FantasyPros - 2026 Fantasy Football Running Back Rankings and Tiers (Ep. 1967)

Summary

The Herd with Colin Cowherd: FantasyPros – 2026 Fantasy Football Running Back Rankings and Tiers (Ep. 1967) February 21, 2026

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Episode Overview

This episode of FantasyPros dives deep into the early consensus rankings and tier breakdowns for running backs heading into the 2026 fantasy football season. Hosts Joe Pisapia (Joey P.), Andrew Erickson, and Jake Seeley (The Athletic) spar over the top RB contenders, share their personal rankings, dissect player value, and debate looming questions about usage, team changes, workload risk, and aging stars. The group emphasizes process over reactivity as they try to make sense of an RB landscape emerging from a 2025 ‘renaissance’ but facing plenty of new uncertainty.

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Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. Top Tier Running Backs and Debate Over Christian McCaffrey (00:40 – 09:20)

• Bijan Robinson is the unanimous RB1.
• Jahmyr Gibbs lands at RB2 by consensus.
• Christian McCaffrey (age 30, heavy usage in 2025) comes in at RB3—sparking the episode's hottest debate.

Andrew Erickson:

• Disagrees with consensus, ranks McCaffrey at RB10.
  • "For using my rankings, that bet you just won't draft Christian McCaffrey in 2026—and I'm okay with that." (03:11)
  • Cites historical data: RBs with 400+ touches rarely repeat as RB1s.
  • Points to declines in efficiency and absence of George Kittle as blocking impact.

Jake Seeley:

• Places McCaffrey at RB3—but not above WRs in overall drafts.

  • "The biggest thing is, if you go into this process, understand like, we don't take the value at the end of the season and be like, haha, that's what I was right. You have to understand the process of why you understand the risk here." (07:12)
  • Sees Kittle’s health and offensive scheme as pivotal, but says CMC's pass-catching keeps his floor high.
  • Emphasizes the tight grouping of several RBs—values in the first round are close.

• Consensus: Taylor, Hn, Cook, Ashton Genti, and others make up the rest of Tier 1-2.

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2. The Ashton Genti and Chase Brown Tiers (09:23 – 14:33)

Ashton Genti

• Joey P.: ECR at 7, Jake at 11 due to rookie QB, new coach, and shaky offensive line.
• Jake: Highlights unhealthy volume and poor line play; compares Genti’s potential to Saquon Barkley’s final Giants season.
  • "He was averaging negative yards before contact. He still finished with nearly 90% of his yards after contact." (09:41)
  • Needs offensive upgrades for top-5 upside.

Chase Brown

• ECR 10, Andrew Erickson at 7.
• Erickson: Praises spike in production when Bengals had QB stability.
  • "RB7 in points per game from week seven onward at 18.3. And then when we saw Joe Burrow return... RB3 from weeks 13 through 17." (11:54)
  • Notes versatility and bell-cow potential.
• Jake Seeley: Lower (RB12) out of concern for potential RB committee additions and lack of a new contract.

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3. Kyren Williams and Breece Hall – Polarizing Value Picks (16:33 – 20:31)

Kyren Williams

• Split between top-10 and ECR 16.
• Jake Seeley: Defends Williams as “most productive fantasy RB people want to murder.”
  • "He has never not been top 10 in points per game and he's actually been top 10 overall every single year..." (17:15)
  • Notes stable role, McVay’s usage patterns, and recent contract extension.

Breece Hall

• Andrew Erickson: Has him as RB12, thinks he’ll be an RB1 away from Jets.
  • "He's going to be a fantasy RB1 on a team not named the New York Jets." (18:55)
  • If franchised by Jets, drops to around RB18.
  • Points to strong offseason landing spots like Arizona, Kansas City, Houston.

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4. Rookie Running Back Uncertainty – Jeremiah Love and 2026 Class (20:31 – 26:18)

Jeremiah Love

• ECR 11, Erickson has at 15 as landing spot placeholder.
  • Explains rookie RBs typically finish around RB18.
  • "I think that we all get carried away sometimes with oh, I want to get the rookie running back when maybe the better bet is for him to, you know, have a so-so rookie year and then buy him in year two." (22:42)

Team Fit & Draft Impact

• Joey P.: Notes that strong teams with high draft picks (Ravens, Chiefs) could dramatically shift rookie values this year.
• Jake: Warns of overhype if Chiefs select a RB, citing past with Edwards-Helaire.
• Andrew: Ties potential Chiefs interest to possible staff connections at Notre Dame.

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5. Mid-Tier & Committee Backfields – Managing Risk (26:30 – 39:46)

Cam Scatteboo
Jake: Has him much lower (26 vs. ECR 19) due to playstyle, injury risk, and probable committee under Harbaugh:

• "He gives legitimately like there is no such thing as 110%. But the dude gives 200% because he's insane." (26:43)

Kyle Monangai

• Joey P.: Sees him as the "deep dish running back" (30:01), tough and Chicago-style. Should be monitored in case of Swift departure.

Tony Pollard

• Jake: Has him much lower than consensus (38 vs. 29).
  • "He's just Tony Pollard's replacement level... I don't want a piece of Tony Pollard. I just feel like there's nothing but downside at this point." (31:14)

Patriots Backfield (Stevenson & Travyon Henderson)

• Andrew Erickson: Expects close split and leans toward Henderson for upside, dropping Stevenson in ranks.

Hubbard & Dowdle

• Jake: Both may be replaced or stuck in timeshares, with little to no bell-cow opportunity.

Woody Marks

• Andrew: Fades him due to inefficiency, lack of draft capital, and strong likelihood Texans add competition:
  • "He was in the bottom percentile, last among all running backs and missed tackles, force per attempt." (37:55)

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6. Deep Sleepers and Movers After Top 36 (39:46 – 42:09)

Jake Seeley:

• Sean Tucker (RB55):
  • "This just comes down to opportunity... Honestly, 55 is too low." (40:03)

Andrew Erickson:

• Tyler Allgeier (RB28):
  • "My guy's going to get the bag because... not a lot of tread on the tires... He's a really talented guy. It's not his fault that he's just been behind Bijan." (41:04)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On the “400+ Touch Curse” for RBs:
  Andrew: “Last 13 running backs to lead the NFL in touches, only one of them was a running back inside the top five the next season after seeing at least 400+ touches." (03:29)
• On confirmation bias in fantasy football:
  Jake: "It’s going to be confirmation bias at the end of the year if Christian McCaffrey gets hurt... if it works out the other way, it’s like ‘see, I told you.’" (06:44)
• On rookie RB hype and landing spot:
  Jake: "If he goes to the Chiefs, people are going to draft him as like the third or fourth running back off the board and that will be the mistake." (25:28)
• Fantasy “deep dish running back” analogy:
  Joey P.: "He's the deep dish running back. You can quote me on that one and you can clip this for social media because that's what Kyle Manangai is." (30:01)

