The TRUTH: RBs Part 1 + Saquon Smash! - Fantasy Football Podcast for 1/23

Summary

Summary of "The TRUTH: RBs Part 1 + Saquon Smash!" - Fantasy Footballers Podcast (Released January 23, 2025)

Hosts: Andy Holloway, Jason Moore, Mike "The Fantasy Hitman" Wright

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1. Introduction and Episode Overview

At the beginning of the episode ([02:08]), Andy Holloway welcomes listeners to another engaging installment of the Fantasy Footballers podcast. The trio outlines the episode’s focus on coaching staff news and introduces the main segment: "The Truth of the Running Back Position Part 1," which delves into the analysis of the top 10 running backs for the season.

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2. Humorous Segment: Rex Ryan’s Teeth ([06:42] - [15:58])

A significant portion of the early segment is dedicated to a light-hearted discussion about Rex Ryan’s notably bright teeth. The hosts humorously speculate about veneers and joke about the appearance of his smile, creating an entertaining interlude before transitioning back to football analysis.

Notable Quotes:

• Andy Holloway ([07:06]): "How sad are Rex Ryan's teeth right now?"
• Jason Moore ([07:28]): "The first thing on Reddit. Why are Rex Ryan's teeth so white?"
• Mike Wright ([09:00]): "The very first thing on Reddit. Why are Rex Ryan's teeth so white?"

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3. Main Segment: The Truth of the Running Back Position ([16:23] - [61:37])

The core of the episode focuses on evaluating the top 10 running backs based on consistency, performance, and their impact on fantasy football teams. The hosts utilize specific metrics to rank and analyze each player, providing valuable insights for fantasy managers.

a. Metrics and Evaluation Criteria

• Consistency Metrics: The hosts define "great games" as those yielding 22+ fantasy points, "good games" as 12-21 points, and "bust games" as fewer than 7 points.
• Performance Analysis: They assess each running back’s performance relative to their fantasy ranking, considering factors like offensive line strength, team success, and injury history.

b. In-Depth Analysis of Top Running Backs

1. Saquon Barkley ([19:01] - [26:11])

   • Ranking: #1 in consistency.
   • Statistics: 44% great games, 75% good games, 6% bust games; seven 40+ yard runs and four 60+ yard runs.
   • Insights: Barkley benefited from an elite offensive line, enabling explosive performances and high consistency despite the team's overall dynamics.
   • Notable Quote:
     • Jason Moore ([20:29]): "You can go back and listen to these again in about six months because when you're getting ready to draft, there are players who have distortions to how consistent and helpful they were for your team."

2. Derek Henry ([28:03] - [31:19])

   • Ranking: #2 in fantasy points, #4 in consistency.
   • Statistics: 38% great games, 81% good games, 6% bust games; highest yards per carry in the NFL with 22.1 at home and 16.7 on the road.
   • Insights: Henry thrives in a consistently winning team environment, reflecting his role as a workhorse running back.
   • Notable Quote:
     • Andy Holloway ([30:41]): "Highest yards per carry in the NFL."

3. Jameer Gibbs ([32:39] - [35:21])

   • Ranking: #3 in fantasy points and consistency.
   • Statistics: 31% great games, 81% good games, 0% bust games.
   • Insights: Gibbs emerged as a reliable option, especially towards the season's end, contributing significantly in both rushing and receiving yards.
   • Notable Quote:
     • Mike Wright ([34:09]): "The man the whole team wants to trade for Kevin O'Connell."

4. Bijan Robinson ([37:52] - [40:37])

   • Ranking: #2 in consistency.
   • Statistics: 22 touchdowns, 75% good games, 0% bust games; 250 carries for 1,400 yards.
   • Insights: As a young and dynamic player, Robinson's performance signals high potential for the upcoming season, making him a top draft pick.
   • Notable Quote:
     • Andy Holloway ([38:36]): "It's been a case of it happened exactly how you would predict it to happen if everything comes together."

5. Josh Jacobs ([42:39] - [47:21])

   • Ranking: #5 in fantasy points, #8 in consistency.
   • Statistics: 25% great games, 63% good games, 1% bust games; 15 rushing touchdowns.
   • Insights: Jacobs proved himself as a dependable workhorse for the Packers, though questions remain about future contracts and team strategy.
   • Notable Quote:
     • Mike Wright ([46:57]): "History says he's going to have a bad year."

6. Kyron Williams ([51:00] - [55:19])

   • Ranking: #6 in fantasy points, #5 in consistency.
   • Statistics: 75% good games, 13% great games, no bust games; 1,200 yards, 14 touchdowns.
   • Insights: Williams showed strong performance despite limited involvement in the receiving game, making him a valuable yet somewhat enigmatic RB option.
   • Notable Quote:
     • Jason Moore ([52:26]): "I have no idea how he works."

7. James Cook ([59:21] - [61:37])

   • Ranking: #8 in fantasy points, #9 in consistency.
   • Statistics: 27% great games, 60% good games, 13% bust games; 1,000 yards, 16 touchdowns.
   • Insights: Cook excelled in goal-line situations, though a shift in offensive strategies may affect his future performance.
   • Notable Quote:
     • Mike Wright ([60:47]): "His ceiling is capped by the amount of touchdowns he gets."

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4. Fantasy Picks: Pick Six ([61:37] - [64:28])

In a segment sponsored by DraftKings, the hosts share their "Pick Six" selections for the upcoming championship weekend, offering listeners strategic advice for their fantasy lineups.

Andy Holloway’s Picks:

• Josh Allen over 228.5 passing yards against the Chiefs. ([62:15])
• Travis Kelce under 70.5 receiving yards. ([62:30])

Mike Wright’s Picks:

• Josh Allen over on rushing touchdowns. ([63:03])
• Kareem Hunt over 36.5 rushing yards. ([63:12])

Notable Interaction:

• Jason Moore ([62:32]): "Wait a minute. Read that again."
• Mike Wright ([63:03]): "Josh Allen runs six rushing touchdowns over his last six playoff games."

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5. Conclusion and Teasers for Upcoming Episodes

As the episode wraps up ([64:28]), the hosts promote upcoming content, including a second part of "The Truth of the Running Back Position," and encourage listeners to join their community for premium insights and resources.

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Key Takeaways

• Consistency is Crucial: Running backs who consistently deliver solid performances are invaluable in fantasy leagues.
• Team Dynamics Matter: The strength of a team's offensive line and overall performance significantly impacts a running back's fantasy value.
• Future Potential: Young, dynamic players like Bijan Robinson are poised to be top picks in upcoming drafts due to their high ceiling and proven performance.
• Strategic Picks: Utilizing segments like "Pick Six" can provide actionable insights for optimizing fantasy lineups.

This comprehensive analysis equips fantasy football managers with the necessary information to make informed decisions in their drafts, leveraging the hosts' expertise and detailed evaluations.

Transcript

[Mike Wright]

This episode is brought to you by Indeed. When draft time rolls around, you have to be strategic and you have to be quick to put together the best possible team. Like with football players, when you're drafting a quarterback, there are so many things that you need. You need. You need an athletic guy. You need a guy who can process information. He's got a strong arm, maybe he can run around a little bit. There's so many things and finding the exact right one very difficult. But if you're hiring, the best strategy is to use Indeed. Their sponsored jobs will help you stand out. It literally puts your job post at the top of the page so you can reach the people you want faster. And even better, you're only paying for results. There's no monthly subscriptions or long term contracts. There's no need to wait any longer. Speed up your hiring right now with Indeed. Listeners of this show will get a $75 sponsored job credit to get your jobs more visibility@ Indeed.com footballers that's Indeed.com footballers right now. And support our show by saying you heard about Indeed on this podcast. Indeed.com Footballers terms and conditions apply. Hiring Indeed is all you need.

[Jason Moore]

This episode is brought to you by Nissan. One of the best things about football is the simple thrill of watching it. You get to just sit back and soak up the action. Well, now you sit back in a Nissan Rogue Rock Creek and get that adventure whenever you want. With intelligent all wheel drive that lets you go where the wind takes you. Adventure calls in the first ever Nissan Rogue Rock Creek. Visit NissanUSA.com to learn more. Intelligent all wheel drive cannot prevent collisions or provide enhanced traction in all conditions. Always monitor traffic and weather conditions foreign to the Fantasy Footballers podcast. With your hosts Andy Holloway, Jason Moore and Mike Wright.

