the guy. You have Sammy Watkins, who is great. They've got, you know, good tight end, they've got weapons there. And I think Tyrod Taylor is a very capable quarterback when it comes to fantasy football being able to put up numbers, even if he gets behind. We saw in a couple games last year, he came out through a bunch of interceptions against the Patriots, looked terrible. And then in the second half, because they were down, they went crazy on them and had a lot of fantasy production. So that's a team, I think that might be a Little bit undervalued.

[Andy Holloway]

They are looking at signing Tyrod Taylor to a long term extension too, which would be a commitment to him. It would change the way I look at that combination of him, Sammy Watkins, long term. If they were trying to build on that last year, like Jason said, I mean, they did throw the ball deep. That's the one thing they could do when they didn't have a tight end in there. When they had 3 wide, 4 wide, they threw the ball deep more than any other team in the league. So even though they didn't throw it a lot, they did take shots down the field. That is a point in Sammy Watkins corner, which I think Jason should be thrilled to have me give him.

[Jason Moore]

Yes.

[Andy Holloway]

Because, you know, I haven't been the biggest Sammy Watkins fan over the years. Mike, do you have a team that stands out to you as an underrated offense? I have one.

[Mike Wright]

You go ahead.

[Andy Holloway]

I think it's Baltimore. I think the Baltimore Raiders. Did I really. That's right.

[Mike Wright]

We are in agreement.

[Andy Holloway]

We can piggyback on it. I mean, look, Baltimore is a team that because the fantasy question marks are so large, who's going to be the wide receiver, who's going to be the running back? Who's going to, you know, step into these roles? Is Prashad Perryman injured, Mike Wallace. These are the question marks surrounding the team, fantasy wise. But look, they passed the ball more than almost anybody in the league last year.

[Mike Wright]

More than everybody.

[Andy Holloway]

They were number one, right?

[Mike Wright]

They were number one more than everybody. Yes.

[Andy Holloway]

You have Joe Flacco.

[Mike Wright]

Who?

[Andy Holloway]

Everybody, all the camp reports him recovering. They say he looks great. Joe Flacco looks like Joe Flacco. You have Steve Smith. That will come back towards the middle of the year. You have weapons in the passing game. You have weapons in the backfield.

[Jason Moore]

You have Mark Tressman. He's an offensive coordinator that has always produced fantasy stars.

[Andy Holloway]

Well, there is an interesting thing with him because I believe generally Tressman's team succeed early and start to fail later on in his tenure. So I'll be watching that. But I think this team, because of the fantasy question marks gets underrated because there will be production there. We just don't know exactly who it'll be yet. But I think they're underrated.

[Mike Wright]

You have echoed everything that was rattling around in my noggin that that were people want to avoid them. Somebody will be the guy. Somebody will be the guy there at wide receiver. Somebody will be the guy at running back. I don't think. I personally don't see the running backs was the voice of public opinion was going to jump in.

[Jason Moore]

No, no, no. I was just going to ask. So all of this said, does that mean you're drafting them? Because earlier I think Andy had given the advice like he's staying away from the Baltimore situation. I agree. At the end of the year we might look back and go, wow, Baltimore was underrated. But going into this draft season, does that mean take a stab? Does that mean yes?

[Mike Wright]

Yes.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah. You know, staying away means don't invest high draft pick capital on them. I'll take a stab at Kenneth Dixon, I'll take a stab at Kamar Akin. Yes.

[Mike Wright]

And you know who, not that I've been rising at all on him because he's not my favorite player, but a guy who I'm now throwing into that, hey, from my second to last pick because he's not being drafted is Buck Allen.

[Andy Holloway]

Sure.

[Mike Wright]

I don't think that Buck Allen is necessarily the guy I like 4 set far more. Buck Allen was okay in his opportunity, but for a free pick, maybe, maybe things just shake out through preseason that Buck Allen ends up as the starter. Who knows? That's the thing. We don't know. So take if a guy is free, he could be a running back or a starting running back for Mark Tressman. Put him on your bench.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, that's a really good point. And if it goes down to the wire, you will draft before you necessarily know. So if you take a shot on the guy that you believe, you know, I think back to the who's the running back for Houston when Ben Tate and Arian Foster, Steve Slater. So back then A.C. slater was the running back. Steve Slayton, Ben Tate, Arian Foster were in that mix and went down to the wire. If you drafted and took your shot on Foster late in the draft like.

[Mike Wright]

I did, I took a shot on Zack Morris that didn't pan out.

[Jason Moore]

Zach Morris always pans out. Now we know you're lying.

[Andy Holloway]

So we're going to talk a little bit more Ravens in the news and notes so we I won't linger there. If you want to follow us, do so on Twitter @ the FF Ballers. You can follow Mike @FF Hitman, follow Jason @ Jason FFL. You can follow me at Andy Holloway. We're also on YouTube. Go subscribe on there if you want to see the did you guys hear the retiring the Bumblebee jersey? Right after we hung it on our wall?

[Mike Wright]

After Jason thoroughly insulted all those who do not like the Bumblebee jersey, an article pops up that says people don't like the Bumblebee jersey.

[Andy Holloway]

Do you think they banded together after that and signed some petitions and got some.

[Mike Wright]

Pushed them over the edge.

[Andy Holloway]

That's all right.

[Mike Wright]

And I guess this is the last.

[Jason Moore]

It just makes our jersey hanging in the wall.

[Mike Wright]

It's limited edition.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, it's. It's rare.

[Andy Holloway]

That's the kind of jersey you don't want, like an Eddie Lacy to wear.

[Jason Moore]

Right. Honestly, Big Ben looks terrible in this jersey. He really does. Yeah.

[Andy Holloway]

You remember that meme of Big Ben's. What did he say? Like a hamburger stuffed into a helmet.

[Jason Moore]

Whatever.

[Andy Holloway]

Whatever it was, it was very nice.

[Mike Wright]

You're saying I should not wear horizontal stripes for our combine?

[Jason Moore]

No.

[Andy Holloway]

Vertical.

[Mike Wright]

Vertical stripes.

[Andy Holloway]

I guess I should mention that, too. If people don't know this, because it's going to be.

[Jason Moore]

It's going to be embarrassing.

[Andy Holloway]

We made a deal with all the Foot Clan members that joined the Foot that if we hit some thresholds over there, we would do a combine video. Competing against one another and all the combine events, some position drills. We've got this on lockdown. We're filming this on the 9th. Yeah. We have a facility that we're doing it at. It's going to be amazing. Slash embarrassing.

