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Ambiguous Running Back Rooms and Players To Target In Them || Fantasy Football 2026
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- [00:00]
A
We have the tech to get food delivered in 15 minutes, but we all have horror stories about buying tickets. The GameTime app gives fans the advantage. Get amazing tickets in just a few taps. Fees are included, so what you see is what you pay. And the gametime guarantee means authentic tickets at the best price every time. Take the guesswork out of buying tickets to concerts, sports, comedy and more with GameTime. Download the GameTime app and create an account for $20 off your first purchase term supply. Everyone playing fantasy football says avoid ambiguous backfields 1 that's lazy and 2 it's a good way to lose your league. The reality is that the market uncertainty actually opens up opportunity for value, and today Jeff Bell and I are going to look at some of the ambiguous running back rooms around the NFL and decide who we think is the guy you should be targeting in your fantasy drafts this year. Jeff let's go ahead and start with a big one that has been in the news quite a bit over the last month or so. Chris Rodriguez is now a Jacksonville Jaguar, joining Bashal Tutin and Lequin Allen in this Jaguars backfield. Who do you think is the guy that dynasty managers and fantasy managers should be investing in?
- [01:23]
B
I think dynasty managers should be investing in Michelle Tootin. Given his age and given the upside when it comes to redraft, that's probably where I lean. I lean a little bit more towards Rodriguez, to be honest, and I think I do think that a big part of it comes down to ball security. I think that was the big question surrounding Bishal Tutin coming into the NFL. He was okay last year in his opportunities, but at the same time I think that fumbles did pop up and so I think that that's where Rodriguez comes in. And really when it comes down to a lot of these ambiguous running back situations, it's the running backs that the coach can trust to do their job. And I think there's a high level of trust with Liam Cohen and Chris Rodriguez going back to their history at Kentucky.
- [02:04]
A
Yes, I'm glad you brought up that history at Kentucky because Liam Cohen did coach Chris Rodriguez, who was part of that Will Levis Wandale Robinson Kentucky team a few years ago and then Liam Cohen went to the NFL for a year. Then he went back to Kentucky and when he went back without Chris Rodriguez, I've got a quote here where he was quoted saying that he was really going to be able to miss handing the ball off and knowing that you would get four yards. A lot of the times that wasn't scheme, that was just Chris, on top of that we also have James Gladstone, the GM in Jacksonville saying that Chris Rodriguez could do superhuman things on the football field that he's able to find yards where other running backs can't. So very different skill sets here. And I think that, you know, there could be a limit in the ceiling for Chris Rodriguez because he's a zero in the passing game. But if this is a high scoring offense and, and he's getting the early down work and a big chunk of the goal line work, I mean it's not the safest bet because betting on touchdowns isn't a bet you want to make. But this Jaguars offense is trending way up and I don't think it's crazy. I mean we're not projecting it this way. But like Jeff, would it surprise you at all if Chris Rodriguez ends the season with 12 or 15 touchdowns?
- [03:13]
B
No, I mean that wouldn't be shocking in the slightest. And I think the concern, the reason why I say Bishal Tutin for dynasty, the overall upside him being signed to young contract there's or to a early, early to achieve contracts given that it's his second year there's certainly upside there that he can take the job run and just do things with it that I don't think is in play for Chris Rodriguez. I think the trouble that you're looking at is if this and the other part of it that we're not mentioning is La Quint Allen and it looks like La Quint Allen probably has a lock on the third down passing down type of a role since he held a lot of that last year. You're looking at a true three headed backfield with the Quint Allen grabbing the passing work with Chris Rodriguez grabbing the goal line work this then you're kind of stuck in the middle on Bashal Tutin of where are the points coming from.