[Andy Holloway]

Welcome in the Fantasy Footballers. Back with you. Thursday, January 23rd Jason Moore, Mike Wright, Andy Holloway, welcome in one and all. Another fine episode for you on this Thursday.

[Mike Wright]

It's like we just recorded yesterday.

[Andy Holloway]

Feels that way. Feels that way. Happy to have you with us. We got news to talk about. Mostly coaching staff related.

[Mike Wright]

Mostly.

[Andy Holloway]

Mostly.

[Mike Wright]

Let me look all it is currently exclusively. It is 100% of the news content.

[Jason Moore]

We're not there yet though so there is still time for, you know, a player breaking news to find its way in.

[Andy Holloway]

And we have the truth of the running back position starting today, the top 10 running backs. So that'll be fun. Jason is always, you know, he can always play spoiler if he wants.

[Jason Moore]

He did say running backs were awesome. They crushed spoiler.

[Mike Wright]

He you had alluded to something special for Saquon. Like you were going to make a whole new stat or something. Did that happen?

[Jason Moore]

That did happen. Okay, that did happen. I'll get there when we get there.

[Mike Wright]

But you don't want to tease it out.

[Jason Moore]

This is the tease is that Saquon has something new for him that we have never done before to ensure that he is in the truthful spot. Because this episode's about the truth. And if an algorithm is not reflecting the truth, then that's not the algorithm we're going to use.

[Andy Holloway]

You made a new one. You added like a. I just took.

[Jason Moore]

Him out of it. I'm going to be honest with you. I played around with it for a long time to try to get it to work.

[Mike Wright]

The algorithm was. We stopped using the algorithm.

[Jason Moore]

No, we used the algorithm for everyone except Saquon. I took him out because it couldn't place him at one because it can't give enough bonus points for what he did for 30 plus point games. I guess we're not just teasing it out, but, you know, we'll talk about him. I'm guessing somewhere around first when we get into the truth of running backs.

[Andy Holloway]

That sounds fair. You can go to jointhefoot.com if you want to become a supporter of the show. Get the bonus weekly episode called the Foot Cast where we answer your questions each and every week during the off season. It's nice to get an extra episode so you can do that over there. Access to all the premium tools and resources as well. That's jointhefoot.com and it's a good time to remind you if you are, you know, it's offseason's percolating and if you're looking for a new league, if you're looking for more like minded people, Papa Josh would love it if I told you to head to ballers. Discord.com join our free Discord Channel. I don't know if Papa Josh, you know the number of active members off the top of your head. I'm really putting you on the spot.

[Jason Moore]

We are at 59.2 thousand.

[Andy Holloway]

Okay. Okay. So that's a lot. That's quite a few.

[Mike Wright]

I thought you were going to find.

[Andy Holloway]

Some leagues over there.

[Mike Wright]

Thought you were going to tease out that we are mere days away from a really big Sunday.

[Andy Holloway]

Super Bowl Sunday. Oh, is that what it's called?

[Mike Wright]

Some call it that. Ah, some call it that.

[Jason Moore]

When you said days away, I was like, what is in a couple days? Because that's. We're still weeks away.

[Mike Wright]

I forgot there's the week off. Yeah, whatever.

[Andy Holloway]

That'd be a week. So weeks away.

[Mike Wright]

It's mere weeks away.

[Jason Moore]

Weeks and days away.

[Mike Wright]

That's great news for me because we are building out this year's Dynasty Pass, which will be live on a really big Sunday where there's another big game months away. Look, when you're in the weeds, man, you're like.

[Andy Holloway]

So you're feeling good right now because you just realized you got another week.

[Jason Moore]

You just got more time.

[Andy Holloway]

You got more time to get it done.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah, I'm putting everything on pause.

[Andy Holloway]

Okay. You're just going to keep.

[Jason Moore]

I get to take a week off.

[Mike Wright]

Now Bear takes a nap and he ends up winning. Right?

[Andy Holloway]

Is that what happened?

[Mike Wright]

That's the one I've seen.

[Andy Holloway]

Oh, I thought it was. Okay, we'll see. So it should be ready. It should be ready by Super Bowl Sunday. The ultimate draft kick, always.

[Mike Wright]

We'll talk about it more, I guess, in the next few weeks, in the next few years.

[Andy Holloway]

Let's talk news.

[Jason Moore]

News and notes from around the league.

[Kyle]

Presented by USA Insurance.

[Andy Holloway]

The jets are hiring former Lions defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn as their next head coach. He was a first round pick by the Jets.

[Jason Moore]

When you got a type, you got to type. You know, the unproven, up and coming first time defensive head coach.

[Andy Holloway]

How sad are Rex Ryan's teeth right now?

[Jason Moore]

Oh, man, they're his teeth. Oh, well, because that's all you can think of when you think of Rex. If you look at Rex Ryan, you.

[Mike Wright]

Got a big old smile.

[Andy Holloway]

What Mike? What Mike?

[Jason Moore]

Is this a joke? Is Mike playing us right now?

[Andy Holloway]

No, I don't know.

[Mike Wright]

I don't know if you guys know this. There's a big Rex Ryan factoid out there.

[Jason Moore]

Oh, I know.

[Mike Wright]

Not related to his teeth.

[Jason Moore]

How I know about the feet. I mean, I.

[Andy Holloway]

Everyone listening see that on glance.

[Jason Moore]

Here's the thing. That's all I know about anyone listening right now who has seen Rex Ryan.

[Mike Wright]

That's a regular. That's just a good big smile. Let me find. I'm going to dive deeper.

[Jason Moore]

I don't understand.

[Mike Wright]

I'm going to dive deeper.

[Jason Moore]

I feel like we're being gaslit right now because if you search for Rex.

[Andy Holloway]

Ryan teeth, Mike, the first thing you.

[Jason Moore]

Will see are the illuminated teeth. He's got leds inside them.

[Andy Holloway]

The very first thing on Reddit. Why are Rex Ryan's teeth so white? That's it. He's also comes up on the what's the worst celebrity veneers we've ever seen Thread.

[Jason Moore]

Very recently you pretty much need sunglasses if you're face to face with Rex.

[Andy Holloway]

Ryan or only one on our side is Rex Ryan and his weird face.

[Mike Wright]

I think I maybe found an old photo.

[Jason Moore]

Oh, you found a photo of normal.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah. These are laser beams.

[Jason Moore]

Yes. Okay, thank you.

[Mike Wright]

So the picture I put in there, that's not the same teeth.

[Andy Holloway]

No, he did. That's what the veneers are. They're a new set of teeth. He's got the Ross from Friends teeth.

[Mike Wright]

Those are some white teeth.

[Jason Moore]

Okay, Mike, I'm seeing for joining the picture. I just can't believe you haven't seen Rex Ryan in the last few years.

[Mike Wright]

I don't tune into Rex Ryan anything.

[Andy Holloway]

He's always on espn.

[Mike Wright]

It's like how I don't tune into anything. Rex Ryan.

[Jason Moore]

Yes, Mr. Ryan, what shade would you like to go on these teeth? Get those out of here. Bring me a sheet of paper. I'll show you how white I want it.

[Mike Wright]

Is translucent an option?

[Andy Holloway]

I think the point was those teeth don't have a head coaching job.

[Jason Moore]

Right.

[Andy Holloway]

Oh, that's Aaron Glenn's.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah. Congrats.

[Mike Wright]

So fantasy football wise, this is, as of right now, a total.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, I mean, defensive head coaches, these.

[Mike Wright]

Guys, they got to find the oc Some of them can. And he has done a great job with Detroit.

[Andy Holloway]

Sure, he has.

[Mike Wright]

Fine.

[Andy Holloway]

Even with injuries, they've played very hard for him.

[Mike Wright]

Like, I think that the hire is, I mean, coordinators for this type of rise of a team. Those guys deserve a chance.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah.

[Mike Wright]

Like, you're a part of it. But being the fantasy show is like, okay, that's great.

[Jason Moore]

Who's your OC Even taking fantasy out of it, I can't imagine I would. If I was a general manager, I would be very hesitant. I mean, I don't know Aaron Glenn. I haven't interviewed him and been blown away and been won over. I think he did an amazing job. But I do think building a franchise, it puts you at a disadvantage if you have. If you have a defensive head coach, because if your offense clicks and does well for a defensive mind head coach, you're going to lose your OC he's going to become. And then you got to keep recycling.