[Jason Moore]

Amazing. Says the one who has a little bit more athleticism than the other two.

[Andy Holloway]

Correct. Correct. Well, look that the pressure's on me. If I drop. If I drop. Any of the drills I think are a foregone conclusion. Like the 40 yard dash. If I was to lose that, I.

[Jason Moore]

Have to find some way to cheat. I have to find a way to win the 40 yard dash, which I know I can't do straight.

[Andy Holloway]

I've known Jason for, golly, 15 years.

[Jason Moore]

Long time.

[Andy Holloway]

15 years. He likes to win, and he is not ever. Like, if he can win, he doesn't care about the means.

[Jason Moore]

No.

[Andy Holloway]

Like, at the end of the day, as long as he says I won, he's happy. And I've never met somebody like that.

[Jason Moore]

I agree.

[Mike Wright]

I got a package.

[Andy Holloway]

Yes, I have Bill Belichick.

[Mike Wright]

I got a package recently in the mail. It was marked from my good friend of mine, B. Bonds. And it's just like this cream. He said, rub this on your legs for your combine.

[Andy Holloway]

Oh, really?

[Mike Wright]

So B.

[Andy Holloway]

Bonds. Yeah.

[Mike Wright]

I don't know exactly who it is, but I'm just doing it.

[Andy Holloway]

You have the cream?

[Jason Moore]

Yeah.

[Andy Holloway]

All right, let's get into the news.

[Jason Moore]

News and notes from around the league.

[Andy Holloway]

All right, little bit of news here on Zeke Elliott. That time of year, we got a hamstring injury going to miss a little bit of time. What are you guys hearing?

[Mike Wright]

I'm hearing the reports, actually. The initial reports were very ominous. Of. Was it Schefter tweeted out Jones, Stephen Jones saying Elliot's going to miss quote, some time. And then very ominous. And then it came out. Maybe it's not as bad as we. Maybe he'll miss a week, maybe two weeks. Either way, though, missing. Missing two weeks of training camp, not good for a rookie running back who they need to perform and be able to protect Tony Romo immediately. So it's at least noteworthy. And people are asking, does this drop him in his rank, Drop him in my rankings? No. Am I scared to take him towards the back of the first round? Nope.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, I would. I would agree with that. And when it comes to missing the week, the position that it's going to hurt the least as a running back versus a wide receiver, much easier for a running back to come in and be productive.

[Mike Wright]

Mental reps. Get those mental reps.

[Jason Moore]

But I will say this. It's worth noting that it's a hamstring. And we want, you know, if he comes back and in three weeks has a little setback with the hamstring again, then I will actually worry a little bit because we've seen it time and time again. Some players, when they get a hamstring early in camp or in preseason, it just can't shake. It just keeps lingering all year.

[Andy Holloway]

Well, and the pressure's on him, too. He's a top pick. And for fantasy owners, you're not drafting Ezekiel Elliott to eventually help your team. You're drafting him to help your team now because you're investing that kind of draft capital as opposed to a guy. This next bit of news, Josh Dawson, Dachshund, has a Achilles injury. He's in a walking boot. He's weeks away from a return. It doesn't sound good. When reporters talk to him, he's like, well, the team doesn't want me to talk about it.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah, that's the worst part.

[Andy Holloway]

That's not really good. But I, you know, like I said, Dachshund, you're not drafting him in a position where you're like, oh, I have to play him week one if you want to take a shot at him, maybe he's a, you know, maybe he's a great play for you in week eight, nine even. I'm not saying he's going to miss games. I'm saying he might have to be eased in if he doesn't get camp. You know, Mike Just said missing time is bad, especially for a rookie.

[Jason Moore]

Well, it pushes their. It pushes their draft value very far down. Remember back when Odell Beckham, in that great year where there were. There were just all these good wide receivers you could take as rookies and Odell Beckham went undrafted solely because he was injured early in the season. He was all right.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah. So you heard it here first. Jason is predicting John Dachshund.

[Jason Moore]

No, I'm just saying the only rookie wide receivers I want are the ones I can get very, very late. And I might now be able to get Dachshund.

[Andy Holloway]

Oh, we got bad news, Mr. A.S.J. dirt Cutter has lumped Austin Severian Jenkins into the category of players, quote, fighting for a job.

[Jason Moore]

And he does not use kind words.

[Andy Holloway]

If you want to take a positive approach. You talk about Cameron Brait.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, Cameron Brait. He does not hate Cameron Braid.

[Mike Wright]

He thinks he's great.

[Andy Holloway]

Yes, we did it. And I think Cameron Brait is great too.

[Jason Moore]

Would you draft Cameron Brait?

[Andy Holloway]

Say that again.

[Jason Moore]

That was hard. Would you draft Cameron Brait?

[Andy Holloway]

No, I would sign him and play him early. I mean, he'd be on my watch list for those first few weeks because there's always the Barnage esque breakout tight end. We all like the offense. Well, I mean, you know, minus Doug Martin, according to Mike, but whatever. Cameron Bray is somebody to keep your eyes on. ASJ is somebody to turn your eyes away from.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah. ASJ is fantasy football wise, currently dead to me.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah. As J B A D RIP There you go. The Indian Indianapolis stars. Zach Keever reports that Josh Ferguson has flashed consistently so far at training camp.

[Mike Wright]

This is. I'm not going to overreact to this news, but this is just, it's good news you want to at least hear positive things about, especially an undrafted Josh.

[Andy Holloway]

Ferguson or Kenyon Drake.

[Jason Moore]

Probably I would take Ferguson at this point because you've got one guy in front of him and he's a very old guy. I realize Arian Foster is as injury prone as anybody, but then you still have James Poppycock.

[Mike Wright]

Well, and, and I was Dave Richard, our good friend over at cbs. He had gone to the Miami training or training camp and you know who was running in front of Kenyon Drake? Isaiah Pete.

[Jason Moore]

I remember him.

[Mike Wright]

Isaiah Pete. It wasn't until he went out with cramps that Kenyon Drake actually started taking.

[Andy Holloway]

Reps. Yeah, you see the difference? That's, that's the thing. He's not overreacting to the Ferguson news, but you'd rather it be kind of, you know, the wind blowing the right direction.

[Mike Wright]

Exactly.

[Andy Holloway]

Where Kenyan Drake. It's not been positive yet. All right. Very sad news.

[Mike Wright]

Have we really not said this yet?

