Second year players you MUST look out for 👀 | Fantasy Focus 🏈

Intro [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] Welcome to Fantasy Focus! hello and welcome into fantasy Focus football presented by NFL Sunday Ticket on YouTube TV my name is Daniel Dopp and I'm joined by my two best friends stf Bell and field Jades how you guys doing we had such a great weekend which we're going to get into a little bit later on in the show but obviously you can't bury the lead Stefania you're in a great looking sweater right there Bahamas sweat because I think my mind is still in the Bahamas is that where it's true yeah yeah it was left with my shoulder there we'll that a little bit later on in the show much more on the weekend that was complicated question h how I'm doing no you know what I am uh here this morning with gratitude uh great to be here with you guys and uh it's nice to have a little bit of a release which is the hour we get to spend with everybody Monday through Friday talking about fantasy football and of course before you know it fantasy football now which is just 13 days away from our week one episode I cannot wait for football to be here on a weekly basis guys it is going to be so much fun we got a huge show planned for you guys today we're talking about seconde wide receivers our expectations for them as well as some running backs that are going into their sophomore season do we expect a big jump or a slump and we've got some insurance running back conversations who is the most valuable Insurance running back in fantasy football we're going to talk about all that in just a little bit but first field it feels like we need to start with the guy that we have kind of been putting some Vibes out there on right Jamar Chase we were talking maybe a little nervous because he has not Ja’Marr Chase update showed up to practice he has been very very uh open in his stance that he wants a new contract from the Cincinnati Bengals but we got good news yesterday we finally saw him back at practice Yeah if we were playing a game of something or nothing I would say this was something now I'm not exactly sure what that something is but just this represents a change obviously Jamar Chase as you noted has not practiced for the last 20 plus days with the Bengals when they have been working their way through training camp I don't know if this means that something changed with a contract between Jamar Chase in Cincinnati I can't imagine that Jamar just went from weeks of wanting a deal and not practicing as a result of wanting that deal to just saying you know what I'm good like I'm cool you know they're right these guys are right I I I won't get a deal I'll just wait until next offseason um I'd be surprised if it was as simple as that but we also haven't heard any reporting about a deal being done so I don't know exactly what to make of this right now we are having this conversation Monday at what just after 10:00 a.m. eastern time maybe we hear from Jamar maybe we hear from Zack Taylor Maybe we hear from Joe burrow or somebody stefia that could Enlighten us a little bit but if I had a draft tonight and this is one of the rare nights where I don't have a draft this week I would feel a little bit more at ease about Jamar Chase being a first round pick we we always said like don't let him drop too low right and it felt like nine was about as low as he could go now maybe spot you know moving up mov him up a bump a spot or two and I still feel good with jar Chase somewhere between the range of six and eight I think that's very fair still St no I think it's encouraging I was glad to see I don't know what light practice means right you know is it just I put on the uniform so I got like one step closer like you said I still have the concern that we talked about before with somebody who does not participate at all in training camp and then has to ramp up at a super fast pace to get involved in the offense and if he's as involved as we'd like him to be uh does that present a little bit more of an injury risk for him because he did not participate in Camp yeah I'm with you right now on this one I still have Justin Jefferson and Aman Ross Brown ranked over top of Jamar Chase but if we find out hey this is over and he's going to be back 100% we'll have another conversation as to what that will mean and that's fine because even if Jamar Chase had never missed practice not missed a day of training camp and there was no issue whatsoever with this contract they're still a pretty justifiable case for both Aman ra and Justin Jefferson it's a nice tiebreaker right now to kind of keep them there yeah third amongst those wide receivers within that tier and I I would just say I I know that people keep saying well you know if you're going to sort of tax Jamar Chase negatively what about CD lamp there continues to be a lot of optimism from local reporters and National reporters suggesting that while CD is not done the light at the end of the tunnel might be like fairly obvious it's just like right before the start of the regular season all right Stefan we got another piece of news that we're going to touch on really quickly Nick chub was placed on the physically unable to perform list you had mentioned it on a couple of the recent podcast that we did Jerome Ford was likely going to start the season as the starter does this change anything in your estim about Nick Chubb update Nick chubber is this what you were sort of expecting to eventually happen this is exactly what I was expecting to happen so I think uh you know this is in line with where they've been all along that there's no timeline for his return