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• Top 2026 RB Rankings & McCaffrey Debate........................00:40–09:20
• Ashton Genti, Brown, and Committee Risks....................09:23–14:33
• Kyren Williams, Breece Hall Value Arguments...............16:33–20:31
• Rookie RBs & Jeremiah Love Landing Spot Importance..20:31–26:18
• Mid-Round and Share Backfield Risks.............................26:30–39:46
• Deep Sleepers/Movers Outside Top 36.............................39:46–42:09

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Summary Takeaways

• There’s wide debate about the aging elite (McCaffrey, Barkley) and the incoming rookies, with heavy emphasis on historical outputs after high-touch seasons.
• Value is especially tight among the top eight RBs—personal risk tolerance and process matter more than clinging to projections or last year’s outcomes.
• Rookies’ immediate impact will likely be determined by team context and NFL Draft outcomes.
• Volume, contract security, offensive line, and coaching trends are themes throughout, as are warning signs of overhype and confirmation bias.
• The podcast is a lively, data-and-history-driven look at how to approach ambiguous fantasy decisions before preseason clarity arrives.

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Hosts:

• Joe Pisapia (Joey P., Fantasy Pros)
• Andrew Erickson (Fantasy Pros)
• Jake Seeley (The Athletic)

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Transcript

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[Daniel Cormier]

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[Joey P (Joe P. Zeppia)]

Welcome in everybody to Fantasy Pros. This is the Fantasy Football Podcast. It's me, Joey P, Joe P. Zeppia and we are here for another series of our early ranks. We're going to look ahead to the expert consensus of 2026. Yeah, we know it's early, but it's never too early to have some debates and conversations and to say what might be right and what might be wrong about some of the rankings. And to help me do that, Andrew Erickson and Jake Seeley from the Athletic are back again to have it out with the rankings and see who's right and who's wrong. Well, that's for you to decide at the end of the day because you're going to be drafting these teams. Don't forget to follow us here on Fantasy Pros on our YouTube channel and subscribe wherever you get your podcast as well. Gentlemen, we've done the wide receivers. If you missed that show, you can go back and watch it here on a YouTube channel or just listen to the show as well. So now it's time to break down the running backs because it was a running back renaissance in 2025. Will it continue in 2026? Ah, that's the question. So let's jump into the pool with two feet here and let's start at the very top of tier one, number one, Bijan Robinson. No doubt about that. Nobody's really concerned about that one. Jir Gibbs at number two. No surprise there. And then at number three, 30 year old Christian McCaffrey coming off 4, 000 touches in 2025. Now I could be exaggerating that slightly. I might not be. Let you guys decide. Number four in tier two, Jonathan Taylor start off with a great season that unfortunately Daniel Jones got hurt and the Colts went south. Way, way south in the AFC South. Devon Hn at number five. We'll see what A new head coach wants to do with Devon H. And James Cook at number six. The forgotten man in drafts last year except on all of my rosters because he scored too many touchdowns in 2024. She couldn't possibly be any good in 2025. If you listen to the noise, sometimes you go deaf. Instead, just draft James Cook at number six. That's right. Exactly. Ashton Genti at number seven. Maybe he'll get an offensive line this year for Christmas. Omarion Hampton at number eight and then tier three. You got Saquon Barkley coming off a year where he was being drafted as a very highly rated running back. And as I told everyone, anyone who has 400 carries in a season never finishes as an RB1 the next year. Nobody wanted to listen to me. Unfortunately he didn't finish as an RB one last year, but he is back in that tier again this season. Chase Brown at 10. Jeremiah Love doesn't have a team but that doesn't matter because the experts say he's going to be a top 12 RB and that Josh Jacobs at 12. So let's start with Christian McCaffrey. Andrew Erickson, we've had a lot of early discussions about this. He is ranked number three but where do you have him in your early ranks?

[Andrew Erickson]

Much lower than the consensus rank of RB3. I have him at RB10 and basically it's my way of saying that for using my rankings that bet you just won't draft Christian McCaffrey in 2026 and and I'm okay with that. I think that the stats that you brought up Joe, in terms of the carry amount, it's really insightful and that's something that I followed. I did my own research too with it in terms of just looking at the running back that led the NFL in touches one year the following season they don't ever really finish as RB1's last 13 running backs to lead the NFL in touches, only one of them was a running back inside the top five. The next season after seeing at least 400 plus touches, Chris McCaffrey is coming off 450 total touches including the postseason. So good I could be wrong, could get burned. This could be the year the outlier where CMC has a resurgent back to back RB1 finish. But I trusted the process with this with Saquon Barkley after he be the league in touches Josh Jacobs the year before that. Just don't want to draft these guys. And then the other thing too is I felt like McCaffrey this season even though he did force a ton of missed tackles, led the NFL enforcement tackles. I felt like his rushing efficiency did fall off a little bit in terms of how effective he was. George Kittle, he's going to miss time to start the year. We cannot overstate how impactful George Kittle is as a blocker for this offense. And we saw his rushing splits again during the beginning of the season. That's when McCaffrey was really struggling as a rusher. Kittle was out with one of those early season injuries. So for me, I'm just going in a different direction at running back in the top of the first round.

[Joey P (Joe P. Zeppia)]

All right, let's get to one of your guys here. Ashton Genti, the ECR has him at seven. Jake, you have him a little lower. You have an 11, which feels conservative, but I think I understand why, which is you're looking at a rookie quarterback. You're also looking at a rookie head coach and an offensive line that's still very much a work in progress. What else can you add to this pile here for Ash and Genti to be a little bit outside of the top 10?

[Jake Seeley]

Yeah, and if you were watching the video and trying to figure out how far I could roll my eyes back into my head, you can jump over the Athletic and jump in the comments about the CMC discussion for a completely different one.

[Joey P (Joe P. Zeppia)]

Oh, why you have them at one? Is that why?

[Jake Seeley]

Oh, no, no, no.

[Joey P (Joe P. Zeppia)]

You don't believe in numbers and oh

[Jake Seeley]

no, I do believe in numbers. Are we really going to do this again? We've already done it once before.

[Joey P (Joe P. Zeppia)]

Like, like I brought my receipts with me. I got a receipt so long it's like CVS style.

[Jake Seeley]

And I got the same receipt back. Ricky Williams, ladanian, Tomlinson for seven straight years.

[Joey P (Joe P. Zeppia)]

CJ2K, Tiki for the year 2000.

[Jake Seeley]

They are all after 2000. Nice try.

[Joey P (Joe P. Zeppia)]

No, no, 2000. And you didn't let me finish. I'll tell you what, I will name three guys for every one you can if you want to play.