[Andy Holloway]

I'm not sure. Trent Richardson was waived.

[Jason Moore]

Oh, no.

[Mike Wright]

Oh, no, we did. We talked about. We talked about his gold jacket.

[Jason Moore]

I apologize. Well, if that's the case, then it's worth bringing out other reports from the Ravens camp since we've really made this a Ravens Ravens running back. Early show. Terrence west is. Several reports over the last couple weeks has said he's looking great. He has lost weight. He lost weight coming into this week. He's making great cuts and great lost weight.

[Andy Holloway]

Cameron Braid. What is with this show?

[Mike Wright]

Open up the gate.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, so he is. He is finding a way to come through the gate and hopefully be great. He was a little bit late today.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah.

[Jason Moore]

Can I rhyme today with that?

[Andy Holloway]

No, no, you can't rhyme at all.

[Jason Moore]

The point here is, you know, I have been a defender of Justin for set as the, you know, foregone conclusion as the runaway starter. Reports are now Terrence west has put himself in a position where he could. It just says to me, Mike just.

[Andy Holloway]

Said Javorius Allen has the potential to be involved. And I like Kenneth Dixon a lot as a. As an overall talent.

[Jason Moore]

That's four running backs now.

[Andy Holloway]

I can totally see how you guys love Justin Forsett. Sarcasm.

[Jason Moore]

If I had to take one, I would still take four.

[Andy Holloway]

Sure. That's a big difference between choosing Justin for set. I know. I'm not. I'm not putting all my stock into Aaron's West.

[Mike Wright]

The Terrence west news I throw into the trash.

[Andy Holloway]

Here's what I know. They want to just produce. They want to produce at the position.

[Mike Wright]

Then they better use Justin for set.

[Andy Holloway]

Agreed. All right, well, we disagree there, and my rankings reflect that, so. Well, we won't be talking about him in our positional rankings, though, because he's not in our top 15, thank goodness. No, but let's get.

[Mike Wright]

I can make some changes.

[Andy Holloway]

And Wendell Smallwood suffered a strained quads.

[Mike Wright]

Ah, ha ha.

[Andy Holloway]

Wait, are you laughing about Wendell Smallwood injury?

[Mike Wright]

I'm just laughing at it.

[Andy Holloway]

Seriously.

[Jason Moore]

I think that's the first time I think he was genuinely laughing.

[Andy Holloway]

Seriously, Was that awful?

[Mike Wright]

That was not laughing at the man being injured. That was me laughing at running backs get injured. And all the shade thrown on Ryan Matthews. Like, oh, he's already hurt. Guess who else is already hurt? Wendell Smallwood.

[Jason Moore]

We'll accept that. So that. So that people never wonder if Mike has bias.

[Andy Holloway]

Just go back and play that whole video.

[Mike Wright]

Love, Ryan Matthews.

[Jason Moore]

We, we, we're a positive show here. We're, we're, we're a family show. Mike, before we get into the running backs, which are going to start off with some heat. Very excited. We do want to make sure. Look, this is a fantasy football show. You guys look for places. Fantasy football. Good friend of our show, Head to Head Sports. They've been around for 20 plus years doing season long drafts for money where you can win prizes. Their salary cap systems, they are super fun. And everyone, everyone listening is like, I want to get in another draft. I want to find another place to play. This is a great place for a season long salary cap system. It's a 32 team. It's really cool. Really cool.

[Andy Holloway]

And we've sat down with them. Yeah, we've talked to them. They've been doing this forever. When people play there, they stay there. They love it.

[Jason Moore]

Oh, they have, they have an absolute blast playing that kind of a system. It's a little bit different. But the cool thing is, is as you listen to this show, you end up getting advice all year long on this. And you and you will destroy the fools over there.

[Andy Holloway]

And they go through 17 weeks too.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah.

[Andy Holloway]

Which is awesome.

[Jason Moore]

They even have a cool product in the playoffs. They are a very cool site. So if you haven't heard about them, Head to Head, that's the number two. Head to head dot com. And you go over there, play. Use the promo code ballers. And they're giving you 40% off, that's 14 bucks to basically sign up for their complete package. Salary cap league. We recommend it.

[Andy Holloway]

You can win 25,000 for the first prize. There's rewards.

[Jason Moore]

Well, you can't because I'm going to win that.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah.

[Jason Moore]

I'm going to be playing over there.

[Andy Holloway]

So check it out. Head tohead.com. use the promo code Ballers.

[Jason Moore]

Running bags.

[Andy Holloway]

All right.

[Mike Wright]

All right.

[Andy Holloway]

We're gonna start at number eight here, but I'm gonna rehash. I'm gonna go back and give you our. Well, Mike can do that. Give us our top seven from the last show.

[Mike Wright]

Sure. Our number one consensus running back is David Johnson. Who?

[Jason Moore]

David Johnson.

[Mike Wright]

Number two is Todd Gurley. Number three, Jamal Charles. Number four, Lamar Miller. Number five, Adrian Peterson. Number six, Shady McCoy. And number seven, hamstring himself, Ezekiel Elliott.

[Andy Holloway]

All right, number eight, Mark Ingram. Mark Ingram is our consensus number eight. Jason was talking in the office yesterday. He's been watching a lot of the camp reports, watched an interview with Mark Ingram. Ingram said he wants this to be his best year. He expects to be the best running back in the league. He gave credit where credit was due to Love Bell and some other players. But he expects to be the best.

[Jason Moore]

It was a good indication. I mean, you always right. Players are going to say I'm going to be great. I hope to be the 14th best. Trent Richardson just said he thinks he's going to end his career with a Hall of Fame jacket. So you don't really care that much.

[Andy Holloway]

But they need to get him one of those bumblebee jerseys.

[Jason Moore]

What was good. Don't do that on Trent. That'd just be too big. The thing is with, with that report is he really showed that he believes this is an opportunity this year where he will be involved. I saw him in training camp working with Drew Brees, working on passing and routes and things like that. That was really the difference. If you want to know if Mark Ingram is going to be great this year, it comes down to whether or not he's the passing.

[Andy Holloway]

Yes, it does back.

[Jason Moore]

If he is what he was last year and he's catching passes out of the backfield, it's going to be very hard for him to not be a top 10 running back.

[Andy Holloway]

We were all surprised at his performance in the passing game last year. You saw it in preseason, right. And we started talking about it and we said, wow, you know, he looks really good in the passing game. But it was a surprise. Here's the deal. He was really good in the passing game.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah.