- [04:00]
A
And I wrote that in my article when Chris Rodriguez signed with Jacksonville and I said like the path for Bashaw Tutin isn't a volume path, it's an efficiency path. Like you've got to hope that he either catches a lot of passes or rips off a lot of breakaway runs because it does seem like the high value touches the goal line work can go to Rodriguez passing down work to Allen and that does put Tutin in kind of this no man's land. We've got more backfields that we're going to discuss but before we do that I'm running a little, it's called an experiment and I need you the audience to be a part of this. I just recently learned that YouTube comments are the best way to help a show grow. Now I always ask for you to subscribe and ask for you to like the channel. Let's try something out here. Leave a question below. We will respond to any question that you ask us and let's see if that actually does help this show grow a little bit more than normal. But let's go ahead and jump back in. Jeff talking about what people want to talk about, which is NFL players, Washington Commanders. This is another interesting signing because we've got a college connection here. Rashad White signed with the Commanders and he was the backfield mate with Jaden Daniels. So they have a little bit of a history together. But of course we still have Jacori Crosby Merritt there. They also brought in Jerome Ford. They also signed Jeremy McNichols to come back. We've also heard that them sitting at seven, they are in play for Jeremiah Love if he is there. So you know just a month ago Jacori Grosky Merritt was the only Commanders running back under contract. Now we're looking at four Commanders running backs, could be five after the draft. How are you kind of looking at this backfield shaking out here?
- [05:32]
B
Well, the big question and we're going to run through there's going to be a couple backfields that we are going to mention that could be in play by being shaken up by Jeremiah Love. So we'll keep an eye on that one. But I do think when it comes down to it the a big part of it is and I know that Cliff Kingsbury is gone now obviously but kind of what we said with Jacksonville where it's a trust factor, a trust level and is the trust level on Jecory Crosky merits to see passing game involvement? Where is that with this coaching staff? While they did lose Cliff Kingsbury, they really kept most of the rest of the staff intact. So I think that they're coming into it as potentially a back that they might trust a lot more in Rashad White to handle those high volume rut to pass downs that he obviously has a relationship with Jane Daniels and coming into this and really they need to keep Jaden Daniels healthy. They need to get Jaden Daniels to bounce back because of the disappointing the injury plague season last year. And if that trust on the run bot and the pass pickup on the blitz pickup is there with White, if White is there in the passing game because let's remember that one of his biggest traits coming out of college was the involvement in the passing game and so I think that that's where I probably am deferring to White here. But again, similar to the Jacksonville conversation, I think the higher upside might lie under Corey Crosby Merritt.
- [06:50]
A
Yeah, and I do think the upside is there for Merit. But this is kind of like what we were just saying with Chris Rodriguez. He's just a complete zero in the passing game. Like we saw last year. There was almost no passing game involvement for Jakori Crosby. Merit. So Rashad White, we know that he is a pass catcher. And, and Jeff, you remember, I mean, we're not that far, far removed from Rashad White being the per game RB4 in fantasy football just three seasons ago. And since then, you know, the. Well, let me, let me stay there. After that RB4 season, everybody talked about how he was so inefficient, that he was just a terrible running back and that he couldn't have any volume going forward. And his volume has dipped over the last couple of years, but his efficiency has ticked up just the same way his volume has gone down. We talk about this all the time, that kind of inverse correlation between volume and efficiency. So, yeah, that year that he was the RB4, he was like 140 in EPA per rush. And then last year he was top 10 in EPA per rush. So we're seeing on a smaller workload him being a little bit more efficient. This is one where I think I do want to put my chips on Rashad White just because he's got the size, he's got the pass catching upside. He was a priority signing that they brought in almost immediately in free agency. And then of course, the history with Jaden Daniels as well. This is one of the tougher ones to get a read on. But I do still prefer Rashad White here.
- [08:09]
B
Yeah. Especially in Redraft. Again, I think if you're talking the Redraft audience, I think Rashad White is going to be the play there at some level. Sometimes with these ambiguous backfields, I like to pretend that I'm not even pretend the reality I'm going to be wrong probably occasionally. And so grabbing whatever's the cheapest. I think can be some plays into this too. But I think off the top you did make a good point. And these are the situations we should be looking for because. Or maybe one of the next guys that we mentioned was an ambiguous backfield last year and turned out to be a big, big winner in that backfield.
- [08:44]
A
So, Jeff, let me just totally put you on the spot here. What do you think is the age gap between Jakory Crosby Merritt and Rashad White.
- [08:52]
B
I don't think it's as big as people might think it is given that Rashad White is going into his second contract because Trotsky Merritt was an older prospect coming out through the process and so I'd probably say maybe two years or so.
