Top 10 RB Rankings + Undrafted Gems - Fantasy Football Podcast for 8/12

Summary

Fantasy Footballers Podcast Summary Episode: Top 10 RB Rankings + Undrafted Gems – Fantasy Football Podcast for 8/12
Release Date: August 12, 2025
Hosts: Andy Holloway, Jason Moore, Mike "The Fantasy Hitman" Wright
Knowledge Cutoff: October 2023

---

Episode Overview

In this episode of the Fantasy Footballers Podcast, Andy Holloway, Jason Moore, and Mike Wright delve into their consensus rankings for the top 10 running backs (RBs) in fantasy football, discuss notable undrafted gems to consider for your roster, and break down the latest NFL news impacting fantasy managers. The trio provides in-depth analysis, shares strong opinions, and offers actionable advice to help listeners dominate their leagues.

---

Undrafted Gems

The hosts kick off the episode by identifying several late-round RBs and other positions who could offer significant value despite not being drafted early.

Ray Davis (Buffalo Bills)

• Jason Moore highlights Ray Davis as a promising undrafted RB:

  “Ray Davis is someone to pay attention to because if week one something happens, even though he’s in a timeshare, he’s a good player on a great offense who would have opportunities, especially as a pass-catcher.” ([05:54])

Braylon Allen (New York Jets)

• Mike Wright discusses Braylon Allen’s potential:

  “Braylon Allen is the most rushing yards ever for a running back before turning 21 because that’s what he is. He’s just a baby boy. He is a baby boy.” ([08:06])

• He notes the Jets' plan for a timeshare involving Breece Hall, Davis Allen, and Braylon Allen, emphasizing Braylon’s under-the-radar ADP.

Tori Horton (Seattle Seahawks)

• Andy Holloway introduces Tori Horton as a wide receiver gem:

  “Tori Horton seems to be winning the starting outside wide receiver job over MVs in Seattle camp. He’s 630-96, a 90th percentile size guy, 4.41 speed, looks the part, and is ready to push a button.” ([08:49])

---

NFL News

The hosts provide updates on player injuries and other news that could affect fantasy rosters.

Jordan Love (Green Bay Packers)

• Andy Holloway reports on Jordan Love’s surgery:

  “Jordan Love is going to undergo a procedure on his left thumb to address a torn ligament. He’s expected to be ready for week one.” ([11:22])

• Jason Moore adds:

  “We’re not worried too much overall,” ([12:25]) though Andy expresses concerns about missing a hot start due to immediate post-surgery recovery.

Malik Neighbors (Las Vegas Raiders)

• Concerns about Malik Neighbors' shoulder injury are discussed:

  “Malik Neighbors is a high draft capital pick. You’ve got to spend a first-round pick to get him in a lot of leagues.” ([13:05])

James Cook (Buffalo Bills)

• Andy Holloway and Jason Moore discuss Cook’s ongoing contract negotiations and practice participation:

  “Sean McDermott telling reporters he’s confident James Cook will practice today … the yo-yo offseason continues for James Cook.” ([14:29])

Ricky Pierce & Injuries (San Francisco 49ers)

• Injuries to wide receivers and running backs like Ricky Pierce and Amir Abdullah are covered, highlighting the impact on San Francisco's offensive depth.

---

Top 10 Running Backs Rankings

The core of the episode features the hosts’ consensus rankings for the top 10 RBs in fantasy football, providing extensive analysis for each player.

---

10. Josh Jacobs (Las Vegas Raiders)

• Andy Holloway emphasizes Josh Jacobs’ consistent performance and workhorse role:

  “Josh Jacobs finished as RB5 last year. If you look at how the season went, he was due for touchdowns because they figured out how to utilize his skill set around the goal line.” ([19:27])

• Jason Moore concurs, noting Jacobs’ steady production despite a system that previously limited his touchdown output.

9. Chase Brown (Cincinnati Bengals)

• Jason Moore highlights Chase Brown’s dual-threat capability:

  “Chase Brown is on pace for 94 targets for over 1200 rushing yards, over 600 receiving yards. A true dual-threat back.” ([25:01])

• Mike Wright adds excitement about his target volume:

  “Chase Brown's targets are worth a lot more than the carries. I’m projecting high PPR numbers.” ([26:14])

8. Bucky Irving (Tampa Bay Buccaneers)

• Andy Holloway praises Bucky Irving’s explosive play potential:

  “Bucky Irving was RB7 from week 10 on when his takeover really came to fruition. He’s got a chance to climb to RB3 with increased workload.” ([28:56])

• Jason Moore discusses his high upside with potential volume increases:

  “Bucky is good enough to be a LaShawn McCoy type of player with high volume.” ([30:00])

7. Devon HN (Miami Dolphins)

• Andy Holloway focuses on Devon HN’s reception prowess:

  “Devon HN was the number one running back reception leader in the game. His pass-catching work makes him a valuable PPR asset.” ([33:43])

• Jason Moore points out his dependency on Tua Tagovailoa’s health:

  “When Tua is there, Devon’s production is high. Without him, Devon disappears.” ([35:15])

6. Ashton Ginn (Las Vegas Raiders)

• Andy Holloway warns about the Raiders' unstable offensive line:

  “Ashton Ginn falls to RB6 due to concerns about the offensive line and system uncertainties.” ([37:39])

• Jason Moore regards him as a bust risk:

  “Ashton Ginn is a sure bust risk because he’s never been in NFL games and comes from a less competitive college program.” ([36:53])

5. Derrick Henry (Baltimore Ravens)

• Andy Holloway lauds Derrick Henry’s resilience and consistent fantasy production:

  “Derrick Henry is the number two RB in fantasy last year with 19.2 fantasy points per game and continues to be a dominant force.” ([41:15])

• Jason Moore notes Henry's match with Baltimore’s strong offense:

  “He’s part of a team that’s leading many games, allowing him to score numerous touchdowns.” ([43:08])

4. Jameer Gibbs (Detroit Lions)

• Andy Holloway describes Gibbs as an explosive asset:

  “Jameer Gibbs is the most fun player to watch with big play potential and a high target volume.” ([44:25])

• Jason Moore expresses cautious optimism:

  “Gibbs could match his draft cost if he secures a major role, but offensive line concerns remain.” ([46:09])

3. Christian McCaffrey (San Francisco 49ers)

• Andy Holloway underscores McCaffrey’s elite talent if healthy:

  “Christian McCaffrey, when healthy, is the number one RB in football with over 300 opportunities.” ([48:05])

• Jason Moore warns about his injury history:

  “Drafting McCaffrey is like gambling with a scratcher ticket—there’s a high reward but significant risk.” ([52:03])

2. Saquon Barkley (Philadelphia Eagles)

• Andy Holloway praises Saquon’s magical performance potential:

  “Saquon Barkley had a magical year with 21.2 fantasy points per game and remains a top RB despite past injuries.” ([53:02])

• Jason Moore emphasizes his high ceiling when healthy:

  “Saquon brings a high workload and explosive play potential, making him a valuable pick if he stays healthy.” ([54:07])

1. Bijan Robinson (Atlanta Falcons)

• Andy Holloway crowns Bijan Robinson as the consensus top RB:

  “Bijan Robinson is a floor play with top-five potential, heavily involved in both rushing and receiving, and integral to his team’s offense.” ([56:11])

• Jason Moore supports his consistent involvement:

  “Bijan creates yards each time he touches the ball, making him a reliable and high-ceiling RB.” ([57:08])

---

Key Insights and Conclusions

• Consistency vs. Upside: The discussion emphasizes balancing RBs’ consistency with their potential for explosive games. Players like Josh Jacobs offer steady production, while others like Chase Brown and Bucky Irving provide high upside.

• Injury Concerns: A recurring theme is the impact of injuries on RB performance and draft strategies. Christian McCaffrey and Saquon Barkley, despite their high ceilings, come with significant injury risks that managers must weigh against their potential rewards.

• Team Dynamics: The offensive schemes and team stability are critical factors influencing RB performance. Baltimore’s strong offense benefits Derrick Henry, while inconsistencies in teams like the Raiders and Dolphins introduce uncertainties for RBs like Ashton Ginn and Devon HN.

• Undrafted Value: Late-round RBs and other positions can offer substantial value, especially in dynamic team scenarios where injuries or coaching changes open up opportunities for under-the-radar players.

• Draft Strategies: The hosts advocate for strategic drafting, suggesting managers look beyond ADP and consider the broader context of each RB’s role, team environment, and injury history to maximize their fantasy team's potential.