[Andy Holloway]

464 yards after the catch made him the seventh best at the position. Catching the ball out of the backfield. For a guy that was looked at as a first and second down bruiser.

[Jason Moore]

And he caught 50 of 60 balls, I mean that's like.

[Andy Holloway]

Right.

[Jason Moore]

You keep throwing that guy the ball. And he did that, remember, in limited games. I think he only played 13, 13 games last year.

[Andy Holloway]

And that's part of the rub against Mark Ingram is he played 13 games. But look, he was one of those guys. We're going to talk about it when the preseason gets going. When we, you know, we go through, we watch every single game. We're scouting every single player. You need one of the tips we always give. You need to trust your eyes a little bit. You can watch those preseason games and. And you don't read into every stat line. Right. Because these guys are playing different reps at different times. The different offensive lines. Trust your eyes on the individual player. Mark Ingram looked different. He looked completely different in the preseason.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah.

[Mike Wright]

We talked about that we're like, this.

[Andy Holloway]

Is not the same player.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah. And so weeks one through 13, when he was healthy, he was the running back three.

[Andy Holloway]

Wow.

[Mike Wright]

In standard.

[Andy Holloway]

Wow.

[Mike Wright]

He was the running back three. So you toss in his PPR numbers. I don't know where he ranked. Probably right around the same place. But he was unbelievable. And the thing for that Jason made. That's my, that's my flag for Mark Ingram is will he be the pass catching back? The predominant pass catching back last year. 148 targets to the running back for the Saints the year before. 166. So this is. We know that Drew Brees likes to dump it off to the running back. And because we've seen guys like Travers Cadet have value.

[Jason Moore]

Pierre Thomas was.

[Mike Wright]

These guys have value.

[Andy Holloway]

Reggie Bush going back all those guys.

[Mike Wright]

And last year they said, hey, we're going to form that. Squeeze it into one guy. And that's why Mark Ingram was so great.

[Jason Moore]

And also I just, I just checked. He actually only played 12 games, not 13. So he did all of that in 12 games. If he is going to play 16, was it? Yeah.

[Mike Wright]

Oh yeah. Because yes, week 11 was thereby. You're right, 12 games.

[Andy Holloway]

So let me make. I've been a little bit like. Because everybody makes the decision on Ingram right now based on your rankings. Mike has him very high. So obviously Mike is making the decision. He will be that back.

[Mike Wright]

I am.

[Andy Holloway]

I have been of the opinion that they will spread it out a little bit more. That being said, they have a small window with Drew Brees. They don't get to play around. They have a small window to be successful with Drew Brees before he's. He's not Drew Brees anymore. So if all the confidence is firmly in Mark Ingram, if they don't see anything from Spiller or any of the other back. Backfield mates that, that Ingram has, maybe I, you know, he's going to move up for me. If I, if that's what preseason looks like, you go, oh man, they, they really don't have anybody else. You've got to move them up. Because not only did he perform as the RB3, he was week to week consistent like nobody else.

[Jason Moore]

Because of those catches he caught and the goal line.

[Andy Holloway]

He gets the goal line.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah. I like, I like Ingram a lot. Ingram last year helped lead me to a championship and you saw when Ingram win.

[Andy Holloway]

Did you win last year?

[Jason Moore]

Yes, I did. Thank you, Timmy Hightower. But you do have Tim Hightower there again. You know, should Ingram go down, they re signed him this Offseason and I think he would fill into that role. So Ingram to me is safer than his injury risk is my point.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, and if you did want to handcuff him, Hightower is free.

[Jason Moore]

Right.

[Andy Holloway]

So Le'Veon Bell is number nine, which is, you know, saying those two things doesn't make any sense. But when you guys suspended for four games, he dumps down the list. Right now Le'Veon Bell is going to miss the first four games. None of us have any confidence that that's going to change. And so you have to draft Le'Veon Bell right now with that in mind. Look, this is one of the hardest conundrums in all of fantasy football. When guys, we talked about the all suspended team yesterday. When guys are missing games but offer the elite upside of a guy like Le'Veon Bell. Look, our mock draft that Jason and I just did, we ended up with Julio Jones in the first lev, Bell in the second.

[Jason Moore]

I love that.

[Andy Holloway]

Sounds great on paper. Might really hurt for four weeks.

[Jason Moore]

Well, here's the thing that we have to keep in mind with Le'Veon Bell. You are not getting zeros for four weeks, right? You, you are still plugging a player in there. What you're getting for four weeks is a wasted bench spot. And so you have to find some flexible guy, he's got to be able to touch his toes. I was going to say some, some guy who's normally a flex worthy guy in a good matchup and, and plug in, you know, find 10 points a week for those first four weeks that you can plug into that position. I'm confident I could do that. I'm confident you're listening to this.

[Andy Holloway]

You could not touch your toes.

[Jason Moore]

No, that I cannot do at all. I can't get close. I can't get to my socks if I wear like high socks. So the combine is going to be, I mean I am the most.

[Andy Holloway]

Can you please wear high socks to the combine?

[Mike Wright]

Maybe put them on.

[Jason Moore]

Short, short story aside here. When I played basketball in high school, I went to the physical where they lay you down on your back and then they lift your. They say just relax. And they lift your foot up until your knee naturally bends. And the doctor did not believe me. He's doing this to hundreds of kids and he goes, stop. No, you gotta let it bend natural. I'm like, I'm just relaxed. And he thought I was bending my knee because it was like, it got like, I feel like 12 inches up. My foot got 12 inches up and my knee starts to bend. Anyways.

[Andy Holloway]

Impressive.

[Jason Moore]

Yes. Thank you, Le'Veon Bell. I apologize, listeners. Le'Veon Bell. When he comes back, he will. When he's out there, he's going to be the number one scoring running back. He is involved in an asinine amount of plays for the Steelers. He's involved in the runs. He's involved in the past. He is the number one running back to have. If you can be confident in filling those four weeks with someone that will help you to, you know, just plug in a couple of points. I think taking him in the second is a. Is a very good pick.

[Andy Holloway]

All right, let's move on. Let's move on. Let's talk about my man. Not Mike's man.

[Mike Wright]

Nope.

[Andy Holloway]

Doug Martin. Right now I have him six in my rankings. Mike has him at 15. We need to talk about Doug Martin.

[Mike Wright]

Sure.