[Andy Holloway]

Well, and this is, you know, Dan Campbell and his, you know, Ben Johnson leaving. And then you have this news, which is very good for a player we were worried about. Baker Mayfield is not losing his offensive coordinator. They decided the Buccaneers did to offer Liam Cohen a bag of money to turn down the potential Jacksonville job.

[Mike Wright]

I think Liam Cohen went to Jacksonville, was Like, nah, they fired their.

[Andy Holloway]

Their GM today.

[Mike Wright]

Jacksonville.

[Andy Holloway]

Yes, Trent Valkey is fired, but Liam Cohen is staying. So. So Baker Mayfield will not have a new oc.

[Mike Wright]

Again, great news.

[Andy Holloway]

And that's exciting. And the Patriots are expected to hire once again, for the third time, at least the third time, Josh McDaniels as their offensive coordinator to join Mike Vrabel.

[Mike Wright]

What are they doing?

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, I mean, you said for fantasy football purposes. You know, with. With the Jets. We're not sure. We're not sure until Aaron Glenn finds his offensive guy. Well, Vrabel has found his offensive guy. We have plenty of data here. How do you feel about the third try here?

[Mike Wright]

I feel like they are assembling the hits. The greatest hits of Patriots Romeo Cornell.

[Andy Holloway]

On the way back soon.

[Mike Wright]

You just wait. Just wait.

[Andy Holloway]

Who was the other of the former Notre Dame coach O'Brien. No, no, no.

[Jason Moore]

Oh.

[Mike Wright]

Oh, that was. No, that was not.

[Andy Holloway]

Oh, my gosh.

[Jason Moore]

Oh, he's got a people show now.

[Andy Holloway]

Charlie Wild. Thank you. Thank you. All right, Kevin O'Brien, did you want.

[Mike Wright]

To talk about Rex Ryan's teeth? Kyle?

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah. Were you aware of his teeth? Kyle? I don't care about his teeth.

[Jason Moore]

But were you aware of his care? I'm proud of you for not caring. You're a better man than us. Were you aware? Not really. That's another man who has not watched Drex. I don't know how you can ever watch and not be aware. They're like flashlights in his mouth.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. I mean, thank you, Jason.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah.

[Andy Holloway]

The Vikings have agreed to a.

[Mike Wright]

Guys, I'm just learning about this. So this is. I'm trying to get all this information in real time. How do sign me up. How do I get. How do we get teeth?

[Andy Holloway]

You want those teeth?

[Jason Moore]

Yeah. You can read menus at dark restaurants now. It's amazing. I mean, you don't even need to do the old person thing with your phone at all. You just hold it closer to your face.

[Mike Wright]

Hey, Rex, though, can you smile for me?

[Jason Moore]

Having trouble reading, Rex, Read for the table.

[Mike Wright]

I can't get these desserts. I can't make it out.

[Andy Holloway]

The power's out. Let's go to Rex's room.

[Jason Moore]

I have to imagine in the dark, he glows. Like legit.

[Andy Holloway]

They're pretty white.

[Mike Wright]

That's wild.

[Andy Holloway]

Didn't know this was going to be the podcast today. Kevin O'Connell, multi year extension with the Vikings.

[Jason Moore]

The best part here is.

[Andy Holloway]

Oh, my God. Oh, my God.

[Jason Moore]

How completely outdated this is. Like, this is not irrelevant. No personnel. This has Nothing to do with anything going on. This is an years old thing that happened.

[Mike Wright]

This is everything.

[Jason Moore]

And that's what today's episode is about.

[Andy Holloway]

Do you think that newfound confidence though, with these chompers was that he could go. That he could go back in there and get the job?

[Jason Moore]

He thought he could shine bright in that room. You know he did.

[Andy Holloway]

Okay.

[Mike Wright]

Kevin O'Connor, third try here.

[Andy Holloway]

Kevin O'Connell, multi year deal, of course, with Minnesota.

[Mike Wright]

The man the whole teams want to trade for Kevin O'Connell thing. That just like, I don't doubt it was true. Like, yeah, if I would have. I would have loved for my franchise. If we don't have a good coaching solution to be like, oh, that guy, he's turned around to the Minnesota Vikings program. He was with Sam Darnold.

[Andy Holloway]

He didn't have a contract though, right?

[Mike Wright]

He was about. He was about to be up.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah.

[Andy Holloway]

Okay, so maybe that was what kind of spurred those rumors.

[Mike Wright]

But yeah. So he's back. That's great news.

[Andy Holloway]

All right. We will have a full coaching changes episode in late February.

[Mike Wright]

Oh, so much Rex Ryan in there.

[Andy Holloway]

I wish, I wish. Now, Mike, now that you're aware.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah.

[Andy Holloway]

How disappointed are you he didn't get the job?

[Mike Wright]

Oh, man. So disappointed.

[Jason Moore]

2025 would have been lit.

[Mike Wright]

You know, the content that we could.

[Andy Holloway]

Have come out with, that's all that matters.

[Mike Wright]

We're pulling all these things off. Just. This is off the top of the head. If you gave me some time in the lab.

[Jason Moore]

Oh, man.

[Mike Wright]

To think about good teeth jokes.

[Andy Holloway]

You didn't know about it in five minutes ago, so just imagine what you could do.

[Jason Moore]

This is great. Congrats, everybody.

[Mike Wright]

I'm not even here.

[Andy Holloway]

It was rumored they called him in for a second interview, but he was getting his teeth whitened and could not. He could not make it. And that's why he didn't get the job.

[Jason Moore]

Sorry, is it a Wednesday, Friday or Tuesday? Because that's what. Teeth whitened.

[Mike Wright]

Does he not drink coffee or anything?

[Andy Holloway]

It's that. You know what it is? It's been more amplified. Oh, I can't believe we're still talking about this. It's been more amplified because he's on ESPN and he gets the orange put on.

[Mike Wright]

Yes, I can see that.

[Andy Holloway]

So they put the orange on. And when you've got that combined with.

[Mike Wright]

The teeth at this level, like everyone's. Your teeth, they stain. Is there like a. Like a stain repellent you could put on your teeth?

[Jason Moore]

I think veneers don't stain.

[Mike Wright]

That's not Possible.

[Andy Holloway]

This is accurate, but also good.

[Mike Wright]

What?

[Andy Holloway]

Night, man. Yeah, good night. I am just looking picture.

[Mike Wright]

This is great stuff.

[Andy Holloway]

After picture.

[Mike Wright]

Ladies and gentlemen out there who were not aware of this, go search. And if you find a picture of Rex Ryan in all these pictures in.

[Jason Moore]

Slack are killing me.

[Andy Holloway]

Here's what I want you to do right now because we're recording this the day before the Falcon. I want the picture you just shared in Slack. I want you to know context. Tweet it right now.

[Jason Moore]

Yes.

[Andy Holloway]

Tweet that picture. Do not say a thing. People will find it tomorrow.

[Mike Wright]

That guy is going to a rave.

[Andy Holloway]

It's impressive. All right.

[Jason Moore]

We have his glow teeth on.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah.

[Andy Holloway]

This is the truth about Rex Ryan episode.

[Jason Moore]

We're going to get to running backs, I promise. It's the off season.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah. That was today's news and notes presented by USAA Insurance. Learn more at USA.com insurance Here we go.

[Mike Wright]

You want answers?

[Jason Moore]

I think I'm entitled.

[Mike Wright]

You want answers?

[Andy Holloway]

I want the truth.

[Mike Wright]

You can't handle the truth.

[Andy Holloway]

Did you make that graphic, Falcon, or was that something you found? Oh, Grok made that for you. Okay. Moving on to a rather important position in fantasy football this year, the running backs. The top 10 running backs. What is the truth? We look at consistency. We look at performances relative to their fantasy finish and tell you the impact that these guys really made on your team. So you have a proper evaluation of the season and an outlook for next season that is right and fair. And we often bring up like, you can go back and listen to these again in about six months because when you're getting ready to draft, there are players who have. There are distortions to how consistent and helpful they were for your team.