- [09:03]
A
Yeah, almost exactly two years. Rashad White just turned 27 years old and Jacori Karoski Merritt turns 25 in about a week here. So that's another one of those where like we see Jacqui Crosky Merit is like, you know, this reminds me of like the Denver backfield a little bit, right, like where everybody is like so excited about RJ Harvey, the young guy taking over. And then you look at it and J.K. dobbins came into the league so young that there's just a two year age gap here. It's the same in Washington. So I'm, you know, I, I know you said you prefer, you know, you've got differences in opinions between Redraft and Dynasty. I prefer Rashad White to Jakory Crosby Merritt in both Redraft and Dynasty just because I don't think the age gap is enough to really move the needle for me all that much. But let's talk about the Pittsburgh Steelers, Jeff, because this is one of the more interesting ones out there. I think a lot of people see Rico Dowdle, you know, a big bulky running back and aggressive running back with the dreadlocks and they just say, oh Najee Harris, like he's just gonna step in and be Najee Harris in that offense. And that is in my opinion opening up an opportunity here to buy low on Jalen Warren. When I look at these two, I prefer Jaylen Warren. I'll get to that, Jeff. You give me your take and then I'll tell you kind of how I am getting to read on this backfield.
- [10:17]
B
I mean the first two backfields we talked about are more either or and this one to me kind of lines up more as both because we did see both Jaylen Warren and Kenneth Gainwell. Granted, maybe potentially, maybe not in a different than what Rico Dodle will hold. To me, signing Rico Dowdle signals that the Steelers recognize they need to be better running the ball because a lot of where Kenneth gain most value in fantasy and really just the Steelers offense in general was struggle targets more or less of an offense that was just not functioning the way that it should. I think going out and adding Rico Doddle signals that they want to run the ball more. I think both of These players can contribute in the passing game, both can contribute in the run game. This is an offense that even though they added Michael Pittman Jr. Do think that they want to flow through the running back. They recognize that, I mean, it's probably going to be Aaron Rodgers as their starting quarterback if they get in deeper into the season when it gets cold in Pittsburgh and, and really just in general to play winning football, that offense is going to need the running games and especially both of these running backs to be high, high level performers.
- [11:23]
A
So we talked a lot last year about how important pass blocking was in this backfield. Right. Like that's why Kenneth Kanewall got opportunity, that's why Jalen Warren was out there and that's why we think Caleb Johnson probably struggled to see the field. So this is one where I think like yeah, we could probably pencil Rico Dowdle in for a decent amount of early down work. But so much of the value in this offense comes from being a pass catcher. Both Jalen Warren and Kenneth Gainwell last year, both top 10 in targets among running backs and past blocking is what got them on the field. I was looking last year, Jalen Warren ranked top 10 in run or in pass blocking grade at PFF. Rico Dowdle in that same sample of almost 80 running backs was outside of the top 70. So we're looking at Jaylen Warren, one of the best pass blockers in the NFL. Rico Dowdle, one of the worst pass blockers in the NFL. And I think that's the fear here, is that this probably isn't going to be a very high scoring offense like we were talking about in Jacksonville. So here I feel like you're making the same bet on Rico Dowdle that you would be on a Chris Rodriguez, but on a lower volume offense that isn't going to score as much. This is one where I easily prefer Jaylen Warren. I think that he can handle some of the early down work and I think that he's going to have almost exclusive rights to the passing down work.
- [12:39]
B
Yeah, I think we can't rule out Caleb Johnson as being potentially involved. There might be some ways that he has to go. But again, this was a day two pick that they took last year. The other part we need to recognize they have a new head coach and so the offensive scheme might not look like it did last year. And you bring up pass blocking. Reality was they couldn't push the ball vertically at all last year. And at Aaron Rodgers age, are they going to be push, be able to push the ball vertically so it becomes Less the pass blocking element of a running back and it becomes more creativity with the ball in their hands, being able to be involved as a primary target. And maybe that changes with Michael Pittman Jr. And with Mike. Mike McCarthy's offense coming in. But at the same time, I do think that they're going to need both these players could break Caleb Johnson and being more involvement. But I think that when it comes down to it, the selection of Caleb Johnson last year was really for potentially an offense built around Mason Rudolph that was built around more of a power rushing attack. And then when they signed Aaron Rodgers, that morphed what they were going to look like and throw the ball a lot more than many of the forecasts had them throwing it.