[Andy Holloway]

Jason has him at 8. So closer to sanity there. Look, I'm not, I'm not insanely high on Doug Martin, but I believe Doug Martin is an elite running back. I believe he's a guaranteed, barring injury, a fantasy football number one running back. Doug Martin only had, you know, he had 288 carries for 1400 yards and six touchdowns. He had the most yards after contact of anybody in the league. This more than Adrian Peterson. 923 yards after contact last season. Number one out of 137.

[Jason Moore]

That's by a mile. Third place on that, I think had what, six or 700 yards and he's 900 and some odd yards after contact. Doug Martin is a great running back when he is motivated. To me, the question is, will he be motivated this year after having got the big contract.

[Andy Holloway]

My problem is that Mike's. I feel like Mike's belief in Doug Martin is, or unbelief of Doug Martin is more arbitrary because you have this confidence that Eddie Lacy, who had a bad year, is going to come back and give you a great year. You love Jameis Winston. You love the fact that dirt cutter is running the offense. The Mike Evans. You love Charles Sims. But Doug Martin gets the. Gets a pass because he was bad a couple of years ago, as opposed to Eddie Lacy, who doesn't get a pass or who. You know, who had a bad year last year, but you haven't rated really high. I'm confused.

[Mike Wright]

I don't care that just because you had a bad year last year, that does not completely alter my belief in a player.

[Andy Holloway]

But if you had a bad year two years ago, it does.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah, well, Doug Martin had bad one two years ago and three years ago. So it's not just one bad year. If you're comparing Lacey to Doug Martin. I've seen greatness, greatness. Consecutive years from Eddie Lacey. I've not seen that.

[Jason Moore]

One of the hardships of.

[Andy Holloway]

You've seen multiple great years from Doug Martin.

[Jason Moore]

Yes, you have.

[Mike Wright]

I've not seen multiple consecutive great years. Well, regardless, that's exactly what I said.

[Jason Moore]

The Eddie Lacy comparison is a good comparison because we're talking about the slightly intangible thing where you can't see it on film. You're not going to see it. Well, you will see the repercussions of it in the box score. But it's that contract year thing. Eddie Lacy is coming into a contract year this year and he slimmed down and he's looking great. So I think that's part of the reason. That is, for me, part of the reason why I believe he is motivated. He's going to fight through injury. He's going to get everything he can. Last year, he was not motivated. He just thought, I'm great. I can do it. I don't need to do anything above and beyond. He was overweight.

[Mike Wright]

We need to get back to Doug Martin.

[Andy Holloway]

We are. We're not in their heads. We have. You know, you're not in their head.

[Jason Moore]

Sure.

[Andy Holloway]

You don't know. Eddie Lacy can have every tweet from Tony Horton in the world. We don't know what he showed us last year, what not motivator looks like. Last year, Doug Martin was an elite running back that won people leagues.

[Mike Wright]

Yes. And he was. And I also don't like chasing a career year from a guy.

[Andy Holloway]

Well, that, that's fine.

[Mike Wright]

And like, I don't think there's any. Any way Doug Martin puts up numbers close. I mean, he was almost five yards of carry.

[Andy Holloway]

I think he puts up. I think he can easily do it because he only had six touchdowns. He only had six touchdowns last year.

[Mike Wright]

I don't. I don't see a situation where his touchdowns go up. They. They saw that.

[Andy Holloway]

Charles, would you not agree that Doug.

[Mike Wright]

Martin, I mean, they can go up a couple, but I'm there. They're in the right median range.

[Andy Holloway]

For me, Doug Martin was the same situation as Mark Ingram. We saw it in the preseason on film.

[Mike Wright]

Right.

[Andy Holloway]

You said, whoa, something is different about the way Doug Martin is playing. Here's the thing that's interesting. We like Charles Sims.

[Mike Wright]

That's.

[Andy Holloway]

If you had to get. Okay, so for. No, that's what I'm saying. I'm going to counterpoint that.

[Mike Wright]

Okay.

[Andy Holloway]

1400 yards for Doug Martin. Guess how many of those yards came on first down. Try to guess.

[Mike Wright]

I cannot guess.

[Jason Moore]

If I had to guess without knowing anything on that, I would, I would say 600, 936.

[Andy Holloway]

That comes from inside edge. 936 yards on first down. He doesn't need it. He doesn't need to be there on third down without a high quantity. Double digit touchdowns. Only six without third down because Charles Sims has that. He still got 288 carries. Dominated on first and second down. Most yards after contact. I'm in the Duggar camp and his.

[Jason Moore]

Rookie year, his rookie year, he had 11 touchdowns on the ground.

[Mike Wright]

It was rookie year. He was the only show in town and that's why we loved him because he was also getting crazy targets. You know who you sound like you're talking about? The guy who crushed on first down is a two down guy and was amazing a couple years ago. He sounds like talking about Jeremy Hill.

[Andy Holloway]

Okay.

[Mike Wright]

That's who it feels like.

[Andy Holloway]

Okay.

[Mike Wright]

For me this year. And they saw this should be simple though before I.

[Andy Holloway]

And this is just fun to talk about. We got to move on. You have Eddie Lacy at 11.

[Mike Wright]

Okay.

[Andy Holloway]

You have Doug Martin at 15. I have. I have Doug Martin at 5, 6.

[Mike Wright]

Sure.

[Andy Holloway]

And I have Eddie Lacey at 13. So I mean clearly you're willing to watch.

[Mike Wright]

I am 100% willing to do that.

[Jason Moore]

Water bass.

[Mike Wright]

I thought you were gonna try and work some stupid stipulations, but.

[Andy Holloway]

I don't need a stupid stipulation.

[Mike Wright]

Doug Martini versus Martin. Yes.

[Andy Holloway]

And half point league. Put that in the, in the dock.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah. And before, before we do that right now, I'm just gonna weigh in and say I actually like both running backs this year, but I do have Doug Martin ahead. I think he's talented. His opportunity is there. They paid him a ton of money and so long as his motivation doesn't go away with that money, the team is committed to him and he's a talented back.

[Andy Holloway]

And this time of year we often make water bets. If you don't know what that is, we have, we have a little rule around the studio here. You put your. What you put your water where your mouth is.

[Jason Moore]

Maybe. Depends on what the wheel says.

[Andy Holloway]

Put it where the wheel says there's a wheel of water. We spin. And if you lose a bet, you have to. Which Jason just did, by the way.

[Mike Wright]

Lose a bet, you get wet.