[Jake Seeley]

No, that's not true. That's not true because you've already read.

[Joey P (Joe P. Zeppia)]

I have it. No, I got my list.

[Jake Seeley]

Arian Foster, Clinton Portis, Tiki Barber, CJ2K, Ladanian Thomas from Ricky Williams, DeMarco Murray, bounced back two years later with Tennessee. Everybody always not the last.

[Joey P (Joe P. Zeppia)]

Not the year after, though. Not the year after.

[Jake Seeley]

And it's the year after is such a crutch. And it's the top five is such a crutch. It's like, what a surprise. A generational season doesn't get repeated this why? Because he's still an RB1 and R

[Joey P (Joe P. Zeppia)]

Chris Harris why Because Are you bringing the crutch argument back? Yeah because Murray in 2014 Eddie George 2000 Sean Alexander 2005 Larry Johnson 06 Jamal Lewis 2000 Corey Dillon 04 Edger James 2000 Curtis Martin 04 Arian Foster 2012 I'm on Green 2003 Jamal Lewis 2003 Shall I continue?

[Jake Seeley]

Yeah because Aaron Foster on my list you picked the last year Larry Johnson on my list you picked the last year Ricky Williams on my list here

[Joey P (Joe P. Zeppia)]

the year that they had 400 they

[Jake Seeley]

had 400 before that next year and that's the point. This is my point is like we, we. You can go both ways. I'm not saying my way is right either. We already had this discussion in this argument is you can pick I like everybody if you can pick which side you want. It's just I think the takeaway here is like whatever we're going to do the same thing as we did after this season. It's going to be like it's going to be confirmation bias at the end of the year if Christian McCaffrey gets hurt. Christian McCaffrey sucks to be like haha. Told you if it's Christian McCaffrey what

[Joey P (Joe P. Zeppia)]

about the age though of I don't

[Jake Seeley]

care because Danny Thomason did it forever. Christian McCaffrey is not the same touches. He's not the same kind of touches because I was going to say this credit to Andrew and one thing he is right, the rushing stunk but that's not where Christian McCaffrey's value lies. That's what saves him. So I'm not worried about the 30 because he also doesn't have the touches that some of the other ones have. If we're not talking about Derek Henry and Derek Henry's been five so all that being said is the biggest thing is that I think people make in the industry as a mistake. You might be right. I might be right. The biggest thing is if you go into this process understand like we don't take the value at the end of the season be like haha. That's what I was right. You have to understand like the process of why you understand the risk here. So Christian McCaffrey I do not have as my RB1.

[Andrew Erickson]

I don't.

[Jake Seeley]

I went to RB3 mid round. Joe, you and I did the draft. We talked about it. I have wide receivers in front of him because I am associating a risk.

[Joey P (Joe P. Zeppia)]

Sure. So what is your McCaffrey I mean, this isn't even the guy we're going to talk about with you.

[Daniel Cormier]

Right.

[Joey P (Joe P. Zeppia)]

Since we're doing it, we might as well. We might as well. I think that ship has sailed a long time ago, my friend.

[Jake Seeley]

Well, we both have Chase Brown, so we don't have to spend much time on him.

[Andrew Erickson]

Good.

[Joey P (Joe P. Zeppia)]

So Chris McCaffrey, where do you have him in your RB ranks?

[Jake Seeley]

I have him at three, four, five, but I am a seventh overall. Give him a three because that's what I'm saying.

[Joey P (Joe P. Zeppia)]

Three, seventh overall. Okay. If Jonathan Taylor gets a quarterback, I'm taking Jonathan Taylor and I feel better about James Cook just at this juncture in his career than I do about McCaffrey at the juncture in his career, schedule wise, of the 49ers. The Kittle Point, I think is really astute.

[Jake Seeley]

I'm with you.

[Joey P (Joe P. Zeppia)]

Hold on.

[Jake Seeley]

And this is where I'm with you on this. So I have Bijon and Gibbs, Tier, McCaffrey, Taylor, H.N. cook, Hampton, Barkley, Henry. You might even get Williams or Genti. And that's my.

[Andrew Erickson]

What?

[Jake Seeley]

I think you set me up, Joe. This is the one I'm so glad about because if you disagree, that's fine because just take whoever lasts the longest towards the end of the first round, early the second round because the value with all those guys is going to be so tight that I don't have a problem. If you really hate Christian McCaffrey and that's what my takeaway is going to be like, if you hate him, fine. I agree with you. Take Taylor. If you hate both of them, take James Cook. Take a chance. Take a Marian Hampton. They're all going to be within the range of each other and that's the biggest thing here.

[Joey P (Joe P. Zeppia)]

Can we talk about Ash and Genti?

[Jake Seeley]

So he's not going to be in the range of these guys. He's not going to be in the range. I know. This is why we do this, because you pull it all the way back

[Joey P (Joe P. Zeppia)]

and I have been friends for 15 years too long. This is just what we do in real life. Way too long. Way too long. Ashton Genti. Why do you have him so low? What's wrong with you?

[Jake Seeley]

I hate Ashton Genti. I hate the generational talent of it. Yeah, there it is. All the yards after contact through the first three weeks. The guy actually had 103% of yards after contact. Let that sink in for a second because he was averaging negative yards before contact. He still finished with nearly 90% of his yards after contact. And I Understand we have Colt Miller coming back. He didn't play most of the season, but Parham is a free agent, their best guard. We need to see that they address the offensive line more than just saying, hey, let's hope Colt Mil, hope Colt Miller stays healthy and just swap part him for another player because they're probably going to still be bottom third of the league and maybe not bottom, actually the bottom three teams, but maybe bottom 10, like 10th worst. And in that case, you know what, what did I bring up to you the other day, Joe? I think Saquon Barkley on the Giants final season is a great comparison for what the potential is for Ashton Genti on the Raiders. It's still potentially going to be really bad. The volume offsets it. He was just 0.1 percentage points behind Jonathan Taylor and RB Touch percentage for number two in the league, only behind Taylor. So the volume's already there. Kubia him the same volume. He's not going to give him 93% of the touches. So I look at the offense hopefully being better, but it really just comes down to that volume. We have to also see the offense take an uptick for Ashton Gentry to get inside the top five. So right now I have him in that tier with Kyron Williams and Derrick Henry and the next guy we're going to talk about and even Barkley. But I could see him getting out of this tier higher if the Raiders make the right moves this offseason.

[Joey P (Joe P. Zeppia)]

All right, Andrew, Eric said I need you to talk on this show more Chase Brown.

[Andrew Erickson]

I'm excited to join the show.

[Joey P (Joe P. Zeppia)]

Hey, Mat, let's go. This is classic Sealy piece of p. This is what we did. Jake and I did a show together five days a week for two years.