- [13:50]
A
And you know, like Littlefinger says, chaos is a ladder. And we got some chaos now with a coaching staff coming in there. And last year, you know, there were the, the bad reports in training camp. We had Caleb Johnson fumbling that kickoff as well. It felt like he was just like Mike Tomlin had nailed the door shut on the doghouse. Like there was nothing Caleb Johnson could have done last year to come out of there. So I think, yeah, now new coaches, fresh set of eyes, we could potentially be looking at Caleb Johnson getting more involved. This isn't us keeping up for Caleb Johnson and saying like, you know, go sell the farm in Dynasty to get Caleb Johnson. We're just saying it's in the realm of possibility. We're talking about these two guys, Rico Dowdle and Jaylen Warren. But there is a third player to recognize as well.
- [14:29]
B
I think that's a really good important point too. And really I was thinking about before the show, what do we want to talk about with these running backs? And I think that really right now on your Dynasty rosters, I'm looking for two different angles. Is, is these ambiguous backfields and what is the cheapest entry point onto these ambiguous backfields. And if everybody's ready to give up on Caleb Johnson grabbing a chip on there and it could work out that direction. The other part is consolidation of my rosters because I know that I've got rookies coming in. We've talked a lot about rookies on this show, but we've got rookies coming in. I want to be able to make, to accept those players onto my roster. So how can you accomplish that? And one of the ways is just to be roll up into a couple pieces and maybe you want to make a chip on Rico Dowdle or you free up that spot and maybe a throw in on a Consolidation deal. Is Caleb Johnson coming on the back end that somebody's ready to give up on him? Just looking for opportunities to add pieces that could be the could break in their direction and give you that production out of a backfield.
- [15:28]
A
Next one we're going to talk about Jeff, the Tennessee Titans and this is off season number three of us saying Tajie Spears or Tony Pollard. But I think the big question this year is Tajie Spears, Tony Pollard or maybe a running back at 4 in the NFL Draft.
- [15:44]
B
Yeah, both these players are heading into contract years and you could see neither of them be Tennessee Titans next year. And it really comes down to one thing matters now for the Titans. They've new coaching staff coming in but the success and the future of Cam Cam Ward is where this all comes down to it. And as you look at this draft, they're sitting at four in a class that, you know, we, we don't feel is overly high, high level on that class they added Wandell Robinson. While Wandell Robinson is not what you want to see out of a number one wide receiver, they definitely doesn't have a typical number one wide receiver in this class that you would be thinking about taking it for overall. So this could be an entry point and we have seen running backs valued higher in the past than what we are seeing. Where Ashton Genty going last year in the top six and we had Bijan Robinson two years before that going inside the top 10 where. So we're seeing Jameer Gibbs in that same draft.
- [16:42]
A
Yeah.
- [16:42]
B
Yes. And so you're seeing a lot of value and you're seeing a league that is moving more towards those three down backs. I mean both Tony Pollard and Taji Spears have the profile to be three down backs, but I do. And not to bury the lead, but there's a mock coming out on footballguys.com tomorrow that has Jeremiah Love going to number four to the Tennessee Titans. That is going to be my name on that mock and that's what I'm thinking there. But while these two players are here, it's again, what's the cheapest point? Maybe we've seen both of these players, especially at the end of the year the last two years. Tony Pollard last year was about the best running back that you could have picked up in December and then the year before that Tajie Spears was a top three fantasy scorer when it came to December. But really when it comes down to what's the piece they can put around Cam Ward and allow him to succeed
- [17:30]
A
foreign, I'm Back with Jeff Bell and we are talking about ambiguous running back rooms. We've already talked about a handful. Jeff, I just want to say, like we, I mentioned R.J. harvey and J.K. dobbins earlier. We don't have them on the show sheet today. Is it safe to say that that's just one where like you're happy to just draft both? We can, we can keep this one quick.
- [17:48]
B
Yeah, I'm happy to have J.K. dobbins when he's on the field and I'm fine having RJ Harvey when unfortunately, eventually JK Adams is not on the field.
- [17:57]
A
Let's talk about one that actually we're trying to put a ch. Aaron Jones is back in Minnesota after a little scare that he would hit free agency and still splitting the backfield with Jordan Mason. This one, you know, we can choose one of the two that we prefer here. But this, to me, when I look at this Vikings backfield, they, they seem like a team that is primed to spend, you know, if not a day two pick, an early day three pick to add more depth to this running back room.