[Andy Holloway]

You lose a bet, you get wet. We actually put it on a free iOS app if you want to go Spin the wheel and send us your videos of watering one another on bets. It's really fun. It's the Wheel of Water app and we are getting that onto Android this year. So all of the angry people who want it on Android, don't you make.

[Jason Moore]

Promises you can't keep?

[Andy Holloway]

No, I'm going to do it. I'm getting it done. But that's a lot of fun. Jason already lost one this off season because apparently.

[Jason Moore]

Oh, my gosh. I mean, when I heard the bet.

[Andy Holloway]

You didn't believe it.

[Jason Moore]

I didn't remember.

[Andy Holloway]

This must have been back in like February or March where you, Jason, thought that Doug Baldwin's ADP would be higher than Brandon Cook. So I took that bet.

[Jason Moore]

Truly, this is a testament to fantasy football players getting better or me not having enough respect in the casual fantasy football player because I thought they would take a look at what, you know, Doug Baldwin did, finish that and just extrapolate it and say, oh, you're. You're the best. And that's coming from someone who actually is a Doug Baldwin believer. So good job, people. You got me wet.

[Andy Holloway]

All right, we got to get to the next five guys. Devonta Freeman comes in at number 11. Last year he was the number one running back in fantasy football. Absolutely. Won four weeks for their owners. Oh, by himself those four weeks. If you had Devonta Freeman, I would guess the win percentage is in the 90% for those teams.

[Jason Moore]

You can bench your team.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, just bench the rest of the guys. So Devonte Freeman in 2016, what do we got?

[Mike Wright]

He is, I think he is the hardest guy to gauge this year. I know that look completely dominant for a stretch run like I've talked about for the, for the back half of the season was just. He was not very effective when it comes to running the ball. And you have Coleman there, who is a third round pick from this regime. So that's why Devonta Freeman is difficult for me to gauge what he's going to do and what the interesting thing for me when I'm looking at Freeman's numbers is week 13 through 17 averaging just over three yards per carry, which that's Joyk Bell levels of bad. Yet in those contests, he's still averaging about 12 fantasy points per game. And that's in standard leagues. So that's not just getting a PPR bump. So I, I think for the way that I see the split coming, I think that Freeman is still the main guy. But Coleman will be worked in more than he was last year. So that's why I have him ranked, not just a say, oh, he finished number one. So you're top five.

[Andy Holloway]

What do you think, Jason?

[Jason Moore]

Yeah. Early in this off season, I tried to dedicate some time to figuring out if Tevin Coleman was really going to eat in what Atlanta. You know what, what the people, the crew in Atlanta, the beat writers around the team, what they believed in Devonta Freeman. Because I was not a big believer in Freeman. And every single thing that I could uncover pointed towards they love Freeman, they're going to use Freeman, and he is their main running back. And they'd like to get Tevin Coleman involved a little bit more and in however they can because they drafted him. And in this league, you got to keep your running backs fresh. But everything pointed that way. As the offseason went along and I got further away from that research, I still just don't like Devonta Freeman. I just don't want to trust him. But he was the number one running back last year. Who. Why would the team, from an NFL standpoint, when you've got a guy who's great in pass protection, great on outlet passes, perfect for that offense and he did great, why would you go? Well, now we have to change and they won't.

[Andy Holloway]

They won't change unless he gives them a reason to. Early in the season, the big problem with Devonta Freeman in perception wise was, you know, Mike, you talk about how he ended the season.

[Mike Wright]

Yes.

[Andy Holloway]

He had a string of games where he was not above 4 yards of carry. The string is what impacts people. You know, a guy like Adrian Peterson, he had six games last year where he was under for a carry. Freeman had eight. Okay, so that gives you. That's not a big gap between those two guys. But Freeman strung the last like five weeks together that way. And that. That impacted our psyche on him. And he also. The polar. The polarity of being so great and then not putting the yards for carry numbers together. Well, he still got like, look, 14, 12, 25, 22, 24 carries. When you get that many carries.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah, right. But I'm saying, did he. Did he wear down and does the team say, okay, well, he. He clearly wore down there. At the end of the year, we need to get somebody in to take more touches away from him to keep.

[Andy Holloway]

I think they'd love to have Coleman be able to do that. He just proved he couldn't yet. So if he.

[Jason Moore]

Well, that's not necessarily true because Coleman was good. Remember Devonta Freeman? Devonta Freeman had the concussion and when he missed a game and Tevin Coleman had The game. Tevin Coleman was awesome. He had a great team.

[Andy Holloway]

Kevin Coleman was not very good in.

[Jason Moore]

The replacement game where he was the starter.

[Andy Holloway]

He had one game where he was 20 for 80, which is four yards of carry. He had one game that he was 9 for 32, 1 for 2 for 3, 14 for 40 is the game you're talking about. He had four carries. There's just not evidence to me that Tevin Coleman has shown me anything in the league. When you get 9, 2, 4, and 3 carries in your game log, the.

[Jason Moore]

Once Freeman came back, I mean, we had that situation where Coleman had the opportunity to take that on, and I think he performed well in his absence. And when Freeman came back, they said, freeman's a guy. So why would that team with the same players returning say, undo ease?

[Andy Holloway]

I mean, undoes. Tevin Coleman's also injured right now. He rolled his foot in practice on the third, so Freeman's getting all the reps. Coleman might be involved in the return game. All right, we're talking Eddie LACY now, number 12, a guy that. Look, Mike has a lot of confidence in him bouncing back.

[Mike Wright]

I do.

[Jason Moore]

I do as well.

[Andy Holloway]

I'm not. I'm not against him. He's just. I mean, we're talking 11, 12, 13 is how he's ranked.

[Mike Wright]

Right.

[Andy Holloway]

So we're actually in agreement about a Lacy's positioning. Mike, you know, even though we just made the bet between Doug Martin and.

[Mike Wright]

Him, that just means you like Martin more than Lacey.

[Andy Holloway]

Exactly. Where he's our consensus number 12, and he's 11, 12, and 13. So Eddie Lacy, you know, opportunity, good offense, lost some weight.

[Jason Moore]

You said a couple minutes ago you we can't get inside the guy's head, and I agree with that. But I can look at the numbers on the scale and just say, I don't know, maybe it's not because he's motivated, because of money. Maybe he just realized he was too fat last year and it has nothing to do with money. Regardless, he has put in work and has changed his body. And what I saw on the field with film last year was that he wasn't able to do the same. He was overweight. He was just a touch slower, and he's always played bigger. Right. He's not been a skinny, small speedster guy, but he's not that way now. He's lost a lot of weight, and he's still a bigger, heavier back. And that's what I want. I wouldn't want him changing his body style. I just want it to be more muscle.