---

Final Thoughts

This episode provides a comprehensive analysis of the top RBs and emerging undrafted players, equipping fantasy managers with the insights needed to make informed decisions. By balancing reliability with explosive potential and staying attuned to NFL news, listeners are well-prepared to navigate their drafts and optimize their rosters for the upcoming season.

---

For more in-depth analysis and the latest fantasy football insights, visit ultimate draft kit.com and join the Fantasy Footballers community at jointhefoot.com.

Transcript

[Andy Holloway]

Morning.

[Jason Moore]

One sausage McMuffin with egg, please.

[Andy Holloway]

Okay, your total is.

[Jason Moore]

Wait. Let's negotiate. How's about you throw in hash browns for a dollar?

[Andy Holloway]

Well, yes, sir, that price is already a dollar.

[Jason Moore]

Take it or leave it.

[Andy Holloway]

Take it, I guess.

[Jason Moore]

Buy one, add one for a dollar on sausage McMuffin with egg, hash browns.

[Andy Holloway]

And more with McValue.

[Jason Moore]

Most locations open 5am or earlier. Price and participation may vary. Limited time only. Valid for item of equal or lesser value.

[Andy Holloway]

Ba da ba ba ba.

[Jason Moore]

The Fantasy Footballer Studio is sponsored by Walmart. Welcome to the Fantasy Footballers Podcast with your hosts, Andy Holloway, Jason Moore and Mike Wright.

[Andy Holloway]

Oh, welcome in Tuesday, August 12, the fantasy footballers Podcast. Mike the Fantasy hitman, Jason Moore. I'm Andy Holloway. Now, I'm looking at the show doc here as we get started and I'm not sure I trust one piece of information. It says this is show 17,800.

[Jason Moore]

Oh, man, we've been at this a while.

[Andy Holloway]

Was I in a coma for about 15,000 shows?

[Jason Moore]

You don't remember when we started at 12 years old? Yeah, okay, that was.

[Andy Holloway]

We were. I think that's right.

[Jason Moore]

First of the podcast.

[Andy Holloway]

I don't think it's show 17,800, but it is the second show of the week. We welcome you in.

[Mike Wright]

I do know that Adam Thielen will still be playing when we get to football, when we get to 17,000.

[Andy Holloway]

I don't know what that would mean for how old we are if we get to 17,800, but it's probably. It probably means AI has made some scientific breakthroughs and our floating heads are still talking about fantasy football. Was that our voice?

[Mike Wright]

We were robots.

[Andy Holloway]

We became robots.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah.

[Andy Holloway]

Okay, we got a running back ranking. Show the top 10 running backs today to talk through. We got some important NFL news to break down. Undrafted gems. We're going to talk about some more players this week that we think are interesting and. And will not be drafted, but you should pay attention to them. And we are still announcing the big deal.

[Mike Wright]

Yes.

[Andy Holloway]

Go ahead, Mike, take it away.

[Mike Wright]

UDK for life. Oh, you doing the. Yeah, getting hyped. Look, if you already have a udk, UDK plus Ultimate Food Clan membership, you're already in. Your eligibility is already set. We do this once a year if you want to get in. Look, you're going to get the ultimate draft kit. Grab it right now and you're entered in this contest to get an ultimate draft kit for life, which will culminate and we will announce on a big live stream this upcoming Monday at 6pm Eastern.

[Andy Holloway]

Also giving away a signed Jamar Chase jersey on that live stream as well. So looking forward to it. Ultimate DraftKid.com you can check that out.

[Mike Wright]

I do want to say yes. Everyone make sure you stay tuned to today's show because at some point during the show, I won't tell you when a gigantic super pop star is showing up to announce something huge.

[Jason Moore]

You talk about our podcast war, Mike?

[Mike Wright]

No, no. What. What are you talking about?

[Jason Moore]

Oh, I'm just. I'm just talking about.

[Mike Wright]

I don't know what you're talking about. I'm talking about we just. For no reason at all, there is a super mega celebrity on this show and they got a big announcement.

[Andy Holloway]

They're announcing a new.

[Jason Moore]

I put. We put the Kelsey's on blast and then all of a sudden, yeah, we bring on.

[Mike Wright]

Weird how that happened.

[Jason Moore]

Overtake us in the rankings. Nonsense. Keanu. Keanu. Just stay back behind the story for a little while.

[Andy Holloway]

Mr. Reeves, did you say our counter to the Taylor switch?

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, you're darn right, yeah.

[Mike Wright]

He's announcing the next three. John Wicks.

[Jason Moore]

Oh, I blew it. Oh, no.

[Mike Wright]

Oh, okay, Mr. Reeves, you don't need to be here anymore. We spoiled the surprise.

[Jason Moore]

Dang it. There will be more Wicks.

[Andy Holloway]

I tagged Josh Allen, Lamar Jackson, Patrick.

[Mike Wright]

Are they coming on the show?

[Andy Holloway]

I'm sure they're going to answer me soon and then we can counter punch.

[Jason Moore]

This darn Kelsey is called Don Tavian.

[Mike Wright]

Is it Don Tavian Wicks there? Gosh, this time he can't catch.

[Andy Holloway]

Goodness gracious. But yeah, stay tuned for that.

[Jason Moore]

Undrafted gems presented by Walmart.

[Andy Holloway]

During the month here leading up to kickoff, we are identifying some late round undrafted players to keep an eye on as preseason rolls on. We've had injuries as well, so suddenly some other players are becoming maybe more interesting. But give me a name.

[Jason Moore]

Well, injuries and holdouts. For mine, I want to bring up Ray Davis, a name we haven't really talked a lot about. Not enough this offseason. The. The Buffalo Bills, one of the best offenses, obviously led by Josh Allen. You expect them to score a ton of points. Last year, 16 rushing touchdowns from James Cook. There's a lot of fantasy value here right now. James Cook trending towards the right direction to. He practiced today and play. So, you know, I don't think he's going to hold out into the season and miss game checks by any means. But we have seen people that are skipping practices, holding in. All of a sudden the season starts, they're not fully ready. Maybe their body isn't ready injuries can happen.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah, you fat Thor.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, you fat Thor.

[Andy Holloway]

And Ray Davis, that worked out so perfectly for you.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, it really did.

[Andy Holloway]

Josh Jacobs that year doesn't make sense. He was that bad and then all of a sudden he's great again. So don't fat Thor, don't fat Thor.

[Jason Moore]

And maybe don't James Cook. So Ray Davis currently is just involved in a three way timeshare and it's not great, but I do think that he is a very good player on a great team. Really liked his tape. He was a rookie last year and he showed some flashes. You know, he didn't play as much as you would want, but when he got the opportunity, he was pretty good. And in fact, I just want to remind people there was a game James Cook missed last year, first of all, in the preseason that we saw where James Cook didn't play with the starters. Ray Davis was like six of eight snaps. He was, he was really involved. And in the one game last year that James Cook missed, all of a sudden Ray Davis, who had to that point, you know, been playing very few snaps, came in 20 carries, 97 yards, three receptions for 55. He was a really valuable running back that week. So I, you know, I just like targeting when you, you're not going to necessarily draft him, right? This is undrafted gyms, but pay attention because if week one something happens, I do think Ray Davis, even though it will continue to be a, a timeshare, he is a good player on a great offense who would have opportunities, good pass catcher, able to be used around the goal line. So he's, he's someone to pay attention to.

[Andy Holloway]

Last week we talked about Zach Ertz, Woody Marks, the backup running back for the Texans, Austin Eckler was, was Mike's pick. Mike, who do you have this week?

[Mike Wright]

So I mentioned him last. What last week?

[Andy Holloway]

I guess it could have been yesterday.

[Jason Moore]

Yes, we would.

[Mike Wright]

I don't.

[Andy Holloway]

This is show 17,800.

[Mike Wright]

No idea. But we did a mock draft and I brought up at the very end Braylon Allen and then I mismanaged my mock draft and should have drafted him instead of my, my second quarterback. But it's Braylon Allen, running back for the New York jets, which fun fact for Braylon Allen. He has the most rushing yards ever for a running back before turning 21 because that's what he is. He's just a, he's. He is a baby boy.

[Jason Moore]

He's a humongous.

[Mike Wright]

But he is the incredible Hulk, like athletically gifted. And coach Aaron Glenn of The jets, they have been talking pretty much the whole off season about how this is going to be a timeshare. It's the reason we're concerned about Breece Hall's adp. And so we need to look at the other side of that pendulum of Braylon Allen's ADP is way too low. Now, it could turn out that it's really Davis Allen and Breece hall, the three of them, and then we got a big problem. But if it just turns into his version of the Lions, with Braylon Allen being so young and so strong, there is a chance that he really carves out a role in this offense.