- [18:26]
B
You know, do they have the draft capital to be able to do that or are they going to. And part of it is, well, I. They have a new gm, I believe I should know these things. I'm really tired.
- [18:38]
A
They have a first round pick, a second round pick, two third round picks and three sevenths. So they've got a lot of day one and two draft capital and then just a slew of seventh rounders. So that's why, you know, I, I do see like there's a lot of round three running backs. I feel like in this, like if Jadarian Price, Emmett Johnson, like I feel like Emmett Johnson would be a perfect guy to kind of like, you know, sit under the tutelage of Aaron Jones for a year.
- [19:04]
B
Yeah. And it's really interesting because the way that I tend to view if you've got Kyler Murray at quarterback, kind of like the Jordan Mason there a bit, a little bit more. And just thinking about traditional offense that really kind of some maybe option RPO type elements of if I'm going to spread the defense out because I've got Kyler Murray and he's a threat on the perimeter, then I'm expecting a little bit more wide nine front, a little bit more running room in the interior of the offensive line. That's where I want Jordan Mason to be. No nonsense, busted up inside and then Kyler Murray be able to play off of that. Whereas if you've got a quarterback that's not super, super mobile, maybe then that's where Aaron Jones comes into play a little bit. But I think that both of them would benefit from Kyler Murray being quarterback now. And I think we're probably at a place where we do expect Kyler Murray to be the starting quarterback for the Minnesota Vikings. Week one.
- [19:55]
A
Oh, Kevin o' Connell completely tipped his hand the other day. I don't know if you saw that at the, you know, they did the, the owners, coaches meeting sort of thing and somebody asked him about the plans for Justin Jefferson and he didn't even mention JJ McCarthy's name. It was a lot of, you know, we're excited to see what Kyler Murray can do and Justin Jefferson gets one on one man coverage. And the entire game plan is going to be predicated around Kyler Murray getting the ball to Justin Jefferson. So we were kind of there already, like we said, assumed that Kyler Murray would be the starter. But I think Kevin o' Connell kind of showed his hands this weekend. Call me crazy, Jeff. Still holding on to hope for Aaron Jones. Like we know the injuries, right? I feel like what we've seen the last two years, we saw an RB1 season two years ago and then last year we saw Aaron Jones get injured and that's it. Like every year with Aaron Jones, you're flipping a coin. Are we getting a top five season or are we getting an injured season? And sure, you know, he's getting up there in age, but just the way that he plays, he's so good at avoiding contact. Like he's not getting hurt because he's getting blown up in, in the tackle box. He always just gets hurt with these soft tissue injuries, usually as he's running away for a touchdown. So I'm still like, you know, I know everybody just wants to completely throw in the towel on these aging running backs. I will happily draft, draft Aaron Jones in a lot of leagues this year.
- [21:08]
B
Oh, absolutely. I completely agree with it. He's, he is still a very, very strong running back. He's a team leader and it is, we are talking and advocating to target these ambig backfields because when it breaks in your direction, it can break in a big way. The other part of it is that a lot of times what we see is the second year off of an injury or the post injury discount usually works out reasonably well. I know Aaron Jones can go back and forth on injuries, but I mean, think last year with Christian McAffrey a discount on him relative to missing the entire year the year before becomes top overall running backs on the year. And so I think that leaning into those injury discounts because we do know that when it comes down to it, a lot of drafters are going to shy away or a lot of dynasty managers are going to shy away from those guys that were hurt last year because the last thing that they saw was a player not on the field.
- [21:59]
A
Next one we want to talk about, Jeff, the Carolina Panthers. And I feel like there could be some gold here. The Panthers have spent a lot over the last couple of years rebuilding that offensive line and the offensive line has looked much better. It's made Bryce Young's job easier and it's made the running backs jobs easier as well. I think the immediate knee jerk reaction for so many people is they see Rico Dowdle out of the picture and it just wheels up for Chuba Hubbard. Call me crazy, Jeff. Still holding on to hope for Jonathan Brooks like he is practicing. This was a guy who was the top running back in his class, drafted in round two coming off of Nacy Altair, you know, showed a couple of flashes before retearing that acl. I know this could end up being a sucker's bet, right? Like a guy who's torn the same ACL twice hasn't really shown much in the NFL. But if there's one lapse in my analysis that I'm willing to just overlook, it's just continuing to bet on these young talented players who have been nipped by the injury. Bud.