[Mike Wright]

Less.

[Andy Holloway]

He had a long leash last year.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah.

[Andy Holloway]

I mean, the coach has enough confidence to let him play.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah. And I mean, Starks did get in. There was a lot of controversy throughout the year of McCarthy saying, hey, we're going to let Starks start. But the first two years of Eddie Lacy's career, he is average. He averaged almost 1160 yards and 10 touchdowns, and that includes 340 yards passing or receiving. So he's, he's involved. I know that he will be involved in, in the passing game and we've seen that he can be great. I don't know if you recall two years ago when he was fit, Eddie. The game against the prime time game against the Minnesota Vikings where Eddie Lacy took a dump off pass from Aaron Rodgers and made about seven guys look ridiculous, like they didn't belong in the NFL. And he took it 70 something yards to the house. So it's. He is. And he is actually a very athletic and agile guy. His spin move is incredible.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, he does have a great spin move.

[Andy Holloway]

So he's got to get the momentum. That's why he, when he's not playing it, overweight and he gets the screen game going, he gets downhill and then he picks up like 10 yards just on trying to tackle him.

[Jason Moore]

And I use him around the goal line as well.

[Andy Holloway]

Oh, yeah.

[Mike Wright]

You put him on the Packer offense. You bring Jordy Nelson back, you let, you let the roles return where they are supposed to be for Green Bay. And I love Eddie Lacy and the best part is, I mean, I. Where did you say I have him ranked? I'll pull it up 11 11. Eddie Lacy has top five upside.

[Andy Holloway]

Yes, he does.

[Mike Wright]

So for the discount you get to get this year in the draft because of last year's terrible year, that Lacy's a guy I love and I'm targeting.

[Andy Holloway]

All right, let's talk about Thomas Rawls. All Thomas Rawls did last year was come in replace beast mode to the tune of 5.6 yards per carry, ranking him number one in the league on the, on the year out of 41 qualified running backs. He was absolutely a mini beast mode and offered Seattle incredible, I think surprising numbers from that position. He looks like he is the guy in that backfield now. Is he healthy?

[Mike Wright]

He's not healthy currently because he had the broken ankle which also came with some ligament damage. Ligament or nerve damage. And he is on the PUP list right now. So he is not. He's not participating in training camp unless there's been breaking news that I have not heard of.

[Jason Moore]

There has not. He is not participating in training camp.

[Mike Wright]

So it's. Rawls is. I guess I talked about how Freeman's tough. Thomas Rawls is very tough as well. Undrafted rookie free agent last year, Cayman was absolutely. He replaced Beast mode. I mean, he was the new Beast mode and he looked like he just simply could not be stopped. However, Seattle reloaded their running back farm with pro size and Collins. So do they have. Does the team have full confidence in Thomas Rawls at this point?

[Jason Moore]

Everything that I've heard from Seattle, from the people down there, is that they still expect Thomas Rawls to be the starter. But this is one you have to keep your eyes on. You have to see when he gets back, if he misses all of training camp and if he misses preseason games, that you can't draft him in the third round. But if he's back as soon as, as soon as he is back and healthy and he's playing in preseason games, if he's the starter there in those preseason games, then I'm, I'm stating him out as what he is, which is a great running back on a running focused team. And yeah, they drafted CJ Prosise, but it's not like they didn't use Fred Jackson in that role last year or that role's existed and it's still been a predominant running team. One of the only things that kind of scares me a little bit is just. And I need to go back and watch some film on Thomas Rawls. But the rule changes with the chop block on the offensive line, with people standing next to each other for this coming season. That was one of those things where when they showed the examples it was so often showed with the Seattle offensive line, that was part of their running scheme was they would start going out and then the guy on the inside would kind of take the legs out of the guy, open up a giant hole. So I want to watch it. See. Was Thomas Rawls a beneficiary of those plays? Would that change? That being said, we've seen him do it in the NFL. He is a very good running back, I believe. And if he's the starter, I'm all in on my Rolls Royce.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah.

[Mike Wright]

Ralls Royce say my, the, the thing for, for Rawls, can he duplicate what he did last year when he was playing of being such an effective runner without being involved in the passing game? Marshawn lynch, that. That was not his specialty. But he would still get 40 plus targets.

[Andy Holloway]

I mean, so he would probably won't see that from Rawls.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah. So I don't know if you can expect Marshawn lynch type numbers simply because of he won't be on the field as much as as lynch was.

[Andy Holloway]

One small point. I'm not worried about them restocking their backfield. This is the modern NFL. You can have all the confidence in Thomas Rawls in the world and it won't matter if he breaks. You know, you can still have confidence a guy. You just have to have somebody behind him that isn't Fred Jackson, that isn't necessarily Christian Michael, who's taking the first team reps. Yeah, I know. All right, number 14 on our list, Latavius Murray. 266 for 10. 66 and 6. Is that right? That's a lot of sixes. Hey, is that the right numbers?

[Mike Wright]

He is the devil. He is the devil of fantasy football.

[Jason Moore]

Wow. That's really laying the hammer down there, Mike.

[Andy Holloway]

41 for 232 in the passing game. That's pretty good volume.

[Mike Wright]

Well, it was tremendous volume. That was what Latavius Murray was all about, vol.266 carries, clearly the most on the Raiders, you know, had the second most carries on the team.

[Andy Holloway]

Derek Carr.

[Mike Wright]

That was Derek Carr with 33 carries.

[Andy Holloway]

Derek Carr is taking the first team running back reps right now.

[Mike Wright]

And I love. It's. It's documented. I love Roy. Hello. It did not work out for him. Who do you love? Roy? Hello? Yeah. Injured all last year.

[Jason Moore]

Just.

[Mike Wright]

It did not work out. So there was nobody really that the. The Raiders trusted to. To take carries and now they have Deandre Washington. Can Latavius Murray get that same type of workload where his numbers by the end are great but they show that he is not the most efficient guy with his work and now you have someone who's going to eat into it.