[Andy Holloway]

All right, the name I'll bring up Tori Horton, wide receiver for the Seattle Seahawks. He was a fifth round pick out of Colorado State. The camp vibes have been so positive. He's turned heads, he's making plays every single day. Caught a touchdown in the Week 1 preseason game and he seems to be winning the starting outside wide receiver job over MVs in Seattle camp. I think as the years go by and I have, you know, in league of record, I have like so few picks every year.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah.

[Andy Holloway]

I'm just becoming more and more addicted to taking shots on rookies later in the draft.

[Jason Moore]

I believe your second pick is in the seventh round.

[Andy Holloway]

We don't need to be specific about my draft. There's a cost that's not hyperbolic too, so.

[Jason Moore]

No, no, no, that's. These are called facts. So also all the rookies will be gone by your second pick.

[Andy Holloway]

Well, not Tory Horton.

[Jason Moore]

Maybe not.

[Andy Holloway]

So he's 631-96. He's a 90th percentile size guy, 441 speed looks the part, at least so far. And you have like the situation there where you've lost some stalwarts in the receiving game. You know, Tyler Lockett no longer a part of this offense. DK Metcalf is gone. We talk about that every time we talk about jsn, but we don't talk about it necessarily in the context of somebody else stepping up opportunities. Even though a fantas gun. Right. We're figuring out the AJ Barner and Arroyo thing. So I think there's some opportunities. You look like a man that's like ready to push a button.

[Jason Moore]

Well, we just talked about him on the Dynasty Nasty Boys episode.

[Mike Wright]

Oh, yes.

[Jason Moore]

And you know Tori Horton. Yeah, Tori Horton.

[Andy Holloway]

Oh, okay. I should subscribe to that.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, you should listen. Great show. But it's one of those things. Mike's brought this up a lot where it's like JSN is a slot player. Cooper cup is a slot player. They're not sure how it's going to work out.

[Mike Wright]

Does Cooper cup even still have it?

[Jason Moore]

Right. So all of a sudden you've got this guy, Tory Horton, their rookie, drafted by, you know, this regime that he. He's an outside guy and he's pretty much got that role locked up. So it's pretty cool to see he's.

[Mike Wright]

Going to do his best and forget the rest.

[Andy Holloway]

There it is. That was undrafted gym sponsored by Walmart. Who knew that you could get what you need in as fast as an hour? Get free Delivery on your First Express Delivery Order with the code Express Valid for First Express Delivery Order. $50 minimum. Subject to availability restrictions apply.

[Jason Moore]

News and notes from around the league presented by Progressive insur. Well, the reaper doing work.

[Andy Holloway]

Look, look. The reason Jason said that.

[Jason Moore]

Look.

[Andy Holloway]

Jordan Love is going to undergo a procedure on his left thumb to address a torn ligament. He's expected to be ready for week one surgery today. So this now combined with the news that Jaden Reed may or may not be available for week one. You know, Jordan Love last year dealt with injuries the whole season and it restricted.

[Mike Wright]

This is non throwing thumb just to make sure people know.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah. And it's not his legs which he says he wants to use more this year, but it's not great. You just don't really want to see injuries like this happen. You want to get off to a hot start. Jordan Love has been one of my favorite values in the draft. I not necessarily, you know, fully changing that, but it's just, you know, you want to get off to a hot start and you don't want to be recovering from surgery as you go into game one.

[Mike Wright]

We have, look, our injury guy, Matthew Betts, he says he's not concerned with and Matthew was saying you might see more handoffs to the left side of the line in the first few games, but overall not worried.

[Andy Holloway]

Yep.

[Mike Wright]

So. But I agree you don't love hearing that as we're entering real draft season.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah. A reminder, the packers schedule is one of the reasons why I loved Jordan Love. Their favorite in the first eight games. I think that team is very, very good. I believe two of us picked him to win the division.

[Jason Moore]

Yep.

[Andy Holloway]

I know I was one, bro.

[Mike Wright]

You think? I remember that.

[Andy Holloway]

That was over 15,000 shows ago.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah.

[Andy Holloway]

But you know, now Jaden Reed banged up Christian Watson. He's going to probably start the season on the the PUP list.

[Jason Moore]

No surprise there.

[Andy Holloway]

No, that one is. That one was expected. ACL injury Additional damage. All right, here's somewhat. Potentially significant.

[Mike Wright]

We need some boots on the ground here.

[Andy Holloway]

Malik Neighbors, still not practicing. Did not practice on Tuesday. He hasn't practiced, I believe since the sixth when he came off the field. Said this is part of the plan. And the plan, oh, he's resting one of those.

[Mike Wright]

He's fine.

[Jason Moore]

It turns out a lot of NFL teams this year, they are planning to not have their players play. Like their plan is to have players not practice.

[Andy Holloway]

So if you come out of your draft and let's say you've got like Matthew Stafford and Malik Neighbors and Kenneth Walker, like, are these all. Are you plan.

[Jason Moore]

You're like, oh, my plan is to have no. 1 week one. Like, no, I'm planning for this.

[Andy Holloway]

So you rest them in fantasy. Does that help them?

[Jason Moore]

Right. Yeah, rest up. I need you.

[Mike Wright]

I need double points next week.

[Andy Holloway]

I was going to say that'd be a funny format is if you sit a guy, you get like points and a half the next week. But Malik Neighbors, this is a shoulder injury is what's being announced. And that is not like the toe is what he's been managing since college. So this is something we need to follow up on, but we want to surface it right now. It's, you know, Malik Neighbors is a high draft capital pick. You got to spend a first round pick to get Malik Neighbors in a lot of leagues, maybe second round.

[Mike Wright]

And I'm still good with my recommendation, Mr. Neighbors, of just pop that toe off. I would not duplicate that.

[Andy Holloway]

Can't pop for your arm. Okay, thank you, Mike. Sean McDermott telling reporters he's confident James Cook will practice today and he did and that things have changed. It said that they had some discussions and conversations around the contract. So now he's back out there practicing. The yo yo off season of James Cook continues.

[Jason Moore]

Does that insinuate that he's about to have a contract come through?

[Andy Holloway]

I don't. I don't know if I'd go.

[Mike Wright]

Or they said, you will not get a contract. And he said, oh, or we'll work.

[Andy Holloway]

We'll work really hard, we'll continue to work hard, but we need you on the field. That's part of the equation, getting ready for the season. I don't know. I'm not there. And James Cook, he's playing by some new rules. You know, he could walk off. He could be walking off the practice field right now.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah.

[Andy Holloway]

And we would not know. And that could be his thing. Like, ah, you thought I was.

[Jason Moore]

I do, I do. Half practice.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, you pay Me half of what I deserve. I do have practice. The 49ers.

[Mike Wright]

Goodness gracious.

[Andy Holloway]

You know, Brandon Iuk on track to be back around week six. That is a long time from now.

[Jason Moore]

That's why he's been off our board pretty much the whole off season. We knew that this was an injury. He was going to start on the pop, which.

[Andy Holloway]

Which also. Let me just throw this out there. Another player that we said, hey, maybe they'll go back for week one. That doesn't look like they'll be back for a while. Darnell Mooney of the Falcons. Yeah, he's also in this camp now.

[Jason Moore]

Where it's like, yeah, like last. Didn't they say we hope to have him this season?

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, and well, that. I mean, the most recent comment was like, yeah, he should be back at some point this season.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, it's like, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. Where did it back it up escalated.

[Andy Holloway]

Quickly, but what I was getting to. Jordan Watkins, another wide receiver, a Rookie for the 49ers, is now out a month with a high ankle sprain. They currently have Ricky Pierce all back. Who was hurt? John Jennings is hurt. Ayuka's hurt. Demarcus Robinson played in the preseason game.

[Jason Moore]

He should be suspended.

[Andy Holloway]

He could have a big role, but he's probably going to get suspended. Jacob cowing hamstring Watkins now, high ankle sprain. But that doesn't even speak of the running back room where they've lost Garrindo and Jordan James. And now Amir Abdullah is on injured reserve.

[Jason Moore]

Oh, my gosh. Abdullah. I mean, he barely. What are you.

[Andy Holloway]

It's like he walked up the plane and tripped down the thing. Off the plane like the stairs.

[Mike Wright]

You guys remember an old Marty Short movie? Pure luck.

[Andy Holloway]

No, we don't. No, we don't.

[Mike Wright]

Okay, well, everyone at home just. Just enjoy how good that reference was.

[Andy Holloway]

Maybe not every. Maybe not ever.