- [22:52]
B
Yeah, that's we were staying with Aaron Jones and he's not a young player but he's does these injury discounts. But I mean I do remember a year ago it was consensus. I mean Chiba Hubbard is going like third, fourth, fifth round in a lot of sharp best ball leagues. A lot of early drafts and throughout the summer it seemed like they the idea that it might be Rico Doddle was widely laughed at. A year after we coming off the idea that it might be Chiba Hubbard was widely laughed at. So I think that what we've seen so far from the Dave Canales Panthers offense is they're willing to change up. They're willing to go the direction, they're willing to play the hot hand, they're willing to play whoever they believe gives them the best chance. And the discount that you're getting on Jonathan Brooks right now, given his relative upside and where he could get to I think is certainly worth grabbing.
- [23:40]
A
Yeah, and that's one. You know, I just tweeted it the other day. I just like Nothing. But I just said I still believe in Jonathan Brooks and a lot of people like, a lot of the comments are like, oh, I forgot about him. Like that guy's still in the league. And you know, it is one of those things like out of sight, out of mind. Like the excitement for Jonathan Brooks going into his rookie season was so high and then all of a sudden two years go past and everybody just kind of forgets about him. So that's the bet I'm willing to make here. I still think Juba Hubbard is a good running back and especially we saw late in the year when he got over that calf injury, his efficiency bounced back to where it was. He looked like the better running back alongside Rico Doddle over the last quarter of the season or so. So I, I kind of do like both of these guys. But you talk about entry points into backfields. Chuba Hubbard is still going in the fifth, sixth round of drafts this year where looking at Jonathan Brooks, he's free at the end of redraft leagues. You know you can get him as a throw in in a dynasty trade as well. This is a guy that I still like. Already have him on a lot of teams, but I'll be willing to add him on even more this off season.
- [24:39]
B
I certainly think the temperature is getting hotter when it comes to Jonathan Brooks being a throw in anymore. I don't know that you can really qualify Jonathan Brooks for throw in because the people holding him now that held him through last year, they kind of want to see what's going to happen. Whereas last year through last season he was a great, great throw in piece
- [24:56]
A
on trades and that window probably is closed. Yeah, I'm looking right now. He has been climbing quite a bit. He's the RB37 right now on keep trade cut. So starting to veer into RB3 territory already despite showing nothing so far in the NFL. Jeff, I can't believe we're talking about this next one. It seemed like when the Saints signed Travis Hn, that's going to be tough to get used to. When the Saints signed Travis Hn, it seemed like Alan Camaro was all but gone. Trade, release, retirement. But now he and the organization are both saying that he plans to be back in New Orleans this year. So this is one that really scares me. You know, Travis etn, I think that his best skill set is just kind of his versatility and his durability. He can stay on the field. He doesn't get hurt. He gets a lot of touches. But if Alvin Camaro's out there. If Devin Neal is out there, you know, long term I'm, I'm still holding on to hope for a chan this is going to drive me nuts all year. I wish we could just keep calling him at the end but still holding on to hope long term. But I, I'd say he's one of those guys Travis Hn that I just like don't want to touch in drafts this year.
- [26:05]
B
I still want to know if Trevor Etienne has weighing in on how to say his last name. We just talking about the Panthers backfield that Travis's little brother is what's where's his op land and we need to get a consensus on this.
- [26:18]
A
I don't think they have that same that bayou accent down in Louisiana. They don't have that up in Carolina. So I don't think that he's getting people to change it yet for him.
- [26:27]
B
I do. You've mentioned Devin Neil briefly. I, I mean I love the price on Alvin Kamara right now. That being said, I don't see the way that they what they gave Travis H.N.
- [26:40]
A
dude, it's gonna drive me insane.
- [26:42]
B
Like, you know, what they gave him makes them, makes me feel like they've essentially moved on from Alvin Kamara. And part of me wonders if, you know, they're maybe they're waiting to see if a soft landing spot will materialize for him post June 1st. Maybe they're waiting to see if somebody will give them something for him somewhere that they can direct him to be where he wants to. I just to go out and to add this move and you know you mentioned Devin Neal and Devin Neal was very, very productive last year for the same coaching staff. This isn't a team that's changing coaching staffs. It is a team that had Devin Neal last year, productive player and to go out and target Travis Achan as the running back there, I mean he doesn't sign that deal unless he's got a pretty good feeling that he's been told things that he is going to be the running back there. And so to me, Jeff, because like
- [27:33]
A
if I was told that I'm gonna get paid a lot of money and not do a lot of work, I, I, I'd still be pretty excited.