[Jason Moore]

For sure. We'll talk about a couple of them today that, you know, we got to figure out what the truth is. I think there's one player on today's show that I'm not sure what the. I'm not sure what the truth is. So hopefully you two can illuminate that for everyone and myself included. I can't think of anything.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, you just say illuminate. You think about them teeth, man. 2024 crushed for running backs.

[Jason Moore]

Most total in the rushing department. Yeah. On the ground. Yeah. Because it.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, I guess I assumed. Yeah, I got what you said.

[Mike Wright]

No receiving production for running backs was actually. Was down overall, the most total rushing.

[Andy Holloway]

Fantasy points for running back since 2011. The second most rushing touchdowns since 2011. And the receiving production did take a step back. It's the fewest receiving Yards at the position since 2011. You know, I'm not surprised in some regard that that number has, you know, some of the more prolific running backs in the receiving game aren't there anymore.

[Mike Wright]

They're getting older.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah. I mean, Austin Eckler for a long stretch was 100 receptions a year.

[Mike Wright]

And McCaffrey missed.

[Andy Holloway]

And Christian McCaffrey. So it does make sense.

[Jason Moore]

And Camara got injured as well.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah. So, you know, here we go. We're going to talk about the top 10 running backs and I'm, you know, the breakdown here. 21 points is a great game. So we look at how many great games they had. Good games are 12 or more points, bus games, fewer than seven. We don't count missed games due to injury against their consistency score. And Jason, just to make sure we left week 18 out again.

[Jason Moore]

We did. Week 18 does not apply here.

[Andy Holloway]

So number one, I guess in a new category, Saquon Barkley. He was the number one most consistent running back by our consistency metrics, 44% great, 75% good, only 6% bust games. It was one bust game. It looks like that was week six against Cleveland.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, I mean, one bust game is great. When we were looking at the actual algorithm that's been tweaked and honed in on for decade now, at what we believe is the most accurate representation of the truth of these players, you actually had Jameer Gibbs and Bijan Robinson, who had no bus games the entire season, kind of grading out ahead of Saquon from a consistency standpoint, which makes sense because you didn't have that bust. But I can't in good conscience, good conscience say that Saquon was behind those guys. In truth, because our great games, by our metric and half PPR are north of 21 fantasy points, that's a great game. If your player goes out and scores 22 points, you had a great output from that, and they should be scored as such. When a player goes out in half PPR and goes north of 30, that's. That is, you know, a weak winning performance. We don't score for that because it's not very common. You know, Jameer Gibbs had one of them.

[Andy Holloway]

We don't award bonus points for that is what you're saying.

[Jason Moore]

Kyren Williams had one of them. You know, you had. Saquon had five, Saquon had five, five times. He just flat won the week for you. So I was like, no, I don't, I don't want to. I don't want to skew and add in these, these Crazy outlier games for, you know, that ruined the other players rankings. I'm just taking Saquon out, putting him where he belongs with the crown on his head. And then I mean there was nothing bad about Saquon.

[Andy Holloway]

Seven runs of 40 plus yards, that's more than Ty Gurley ever had in his career. Four runs of 60 plus yards, not.

[Jason Moore]

Including the playoffs, which he's already done it.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah. 4 runs of 60 plus is the same amount that CMC has has his entire career. So there were breakaway runs and a lot of that came as a result of Saquons talent and ability being combined with the elite offensive line production. 66.2% of his rushing yards came before contact. That is the highest rate among running backs with 200 plus carries in the last 10 years. The offensive line, it was, it was basically like sometimes you should take the layup in fantasy and not figure out why it's going to fail. I guess because. Because you knew Saquon was doing everything with nothing in New York and then you knew that, you know, players in Philadelphia were succeeding at such a great level just because of the offensive line. DeAndre Swift, Miles Sanders, those players did not depart and look special. And then you say okay, we're going to give you the best offensive line to the best player or one of the best players at the position. Here's what should happen. It did happen. This is a case of it happened exactly how you would predict it to happen if everything comes together.

[Mike Wright]

I think the. Because I was on the side, you know, guilty of. I was not off, not, not anti sake one but I was a little nervous, a little skeptical of, of with the changes that were going to happen. And it's like well Jalen Hurts is good for, you know what 10 plus rushing touchdowns can this offense with A.J. brenner, Devonte because like passing touchdowns are going to happen too. And you have to just slot in 10 plus to Jalen Hertz.

[Andy Holloway]

Like how about.

[Jason Moore]

How about 14?

[Mike Wright]

How does Barkley. Yeah, you got 14 this year. How about 14 and Barkley's at 13. Like that was, I think that was the bigger surprise to me. It wasn't the. Barkley's going to rip off huge games because like, because he like his athletic profile. This is what he. He's one of very few running backs in the league that can hit a 75 yard rushing touchdown. Not everybody can do that. People get caught. Saquon Barkley will not be caught. But to get to the point where you're like 13 touchdowns is that was the Part that I was hesitant and nervous about coming through and I mean, the egg is on my face. That was. Well, it was. It did not work out.

[Jason Moore]

It was across everything. I mean, obviously he could have broken the rushing record if he played in Week 18. So it wasn't just touchdowns, it wasn't just big plays. And I think a lot of this was the fact that the Philadelphia Eagles defense was so much better this year, that they were in a lot of winning game scripts where Jalen Hurts didn't need to air it out a lot. I don't expect. Their defense is very young. You know, their two rookie corners that they both hit on this last year, Jalen Carter, their defensive line. So going forward to next year, you have to imagine it's not going to be necessarily as lapping the field as this year because big plays are hard to come by. But he should be the number one running back drafted, and there's no reason to look at next year and say that anything shouldn't work as well.

[Andy Holloway]

I. I was in the camp too, where I was nervous about things going as perfectly as expected. I end up trading Saquon in the preseason and getting Gibbs and I lost. Yeah, I lost the trade like that. We're going to talk about Gibbs in a minute.

[Jason Moore]

Gibbs, great. You lost.

[Mike Wright]

And the aside the touchdowns were. You're like, oh, didn't see. Didn't see it being that great. But one of the bigger concerns was, okay, Jalen Hurts, mobile quarterback, not a huge passing volume. Just in general, we need to be at the top. Receiving does have to be in your profile unless you have an outlier year. So it's like if beginning of the year with all of the. Oh, there's some unknowns here. Okay, Saquon's going to catch 33 passes for 278 yards. You go, oh, he's not the number one running back.

[Jason Moore]

No way.

[Mike Wright]

No, he's like he.

[Andy Holloway]

And tell him that Jalen Hurts is going to score 14 times.

[Mike Wright]

Maybe. Maybe Saquon's a top five.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah.

[Mike Wright]

Did he have such a. So this was a unique season, but he is. He is a unique player.

[Andy Holloway]

I think it's important to say it was a unique season. That will probably not be repeated, too, because Saquon has had a prolific injury history in recent years. Avoided that entirely this year, which is super impressive.

[Mike Wright]

I feel like we had at least a few times, too, during the season. We're like, oh, there it is.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah.

[Mike Wright]

I mean, there was the. Saquon's done. Oh, no, he's. He's back. He's back. It's everything's okay.

[Andy Holloway]

First 16 game. So he missed the last week, right?

[Jason Moore]

Correct. Yeah.

[Mike Wright]

So they sat him down.

[Andy Holloway]

First time he's played six. Okay. He played 16 in 2022 and in 2018. But he's had a lot of years where he's been banged up and the snap counts haven't been high.

[Mike Wright]

He's done okay career for a career.

[Andy Holloway]

Career high in opportunities, so it's impressive. We'll take a break. We'll jump in with number two. Another elder statesman getting it done. This episode is brought to you by Abbott. Let's talk about a small thing that can make a big difference if you have diabetes. The Freestyle Libre 3 sensor. It's amazing how the sensor gives you real time glucose readings so that you can see the impact of every meal and activity to make better choices. The Freestyle Libre 3 sensor can help you live life with diabetes on your terms. This is progress. You can try it for free at FreestyleLibre US. Offer available for people who qualify. Visit MyFreestyle US to see all terms and conditions. Certain exclusions apply for prescription only. Safety info found @freestylelibre us.