[Jason Moore]

Maybe just Papa Josh, you. I'm sure you remember that old.

[Mike Wright]

This is when we were kids. Kyle knows it. Thank you.

[Andy Holloway]

Okay. All right.

[Mike Wright]

Goodness gracious.

[Andy Holloway]

You got one, Mike. Come on.

[Mike Wright]

He gets stung by the bee and he starts swelling.

[Andy Holloway]

But is the principle of this that just bad things keep happening to him? Ok.

[Mike Wright]

He has un.

[Jason Moore]

What was the name of that?

[Mike Wright]

Pure luck.

[Jason Moore]

Oh, I do remember.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah. Yeah, you do. You do.

[Jason Moore]

I will. It was the bee. The bee sting reminded me.

[Mike Wright]

Okay, I'll wait for my up ball.

[Jason Moore]

That was the beginning of Glick.

[Mike Wright]

Yes.

[Andy Holloway]

Jiminy Glick. The 49ers, the off season, the injuries, the. I mean, it's Just year after year after year we go through this.

[Jason Moore]

Listen, Christian and George stay in a bubble, okay? You're the two most important fantasy assets there in San Francisco and both don't even hang around.

[Andy Holloway]

I was going to say both have been hurt before quite a bit. So it's like maybe practice somewhere else. Matthew Stafford, the latest word there. Sean McVeigh saying the team will be, quote, flexible and fluid when dealing with him recovering from his back injury. That's kind of how we are with the Doosers when they have to leave in the middle of the show for bathroom breaks.

[Mike Wright]

Right, Right.

[Jason Moore]

We're flexible, they're fluid.

[Andy Holloway]

Right? Yeah, yeah.

[Mike Wright]

Defluiting.

[Andy Holloway]

He was supposed to practice on Monday but ended up being out.

[Mike Wright]

Look, it's all going to plan.

[Jason Moore]

It's the plan. The plan is that we're flexible.

[Mike Wright]

The theme of 2025, it really is.

[Andy Holloway]

It's like plan instead of, you know, it's all glass half full.

[Mike Wright]

Dude. I have a plan for about 2pm to 4pm today, guys. Take a nap.

[Andy Holloway]

Okay? Yeah, that's resting. You, you and Kenneth. That was news and notes sponsored By Progressive Insurance quote today at progressive.com, progressive Casualty Insurance Company affiliates and third party insurers not available in all states or situations covered subject to policy terms, limits and conditions. We'll take a break. We'll hit the countdown.

[Jason Moore]

Running backs.

[Andy Holloway]

All right, it is time for our countdown. The top 10 running backs by consensus rankings. We're looking at half PPR rankings. A reminder, all of our tiers and tier based rankings are in the ultimate draft kit along with customizable scoring. So you can import your league printable cheat sheets that are compatible with your league. And again, that's on mobile. There's the new value Scout tool, the draft analyzer. A lot of resources. You can learn about that atultimate draft kit.com let's begin.

[Jason Moore]

Number 10.

[Andy Holloway]

Well, he's healthy right now. Josh Jacobs, 27 years old, dominant season last year in Green Bay. I've got him at 8, Jason at 12, Mike at 11, comes in at 10. In our consensus being drafted as the running back nine right now. Josh Jacobs.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, I don't mind it either. I mean this is a guy who finished as the running back five last year. And if you look at how the season went along, it was, there was a point last year after, you know, a quarter, a third of the season was in where we were talking about Josh Jacobs not getting touchdowns. It's hard to even remember like you know, he was like due for touchdowns because Then they figured it out and he got a touchdown every single week. He was so consistent, so dominant. It's part of the reason why I've been kind of down on Andrew Luck, I've been kind of down on Jordan Love a little bit. Just because what they did around the goal line was so effective with Josh Jacobs towards the end of last year. If that were to continue, if that was the plan, they just figured out how to utilize his skill set and their offensive line scheme around the goal line where it was pretty much unstoppable. If that continued, Josh Jacobs would be a great pick. I don't, I don't have any problem. Like I, I've got him a few spots below where his, you know, ADP is ranking wise but he can absolutely like I don't see him being drafted at his ceiling at running back.

[Andy Holloway]

Well, the three check boxes yesterday, right. Touchdowns, workhorse role, winning team. Those all are there for Josh Jacobs. The fourth most carries last year, fourth most red zone touches. Led the NFL 14 rushing touchdowns inside the 10. So they went to him like you said. And I think it's almost interesting that you, you know, you kind of brought up the fat Thor for a second. But if you look at what his resume is that season where he played 13 games and it was a disaster for Las Vegas and he left the team that was very much the outlier of his career like and the off season demand for Josh Jacobs and free agency showed that teams recognized that this just wasn't what Josh Jacobs was all about. You go back the year before he was the running back three and you know in Las Vegas that team was not just magic season. Yeah, I mean it was 17.8 fantasy points a game. But last year back up to 16.2, his second highest of his career. Two of the last three years he's been just a fantasy force. So we know that potential. I don't feel like he's as he's not James Cook in the touchdown regression fears because James Cook's workload is so much and there's so much more like history of not scoring in Buffalo and the three headed monster there.

[Jason Moore]

They have other options. The fourth checkbox for me, if there was a fourth, which there isn't, we.

[Andy Holloway]

Can add as many checkboxes then the.

[Jason Moore]

Fourth checkbox is to have injury prone, worthless backs behind you. Yeah, I mean there's no competition. Like my worry about Josh Jacobs last year was that this is a system that has always been, you know, a timeshare committee situation and you know, they've talked about that. Like that's their preference. But you can't do that if you don't have the personnel. They can't go into the season and have a 50, 50 time split here. They don't have the other running backs. Marshawn Lloyd is made of the same stuff that Kendra Miller is made of. It's like Laffy Taffy. You just can't stay healthy. And so Josh Jacobs is going to be a workhorse back for a good offense.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah, my coming into the off season, all my concerns were does Marshawn Lloyd show why he was a third round pick? Does the. Does it swing back for Green bay where in 2023, 24% of their touchdowns were rushing touchdowns and then that jumped all the way up to 45 this past year. So it was like seeing what Lafleur has done with Jordan Love. They like to throw. They like when they're getting in closer. But now you have the Jordan Love injury to start. Marshawn Lloyd is hurt. They just signed. I don't know if you guys saw Tyrion Davis Price, a name from the past.

[Andy Holloway]

Yes.

[Mike Wright]

From the relics of the San Francisco draft era.

[Andy Holloway]

So like Lord Tyrion. Yeah.

[Mike Wright]

They've added another running back because they're probably concerned about Lloyd. So I've gotten to the point where I'm with Jason of I'm slightly behind the adp, but I don't mind Josh Jacobs.

[Andy Holloway]

As my just said it with Jordan Love, like they're favored in their first eight games of the season. Projected win total of nine and a half. And a lot of the times I worry about backup running backs making an impact to win. There's a reason for the team to go away from what happened last year. He played 17 games. He could handle the workload. He had 344 opportunities, which was 60 fewer than he had in Las Vegas when he played 17. So one of the true workhorses over 1300 yards on the ground. It was, it was pretty incredible from week five on for them once they figured it out. And again, it was a little slower start. You say they figured it out. Part of that is just you're a brand new member of a brand new.

[Mike Wright]

Team and part of it was the Jordan Love injuries from last year. He got hurt in week one and then he sustained an injury a few weeks later that he played through. But it definitely affected how they were choosing to do things.

[Andy Holloway]

All right, Moving on, number nine, Chase Brown. Chase Brown comes in at number nine. I got him at 12. You guys both have him at eight. I think we're all excited for Chase Brown and the potential in that offense. You saw it last year. It was, it was on display. This was a player that leveled up from a talent perspective. We went into the season thinking while they invested in Zach Moss who had played well in Indianapolis, team went into.

[Mike Wright]

It thinking that Zach Moss was. He was the guy for the first couple of weeks.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah. Snap counts for Chase Brown. 33%, 20%, 24% those first three weeks. Just three, four and seven attempts on the ground. He is not. He's not a prototypical, like between the tackles workhorse.

[Mike Wright]

He's an Austin Eckler.

[Andy Holloway]

He absolutely is. He's capable between the tackles, but he can also be utilized. Like he can have a game where he gets 10 or 11 carries but still gives you a really nice fantasy day because of utilization in the passing game.