[Jake Seeley]

I'm sorry.

[Joey P (Joe P. Zeppia)]

So this is. Those are the best days of my life. Jake Sealey award winning. I still didn't have hair then. Yeah.

[Andrew Erickson]

Award winning frequent listener.

[Joey P (Joe P. Zeppia)]

Frequent listener. Andrew Erickson. That's right. That's right.

[Jake Seeley]

I'm also sorry.

[Andrew Erickson]

All right.

[Joey P (Joe P. Zeppia)]

Yeah. Maybe we should make a formal apology. St Andrew an edible Arrangement. All right. Chase Brown is number 10 on the ECR, but you've got him a little bit higher. Erickson. Talk about why you have an RB7.

[Andrew Erickson]

Well, when Joe Burrow finally came back into the offense for the Cincinnati Bengals last year, even before he came back, when they got an influx of any type of good quarterback play in the form of Joe Flacco, if there was a Joe under center, it was good for Chase Brown. RB7 in points per game from week seven onward at 18.3. And then when we saw Joe Burrow return to the lineup, 20.6 half PPR points per game, RB3 from weeks 13 through 17. So Chase Brown as much of a league loser he looked like after you drafted him in the second or third round, Joe Burrow gets hurt. It's a total disaster in the second half of the season. Man, he looked like a league winner, like he was driving. Like the one team that I actually got to my finals, I had Chase Brown on it because I traded for him before the trade deadline and he played a big role in kind of moving my team to advance into the postseason. So. Rushed for over a thousand yards for the first time in his career this past season. Finished fifth among running backs, 69 catches, 437 yards. Through the last two years, he's averaged just shy of a thousand rushing yards per season, nearly 1400 yards from scrimmage entering the final year of his rookie contract. I think Chase Brown's going to go out on a high note here and try to cash in on a bigger deal. It's a former fifth round pick. He's shown that he can handle bell cow level usage and, and I know that the concerns are. Well, he was splitting touches and snaps with Samaj P. Ryan in the second half of the season. You know, is that concerning for what his workload could be? And I, I would acknowledge that. But at the same time he was getting all this production with Samaj P. Ryan seating snaps. Because Chase Brown is good. He's good as a pass catcher, he's explosive running back and I want to buy into that. Especially with Joe Burrow leading the offense on a crappy Bengals defense. It's gonna be shootout after shootout just like it was this year. So I love Chase Brown.

[Joey P (Joe P. Zeppia)]

Well, obviously it's one thing we know Jake Seeley hates everything. So Jake, why do you dislike Chase Brown more than the ECR? Because you've got him at RB12.

[Jake Seeley]

Yeah, we're on the other sides of this and it really comes down to nothing that Andrew said was wrong. I actually love Chase Brown, the player this really comes down to. I'm. I have a little bit of a dynasty hat in this thinking of if I am drafting today, I kind of want to avoid the risk and I say the risk is what Andrew just said. Samaj Piran was no great shakes and they continue to use him 35% of the time. 35. 35. It was actually 65, 35 almost down the line when healthy and not that players can't be productive because my argument for Kyron Williams is that with that workload, Kyron Williams is still a top 10 running back. Why does everybody hate Kyron Williams so teaser. By the way, the thing with Chase Brown that I have is the concern is where I think the difference is is Kyron Williams has his contract. I mean, I might as well just talk about Kyron Williams at this point. I'm jumping ahead for you, Joe.

[Joey P (Joe P. Zeppia)]

No, not yet. We're not in that tier.

[Jake Seeley]

Stop jumping. But I'll just leave that there and say Chase Brown doesn't have a new contract. Chase Brown still has the threat of what is the possible most threatening free agent running back class we've seen in some time. And I think the Bengals have more important priorities. But what if, just what if they brought a timeshare piece in there and all of a sudden we're looking at Kenneth Walker, Charbonnet of the Bengals. So that's why it's only because who's in front of them? Kyron Genti Barkley, Henry Hampton has nothing to do with Chase Brown and everything to do with just the potential threat.

[Joey P (Joe P. Zeppia)]

All right, we'll get to Kyron Williams, I promise, in just a second. I want to remind everybody watching though, we're giving away free stuff. The fantasy football championship belt giveaway is here again. And if you want a chance to win this symbol of ultimate fantasy glory, well, there's one way to do it and that. Subscribe to the channel, drop your comments below and you could win the trophy smack Fantasy football championship belt. The number one destination for epic fantasy football hardware is trophy smack in. This massive gold plated belt is built to make a statement. It's bold, it's heavy, it's guaranteed to turn heads in your league or if you can wear it out shopping or, you know, family events if you like, you can wear it to the club. Go out there, ladies. Very, you know, very, you know. So the guys wearing the belt in the club all of a sudden get all the attention. Just saying, just saying, guys and ladies, same thing. Ladies walk into the club wearing championship belt, guys just flock to them. It's automatic. So if you want to get that and wear it to the club again, subscribe to the channel, drop your comments below. The championship belt can be yours. It's very cool though. I've got a couple of them. Jake has none. Andrew's got a few himself. And again, we'll be announcing the winner here on the channel, so make sure you turn on those notifications so you never miss a chance to catch our show and we can let you know if you're the big winner of the championship belt. I am being exaggerating. I think Jake has at least one belt right? Jake, how many? How many of the belts you got from the trophy smack?

[Jake Seeley]

I think four or five.

[Joey P (Joe P. Zeppia)]

I got three. Andrew, got any trophy smack belts? We got to get you one.

[Jake Seeley]

You also have a chain.

[Andrew Erickson]

I want. I gotta win.

[Joey P (Joe P. Zeppia)]

I gotta win and I've got the chain. That's right, because I'm a multi time flex league champion. That's right because I don't draft 30 year old running backs off 450 touch seasons. Next up here, Derrick Henry at 13, Bucky Irving at 14 pre solid 15. Kyron Williams in tier four now at 16, Ken Walker coming at 17, Super Bowl MVP Kenneth Walker, RJ Harvey, Cam Scatter Boo at 19, Travy on Henderson at 20, Travis Etienne at 21, Javante Williams at 22, Quinshawn Judkins at 23 and then DeAndre Swift at 24. All right, we waited Jake Sealy for the Kyron Williams. I'm gonna set you up. ECR is 16 but you have him at 10 and I hate myself but I agree with you. I think he is much closer to 10 than he is to where the ECR has him.