He said it his coach has said it the GM has said it and so I think they're just taking the very cautious approach and I think the the spotlight will be off of him now you know there was all this question of will he or won't he but I've been saying all along that this is a situation where you cannot count on the availability of Nick chub you just hope that he's able honestly for me it's for the sake of the athlete sure he's able to get back I think for Fantasy purposes you have to really be concerned about not only whether he comes back or not but just what kind of workload or volume he'd be able to deliver and I don't think that's where I'd be putting my my fantasy eggs in that basket the the toughest thing for me on Nick chub and we mentioned this this weekend Stefania is that if he's going to miss the first four weeks of the Season guaranteed by the way guarant guaranteed he's going to miss it and you only have one IR spot in your league and then someone else on your team gets hurt are you going to continue to hold Nick chub not even knowing what the future is going to be for him that's the part that makes it difficult because it kind of feels I don't want to say like you're wasting a spot but you are putting it on long-term hold without knowing when you're going to be able to potentially open that back up that's that's that's a totally valid question and you just I just would say tread lightly because where Nick chub's 8p has skyrocketed to is a meaningful difference from where it was at the beginning of training camp and it's meaning that you are paying and I get it we often remind people that like you know once you get to round 10 a lot of these picks are just lottery tickets that being said uh you know the difference between a round 10 lottery ticket can be decidedly different from a round 14 lottery ticket on top of that I don't know when he's going to return I'm not sure that anybody does specifically but the Browns who are usually quite transparent have let us know the possibility of Nick chub showing up around like Thanksgiving is in play I'm not saying that they've said that specifically but they keep saying at some point during the 2024 season uh just a reminder of that Jerome Ford is a fantasy value right now I would not be surprised if his ADP climbs up as a result of this news on Nick chub which probably should have been expected in the first place but when you go out there and you squat 600 plus pounds on video people tend to do what all of us do as humans which is get excited um and just in the ever evolving world of the NFL CBA and uh rules that uh impact players availability just to be clear pup which he is remaining on automatically means he is out for the first four games of this upcoming regular season uh tomorrow Tuesday 4 pm eastern time the NFL whittel down rosters from 90 to 53 it's the first time they've ever done one big gigantic roster reduction we will see tons of players go on the pup list which immediately means they're out for the first month of the season and in the case of a lot of them it's going to be much further into the regular season than just those first four weeks you mentioned ADP with where we're at right now Nick chub currently obviously before we got this news coming off the board pick 117 in the 12th round Jerome Ford at 128. behind Nick chub that's I've been I mean I feel like I've been saying all along that this was likely going to be the scenario it just baffles me that that's been they want to hear I know and see viral videos that they want to see you've learned that but my point is yeah sure have but my point is that uh I I think it's this optimism right because you want to believe in the player and he's been such a good player and I I appreciate all of that but just from the standpoint of what he had done what the injury is uh you know protecting him for not only the rest of whatever NFL career he has left but his you know his his life after that longterm he um this this has always been the Outlook I will also note that last thing here on Nick job is that like if you're taking a dart throw on one of two starting running backs coming off of a knee injury that I think could reasonably end up on the pup list um I would lean towards Jonathan Brooks over Nick chub because while I am still not certain when Jonathan Brooks is going to return if if you told me like hey one of these guys will be on the field in week five and playing in some capacity I would tend to lean towards Jonathan Brooks over Nick jum yeah I think I'm with you I don't know that but I just say based off of everything the teams have told us and the nature of their respective injuries exactly the nature of lean toward very different yeah all right let's talk about let's talk about a couple of seconde wide receivers if we're expecting breakouts Second year break-out of slump: Wide Receivers or slumps from some of these guys we didn't get every single sophomore wide receiver in here this is just a handful of them to be able to talk about but I feel like we got to just really quickly and we can do this very fast we got to start with puka AA as wide receiver four last year field obviously it seems like besting a wide receiver 4 finish in your second year which no one expected to have happen is going to be tough even if he has a slump I expect some regression I'm sure we we all do I don't expect you to be so far down this list he's still going to be a top 10 wide receiver and I feel like we can kind of leave it at that yeah I was going to say like I'm not uh I'm not playing within the spirit of the segment when I say this it's going to be neither of these things