[Jason Moore]

What's crazy is he wasn't getting 10 or 11 carries when he became their starter. He was getting 17.7 carries a game. That's a 300 carry pace. His last seven games played basically when Zach Moss went down. So Zach Moss goes down. This team got off to a slow start. They lost a ton of games and they tried to fix it and make the playoffs. Remember, they went on a great run towards the end of the season, won a bunch of games. That was. Chase Brown was a huge part of that. Yeah. And as soon as that happened, you have Chase Brown on pace for 94 targets for over 1200 rushing yards, over 600 receiving yards. A true dual threat back.

[Mike Wright]

I care more about games those the targets.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah.

[Mike Wright]

I mean that is absolutely outrageous. And that's what I am going to project for the Cincinnati Bengals moving forward. Yes, I'm on. J.P. ryan will take some snaps away from Chase Brown, but like they do.

[Andy Holloway]

Not want him at 85% snaps. That's an insane, insane number. That was. Remember they added Clay Herbert at the end of the year and they'd already lost Moss and they lost backup players. Like, I don't know, was it Kyron that ended up having those kind of snap counts for like three or four years ago?

[Jason Moore]

Massive. Both last year and the year before, Kyren's had.

[Andy Holloway]

You don't generally snap counts in the 90s.

[Jason Moore]

No, no, that was Kyron. It was basically Kyron Christian McCaffrey.

[Andy Holloway]

So to your point about like taking some snaps here and there, that makes sense.

[Mike Wright]

But.

[Andy Holloway]

But you, but this is their guy.

[Mike Wright]

You will get games like, I mean you would expect three to four targets as your floor for him and then you have ceiling Games where it just works out that this is how the Bengals are going to attack the defense. And Chase Brown is going to have eight or nine receptions, and he just.

[Jason Moore]

It.

[Mike Wright]

There's a fourth.

[Andy Holloway]

There's a fourth checkbox here.

[Mike Wright]

What's that?

[Jason Moore]

Samaj P. Ryan is the main backup Smajp line.

[Mike Wright]

Five years ago, when they get close to the goal line, they just keep throwing. So give me the receiving back.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah. And let's. Let's hope that I mean this to be fair. The only thing in the back of my head, tucked away, hidden, is they constantly gave Samajp Ryan work when Joe Mixon was supposed to be on the field in their playoff run. But this is two years, certainly three years removed. They've got to be smart about it.

[Mike Wright]

But, like, we expect that Joe Mixon is one of the things that gives me even more faith in Chase Brown of. Joe Mixon was their guy. I mean, for years and years and years, it didn't matter how inefficient. Was Joe Mixon having a great game. Was Joe Mixon having one of his stinkers of a game? It didn't matter. They still kept going to him.

[Andy Holloway]

How early is too early to draft him? If you're in love with Chase Brown, he's the RB12 off the board. You guys have him at eight.

[Mike Wright]

What I love is that his ADP is in the third. That is spectacular. I would take him in the second.

[Andy Holloway]

Okay.

[Jason Moore]

Keep it in the third, people.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah.

[Jason Moore]

Mock draft season. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Don't pull the trigger on Chase Brown draft season.

[Mike Wright]

Manipulate the market.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah. We're not.

[Jason Moore]

We're not managed by the. You know, you should have sent Travion.

[Andy Holloway]

Henderson a note to, you know, keep it under control in the preseason because he's hurting the ADP a little bit.

[Mike Wright]

He really is.

[Andy Holloway]

All right. This is a big name to talk about. Number eight, Bucky Irving, comes in at number eight. We all have him slightly below adp.

[Mike Wright]

Just a tiny bit.

[Andy Holloway]

Just a tiny, tiny bit. I love, love, love Tampa Bay. I love the offense. I love Baker. I love the stability. I love the fact that you have a system that has worked to produce big numbers year after year. And I absolutely was blown away on a day, weekly basis by what Bucky Irving was doing out there on the field. He was the RB7 from week 10 on when his takeover really came to fruition. We, you know, Rashad White's got the groin injury right now. Sean Tucker's talented. I don't know what kind of work he's really going to get because they've been talking about Sean tucker. Talented for three years. But you know, you look at the 46 running backs with 100 plus carries on the season. He was fifth in yards per carry, seventh in explosive rush rate, seventh among all running backs in rush success rate, third and fourth missed tackles per attempt. There is a world, and it is not one we're predicting by putting him at eight. But there's a world where Bucky Irving is. You know, you get six, seven, eight weeks into the season and we're like, he's sitting at RB3. And you're like, man, that is that dude.

[Jason Moore]

The talent he showed on film last year absolutely says he could do that if he gets the workload and if he can handle. Now there's three good backs here right now. Rashad White is a little injured, so maybe you get off to a hotter start to begin the year and give Bucky a huge workload. I think that Bucky is good enough to be a LaShawn McCoy type of player where he could be a fantasy, you know, game wrecker on as a smaller back with high volume. But there's always the worry I have in the back of my mind is 195 pound back. You know, he had a game where he had 28 opportunities and dominated. He was the running back one. He had 152 yards, you know, 6.1 yards of carry. He was awesome. And he didn't miss the next game.

[Mike Wright]

But he got, he left that game look like he was prepping for sarcophagus.

[Jason Moore]

He was mummied up. He was, he was full wrapped. And then the next game, he plays 16% of snaps, gets five total opportunities. And because he was, he was just. He took too much damage for 195.

[Andy Holloway]

Pound back, which I think he spent a lot of the off season has been a focal point is getting stronger, getting, getting the body capable of handling that kind of a workload. He wants to be that guy. What would you put your odds that he finishes the top five back? He's being drafted as the eighth back off the board. Give me a percentage chance.

[Mike Wright]

Top five, top five, top five.

[Jason Moore]

I'll go. I feel like it's 15%.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, I'm more like in the 30.

[Mike Wright]

I was going to go about 20, 25.

[Jason Moore]

Okay. When we look at the three checkboxes of, you know, are you a workhorse? Do you get the touchdowns? Are you on a winning team? Like the team is good. We're not sure if he's a true workhorse back here. If the volume will truly be there with three other backs and then three. The touchdown machine.

[Mike Wright]

He averaged three targets a game and that was, you know, it. Even with a slower start, the fact that he was a fourth round running back, who's the incumbent, took like every snap. I mean, Rashad's White. Rashad White's superpower when he was good for fantasy was he just was there all the time. For a fourth rounder to steal the job. Not from an injury to Rashad White, just because Bucky was so much better. That is, that speaks to.

[Andy Holloway]

Where did Rashad White end up finishing last year? He was it like 18 or something?

[Mike Wright]

White was. Was still very relevant because he 24, because he catches so much passes. So I mean, you had, you had Bucky at just over three targets a game and then you have Rashad White at 3.6 targets a game.

[Andy Holloway]

Yep. Yeah. So Bucky Irving at 8, number 7, Devon HN. Devon HN comes in at number 7. This is a very unique analysis situation to me. He was RB7 last year. It was impressive he could handle the workload. He didn't. You know, injuries were a concern in the rookie season when he was so explosive and then missed time. He's 23 years old. We all have him right where he's being drafted. Almost on the dot. Jason one spot higher. The pass catching work is unbelievable. The targets are worth a lot more than the carries. And you know, this was the number one running back reception leader in the game. The running back room is thinning out. I mean, Alexander Madison, who was making waves in camp, now out for the season. Jalen Wright, not sure that he's going to be trustworthy enough. He certainly wasn't last year. And then Ali Gordon, you know, this is a rookie, so it's definitely all on.

[Mike Wright]

Was Ollie Gordon seventh round?

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, he fell maybe sixth. But he, you know, Devon Hn has, he has the workload. I don't know how good this team will end up with the offensive line situation.

[Jason Moore]

Don't think that matters.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah, my chips are all.

[Jason Moore]

I don't think it matters if the Dolphins are good or not because where Devon Achan thrives is the passing game. What matters is if Tua is there. When Tua is gone, so is Devon H. And that's the risk. That's the worry. If you look at the splits with and without Tua, when Tua was gone, we kind of explained this when he went down, like the whole defense is like, okay, now I'm stacking the line and you're not Dumping it off to Devon H. And he basically disappeared. 7.7 fantasy points per game in those games without Tua. But when Tua was there, six and a half targets per game, 19.5, 19.5 fantasy points per game. For context, Derek Henry last year was 19.2 and you know he had 700 rushing touchdowns. So this is a player who in my opinion, in my strategy I if I'm there where he's being drafted and he's on the, you know, he's available, I'm grabbing him.

[Mike Wright]

Yep.

[Jason Moore]

I believe he has the potential to be top three running back. He will have the workload. There isn't a depth chart here with you know, with Alexander Madison getting that season ending injury, the Ollie Gordon and the Jalen Wright like I'm not worried about them. He's going to have extreme.