- [27:38]
B
Okay, well they don't offer that deal unless that was their plan. So unless, I mean they're really poor hourly run. But yeah, it's a to me I think you saw that move in free agency. You saw Kenneth Walker in free agency. Those were teams we've already talked about. Jeremiah Love this episode. Those are teams that were sitting in the top 10. That essentially, to me, that was waving the flag. We don't expect love to be on the board. We do want to add to our backfields, and I think that ETN's the HN. Whatever. Travis is the winner here in this one.
- [28:07]
A
Yeah, there's the. The comments that I was asking for earlier.
- [28:10]
B
They're coming now. They're really coming. I'm telling you, though, you lose, listen long enough and their comments will be coming.
- [28:15]
A
And you know, Devin Neal, I just want to say, like, I was very off on Devin Neal last year, this time of year, like, when we were talking about prospects in March, April, May, like, I did not see it with Devin Neal, one of the players that I think I changed my opinion on more than anybody else last year. Like that game against Tampa, he looked great. Like, he looked like he could be in NFL three down back. So this is one like, yeah, we're going to talk about ET at. We're going to talk about Achan and Camara a lot, but Devin Neal isn't the guy to forget about in this backfield because I think, think that there's something there as well. So this to me, like, you know, I, I open up the show saying, like, you know, don't avoid ambiguous backfields. There's value to be had, but sometimes you can just avoid a ambiguous backfield. So this might be one of those where I'm just going to say, like, I'm just going to sit this one out and let everybody else kind of kind of figure out what happens here. Last one we want to talk about, Jeff, the New York Giants. And this is another potential Jeremiah Love landing spot. They're picking at 5, and there have been a lot of strong reports that they really like what they see in Jeremiah Love, as do all NFL teams. But we've got Cam Scatter Boo coming back from the brutal. I forget if it was a foot or an ankle, how they categorized lower body. Yeah, I mean, it was bad. It was a bad, bad injury. But it's Camp Scatter Boo, man. Like, there's some people like, you know, you just, like, stop caring at a certain point that Derrick Henry is getting older. Like, he's just gonna defy that. Like, if there's one guy who is going to, like, separate his foot from his leg and then come back and look just as good as he ever did, it's Cam Scatter Blue. So, like, I'm not betting against this guy because what he did, like, he was another guy that I strongly changed my opinion on last season after seeing how he adapted to the NFL. But I also really like Tyrone Tracy. And when I look at these two, like, this is the prototypical thunder lightning type of backfield. Like, you can have Cam Scatter Boo out there getting the early down work. You can have Tyrone Tracy, a converted wide receiver, coming in on passing down work. That being said, what we saw last year is that Brian Dable just said no, like, we like Camp Scatterboo as a pass catcher as well. So the huge question here, of course, is the injury. How is he going to recover from that injury? But this is another one where Cam Scatter Boo is getting drafted pretty aggressively. Tyrone Tracy has kind of fallen by the wayside as people forget about that rookie season excitement. So I'm gonna go with the cheaper option here and try to target Tyrone Tracy. But I am fully prepared to look like a fool for not betting on Camp Scatterboo.
- [30:35]
B
I mean, I don't really care what Brian Dabel has to say anymore at this point because he's the Tennessee Titans offensive coordinator. Now we've got John Harbaugh coming in as head coach and Matt Nagy coming in as offensive coordinator. We know in Baltimore, even with Derrick Henry in Baltimore, they ran one of the strictest backfield splits of having a dedicated passing back and then a dedicated rush back. And while Camp Scatterbo does have the ability to contribute in the passing game, we know it's high on Tracy converted wide receiver there. To me it seems pretty clear that, you know, he's the more the Justice Hill and Scatterbow could be the Derrick Henry. And I don't know that the upside is there. I mean, but it might be given what we saw from Jackson. Darth, the upside could be there, the touchdown equity could be there. But they do have a little bit more of a blended skill set that you could not be so strict. But even Nagy last year in Kansas City, they were pretty strict about the timeshare. I think to I think of anything, this one strikes kind of stands up as it should be a near 50, 50 split, you know.