[Jason Moore]

This episode is brought to you by Peloton. Look, life's got a game plan and it's always changing. One season you're all about them 4 week strength building classes. The next it's squeezing in a run or hitting the bike after work, whatever's on deck, Peloton's here to fit into your schedule. From strength, running and cycling and everything in between, Peloton adapts to your goals no matter the season of life. And with Peloton's All Access membership, you've got the flexibility to work out wherever you need to. At home, on your bike, your tread, your row, or even on the go with an app at the gym. Whether you're gearing up for a marathon or just trying to keep your energy up for late night game replays, Peloton's got the classes to keep you in the zone. Find your push, find your power with [e-mail].

[Andy Holloway]

Derek Henry, 31 years old, drafted as the RB9 arrives in Baltimore, has a ho hum. First week, it's okay. Not a bit. Not a great week.

[Mike Wright]

First week people were freaked out. No, this is like, yeah, week one you're like why is Derek Henry off the field so much? And then right after that we got the Harbaugh. We did not bring Saquon, Barkley or I'm sorry Derek Henry. We didn't bring him in here to give him every single touch. And it was, oh, oh no. This is, this is going to be what the fear side was of. He's old, he's on a new team.

[Andy Holloway]

Week one was when Jason felt so good about Isaiah Pacheco over Derek Henry.

[Jason Moore]

Heck yeah. And week two I was happy just because Pacheco was good both weeks. But that was wrong.

[Andy Holloway]

So Derek Henry ends up number two in fantasy points, number four in consistency. He was the number one most consistent in the first half. It did slip to number six in the second half. 38% great, 81% good, 6% bust. There were, despite the amazing season, there were times I think that there was some frustration. The amount of snaps that like Justice Hill would be getting, two minute drills, certain situations rarely busted. One time most consistent season of his career in terms of good games was 20, 24, 81% of the time. So even all those prolific top tier fantasy seasons, he never had this much consistency as he had in Baltimore. And that's, I mean you could look at, got to look at Baltimore's record, right? And how well they played on a.

[Mike Wright]

Regular basis on Kyle's hitting us with this hot stat here of Baltimore was leading or tied on 81% of his rush attempts.

[Andy Holloway]

Like this was another one that just played out exactly how you'd be like, oh, perfect scenario for Henry. Put him in a team that was always winning. And we did talk about that a lot because the good Tennessee years, they were winning a lot of games.

[Jason Moore]

Well, I mean that was his career. We brought it up in wins. This is across his career he averages 19.2 fantasy points per game in losses, 9.8. It is as big a split as any. You know, it's like the historical Big Ben home road splits. Like it's one of those where you can bank on it. If they're losing because he's not a pass catching back. If they're really, really losing a game, he can't do what he does. If they're winning, it's because he did what he does. So it's nice when you go to a team where you're like, how many games are they going to win? 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, you know, next year, going into next season, you have to imagine they're going to win a lot of games again.

[Andy Holloway]

Highest yards per carry in the NFL. Much better at home, 22.1 fantasy points versus on the road 16.7. Saw 91% of Baltimore carries inside the five, which is the highest percentage in the NFL. Right. And like you said, just amazing. When the team is winning, he is. He takes the momentum and literally runs with it every single time. Like it. It becomes much more of a judgment call in the defender on whether they want to try to stop this guy with their whole heart.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah. The business decision.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah. So entering year two now for Derek.

[Mike Wright]

Henry and you had some hilarity of like, when you have running backs for Philadelphia or Buffalo and they get in close and you're like, oh, Josh Allen's going to steal my James Cook touchdown. Is. I know he's going to do it. And it was. Lamar did steal touchdowns, but because of play action, like, it was not the read option. I mean, Lamar had four rushing touchdowns on the year. So it was just that if you had Henry, oh, man, that was the worst. When you get into the goal line.

[Andy Holloway]

And you just knew, you're like, it was done.

[Mike Wright]

They're going to hit the play action. Because if I were calling a play, even if I have Derek Henry, I think I'm going with the play action here.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, I mean, they didn't do it that much, though. I mean, he had 10 rushing touchdowns inside the five. When they got down there, they said, hey, big guy, go, go into the painted area.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, 16. He was at 19, 21 yards. Saquon was at 2005 and 16 rushing touchdowns. It was outrageous. Number three, bird of a different feather to some degree. Right. Jameer Gibbs came in at number three in fantasy, number three in consistency. And in the first half, in the second half, fourth and fourth.

[Jason Moore]

I mean, very consistent.

[Andy Holloway]

It was wild because of all the players that you would think would have more inconsistency. You would think it would be a guy that was in a committee until the last three weeks of the season. 81% good games, never busted, 31% great games. I had Jameer Gibbs on our league of record team throughout the entire year. I'd go in, these games would start and you'd have a first quarter of no points. And it was all the time. It would be, David Montgomery gets the first drive, he scores. And if the other team takes, you know, it's a three and out here for the Lions, look, the first quarter would end and I'd be in the single digits, low single digits with Gibbs, and every game would turn out fine.

[Jason Moore]

And I had Montgomery on the other side. We won't talk about David Montgomery on today's episode. That'll be next one. But just spoiler, he was consistency ranked number seven. I mean, he was as consistent as it comes. I don't know how this team and I. Do you. Do you have fears with Ben Johnson leaving that the running game might change or do you have hopes that, you know, as the Gibbs manager, that Gibbs will be more involved and it'll be less of this committee with a new offensive mindset?

[Andy Holloway]

I think I, I would expect things as of right now to be very much the same. I think the identity, the way the, the way that Dan Campbell wants to be winning football games and is to hit people in the mouth and to use both of these guys that they have huge investments on, like Montgomery got a big contract. Gibbs was a high draft capital top 12 pick. Right. So I don't think it changes.

[Mike Wright]

What changes the fear of change to me is because I think that the, I think the running back split is. That's also part of Dan Campbell. Like I think, I think he's going to be telling the offensive coordinator, no, you, we were going to play both guys. The concern would be they were the highest scoring team in football. The highest scoring team in football is going to have a great fantasy running back kind of just regardless. And that's the. They were fifth, you know, two years ago. They jump up to first this year. Can the offense, whoever's designing things for Jared Goff, will it be as successful? Because if they drop back down to fifth, which being a top five scoring offense is great, you probably aren't getting this Jameer Gibbs.

[Andy Holloway]

My mind still be great if you, if you drop down in scoring, it comes out of Montgomery's pocket, in my opinion.

[Mike Wright]

Okay.

[Andy Holloway]

Because from an exploit, I mean, you, you were facing Jameer Gibbs in your title game in our dynasty league.

[Mike Wright]

Yes. And every time he gets given the ball, you're like, he can score.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah. I mean, he was number one in explosive runs. 10% of all carries went 15 plus yards.

[Mike Wright]

That's absurd.

[Andy Holloway]

So one out of every 10 times you handed him the football, he got to the point where you were like, oh, he's gone now. You were not always right, but that was the case. 25 runs of 15 plus yards. That is the same as Saquon and Henry, despite getting fewer carries, he had 250 carries for 1400 yards and 16 rushing touchdowns. That number, we'll see. We'll see if that number can stay up there. But the fact you caught 52 passes, 517 receiving yards, four receiving touchdowns. That's a 20 touchdown year from this guy.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, I mean, it was, it was incredible. The thing that I think most managers wanted to see more of from Gibbs was The passing work, he was involved, but David Montgomery was involved as well. If you look at the end of the season when Monty went down the last five games, that's what you wanted from Jameer Gibbs. The last five games he was on pace for 90 targets. He was used all the time in the passing even. And it was very effective. You know, 9.8 yards per reception on those plays for running back, that's, that's a great number and it's an easy check down to a first down when you've got Jameer Gibbs. So hopefully the new coordinator comes in and says let's utilize him more in the passing because that was.

[Andy Holloway]

And they could stay in house, they could end up staying in house for that move.

[Jason Moore]

They usually do. I mean, I do have fears a little bit of, you know, the Philadelphia Eagles, they were a great story, had such an awesome season, a great run to a Super bowl, their offense was outstanding, their defense was great. And then they lost both coordinators and they really did struggle. They, they hired internal in house and they said, hey, next man up. And that didn't work last the season prior to this one. You know, they, they took a major step back. They had to replace both coordinators again with more proven commodities. So it's TBD for whether it just works for the Lions. I have to imagine they will regress as an offense this next year just by the, just by simple odds like the teams finishing number one in points in back to back years is not common. You're telling me they lose their offensive coordinator who has been a big part of what they've done and they're going to stay there. It's probably not going to happen.