[Mike Wright]

Tyree Gill says you should be well.

[Jason Moore]

Tyreek Hill says you should be worried around the goal. But the pass catching work with John who Smith gone in that area of the field who already had almost I think he had 100 targets. This is. This guy's just going to get nonstop wide receiver PPR numbers.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, they tried Jalen right. Four times on the goal line in preseason week one and they didn't work. So they may need to either throw it around there and let Achan stay in the game on the field or.

[Mike Wright]

It's wild though just the risk of it not being just does hn get hurt but like 2 are getting hurt. You know, look at Josh Jacobs. The you have Jordan Love go out. Of course the offense doesn't work as well but Josh Jacobs is going to have so much work. Like we're going to counterbalance the efficiency of the offense with volume with HN. If 2 it goes out then it's just. You are sad.

[Andy Holloway]

It just shows. I mean he only had. He had three rushing touchdowns on 15 attempts inside the five. So it's straight up.

[Mike Wright]

That is.

[Andy Holloway]

It's straight up. Did not work. It did not work. I mean if I don't think it.

[Jason Moore]

Would work with a different back though. That offensive line is so bad.

[Andy Holloway]

Well, I mean maybe a slightly more talented bigger back. It would work but the line is terrible. I'm just saying like if they had succeed, like if he had succeeded inside the five, it's not like the opportunities weren't there. You're talking about a player that would have finished higher than RB7 last year. You talk about the points per game numbers. He would be the complete package if he could get inside the end zone when they have those goal line opportunities, but he feels very, very safe this year.

[Jason Moore]

Number six.

[Andy Holloway]

All right. It's preseason bust. Ashton Jinty, negative. He's a turd, 21 years old. I've got him at 4, Mike at 5, Jason at 7. His ADP is 5 and so our consensus rank is 6. You know, you saw him briefly in the first week and you know, you're going to see a lot more of him over the course of the season. First round running backs, traditionally, they dominate. They crush for fantasy football. You know, I think as the season gets started, I do think you're going to see Raheem Mostert on third down quite often. That seems to be the plan right now for the, for the Raiders. But, you know, do you see Genty as any sort of like, bust risk at all?

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, I mean, so he's certainly a bust risk because we've never seen him on the field of, you know, in NFL games. He played for a college program that was, you know, he's not in the sec, he's not facing the extreme awesome talent. But he is drafted where he was in the NFL for a reason. I don't think he will fail as an NFL player at all. At all. He is as locked as you can be at the running back position. But for fantasy purposes where he's being drafted, you know, you talk about those three check boxes. Is he going to be a workhorse? Absolutely. He'll have the workload that is a guarantee for where they drafted him. And with what the depth chart says, will he have the touchdown opportunities? I don't know. If this offense in a tough division, you know, they're currently, you know, slated for six and a half wins in Vegas.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, they're underdogs, by the way, for the six of the first seven weeks.

[Jason Moore]

So, you know, he doesn't check all the boxes and you haven't seen it yet. The reason he's this high is because as a prospect, what you're hoping for is one of those generational players who can finish as the running back one simply because he is that good. You're betting on the talent, you know, that the opportunity will be there. But the team is what scares me.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, they were the worst running game in the NFL last year, which, you know, not surprising when you look at what they had in the backfield combined with the offensive line play, but. And the quarterback play and all the play of all the players, but that you're looking at rejuvenation here in Las Vegas and you're going to need them to put it together on a weekly basis. But I think that's the plan. I think the plan is to give them that every opportunity to be exactly what you'd want in fantasy.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, you hope that with Chip Kelly and you know, this team wants to run the ball and have a fast pace of play. So there's some good things here. But the bad things, you look at Josh Jacobs, who clearly still has it. Last time we saw him with the Raiders with that offensive line two years ago, he was not good. He was inefficient. Last year, 32nd best team at running.

[Mike Wright]

The ball, Zemir White.

[Jason Moore]

Right. But you know, but my point is Josh Jacobs is really good and he sucked there. So I don't know that this offensive line and that the system is really three new starters.

[Andy Holloway]

Three new starters. And like I said, they're going to start up. You know, you go to New England in week one, you're going to play against the Chargers in week two, Washington, week three, Chicago, week four, on the road again in week five. I do think it might be a little bit now he could prove me wrong. He can go out and have 260 yard touchdowns on week one, but it might start a little slow. Like I said, working in Raheem Mostert a little bit. And the matchups to begin the year, I think we'll get there for Genty.

[Jason Moore]

I love Genti. I mean, you know, I've got him at 7, but when I look at the draft and how it goes, I feel like where Genti is going in the first round, if you were to take a wide receiver there, one of the elite studs at wide receiver, and then you, you know, just on, you know, later in the second you get a Chan or you get Josh Jacobs. I don't know that you're really sacrificing much.

[Andy Holloway]

No, that, that's a good point. And that's the decision making you're going to have to make in your drafts. I will say this. What's stopping that is people, it's fun to draft Ash and Genti. Yeah, that's part of it.

[Jason Moore]

The emotional excitement you might have. The next greatest of all time might be a yacht.

[Mike Wright]

Right, right.

[Andy Holloway]

No, it's true. All right, we'll take a break and we'll get into the top five. Back into the running back rankings we go. Number five, Derrick Henry, back again.

[Mike Wright]

Long live the king.

[Andy Holloway]

Long live the king. You're talking about the number two running back in fantasy last year. Just ho hum. 19.2 fantasy points game. He is the he's the player that if you doubt him, you pay the price. That has been the story for what, three years now of, you know, three years of doubt because he had the injury in 2021, missed eight games. The shoe finally dropped. Right. It was like, oh boy, this is the end. He follows that up basically playing every game the last three seasons and finishing top eight for three straight seasons and.

[Jason Moore]

Now is on a way better offense with a better offensive line than he ever remembered in Tennessee. Yeah, this, this is. The age is the only concern. And I'm not concerned. Some people are not some people. Some person is built differently. It's Derek Kinron. He's. He's not a regular human being.

[Mike Wright]

No, he's not.

[Andy Holloway]

He.

[Mike Wright]

I think it's fair to be slightly concerned about the age, but that will not stop me from drafting Derek Henry. Do you guys remember after week one where it was the game against the Kansas City Chiefs, Derek Henry's debut? He only gets 13 carries. He runs for three and a half yards. He got the touchdown. So he saved the fantasy day. And then after that was the presser with Harbaugh. Like we didn't bring Derek Henry in here to just give him a bajillion carries. And I don't know if he was playing some media rope a dope with his Week 2 matchup because then from then on out you have like so many games of 20 plus carries.

[Andy Holloway]

It was the highest. Like you could argue it was his most consistent season ever. He only had 6% bus games and 81% good.

[Mike Wright]

How many like how many great teams has Derek Henry been a part of?

[Andy Holloway]

What do you mean?

[Mike Wright]

As in like. Like for like when he was on Tennessee. How many years of.

[Jason Moore]

Were you top notch? Yeah.

[Mike Wright]

Were you like the Titans?

[Jason Moore]

Zero.

[Mike Wright]

The Titans were great that year.

[Jason Moore]

I mean not.

[Andy Holloway]

I don't know if it was zero.

[Jason Moore]

Never a Super bowl contender.

[Andy Holloway]

I think. I think they had a couple.

[Mike Wright]

They may have it.

[Andy Holloway]

My point. Solid years.

[Mike Wright]

The point being of you put Derek Henry, even at this age on a.

[Andy Holloway]

Team that's the number one seed that.

[Mike Wright]

Is going to win.

[Jason Moore]

They were a number one seed. The Titans.

[Andy Holloway]

Well, they won the division a bunch of times. Maybe not number one in the whole conference.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah.

[Andy Holloway]

Okay.

[Mike Wright]

But my point being that was probably if I had to look at the. And just guess. I'm going to guess like 2019 or 2020. I'm going to guess 2020 just based.

[Jason Moore]

Off of.

[Mike Wright]

When they were good. Look, the point is Baltimore is great. They will be leading far more than they will be trailing and when they're leading, it will be Derek Henry salting the game away and scoring so many rushing touchdowns.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, then Kyle said they were the number one seed overall.

[Jason Moore]

That was at least once. I remember one year where he was in the MVP race as a running back. So it must have been that. Must have been that season. But yeah, he's, he's that dude.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, Frable got Frable. Vrabel got him going a little bit. They were 12 and 5 in 2021. Yeah. Look, this is just a perfect match.

[Mike Wright]

Baltimore 2020. Told you.