[Jake Seeley]

You know the cliche meme joke Love something as much as fancy people want to murder Kyron Williams value every single year like that. I have never seen a player productive in fantasy that people hate more than Kyron Williams. He has never not been top 10 in points per game and he's actually been top 10 overall every single year and even the top three when he's played the full season he was just nine lockstep with Chase Brown and points per game. By the way I bring that number up 64.6% of the touches in the backfield. Chase Brown actually had 71.5 because as we talked about Smasher P. Ryan wasn't healthy the entire year and yet lockstep with him on fewer touches. It's who he is. It's what the Rams offense is. It's what Sean McVay is. I don't know how much we have to do this if Matthew Stafford retired. Completely different story. The offense is now in flux. Who knows what's going to happen. But the same argument where I agree because I didn't get to chime in too much but I 100% agree with Erickson on the Devonte Adams value is that he is a wide receiver one I am 100% in agreement that Kyron Williams still deserves to be a top 10 running back until further notice. Stop trying to make every other running back in the history. Oh, you know something else? You know what Sean McVay has done every single year he's been with the Rams? And less need have done. They've drafted a day three running back every damn year. And every damn year somebody's like, this is the one that's going to take the job. No, he's not. Leave Kyron Williams alone.

[Joey P (Joe P. Zeppia)]

Well, as you said before, Jake, they're paying him too. He signed that extension like, follow the money, bro. This is not that hard. All right. Breeze Hall, Andrew Erickson, you got some feelings on him. He has ECR 15, but you've got him a little higher. You also have him as an RB one just like Sealy has Kyron Williams. You've got him just cracking that group at 12. So let's talk about Breeze hall and your expectations for him this off season.

[Andrew Erickson]

He's going to be a fantasy RB1 on a team not named the New York Jets. 31 takers, take your pick.

[Jake Seeley]

What if they franchise him?

[Andrew Erickson]

A Super bowl franchise and trade him?

[Jake Seeley]

No, no, no. I'm legitimately asking you if they franchise him, like, where would he fall? I'm assuming you drop him.

[Andrew Erickson]

He's. I don't think he's going to play for the Jets. I think he's like, I see ya.

[Jake Seeley]

Answer the question.

[Joey P (Joe P. Zeppia)]

I mean, he would hold out.

[Andrew Erickson]

He wants to play for the New York Jets. I think that he's done. And what do the jets have to gain from franchise tagging him and then letting him sit up?

[Jake Seeley]

103 talents. Anyway, continue. I was just.

[Andrew Erickson]

I'm just curious.

[Jake Seeley]

I was just curious how much you would move him down if he got stuck with the Jets.

[Andrew Erickson]

So if he was on the jets, he'd probably be around. RB18.

[Joey P (Joe P. Zeppia)]

Okay.

[Andrew Erickson]

Probably. Right. Because that's where he finished last year.

[Jake Seeley]

Okay.

[Andrew Erickson]

And I can't imagine that this. Because the thing is, he had a thousand rushing yards for the first time in his career last year. Somehow in the jets offensive line, again, good tackles, like the interior needs some work, but they have so much cap space that I think the jets offensive line's not really the issue. It's obviously the quarterback play was horrendous last year, especially with Fields and Tyrod and just Brady Cook, just an absolute mess. But Paul, we've seen a ceiling with him where he's been a top three fantasy running back before and the former officer coordinator that was his coach in 2023 when he was fantasy's RB2. Well, that guy's in Arizona now. Arizona needs a running back because James Connor is going to get cut. So I can think of great landing spots such as Arizona, Kansas City, Houston, teams that need running backs that you could drop Reese hall in. He's a three down superstar. We know what he can do in the pass catching game. I, I think he has a top five ceiling that he's already shown. So I think he can be a fantasy RV1 as long as he's not on the New York Jets.

[Joey P (Joe P. Zeppia)]

All right. Now a lot of people think that Jeremiah Love can be a RB one right now because they've got him at RB 11 overall, but you've got them a little bit lower. You've got an RB15. So you're taking a little bit more of a conservative approach. Why is that? We all think that Love is a great talent. I understand landing spot has a lot to do with that. Is it just a placeholder for landing spot or is this just. I've been burned by the rookie running backs one too many times and I don't want to get too excited too quickly.

[Andrew Erickson]

It's really more of a placeholder spot. I don't think that we can confidently say, oh, he's gonna fish. Exactly. This one. We don't know what team he's on. Right. You know, if Ashton Genti goes to any other team but the Raiders, that was just so bad in terms of run blocking up front. Well, he probably has a much better rookie season. Maybe he's more efficient. But then you could also look at it. Well, maybe he doesn't get as many touches on a different offense. So the thing with Jeremiah Love, I kind of took this from a wider lens looking at what I do in terms of rookie running backs taken in the first round. Like where is their average finish? It's RB18. Like that's historically where the rate has been. And if you look at last year, Genti and Hampton, where do you think they both finished? Points per game? Genti RB17, Hampton RB16. So it is kind of in that range where, okay, I'm gonna put him here. Based on I know he's going to be a first round pick. Like that's what I feel most confident about. But is he going to have 350 touches? He's a top 10 pick. I would presume that that would be the plan for a player of his caliber. But you know, some teams are looking at, we like using committee backfields a little bit more. We don't want to give it because we want him to remain super, super efficient. Does it turn into a Kyron Williams Blake Corum situation? So there's a lot of different ways where this can shake out. And to have him at RB11? No, I don't think that it's ludicrous based on his talent profile. But I think that, you know, we all get carried away sometimes with oh, I want to get the rookie running back when maybe the better bet is for him to, you know, have a so so rookie year and then buy him in year two like Ashton Genti. So that's kind of how I view love again, someone that I could definitely end up. He's going to move in the rankings regardless when we figure out what team he's on. But I just wanted to share from an overarching standpoint where these first round picks tend to typically finish and RB11 is probably a little higher on that end of the Spectrum.

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[Daniel Cormier]

This is Daniel Cormier from the Daniel Cormier Show. This podcast is sponsored by Total Wireless, the official wireless partner of ufc. All UFC fighters know power doesn't wait in the octagon or outside of it. You either make the move or you miss the moment. That's why you need a network that's as powerful as you are. With Total Wireless, you get unlimited 5G data keeping you in on all the action from the walkouts to the knockouts. You'll never miss a moment. That's coverage that you can count on for every single round. So when the moment happens, you're not catching up. You're already there. Now that that's a total power move. In the ufc, power isn't given, it's taken. So make your total power move today. Visit totalwireless.com or stop by your neighborhood. Total Wireless Store 5G access requires a 5G capable device in a 5G service area. Monthly rates on the Total Base 5G Unlimited plan for new subscribers applies only to the monthly rate for your plan, additional terms apply. See website for details.

[Joey P (Joe P. Zeppia)]

Bills it's so interesting because the oddity this year Andrew in this draft is that you have perennially good teams like the Ravens and the Chiefs picking much higher than they normally do. So if he ends up in a spot on a team I'm gonna say those teams specifically. But any of the better teams that don't typically find themselves picking in the top 15 that's very interesting because oftentimes we find these really high end running back of the Bichon Robinson's go to bad team Ash and Genti obviously last year, you know bad organizations, bad situations. There were some really good organizations that had bad years. So that's going to be a really interesting thing to try to figure out in our brains too.