[Andy Holloway]

No, but they could be in the midst of a Rams like run where you have a good handful of peak years.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah.

[Andy Holloway]

And I would expect that. I. What's funny is the first three names are. They're all players who, if you made the bull case for them before the season, that bull case came true.

[Jason Moore]

I'd say first four.

[Andy Holloway]

Well, let's go to number four, Bijan Robinson. Consistency was number two, the second most consistent running back in football, number seven in the first half and really turned it on in the second half. He has been the kind of the posh pick I think for people to put it number one next year or put him at number two next year. It's been. Should we really be looking at Bijan at 22 years old going on 23 with the way he finished the season? Number 2, number 8, number 11, 8, 5, 2. All these top 10 finishes, 81% good games, 38% great. In a season where you had a quarterback change. Is this the time that we finally hand the baton to Bijon Robinson going into year three?

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, I mean, it was handed to him. It really, you know, you start the season and you had a lot less as fantasy managers.

[Andy Holloway]

What I mean, like, oh, are we ready to hand him the baton at the top of the list? I think that some people are.

[Jason Moore]

I'm not simply because of Saquon Barkley. I think that, that that team makeup is one that I want a part of more than the Atlanta Falcons. That would be the whole reason if you swapped those players, you know, if you put Bijon on the Eagles, he would be everyone's number one. When you're, you know, not even 23 years old, you are electric every single play, adding more every single play. Tyler Algiers, a good player and they need to spell him. And he would come in and do some stuff, but then it would kill drives because Bijon, every time he got the ball would make a cut and just get an extra three or four yards. He didn't have the same amount of breakaway runs like Jameer Gibbs, like Saquon Barkley. That's something.

[Andy Holloway]

What do you read into that? Because I noticed that too. That's how it felt. Yeah, he was tried and true, but not. There were not those like old school AP breakaway runs that made the headlines.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah. And that, that's, I think, what limits his upside to just say he's absolutely going to be the number one player. Because those breakaway plays are almost always for the running back position. When you have a, you know, a 60 yard run, it's a touchdown, it's a house call. So you're taking away. You know, there's a reason Jameer Gibbs and Saquon Barkley have so many touchdowns, because when they have these big plays, they end in, you know, an extra six fantasy points. Bijan didn't really have that, but what Bijon did have is 75% of the snaps. And later in the year when they made the quarterback change 82% of snaps, you started to see him utilized the way that he should be, the way that his talent and body and draft capital allows. And so it gives me a lot of confidence, like he'll be my number two running back.

[Andy Holloway]

You know what his longest run of the season is? I just looked up because I was curious.

[Jason Moore]

I have no idea. I don't know.

[Andy Holloway]

37 yards.

[Jason Moore]

What can I guess? 36? Mike said 70 something and I retracted.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, his longest on a per game basis. If I read them out.

[Mike Wright]

Oh, I was just, I Barkley up.

[Andy Holloway]

13, 19, 7 9, 28, 16, 26, 13, 16, 37, 9. It's just interesting to me because I didn't have any shares of Bijan this year so I didn't have my eyes on him as closely as maybe a Gibbs or a, or even watching Derek Henry who's on primetime all the time like Atlanta was not. And so I do feel like this is one of the quieter unless you had him kind of a quiet number four finish.

[Jason Moore]

If you had him, you loved the ride. I mean obviously zero bus games the entire season. He had almost 2000 combined all purpose yards. So this was outstanding. His utilization just kept going north and north. I think with Michael Penix going into year two there should be a lot of optimism. To me it's just touchdowns. How many can he get? You know, I mean it's not like he didn't score touchdowns this year. Finished the last three weeks of the season two apiece and had 14 touchdowns.

[Andy Holloway]

You believe in the future of Michael Penix and what that will provide for the offense and being. Because you got to be a top tier offense to really put up the kind of numbers that would get number one.

[Mike Wright]

It's difficult because the Penix junior games, that was the final three games of the year which was the Giants, Washington, which they're like their defense was kind of relapsing a little bit in that span and then the final week was Carolina. So it's like we have not seen a true, like Washington, that's a good matchup but the Giants in Carolina, that's not a, that's not a battle testing quarterback scenario for an entire season.

[Jason Moore]

No, that, that's a little upsetting. It was nice though those last two games, five targets and yes, Bijon dominated. Bijon was great. But I like seeing in a game script where you're, you know, you're, you're not being blown out because a lot of times though that's where the inflated 7, 8, 9 targets to a running back happens. 5 targets in those games is really nice.

[Andy Holloway]

Number 5, Josh Jacobs consistency rank was number 8.

[Jason Moore]

First half of the year sucked man.

[Andy Holloway]

First half of the year he was, he was all over the place. Some question marks after four weeks you.

[Mike Wright]

Were like oh some.

[Andy Holloway]

Is this working? Is this working? Number 17, inconsistency in the first half. Number five in the second half. 25% great, 63% good. Only one bust gain very good against both top and bottom defenses. So Whether they were great or not, very consistent. Same with home and road splits. And this was not the backfield that maybe the packers envisioned in the very, very beginning, but they knew and one of the reasons they signed Jacobs was they knew he could handle a huge workload. And 301 carries later, 15 rushing touchdowns, 1300 rushing yards contributed in the receiving game. Obviously this was a workhorse role for him and very impressive. He.

[Mike Wright]

The end of season is so wild for him because I mean it was incredible. It is definitely propped up by touchdowns. I mean he had 15 rushing touchdowns on the year and you know, like the bulk of them came after the. After the bye week. 12 of them through week seven. 12 of them were week 11. All.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, I was going to say through week seven, almost two months of the season, he had one touchdown.

[Mike Wright]

It was like 15.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, that's a furious pace. I mean most touchdowns inside the 10 of anybody.

[Mike Wright]

And then you have. And then over the stretch of that incredibly effective in the receiving game. But then would have games where with literally zero targets and like. So it's. I'm. He. He is a very difficult one, very difficult guy to. To think about what really happened and trying to project moving forward because it was, it was so successful. He is a like, he's a very good running back when he's not fat Thor. But Will is. Does this feel sticky for the Green Bay packers for next year?

[Andy Holloway]

It does to me.

[Mike Wright]

Do they. I mean they have been historically with LaFleur, they've been in a running back by committee and I don't think they had the true clientele to run that the way that they want to.

[Jason Moore]

They went into this season as far as not into Week 1, but they went into after the NFL Draft with A.J. dillon as the backup. And then they drafted Marshawn Lloyd. Like that was. This was going to be Josh Jacobs. Lloyd and A.J. dillon. And those two guys got injured. The backups, they did their best, but they just had to use Josh Jacobs. So I have a huge question next year as to whether or not Josh Jacobs is like, hey, I proved I could take 344 opportunities, not get injured, be awesome, score touchdowns. I became the machine. And I could see Matt LaFleur being like, I can't. I can't go to an inferior back. Like he can handle this. Yeah, I can see that. But I can also. It's going to be transactions. It's going to be transactions. To me what is their actual.

[Andy Holloway]

There won't be any more. I mean this is. Josh Jacobs had already secured Himself as a workhorse running back in the vein of Saquon and those and those and Henry and those backs. And then they went and spent the money on him. Then he did it and delivered. I'm with you on the.

[Jason Moore]

But what if they go out and draft a running back or.

[Andy Holloway]

I mean, they have. I mean, they have personnel there already, right? So.

[Mike Wright]

Well, they have Emmanuel Wilson, but yeah.

[Andy Holloway]

If they draft a running back super high, sure, you can change the conversation, but what I'm saying is Josh Jacobs, in league circles and with the packers and with his history of running and playing the position, that is who he is.

[Jason Moore]

Oh, you don't want to bring up history, Andy. If you want to bring up history, you're going to find out that Josh Jacobs was the running back 8 in 2020, and then he fell to the running back 14, and then he was the running back 3 in 2022, and then he fell to the Running Back 27 and then the running back 5. I mean, this is a red light, green light situation. So history says he's going to have a bad year.

[Mike Wright]

I can see all the arguments for him just saying that for next year.