[Andy Holloway]

Baltimore, Derek Henry, perfect match. Same. I mean, Baltimore's in the running to be a Super bowl champ. Eleven and a half wins, favored in most of their games. So very exciting. And you know, Keaton Mitchell, they need people to spell Derek Henry here and there, but it's not going to impact where we rank him. Number four, Jameer Gibbs, 23 years old, entering the prime prime time. Jameer Gibbs last year, number three. Overall, I've got him at three, Mike at four, Jason at five. He is the most fun player to watch. Get an opportunity in fantasy, in my opinion, because they can all go to the house. He was number one in explosive rush rate. 10% of his carries were 15 plus yards. So 10% of the time I thought he was going to score.

[Jason Moore]

I had no Gibbs. I had no shares of Gibbs last year. Just, you know, it was unfortunate. That's how the chips fell. And whenever I was playing against Gibbs, it was a terrible time. You're watching, you're watching the Lions game and every time he touches the ball, just watching through fingers like, I'm like, there's a horror film on, like, no, no, don't let him touch it.

[Mike Wright]

So many. They barely clipped his foot because if that, and if that defender didn't get that one tiny clip, he's gone for 50 yards.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, I think the story with Gibbs, we've talked about it a lot. So, you know, I doubt we need to focus on it too much, but it's just. How much work does Monty get?

[Mike Wright]

Yep, that's. That is, that's everything for Jameer Gibbs.

[Andy Holloway]

And is there any step back offensive line wise with the departure of Frank Ragnow? They're all pro center and they lost an offensive guard. Do they put it together without Ben Johnson? I don't have any doubt that Jameer Gibbs can make something out of nothing on any play. It's just a matter of your confidence level in those factors.

[Jason Moore]

I think when you're talking about the best of the best backs in the League of which Jameer Gibbs clearly is. What you really want to look at is how does it go wrong? You know, okay, injury for any running back. Take that out. Does the offense take a significant step back without their offensive coordinator and their, you know, all World Center? I think that that could happen this year. That's my fear for Gibbs. But if that happens and he then ends up at the same time as the lines take a step backwards, if that forces Gibbs to get more work over David Montgomery, because they're like, hey, we're, you know, this isn't working. We've got to put our best player out there. It'll probably kind of stay the same. I do think for Gibbs to truly match this draft cost, you know, he's, he's basically drafted as the, the second or third running back. Usually I feel like David Montgomery has to get close to vanishing. If David Montgomery goes out there and gets 10 touchdowns and plays the majority of the season, Gibbs is not going to hurt you at all. But he's not going to be that, that number one, number two running back.

[Andy Holloway]

10 touchdowns would be a problem. But if he becomes, if Monty becomes the algier in the situation for Bijan, then I'm more excited.

[Mike Wright]

Gibbs averaged 3.7 targets per game, and that includes two weeks of zero targets. Like, he's an absolute. It's like a chain. He's just an animal when it comes to receptions.

[Andy Holloway]

Absolutely.

[Jason Moore]

Number three.

[Andy Holloway]

Well, this guy's at three. I didn't realize where he ended up, but it's perfect. It's because that's where Jason has him at three. Mike's got him at one, I've got him at six. It's Christian McCaffrey. Christian McCaffrey. Christian McCafrey. Christian McCaffrey.

[Jason Moore]

I don't like talking about Christian McCaffrey. It's not fun.

[Andy Holloway]

We've done it a lot. We've done it a whole lot. This is a team projected to win a lot of games, favored in their first four matchups. We know the story of McCaffrey. He was league winner for two years, league loser for three of the last five seasons. It's, it's a tall task to ask a player that has been injured frequently to play 17 and give you 300 plus opportunities. If he plays 17 and you get less than that amount of opportunities, I don't think he's worth the number three pick. If he is healthy and they give him all those opportunities, he will be the number one running back in football. So that's your equation. It's a risk reward situation. You know, the rhetoric is Mike's very much playing to win. He says, don't play scared. I think you have alternates to also win in this draft cost, So I don't take that approach. But he is the player that if he plays 17 and gets over 300 carries or 300 opportunities, he will probably be the number one running back.

[Jason Moore]

You do not need Christian McCaffrey to win a fantasy championship. You can win it plenty of other ways. If you don't want to deal with what we have dealt with three of the last five years and his injury, don't. And I wouldn't even say that you're playing scared. You could say you're playing wise because you don't need him to win. However, if he plays. Last time he put two years ago, he wasn't good. He was in 47% of championship games. It was. It was just super easy to get a championship if you had Christian McCaffrey. So he's like a cheat code sometimes. So, you know, it feels less like playing scared and more like gambling. Like, I'm. I'm playing the, you know, the lotto, and I got some pretty good, like, if the lottery, if you could go out there and get a scratcher ticket and you had a 33% chance of winning, I mean, okay, look, if McCaffrey.

[Andy Holloway]

Was a, you know, if he stayed late second, I mean, he obviously would be a home run because I'd already have another running back on my roster that I could lean on. Mike is as bullish as one can be.

[Jason Moore]

From Mike's ensuring he gets picked in.

[Mike Wright]

The first round and every league, it just, it's that of like, if he, if he's healthy, he's multiple points better than the. The running back to.

[Andy Holloway]

Did you care about any of the games last year coming back from the Achilles and I not giving you the fantasy numbers that you would have hoped for because there were four games, I think, or three and a half before the Buffalo game.

[Mike Wright]

It was definitely a slower start. And then in the Buffalo game, when he finally got knocked out for the season, it was like, oh, there he is. There's Christian. It is the insane Saquon Barkley year of last year. 2,000 rushing yards, 13 rushing touchdowns, you know, a bunch of receptions. Christian McCaffrey. And just two years ago was a full point per game better than Saquon Barkley was last year. And, like, people are like, the Barkley season. Like, don't forget what Christian McCaffrey can do. The schedule for San Francisco is very favorable.

[Jason Moore]

They're projected to win 10 and a half games. They're favored in 15 of 17 games, and their running back schedule is one of the easiest.

[Mike Wright]

So it's. It's the injury. If you want to bet that he's going to get hurt, then don't draft him.

[Jason Moore]

Dude. If I can get him at the turn, if I can get him at 201, 202, I think there will be.

[Mike Wright]

Home leagues out there where it does happen.

[Jason Moore]

I don't think so, man. I think every time push comes to.

[Andy Holloway]

Shove, it will happen.

[Jason Moore]

Push comes to shove, someone's going to be like, I don't know, taking that.

[Andy Holloway]

No, because there's a lot of someone's at least three in the last five years that have been burned. So you might have three people.

[Jason Moore]

Not true. In our league, it's all the same, man. One guy, three times.

[Andy Holloway]

That is the irony of the thing, you know.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah. Mike should be the one stopping.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah.

[Mike Wright]

You know, because they're running backs. They all get hurt.

[Andy Holloway]

He's getting a tattoo this afternoon. He likes. He likes pain.

[Mike Wright]

Hey, like, you know, remember when Frank Gore was injury prone? Remember when Matt Forte was injury prone?

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, but those don't.

[Jason Moore]

Come on, man.

[Mike Wright]

Those don't count.

[Jason Moore]

They don't count because they're not doing what Christian McCaffrey is doing, which is every other year for career.

[Andy Holloway]

These are league losing seasons. These are Break your team in half. Those are not like, like Frank Gore.

[Jason Moore]

Was injury prone for a couple years and then went on a.

[Andy Holloway]

Like, not while he was the number one pick in the fantasy, like three times.

[Jason Moore]

I get both sides. I'm going to draft him.

[Andy Holloway]

All right, number two, Saquon Barkley. It was a magical year. The question for fantasy players, everyone.

[Mike Wright]

Saquon Barkley was injury prone.

[Jason Moore]

That's. That's way more fair. That is actually feels because he was the number one pick in drafts and then didn't play three.

[Mike Wright]

Three devastating injuries in a row.

[Andy Holloway]

He had. He had missed most of 2020, and then he missed three games in 2021.

[Mike Wright]

I just said, like. But he was really bad in 2021 because he kept getting hurt.

[Andy Holloway]

Okay. Yeah. Last year, 21.2 fantasy points per game. We have him at number two. None of us have him in the number one slot.

[Jason Moore]

That slot belongs to Mr. Indestructible.

[Andy Holloway]

He just won your league. He should do very similar things in Philadelphia. But also, that was, you know, he was not at that level in any recent history. So you got to put, you know, the big plays the 60 plus yard touchdowns, you know, that type of stuff that's hard to bet on. But 66%, he's the one.

[Mike Wright]

You bet on it, though.