[Jake Seeley]

Like I know, I mean everybody and their brother is mocking them to the Chiefs. I just don't see it because I

[Joey P (Joe P. Zeppia)]

think it's wishcasting Jake. I think we'd all like to see this happen here. I think it wouldn't be the dumbest thing in the world to be honest with you because at this stage in Mahomes career it would be nice to take more pressure off of him and that's one thing that certainly would especially coming back from an injury. So I don't think it's the dumbest thing ever. But I do agree with you. I think that's less I would take the field over Jeremiah Love if you were betting on it.

[Andrew Erickson]

If you're interested why the Chiefs might be looking at maybe why there's a connection here. So they tried to interview the Raiders running back coach who used to be Notre Dame's running back coach who coached Jeremiah Love engineering Price.

[Joey P (Joe P. Zeppia)]

This is where we throw up the shot of Charlie and that's my point. They could take the best at this.

[Jake Seeley]

They could take Price in the second, maybe even the third. So anyway what I think the biggest takeaway here is everything. So I would rank them higher just on assumption period of who might take them because I don't think and go back to Bijan Bijan being a disappointment as the RB2 that year in ADP was RB7/8 depending on your league and that was seen as a massive disappointment. Yet he was still top 10 running back in a timeshare because of Tyler Algier. So I'd say 78 is fair on the right team. The worst case scenario I think is where Erickson has them. But I wanted to bring up the Chiefs. I'm glad you guys did because if we're one thing if he does go to the Chiefs, people are going to draft him as like the third or fourth running back off the board and that will be the mistake.

[Joey P (Joe P. Zeppia)]

Yes, it will.

[Andrew Erickson]

There's no way we'll stay level headed after we saw Clyde Edwards hilarious as

[Jake Seeley]

a first round 107. 107 that year.

[Joey P (Joe P. Zeppia)]

That was crazy to me. That was. That was so nuts.

[Andrew Erickson]

I was like, oh, he gets drafted by the Chief's ninth overall, bro.

[Joey P (Joe P. Zeppia)]

When that happened, I was like, oh, cool. He's gonna. Clyde Rosalaire will be a really cool third round.

[Jake Seeley]

And it was only because Williams decided to sit out for Covid.

[Joey P (Joe P. Zeppia)]

That was the only reason that happened. But no, again, hard out. If we get to that. Cam scatter boo ECR19. Jake, you've got him at 26. Is that because of style of play concerns?

[Andrew Erickson]

It's everything.

[Jake Seeley]

Like we're. We have Harbaugh coming in and Harbaugh might bell Callum or he might say, you know what, I'm going to do the same thing that worked here with the mix of Trimer and Tracy. Also because we want to keep Scatter Boo healthy because playstyle is not going to change. How many times do we have to do this with Tebow and Cam Newton? I know those are quarterbacks, but you could go down the list at any position you want. You try to hammer in their head a different way to play the game. And I mean, Robert Griffin talks about it still to this day on his podcast how he wishes he would have just started to slide more and step out of bounds and even as somebody in hindsight still didn't do it when he played. I don't think you're going to change. Scatterbo going headfirst juggernaut into everything he possibly can because that's part of what makes him so fun to watch and such a fun teammate is because he gives legitimately like there is no such thing as 110%. But the dude gives 200% because he's insane. So that's part of my concern is that it's a timeshare split backfield. He will be the lead. Joe, you and I talked about before last season, just like we called, that he was going to take over as the lead this year, 2025, and will be the lead next year. But in front of him, some other timeshares, but most of the running backs are clear leads and I think that's really why I have him as the rank that I do.

[Joey P (Joe P. Zeppia)]

All right, closing out that tier at number 25 is Jalen Warren and then Tier 5 begins. Kyle Manangai 26 from Andre Stevenson, Rico Dowdle, Blake Corma 29 Tony Power to 30 Bashel Tootin at 31, Chuba Hubbard at 32 Woody Marks, James Connor, Aaron Jones and then at 36, Jacori Crosky Merritt, Andrew Erickson. You know one of my favorite things is Kyle MANON Guy he's RB27 but you've got him all the way that 38. Why are you doing my dude dirty? What's going on?

[Andrew Erickson]

I don't know where to rank him. That's why I, I really can't say anything negative about Kyle Monondo honestly not, not a bad number. Not a bad number because when I look at this tier I see there are a lot of different scenarios and levers and things that I can pull where I can movement Guy up because oh well this is going to happen to the veterans in this group between Aaron Jones, James Connor, you know, Chuba Hubbard. What's going to happen with him? I guess I'm having trouble pinpointing exactly where I want him because he's not the starter for his his team but maybe I'm getting hung up on that a little bit when it's DeAndre Swift just because credit to Kyle Manangai and how excellent he was Last year again RB29 Overall he doesn't ever fumble, never fumbled a college didn't fumble this year in his first year in the NFL, sixth overall in rushing success rate he averaged in terms of crossing the line of scrimmage 10.7 mph 3rd fastest mark among running backs at least 100 carries per next gen stats look, he fits the offense really well. Ben Johnson trusts him. Ben Johnson loves him. We know what he can do if Swift were to get banged up it's really I guess how I feel about DeAndre Swift that's kind of holding me back. I was trying to fade DeAndre Swift into the sun last year and at the beginning of the year it looked like a good call but then he caught fire. Both him and Manangai were super efficient running backs. If Swift is coming back though, how high can I move Manangai if Swift is still going to kind of be the 1A to the 1B so I don't know if you guys have more bullish takes on woman on guys take over the backfield Is that what we need to get Swift is on Swift

[Jake Seeley]

is owed 8.8 and they can cut him for basically one he's going to

[Joey P (Joe P. Zeppia)]

get cut like that.

[Jake Seeley]

They save over 7 million if they

[Joey P (Joe P. Zeppia)]

cut him, I think this is one of those wait and sees how I think 26 is correct because I think he's a RB3. He's a flex RB right now if that cut happens and he becomes the guy or it's, you know they bring in somebody else to handle some of those third down duties but he's more of the first and second guy and he's the goal line guy too. Look, Manon guys is a tough runner. Like he's just kind of a little bit more I think Chicago style like that you're gonna have to get, you know we get the Chicago style pizza, New York style pizza. You could quote me on that. You'll bro, he's the deep dish running back. You can quote me on that one and you can clip this for social media because that's what Kyle Manangai is. So I think eventually over time he becomes a really interesting asset and I want him to stay in this range. Personally I don't want him to start getting into that mid RB2 because to Andrew's credit I'm still not sure exactly how good it will be but I think it's a value where it currently is. We'll see how it travels over the off season here. Let's go to one of Jake's guys too. Jake, you have Tony Pollard here at 38 but his ECR is 29. Now Tony Pollard finished the year pretty strong. Rattled off the bunch of hundred yard games. I know he had some incentives so motivation is key. But why so down on him this year?