[Andy Holloway]

I love the potential for Latavius Murray as being a two on my team. I feel really good about that. I think the workload will be there. They have one of the best offensive lines in the league. Be really happy with him as a two.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah. And when it comes to Jack Del Rio, Jack Del Rio has always been a running coach. He has seven years in the top 10 of attempts. And attempts are what you look at because maybe they're successful, maybe they're not successful. But does he want to run the ball? And he always pretty much wants to run the ball. That's something that is. I think what you look for when you try to find a running back today is do they have a coach that wants to run the football? They gave him all the carries last year he still performed. And some of the early offseason stuff. I know that a lot of the negativity gets brought up saying that they. They want to bring someone else in. I think that that's much more so a knock against Halou than it was on Murray. I think that will keep Murray fresh. I like Latavius Murray this year as an RB2. I don't think he has potential to be a top five guy like a lot of the other guys in this list. So he's not as you know, when you make that selection and you're going, do I want Latavius Murray or someone near him? Normally the guys near him, they're a little bit riskier.

[Andy Holloway]

You could use Eddie Lacy as an example or somebody you know, like that.

[Jason Moore]

You know, you've got a guy that maybe could be a top five. Latavius can't. But he also seems very safe and he seems like he's got a clear handcuff. I would love to go into a year with Latavius Murray and Deandre Washington. Absolutely tandem on my team.

[Mike Wright]

All right, let me go through. I'm going to give you guys some names here that are going right around Latavius Murray, Matt Forte.

[Andy Holloway]

I'll take Murray.

[Jason Moore]

Murray.

[Mike Wright]

C.J. anderson.

[Andy Holloway]

I'll take Murray.

[Jason Moore]

Murray as well.

[Mike Wright]

I would take Anderson. Carlos hyde.

[Jason Moore]

Murray.

[Andy Holloway]

Murray.

[Mike Wright]

DeMarco Murray. I'll take Murray versus Murray.

[Andy Holloway]

I'll take Latavius.

[Mike Wright]

And then the last one I'll give you is Dion Lewis.

[Andy Holloway]

Oh, I'll take Murray. So he catches enough passes for me.

[Mike Wright]

Then he is going. You feel very appropriate for like his average draft position is right where it should be.

[Andy Holloway]

I agree. I do. Let's go ahead and talk about Jonathan Stewart, number 15 on our list. Jonathan Stewart missed some games. At the end of the year. Jonathan Stewart is incredibly good at missing games. One of his top talents, I'll say.

[Mike Wright]

Flash forward to 2017. Jonathan Stewart missed some games, but let's.

[Andy Holloway]

Look at the games where he played, which was 13 of them. In the 13 games that he played, he averaged 76 rushing yards on almost 19 carries a game. He had eight games during the year where he was 20 plus carries. This offense should be good. This offense is not going away. This is not going to be some giant regression for the. For the offense or what they're trying to do. They didn't bring somebody else in to steal away Jonathan Stewart's carries. And on tape, Jonathan Stewart looked like a top 10 type of running back. You talk about a Guy that I'd rather have. You know, you talk about Stuart or Murray, that's going to be a tough decision for me. That's the honest truth right now. It's Latavius, but I don't know. Yeah, it depends on my team makeup because I feel like Stewart is just. Look, he's going to get goal line opportunities. Yes, he shares them with Cam Newton, but they're down there so much.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah. And he scored touchdowns after their buy in week five, which was an early buy when he was in. He scored a lot of touchdowns in several games. How many fantasy points would you say you want your RB2 to get for you to feel like it was. It was 10. 10 is always my number.

[Andy Holloway]

10 to 12.

[Jason Moore]

I want a double digit. I want a double digit number after their buy. This is what his numbers were. And some of these came against some pretty darn good defenses. Like this first one against Seattle. 23 fantasy points, 14, 15, 9.3. So maybe you're disappointed because you were just barely not there. 17, 20, 11, 18, 16. And then he got injured. Yeah, I mean, that's like. What more do you want? If he did that for 16, he would have been a top five back.

[Andy Holloway]

Other than AP Lev Bell, Doug Martin and Todd Gurley, he was the next highest in yards per game. So he doesn't get the respect because he's not flashy. He doesn't break a lot of long runs. Although if you watched Bones. Yeah, if you watched the. What? The playoff game. He had a 59 yard run on the first play of the game against Seattle.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah.

[Andy Holloway]

So he can do it. I just think he deserves, he definitely deserves the respect of being a borderline RB one.

[Jason Moore]

I completely agree with that.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah, borderline is okay for me. The thing that I talked about it before, but I come back to it, is after the bye week there was a very noticeable shift in the offensive philosophy of how they wanted to use Jonathan Stewart. It was after the bye week when he rattled off the eight straight grain. Eight straight games of 20 plus carries. So they, they want to get him involved. They want him to have a high workload. He's unfortunately just. He is a little bit capped because of the touchdowns with Cam Newton, but I don't. Would you draft him as a one, though?

[Andy Holloway]

No, no. And I wouldn't have to. That's the nice thing with John this year. You don't have to do that. I would. I could end up with a one in half the weeks.

[Jason Moore]

I love Jonathan Stewart as a number two. So you and you can really, depending on how your draft goes, you can get him as a number three.

[Mike Wright]

I say you're so you. He's a value for you right now because here's the guys going in front of him. We'll play the game again. Jeremy Langford.

[Jason Moore]

Oh, Jonathan.

[Andy Holloway]

Jonathan Stewart.

[Mike Wright]

Matt Jones. Jeremy Hill.

[Jason Moore]

Jonathan Stewart.

[Mike Wright]

So he's. He's currently value very way that you guys see him going in the middle of the fifth.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, I agree with that. So, hey, that is it for today's show. This afternoon, we're recording our Patreon Foot Clan mailbag show. It's our extra episode every week for everybody [e-mail] so if you're over there, tune in. If you're not over there, get over there and check it out.

[Jason Moore]

Get over there.

[Andy Holloway]

So we'll be back tomorrow. We're five days a week now. The Fantasy Footballers podcast. Find us on Twitter @ the FF Ballers. Make sure you check out fantasy Jocks if you need a trophy or a draft board, like a live draft board for your league. And definitely check out that promotion with our good [e-mail] promo code, ballers.

[Mike Wright]

Promo code is ballers for both fantasy Jocks.

[Andy Holloway]

That is right.

[Mike Wright]

Head to Head. Yeah.

[Andy Holloway]

Ballers is generally the promo.

[Jason Moore]

Just try to use ballers.

[Andy Holloway]

All right, take care, everyone.

[Mike Wright]

Thank you.

[Jason Moore]

Thank you for listening to another episode of the Fantasy Footballers Podcast. Join our fantasy football community on jointhefoot.com and follow us on Twitter @the ffballers.