[Andy Holloway]

He's a year younger than Saquon on a winning football team that got all the red zone carries and it worked it next year.

[Mike Wright]

I. He will be.

[Andy Holloway]

This is why he'll be the least sexy pick for people.

[Mike Wright]

He's going to be a really high pick.

[Andy Holloway]

That's why it'll be.

[Mike Wright]

He'll be a second round pick.

[Andy Holloway]

People will take so many more sexy names over Josh Jacobs again. For the third time in the last four years, they will draft the wrong guy.

[Jason Moore]

Whose offense is better next year, the Atlanta Falcons or Green Bay packs?

[Andy Holloway]

Green Bay, of course it is. Absolutely.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah. Jacobs will. Jacobs will do what he continues to do because Matt LaFleur is a prolific offensive head coach. They have a franchise quarterback and it will be. It'll be great.

[Mike Wright]

Just saying that that coach Matt LaFleur is the one who kept putting A.J. dillon on the field over Aaron Jones.

[Andy Holloway]

I mean, they, they did put him on the field over Aaron Jones, who was frequently hurt and always been a limited workload player and a smaller back.

[Jason Moore]

I really can see both sides because. Yeah, I talked about it a lot. I mean, I got this wrong. I talked about going into this season a lot. LaFleur himself came out and said, you know me, I want a committee. I like using multiple backs. He said that so many times. It was clear. And he's. He's got a pretty, you know, he's a trustworthy coach. So I don't know how much of it was the fact that he lost the players they had going into the season to be the committee, you know, if they get the back. But also Josh Jacobs proved he can do it and did it and is capable of doing it. If LaFleur decides I'm going to use him as a workhorse next year, he's going to be great, period.

[Andy Holloway]

That's what people do with Josh. That's, that's what he, that's what they do. That's what he's been. So we'll see. We'll see. I do think that this will be the problem with people. This is why he'll drop down, is because they'll. People don't like Josh Jacobs for some reason.

[Jason Moore]

How low you think we can get him?

[Andy Holloway]

I think you guys can drive them down even lower.

[Jason Moore]

Let's give them to the third Mike.

[Andy Holloway]

We'll take a break.

[Mike Wright]

Ah, that's a tough. That's a tough ask.

[Andy Holloway]

We'll give you the last five names here momentarily. This episode is brought to you by BetterHelp. Every new year comes with endless opportunities and blank pages for you to write your own story. For example, this year, look, we head into 2025. I want to be able to spend more time with the family, with the kids. Enjoy those days. I've got plans for 2025. What are you hoping is going to happen? However you want your story to play out, it's going to take work, it's going to take dedication. But don't worry, you don't have to do it alone. Therapy is a great option to keep you focused on living the life that you want. It's like having an assistant coach to help you move things along. It's a great tool to have on hand. I know from experience and I've got friends and family that I've experienced with therapy and the benefit that it is to their life, it's been immeasurable. So if you're not sure where to start, I would try BetterHelp. Everything's online, it's more convenient, it's more affordable. They have thousands of therapists in their network, all with different specialties. And if the first match, you know, that's a concern for people. If that's not a good fit, you can switch to someone else without worrying about any extra costs. Write your own story with better help. Visit betterhelp.comfootballers to get 10% off your first month. That's betterhelphelp.comfootballers this episode is brought to.

[Jason Moore]

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[Andy Holloway]

Kyron Williams comes in at number six, was drafted as the RB8 in the second round. His consistency rank ended up at five. He was number two in the first half. In the second half it did dip to number 12 overall. 75% good games, no bus games, 13% great games. So you didn't have, you didn't have those monster, monster performances on a regular basis. But he, you know, 1200 yards, almost 1300 yards, 14 touchdowns, not a lot in the receiving game, 34 receptions for just 182 yards. So you ask, hey, how does a guy like that end up at 6? He didn't really get involved in the receiving game. We should see some changes on the offensive side of the football for the Rams next year. Yeah, but I mean, this was a, this was a successful season. Is that how you would describe the pick? I mean, I think if you took him where he was being drafted, you were very happy.

[Jason Moore]

You're very happy. I mean, he was the running back six. He was consistent. He didn't bust. He won you some weeks and never really lost you. This is a player that I don't fully understand because he's 5, 9, 200 pounds. He's a smaller back. He plays so strong and is so hard to take down. I mean, we loved his film in Notre Dame, loved him as a prospect and it's so fun to watch him. I really enjoy watching Kyron Williams. I just don't get how it works.

[Mike Wright]

Because he has strong muscle, not fast muscle.

[Jason Moore]

I do have some very important news that's scientific.

[Andy Holloway]

You can't argue that Kyron Williams returned how many punts?

[Jason Moore]

Oh, yes.

[Andy Holloway]

For the Los Angeles Rams, at least four.

[Jason Moore]

At least the first one.

[Andy Holloway]

How many total punts?

[Jason Moore]

I'll go five, I'm going to go four.

[Andy Holloway]

12.

[Jason Moore]

All right.

[Andy Holloway]

He received 12.

[Jason Moore]

The whole punt returner narrative.

[Andy Holloway]

And he returned 21 punts in 2023. So he went down from 21 to 12.

[Jason Moore]

So this was one of the things that we talked about going into the season. And one of my top 10 tips and tricks to remember is that if you've got a great player who is succeeding and they draft depth at the position, do not be afraid of just saying that that player's great and they know he's great. Maybe that speaks to your Josh Jacobs, you know, argument that they're going to keep using him that way because this was a player who two years ago played 76% of the snaps. And then they go and draft Blake Corum and you're like, well, he's not going to be like that. Do you know how many. Do you know the percentage of snaps you played this year? 81%. They're like, we could do it even more.

[Andy Holloway]

Blake Corum averaged 3.4 rushing attempts per game. You had a period of time from weeks two to seven where no Puka Nakua was on the field. He was a red zone dominator. Over the last two years, he has 31 total touchdowns in 28 games played. Only Gibbs matches that number. And so he's entering the final year of his rookie contract. Does he get an extension?

[Jason Moore]

I don't.

[Andy Holloway]

How long will the core of this team stay together? There's always questions about Stafford.

[Mike Wright]

Get that money, Kyron.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, get that money. The problem is you're playing for the Rams, who I feel like this regime, this general manager, this head coach, learned a very costly lesson when they had the best running back in the NFL in their eyes, and Todd Gurley, and they gave. They paid him accordingly. And then the running back did what running back sometimes do. He fell off a map, is he didn't have the same burst all of a sudden. And then you had to deal with cap hits for multiple years, hurting your team's chances. I don't know that they're going to give him a big enough contract. Kyron needs to go get that money wherever he can get it.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah, he does.

[Jason Moore]

I don't know if he'll command it on the open market or not, but I will say from a dynasty perspective, he is one of my have fears. I have no fear. Next year redraft, I will be all in on Kyron. I was all in on Kyron this year. The talent's too good. The offense is great. McVeigh knows how to use him. He plays well in the system. They use him in the red zone. There's nothing not to like about Kyron Williams, but I'm not sure he's here two years from now and he.

[Andy Holloway]

Which means you would want to involve the next up as well, potentially, if it helps you they were getting Corum going at the end he broke his arm which is unfortunate. But Kyren, two straight years at RB6.

[Jason Moore]

Oh, don't do it again.

[Andy Holloway]

There's a fragility. There's a fragility with the Stafford situation. That's always going to be there, I think. But back. Well, I don't mean just him leaving but the injuries.

[Mike Wright]

Oh yeah. And the what is this offense? What is the status of Cooper Cup? A lot of questions here but I'm with Jason. I will probably just be status quo with Kyren. Of he's great and he scores a lot of touchdowns.

[Andy Holloway]

Devon hn at number seven. Jason's my guy. His consistency rank though 17.

[Jason Moore]

This is the guy.

[Andy Holloway]

This is the reality versus the fiction reality situation because drafted at RB10 and I don't think your answer is I'm.

[Jason Moore]

Happy, I'm happy or unhappy. What was the I don't think you're happy.

[Andy Holloway]

No, you're not happy with a second round pick who through the first half of the year was the 27th most consistent running back when you needed him.

[Mike Wright]

So I don't happy but you know what, you know what happened.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, that is so if we're talking about the truth, the split, I mean he couldn't get it done in the TUA list offense when Tua was out, which was two different stretches, Week 17 and Week 18 and Weeks 3 through 7, Tua didn't play for the concussion. And then what was the other injuries? Hip, something like that. It was a hip.