[Andy Holloway]

66% of his rushing yards came before contact. If you remember Kenneth Walker yesterday, 71% of his came after contact. Yeah, that is called. This is called not fair. That's why DeAndre Swift looked very good in Philadelphia. You got an offensive line ranked number one. They are dealing with a little bit of injury concern right now with Dickerson.

[Jason Moore]

They got great news, though. Landon Dickerson looked like he was going to miss the season and now it's. He's hopeful for week one, so he'll be playing the majority of the season.

[Andy Holloway]

So, you know, we're at the point in the countdown where you're just splitting hairs over players. I think you can take my number one if you want to. Sure, that's fine. It's going to be great.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, he belongs in the conversation if he stays healthy. I mean, this is coming off of 417 opportunities. That is a lot of workload on the body. You know, it's ironic because Christian McCaffrey, we always want to say whatever happens last year happens next year, but it's almost the opposite in reality. You know, wide receiver ones, the wide receiver one almost never finishes as the wide receiver won the next year. And you can't just predict that. But a lot of these guys, when they come off of a hefty workload season, they struggle with injuries the next year. It's ironic that Christian McCaffrey is coming off a very low, you know, workload season.

[Andy Holloway]

Well, let's. That's one of the reasons why I don't have McCaffrey locked in at number one is because the season he had the year before, before he got hurt and hurt you, was also an outlier season in terms of overall performance. Like, I think it's going to regulate a little bit. And so, you know, I have him buried at 6.

[Jason Moore]

You can't, you can't. Other than worrying about Saquon's workload being bad from last year, there's nothing to criticize. The passing volume is the criticizing point. Like, oh, he didn't catch many passes and that's moot because the reason he didn't catch many passes is because he scored so many first half touchdowns that they didn't throw the ball. If he's not scoring a bunch of touchdowns in the first half, they'll throw the ball more and he'll catch more. So he's just awesome. I worry about the age of workload. Number one.

[Andy Holloway]

You don't worry about the age of Bijan Robinson, who comes in at number one overall for our consensus rankings. Number two for Mike was RB4 last year. He had the highest success rate ever for a running back with 250 plus carries. He is game script proof. He can catch the football. I would love to see more big plays from Bichon. That is something that we didn't get a lot of. That was why Saquon was so much more exciting and more fun and Gibbs for that, like Saquon and Gibbs were much more fun in terms of, you know, the big plays, the weak winning weeks. I think Saquon had what, like 30 plus fantasy points. How many times did he do that? He had it five times. 30 plus fantasy points. So look, it's cool to finish number one on the week. It's cooler to score 30 plus and win your entire week for your fantasy team. But Bijan, with the age, the dependency on him, the fact that, you know, no matter what this team does, he's involved.

[Mike Wright]

It looks like he had one carry over, one carry over 30 yards.

[Andy Holloway]

Are they underdogs in the first six weeks? Is that right?

[Jason Moore]

Yeah. Not favored in a game until week eight because of a week five by. So, yeah, you're correct there. It's.

[Andy Holloway]

He might not have one of the check boxes.

[Jason Moore]

He might not have one of the checkboxes. Number one draft pick. I will say this. Bijan finishing as the running back, one where we have him ranked, feels like a slightly lower percentage than some of these other guys we've just talked about. But Bijan finished finishing at, you know, running back eight or 10. You know, having a bad season feels so minuscule compared to all these other people that we've talked about. So he is really a. He's a floor play that is so safe. To me, he still is going to be awesome. He's going to be a top five running back. But he's. He might not be on a great team and that might hinder his total touchdown opportunities. But every single time he touches the ball, he creates yards that other players wouldn't. They give him the ball so much, if they're down, they'll throw it to him.

[Mike Wright]

He's four plus targets a game.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, there's. There's no worry and no risk. The alternate side does exist though. If Michael Pinnicks comes out in his is that dude. And all of a sudden they do. They go out and win 12 games. B. Johnson's. Bijon's probably the running back one?

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah. I just looked, I'm looking at my projections and you know, you're always splitting hairs at the top, but sometimes there's a gap. Right? That's why we have tier based ranking. I don't have a gap. I don't have a gap between Bijon, Saquon and Gibbs. Like I took a half a touchdown. I just did this for experimental sake. I took half a touchdown away from my projection for Bijan Robinson because I had him at 11 and a half. When I dropped him to 11, he goes from number one to number three.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah.

[Andy Holloway]

Half a touchdown separate Saquon, Gibbs and Robinson. If you told me I went into my draft and my selection was a wheel that had pie slices for all three of these guys, I would not care. I really wouldn't. I think all three of them, there's an upside case for all of them. Right. Saquon keeps doing what he's doing on the best offensive line. Jameer Gibbs camp seems to be like this is his team now and he showed he can be the number one back when he gets it, gets all the work and has big play potential. And Bijon, like you said, like if they're a above 500 team, even not even a super team and above 500 team, there's no way they get that way, get there without Bijon and He can score 16, 17, 18 touchdowns in the right season. So yeah, I'm really, I'm really cool with those.

[Jason Moore]

I personally.

[Andy Holloway]

Would you put Saquon in there or Christian McCaffrey?

[Jason Moore]

I would put Henry and Christian McCaffrey.

[Andy Holloway]

All five?

[Jason Moore]

Yeah. To me. Well, Christian McCaffrey has a lot more issues. The reason why you're saying in the, in the beginning of the first round you're not going to draft Christian McCaffrey is because even like Mike, you've got him as the running back one, but there's no doubt he carries more risk or flags than some of these other guys who can, you know, have an equal chance of finishing as the running back one. So like I wouldn't select Christian McCaffrey over, you know, those guys in the tier, but he is in that tier of, you know, range of outcomes.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, I think McCaffrey and Saquon is the most interesting discussion with the ceiling years. Right. Because McCaffrey super year was 22 points a game. Last year was basically, that's basically where Saquon was. So do you expect either guy to come back and give you a year like that again? Certainly possible, but it's going to it's going to be fun. It's going to be, you know, holding your breath, hoping that these guys stay healthy. That's another big part of it.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah. Last year was a pretty. Other than Chris McCaffrey, it was a pretty healthy year.

[Andy Holloway]

Now for running backs.

[Jason Moore]

Yes.

[Andy Holloway]

We need to get into this. I mean, Mike has the number one overall pick in our league of record.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah.

[Andy Holloway]

He has got. Now it's a keeper league. So there are.

[Jason Moore]

He's already got Christian McCaffrey, of course.

[Andy Holloway]

Christian McCaffrey on the roster. Yeah.

[Mike Wright]

Why do you think I got the number one pick?

[Andy Holloway]

Oh, my gosh.

[Jason Moore]

That's.

[Mike Wright]

You think there's not going to go to counseling?

[Andy Holloway]

No. He's got to choose between Bijan and. That's funny, right?

[Jason Moore]

It's so funny.

[Andy Holloway]

Right.

[Jason Moore]

Because Mike has dealt with this every year with Christian McCaffrey.

[Andy Holloway]

His response to dying at the. At the knife, at the dagger jab of Christian McCaffrey is I want to feel more pain.

[Jason Moore]

He or redeem it.

[Andy Holloway]

Is this a redemption thing? Is this like you lose the bet at the poker table, so double down and then you get all your money back.

[Mike Wright]

It is understanding that every single workhorse running back is at potential of a season ending injury every single game.

[Jason Moore]

I agree.

[Mike Wright]

No.

[Andy Holloway]

So. But you have to stare down Saquon and Bijan.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah.

[Andy Holloway]

Those are the guys out there on the board. A lot of other players are kept.

[Jason Moore]

You will be making that decision.

[Andy Holloway]

You're making that choice and you're who you're taking.

[Mike Wright]

Well, I'm told that Robinson is guaranteed to play 17 games. So I got to counterbalance my McCaffrey risk with someone who's going to be there.

[Jason Moore]

Don't play scared.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, don't play scared. Come on, man. All right, there you go. There's our top 10 running backs. We've got a top 10 top 10 tips and tricks episode coming to you tomorrow. We've got a mock draft episode on Thursday. The people are hungry for the mock drafts. And then we've got a My Guys announcement to make on Friday. So the My guys episode hits on Friday. We got them locked in. Unless something else happens in practice or camp or, you know, Dante Pettis or something like that goes on, we're pretty well locked. But that's coming on Friday. So it's a big week. I know some of you are already drafting this weekend. Make sure you're prepared. We got the udk for life giveaway ultimate draftkit.com pick it up. Get ready for your drafts this weekend. It's going to be a difference maker for you.

[Mike Wright]

Sorry to Keanu Reeves. We'll get you on next time. Goodbye.

[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.