[Jake Seeley]

Because just like Happy's finger paintings, they aren't any good. He's not any good. Like it's just he's Tony Pollard's replacement level and it worst I was gonna say, let's say best case, Dable's coming in. What does Dable do? He splits the hell out of that backfield. Like if it's not Tajai Spears which by the way started to finally look like Tajai Spears that we had hoped to see and flash towards the end of the season as well before he got hurt. Like if that's a healthy situation, what if he's the Tracy and Pollard's the Devin Singletary. Like that's just where I'm already playing this let alone what if Dable comes in with solid says you know what, we're actually going to go into free agency and forget Tony Pollard. He's going to now be the Devin Singletary to somebody else. I just, I don't want a piece of Tony Pollard. I just feel like there's nothing but downside at this point. He's been a volume running back without the volume. He's been no more as an RB3. And that's similar to what Andrew was saying about CMC is that that when he doesn't get 70% of the touches which is would put him inside the top 10 on almost any given week, he always finishes an RB3. That's just who he is. And that's why I'm saying this. That's it's kind of a statement.

[Joey P (Joe P. Zeppia)]

Erickson, Ramanje Stevenson obviously a debatable player too because we saw how that backfield New England worked this year. He's ECR of 20 come from Jim all the way at 34. Well, I mean look, look, if you want to see more on that, we had a great show again the sophomore seasons of all the rookies from last year. Laquan Jones from NFL, myself and Jake had a great conversation about all these guys. But obviously Andrew, you're baking in that Travion has a much bigger workload from this ranking.

[Andrew Erickson]

He has to, right? Why?

[Joey P (Joe P. Zeppia)]

I don't think that I want him to. He has to. I don't know if that's the answer. I'm not sure yet. Sell me on it. This is your chance.

[Andrew Erickson]

Well, here's the selling point. The guy that a lot of people compared Henderson to coming out was Jameer Gibbs.

[Joey P (Joe P. Zeppia)]

What?

[Andrew Erickson]

It was Jameer Gibbs rookie season like David Montgomery. A lot of Dave Montgomery was really annoying and not to say that this backfield is the same because it's not. But I, I don't think that they go into year two thinking, yep, we're going to run Ramondre back. We're going to have him play 70 of the snaps Henderson's going to be using seldom in terms of packages. We're never going to use them on passing downs. I, I don't think that's the case. We see a lot of young running backs take steps forward in terms of their pass protection and especially a guy like Henderson who was herald like as a prospect coming out. Oh, this guy's so great pass protection. Which couldn't have been farther from the truth during his first NFL season where that was part that he struggled and his reason why Stevenson was playing so many snaps. So, and I do think too that the playoffs in particular, we know that that doesn't necessarily always carry over again, this is winner go home. Very different mindset versus okay, we have an 18 or 17 game season to prepare for. If you look at just the last eight games between Henderson and Stevenson, it was closer to a 50, 50 split in terms of the total opportunities. Henderson was at 46%, Stevenson was at 54%. So that's taking out. Stevenson missed some time in the middle of the season. He came back for week 13 for that Giants game. So the last eight games that they played together, it was much closer to a 50, 50 split. But if you look at just the playoffs, well, it was Stevenson blowing Henderson out of the water, essentially. So I think that maybe this ranking is attached too much to that in particular, especially like in the championship game when Henderson barely played. Look, James White, that's another player that Josh McDaniels coached as a pass catcher. He saw his role grow outside of being a rookie. And I think that we're going to see more of Henderson. I think that ultimately that's going to hurt Stevens. And not to say it, Stevens is going to totally go away because I'm not in love with the Henderson ECR rank either. Like, I think that these guys are really tough to pinpoint. But again, when push comes to shove, I got to pick a Patriots running back that could take over eventually. At some point, I mean, it's probably going to be. It'd probably be Trivian Henderson. So that's at least my take on why I'm a little bit lower on Stevenson.

[Joey P (Joe P. Zeppia)]

All right, Jake, let's talk about Rico Dowdle for a second here. A guy that is right now ECR of 28 and you've got him at 33. And you need to throw Chuba into this conversation, too. I mean, both the Carolina guys, because I know you had some feelings about both of them from last year into this year. Chuba Hubbard, ECR32, you've got them all the way at 42. So walk me through your takes on those two guys real quick.

[Jake Seeley]

I don't think either of them are an answer for anybody. And I know Rico Daddle is upset the fact that he went off in those two games and he looked great and he looked better than Hubbard at times, which is part of the reason for Hubbard is tiny and the testament to that fact that they gave him that contract. But at this point, it's a little different than Kyron Williams with the situation of their team and like how they structured everything like that. But point being is Hubbard didn't look good. He was outplayed by Daddle and then Daddle fatal a little bit. And we saw the timeshare in his back and forth and it's The Panthers being the Panthers. And really what it comes down to, Daddle's leaving. He's not going back to the Panthers. He said he wants to find a team that's going to give him all the work. Well, you couldn't find it the year before. Coming off the season from the Cowboys, who went to Javonte Williams, coming off 17 injuries that didn't look like himself for three years and gave him half a million more. What makes you think anybody's really going to do that? And like I hope for him, like, cool, maybe I'm wrong, prove me wrong, Dowdle. But at the same, I just don't think it's going to happen. I think he's walking to another timeshare and he's walking in timeshare that nobody's going to bring him in as the lead option. Like nobody's out there. These teams that need running backs and there's not a ton. Which is why I brought up the fact that free agency is a big threat to a lot of people because there's a lot of overlap where people could all of a sudden go from when we did our show a couple of weeks ago from players that could be like, hey, we're set right now, Chase Brown. And all of a sudden it's a timeshare situation where like love, Woody Marks, Andrew Erickson brought said, what if they bring somebody else in because he was remarkably inefficient. So there's a lot of threat to the jobs and I just don't think Daddle's stepping in anywhere to be the lead option. And I think the Panthers are going to do two things. They're going to see if Jonathan Brooks has anything left. Like because this is now two massive injuries, but maybe he comes back from them or they bring somebody as a significant threat because Hubbard, like I said, he just faded last year and looked nothing like the Hubbard from the year before. Maybe he gets them back on track and this is too disrespectful. And if you Joe, I'll give you the one that we should always do in fantasy, too. Which was really telling about Javante Williams and why he was such a good value last year. Do what the team tells you. If the Panthers spend this entire off season and don't address the backfield one, they're telling us they think they can get something out of Brooks, but they're also telling us that they think there's a bounce back for Hubbard and then this ranking is way too low.