[Mike Wright]

We'll find out.

[Jason Moore]

And Devon Hn was completely shut down. I mean you're talking a drastic split to put it in perspective. Tell me if this changes your opinion here Andy, on Devon Hn. If you remove the only those weeks, leave all the two weeks when he played with tua, his consistency rank would have been number five, which would have been ahead of Kyren Williams in the games that Tua played. He was how many games was fantastic. That would have been 10 games.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, he was very good with Tua. I mean he was different this year though.

[Jason Moore]

He would have had very different. He would have had 75% good games, 0% bust games. Now obviously you've got a double whammy of injury risk with Devon Hn because he is in and of himself someone that's been injured before and he's undersized and then Tua is always an injury.

[Andy Holloway]

This is the first tier of running back that we're talking about today where there are more variables that can go wrong. They don't have to go wrong. There are variables that can go wrong. His injuries to his injuries, the offensive system, Tyree Kill, Jalen Waddle, short area targets. No, no breakaway plays. All of these things. McDonald's like the way that A Chan got it done last year isn't the way he got it done this year.

[Jason Moore]

Oh, correct. Last year was all breakaway, explosive plays.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah.

[Jason Moore]

This year was. He was a wide receiver.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, he was. He was a wide receiver.

[Mike Wright]

And every running back, like every running back is going to take a hit of some kind.

[Andy Holloway]

And most are basically missed the year too.

[Mike Wright]

If you don't have your starting quarterback because your offense won't be as good.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah. I don't want to discredit how good he was at tua. I just. Even his good games were different than last year.

[Jason Moore]

Yes.

[Andy Holloway]

So it's hard to predict the future with him compared to the other spots.

[Mike Wright]

But I'm saying like go to the Baltimore Ravens. Lamar misses three games. Derek Henry doesn't vanish into the mist. Correct. The Philadelphia Eagles, Saquon Barkley doesn't disappear because different archetype of a player. And the fact it's H. And it's so weird because that in fantasy, if you're in a half or a full point scoring for per catch, you want. You want this more like you want 70 plus receptions more than you want the 250 plus carries. There's targets and receptions are worth so much more. But if you lose that completely when your quarterback's gone, he's just. He is a very sketchy pick.

[Andy Holloway]

Number eight is James Cook. Who is. Mike's my guy. Drafted at RB14 in the fourth round. Consistency of nine. Definitely a win. You saw what he was taking.

[Jason Moore]

I'm taking a win on my guy.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah, go on.

[Andy Holloway]

Okay. Thousand yards, 16 touchdowns, 38 targets, 32 receptions, 27% great games, 60% good, 13% busts. He was. He took advantage of bad defenses. They were a team that when they were ahead, they knew the recipe. The recipe was to hand that football off. He definitely had a lot of big plays. It was fun to watch. This year the identity of the offense changed and you know, the team struggled to find weapons in the passing game. I didn't need to for a lot of games, but I mean he had fewer opportunities, snaps and yards than last year and yet had 16 rushing touchdowns.

[Jason Moore]

But.

[Mike Wright]

But Andy, voice of public opinion.

[Andy Holloway]

Haven't heard from you in a while.

[Jason Moore]

I thought that they won't use James Cook around the goal line and he can only have two rushing touchdowns a year and that was the whole knock on him.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, it was weird because it's not like Josh Allen wasn't scoring two rushing.

[Jason Moore]

Touchdowns rookie year, two rushing touchdowns sophomore year. They're like, when we get around the goal line, we're not going to let him. 16, he tied O.J. right?

[Andy Holloway]

I won't have him next year. I won't have James Cook.

[Mike Wright]

I won't.

[Andy Holloway]

I won't. Because I think the passing pendulum will swing back and forth a little bit year to year. Ray Davis is a really good player. They showed a willingness to use different players in different scenarios. And 16 rushing touchdowns is very, very, very hard to repeat. I don't care if you're Lashawn McCoy. I don't care if you're Derek. Well, not Derek Henry can repeat, but I don't care who you are. It's hard to report that number.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah, the lack of opportunities and the fact that it wasn't just Ray Davis. I mean, you get. Ty Johnson's getting important work in here. James Cook, it doesn't seem like he will ever be way over this in terms of opportunities. So he's. He is capped and he's. His ceiling is capped by the amount of touchdowns he gets.

[Jason Moore]

But he.

[Mike Wright]

He's a great, efficient player.

[Andy Holloway]

Any thoughts on James Cook there?

[Jason Moore]

It's just crazy to me that he was the running back 11 last year with two touchdowns. He had 16 this year and he was the running back eight.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah.

[Andy Holloway]

All right, we'll put a pin in it. We have a second episode for the running back truth coming up and we will tackle running backs nine through, however many we can get through on our next episode. But first.

[Kyle]

Fantasy Face off presented by DraftKings.

[Jason Moore]

Look.

[Mike Wright]

Look who who's back, boys.

[Jason Moore]

Mike's got his crown.

[Mike Wright]

The king of the castle.

[Andy Holloway]

Jason and I flamed out this week. We'll just be honest about it. Mike continues his hot streak. I was trying to find my notes on the two I picked this week. I had to scroll through so many pictures of Rex Ryan's teeth before I could get to my two picks. Last week, I'm actually. I'm actually rolling out the exact, exact same.

[Mike Wright]

What could go wrong, player?

[Andy Holloway]

This week I am taking Josh Allen over 228.5 passing yards against the Chiefs.

[Mike Wright]

Okay.

[Andy Holloway]

And then I am taking Travis Kelsey under 70.5 receiving yards.

[Jason Moore]

Wait a minute. Read that again. Read that again.

[Andy Holloway]

Allen over 228.5. Kelsey under 70.5 receiving.

[Jason Moore]

Well, I have Kelsey under 70 and a half yards receiving and I have more than Josh Allen. But I got 229 and a half, so.

[Mike Wright]

Oh, you didn't get in fast.

[Jason Moore]

If he gets 229, I'm gonna be so pissed. You picked the same two I did. So tell the people.

[Andy Holloway]

Two clowns over here just playing in the mud. Mike, what do you think? That's wild.

[Mike Wright]

So for this week's pick six, as we're giving you two of our picks, I have Josh Allen. I'm taking the more on the rushing touchdowns because when the, when the big games are on the line.

[Andy Holloway]

Is that 0.5?

[Mike Wright]

Yes. Okay, so all he needs is one when the, when the big games are on the line. Josh Allen runs six rushing touchdowns over his last six playoff games. He, the numbers are he runs more in the playoffs because he's not taking no chances. And then I'm going to take Kareem hunt more than 36 and a half rushing yards. He's been getting more work. Pacheco was my last last week because he just. Pacheco does not look the same. Not that I think Kareem Hunt is amazing, but it's 36 and a half rushing yards and the Buffalo Bills defense, they're a bit of a. They're a bit of a run funnel right now. So I like him more than 36. 36 and a half.

[Andy Holloway]

So those are our pick six picks for the upcoming championship weekend. That was fantasy Face off presented by DraftKings Sportsbook. DraftKings Sportsbook is crowning a king of the end zone every NFL game day. Download the DraftKings sportsbook app and use the code BALLERS that is the code BALLERS to compete for a share of 2 million in bonus bets only on DraftKings. The crown is yours. Don't worry. We've got a foot cast for all of you supporting the [e-mail] coming out later today. And we have another episode the part two of our running back truth next week.

[Mike Wright]

Enjoy the football everybody.

[Jason Moore]

Goodbye gambling problem.

[Kyle]

Call 1-800-GAMBLER in New York, call 877-8-Hopeny or text openy467-369 in Connecticut. Help is available for problem gambling. Call 888-78-97777 or visit ccpg.org Please play responsibly on behalf of Boot Hill casino and Resort in Kansas, 21 and over. Age and eligibility varies by jurisdiction. Boyd in Ontario. One token per customer. Tokens expire at the start of the final of NFL game each day. When offered, use token on day's longest touchdown scorer to receive equal share of 2 million in non withdrawable bon expire in 168 hours. Additional wagering restrictions apply. For additional terms of responsible gaming resources, see sportsbook draftkings.com promos.