- [31:37]
A
And this is why I like doing the show with you, Jeff, because that is a very poignant point that you made about both of these guys, Harbaugh and Nagy. You are right. If you look at how they deploy backfields historically. So, you know, given that, I mean, we're going to be looking. And again, like all of this, the Jeremiah Love of it, like, how is that going to be like, if he goes then we're not talking about either of these guys. Then it's just going to be the Jeremiah Love show and Scatter Boo and Tracy both become injury away guys. But, you know, I see Tracy especially, I don't think, you know, there's reports that Scatter Boo will be ready for week one. And again, like I feel like a fool for doubting Cam Scatter Boo, probably one of the toughest dudes in the NFL. But even if we're just looking at like a month without Scatter Boo or Tyrone Tracy is that guy. It is so rare to find these types of guys that like, you know, are getting projectable volume early in the season and we get some so enamored with betting on the rookies and the injury away guys that I almost hope that Scatter Boo misses the early part of the season because then when I draft my Zach Charbonnet, who I expect to be my late season league winner, I could pair him up with a Tyrone Tracy type guy. They can get me through the early parts of the season. So we'll get more clarity on this throughout the off season and through training camp. But I really think, you know, the, the whole, the. It's so tough talking about this backfield without 1 knowing who the Giants are selecting at 5 and 2 knowing when and if Cam Scatteraboo is going to return.
- [32:57]
B
Well, and the Devin Singletary of it all as well. I mean, we can't rule him out being involved in being a factor too. And you're talking about coaches that have loved to have a split in the backfield. They kept Singletary around and he probably will play into the equivalent as well. But you do make a very, very good point on where is Jeremiah Love going to land. And as we ran through all of these teams, you can see we talked about the, the commanders, the Titans, the Giants. It feels like one of them will probably have Jeremiah Love in the backfield even. We didn't talk about the Chiefs hardly, but I mean, that looks pretty clear in Kenneth Walker. But there's been reports that if Jeremiah Love were to be on the board at number nine, the Chiefs like him to the point where they would consider taking him. And so I think that it's even these backfields that look pretty clear or feel pretty settled. I mean, they can throw themselves into ambiguity as well. And I think if anything, the value in targeting those backfields and it breaks in your direction becomes league shifting value.
- [33:57]
A
And that's why I'm glad you brought that up, Jeff, because like people and I talked briefly about this with Matt Waldman the other day when, when he joined. But we were talking about like, people are so bullheaded and cocksure in their rookie takes when the reality is like every year the draft happens and people are like, what? Like, they just gave Kirk Cousins all this money. What do you mean they drafted Michael Penix or they've got David Montgomery on a team friendly deal. What do you mean they drafted Jameer Gibbs? So we sit here and we look at like, well, they need this and they need this and this is what they've done historically. And then the actual NFL draft happens and we look back at round one and we're like, that doesn't look anything like anybody's mock. So yeah, like, sure, it makes sense to say we can pencil Jeremiah Love in here, here, here. But like, if he goes to Kansas City, that shouldn't surprise and it will surprise people. But looking at the history of the NFL draft, it's shouldn't.
- [34:45]
B
Yep, completely agree. And yeah, exactly. We every single year we see these supposed great landing spots for rookie running backs and the team, the reality of it comes down to the reason why they don't have a clear start in the backfield or the reason why it is ambiguous in the backfield is because the team doesn't traditionally value the running back position. They're fine kind of letting the cards fall where they may. Whereas it becomes at some point what we've seen with backs in the past. The teams that value running backs have good running backs, but they still value running backs. So if half the league's just completely sitting out drafting them, then it becomes to the point where it's a good value on their board to take the back. And we've seen instances of that over the last couple of drafts that that's just the way it's broken.
- [35:30]
A
Well, this was a really fun episode, Jeff, and we're going to be back next week doing the same thing, talking about wide receivers and ambiguous wide receiver rooms and the guys that we prefer in each of those. So be sure to subscribe. Subscribe, follow along, do whatever you can to make sure you're getting every episode here of the football guys Dynasty show. Thank you so much for tuning in. We'll see you soon.