[Joey P (Joe P. Zeppia)]

That is fair enough. All right, real quick, Andrew I know you have some feelings. Woody marks, is it 33 in this grouping here on ECR? You've got him all the way to 44. Is that because you think he's going to get replaced? And if so, I know Fitzy and I want to replace him with Mike Washington. That's the guy that Fitzy and I have been talking about. What a good fit for the Texans. Washington would be a little bigger, stronger back. Is that what you think he just, Woody Marks probably just gets replaced in the draft.

[Andrew Erickson]

They're going to add some type of backfield competition and maybe put Marks more into the past catching role that that's what he was looked at coming out as a college prospect. Didn't really play that role in his first year in the NFL and he was brutally or as Jake put remarkably inefficient for Woody marks. Again, bottom 10 yards per carry, success rate, explosive runs, EPA per rush, basically any metric you look at, advanced rushing metric. He was in the bottom percentile, last among all running backs and missed tackles, force per attempt. So that's the one to highlight because yes, the offensive line for the Texans was really bad. Nick Chubb is hand holding Woody Marks and a lot of these, these really bad rushing efficiency metrics. But missed tackles forced, that's on the running back. Like you got to make a play and Woody Marks really failed to do that. Worst running back at fantasy points versus expectation. He also had a lot of durability concerns. I mean you look up and oh, he's back in the blue medical tent just constantly. So whenever he was trying to build momentum, it was really frustrating because he would never take all of the opportunities he was getting and really take advantage of it. He's a former day three pick around for so he doesn't have draft capital to fall back on. Oh, I guess like we took this guy in round two, we have to give him another year. That's not really the case. And the way that things are going to shake out with Joe Mixon, he's probably going to get cut from the Texans. So they just. Nick Chubb's a free agent so they have to bring in somebody to compete with Woody Marks. So I think best case scenario is like they just bring in like the dustiest veteran. I mean they brought a Nick Chubb last year. If they do that, like that's best case scenario for Woody Marks. But I don't think that they go back into this season thinking oh yeah, Woody Marks is going to be our bell cow. He never had a five catch game only had one 100 yard rushing game, and that came in the postseason. Whereas Gerard Jordan, in his first game that he plays, immediately has 100 rushing yards and five catches in the first game he plays. It was against the Cardinals. So Woody Marks would have smashed, but like I said, he got injured in that game because he. Because I just don't think that he's a bell cow.

[Joey P (Joe P. Zeppia)]

All right, so running backs outside of the top 36, I'm not going to go through the list because again, these guys are all kind of in that RB4ish kind of range. But. But if there's one guy that's moving up for you higher than the ecr, I know Jake, you've circled Sean Tucker. So let's talk about him. His ECR is 61, but you've got him at 55.

[Andrew Erickson]

Yeah.

[Jake Seeley]

This just comes down to opportunity. Assuming that as of today, Rashad White's free agent, unlikely they bring him back with what they have in Bucky Irving and what we've seen from Sean Tucker. And there's been hope for Sean Tucker before, and we've seen Sean Tucker as the lead on this team and also a timeshare and the upside that he brings and actually, I believe is a better compliment to Bucky Irving than Rashad White ever was stylistically, because they differ. Unlike Rashad White and Bucky Irving, There's a lot of talk about Irving with his injuries coming back from now shoulder and the other injuries. There's two injuries. We're assuming everything's going to be fine. We're hoping. But all it takes is one more. And we've seen that Bucky Irving hasn't exactly been a super picture of health. So if he's Sean Tucker stays as like another one where they don't address it, like just kind of bring in a flyer as a third running back. And he's the only backup essentially behind Bucky Irving. Honestly, 55 is too low.

[Joey P (Joe P. Zeppia)]

All right, fair enough. And for you, Andrew Erickson, Tyler Algier, also a little bit too low. He's 41, but you've got him all the way at. At 28, which means he's going to a good spot. He's going to go to the Texans or he's going to go to the Broncos or somewhere there where he can make a big impact.

[Andrew Erickson]

My guy's going to get the bag because I think that people are going to view him as a running back with not a lot of tread on the tires. Right. He's been in a committee with Bijan Robinson for the last three seasons. But don't forget Tyler Algier. As a rookie in 2022 rushed for over a thousand yards. As a fifth round pick, nearly five yards per carry. Trust me, I was there. I was all for it. I loved Tyler IG because it was him and Cordero Patterson in the Arthur Smith offense. But then the next year they drafted Bijan Robinson. Tyler gets screwed. It's not his fault. It wasn't necessarily a knack against his type of talent. It's just, yeah, they just happened to find the generational running back that they wanted instead. And he's been a thorn in the side of Bijan at some times this year, especially in the red zone. So we know Falcons can't afford to give him starting running back money because they have to sign Bijan Robinson to a long term deal. So I don't think they can justify paying starting running back money to two different running backs. They'll probably replace Tyler Azure with either a cheaper veteran or somebody in the draft to spell Bijan at times. But I, I think Algier is going to have a fair, fair share of suitors in free agency and I think that he's a really talented guy. It's not his fault that he's just been behind Bijan the last three years.

[Joey P (Joe P. Zeppia)]

All right, there you have it. That's the debate right now. Is anything settled? Probably not, but we love to hear from you. Drop your comments below. What do you think of the early expert consensus rankings? Who's too high? Who's too low? Who's just right? Drop your comments below. Subscribe to the YouTube channel. You might just win yourself that fantasy championship belt from trophy smack. Gentlemen, great job as always. And if you want more debates, go watch the wide receiver version of the show or the quarterback and tight end version. All coming on our YouTube channel, so check them out as well. That'll do it for us, but the story of the game goes on. For Andrew Erickson and Jake Seeley from the Athletic I'm Joey P. We'll see you next time, kids.

[Jake Seeley]

Thanks for listening to the Fantasy Pros Fantasy Football Podcast. If you love the show, the best free way to support us is by leaving a positive review on apple [e-mail] review or on Spotify. Follow us on X Instagram and TikTok Antasypros and subscribe to our YouTube channel at YouTube.com fantasypros.

[Daniel Cormier]

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[Jake Seeley]

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[iHeart Podcast Announcer]

at CVS it matters that we're not just in your community, but that we're part of it. It matters that we're here for you when you need us, day or night. And we want everyone to feel welcomed and rewarded. It matters that CVS is here to fill your prescriptions and here to fill your craving for a tasty and yeah, healthy snack. At cvs, we're proud to serve your community because we believe where you get your medicine matters. So Visit [e-mail] or just come by our store. We can't wait to meet you. Store hours vary by location.

[Electric Vehicle Advertiser]

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[iHeart Podcast Announcer]

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