right it's not going to be a breakout because going from wide receiver four to wide receiver one means like you've already established yourself as a star and it would be very hard to do it's also not going to be a slump because I think he is appropriately being drafted somewhere in the second round what I will say about this entire segment is that in the case of second-year players I think two Dynamics are very important to keep in mind okay one is that we often see the biggest leap in player progression from year one to year two makes sense right year one during training camp you're figuring out what your teammates names are year two you're figuring out a whole lot more nuanced and important things y uh and second thing is assuming no system shift like no new offensive coordinator or play caller uh a lot of times the play caller is learning how to utilize that player better which I think will be an important thing that I'll discuss in a couple of players from right now um pukaa was a outstanding in year one he can get better for sure but like he's going from you know Pro Bowl level player to whatever is left above that but the second bucket is like the Rams masterfully utilized pukaa last year like just from a sheer volume standpoint it would be hard for them to more impeccably use pukaa when he had 15 Targets in his very first game last season right like for yes there are ways that they could probably like be an even better offense in real life but from fantasy you can't ask for anything more than what we got last season doesn't seem like it I know I just I was thinking Matthew Stafford is a type like he he has his receiver and he goes to him and loves him and that's why it was actually pretty impressive that when Cooper cup came back they both managed to still get quite a bit of volume so it' be interesting to see when he has both of them out of the gate this year starting strong how that how that volume is divided yep with you on that all right we we like puka AA though this year we're going to move on from that let's talk about Rashid rice oh yeah he was the guy that finished second highest amongst rookie wide receivers last year finished as wide receiver 27 in fantasy points but he obviously developed a lot of chemistry with Patrick Mahomes in that offense had an 18 and half% Target share with only Travis Kelce there and a bunch of other wide receivers that you know didn't really removed the needle a whole lot now they've added Hollywood Brown who is hurt for what it's worth Stef we can talk about that in a minute a fellow yes a fellow that's right guy uh and then also Xavier worthy who a lot of Buzz coming out of camp and the draft obviously he ran the fastest 40 time ever at the combine when you look at Rashi rice I just want to ask you field like how much higher can he be as a if you finish as wide receiver 27 knowing that they added two pass catchers they're hoping to get involved this year he can be a lot higher than that but it's worth noting that we had two separate rased rice Seasons last year right there was EXA the first half of the year in which before week nine and then after the buy exactly so after the buy Rashid rice became the most important pass catcher not named Travis Kelce on that offense and in some weeks he actually was more important than Travis kelse Mike's touched on this a couple of times it's worth noting that like the chief's offense is going to look a lot different this year not just from personel standpoint uh but Patrick Mahomes was de by a thousand paper cuts once they kind of found their way in passing game last year it was people get pissed when you say Dink and dunk I'm not trying to be you know listen I could say no bad things of Patrick Mahomes who was his lowest a DOT ever yes by far his average air yards per attempt was was way down for Patrick Mahomes they did not have the pieces in place to air it out now they do uh so I think Rashid rice will be a different player I'm going to actually buy on him being an improved player from wide receiver 27 last year uh acknowledging that a suspension is still still possible even though we're now 10 days away from their first game seems unlikely for the beginning of the season um and this is going to be a category where I think I talked about those you know like those two different buckets the player I think will be better this year I don't think Rashid rice was utilized last year as like just the wide receiver screen guy because that's all he has in his bag stfa I think that was a byproduct of what the chiefs were able to do last year offensively I think there's more to his game and he'll show it this season agreed but the fact that he can be so quick after the catch he was averaged eight and a half yards after the catch last season second only to Deo Samuel and so that tells you that once he gets a ball in his hands he can move obviously Xavier worthy were interested like speed down the field you know he's got that but I think Rashi rice can be any of those things like field was talking about whether he's a screen guy or whether they use him a little bit more on the outside to the to Fields point from earlier he was targeted um more than five times only twice before the break in the season right they had their buy like around I think it was week nine or week 10 and when he came back he was targeted more than five times every single week including double digit Targets in two of those weeks so it was definitely that's why when you look at the season long stats is not as favorable towards him as it was in the back half of the season and you wonder if with those deep threats when Hollywood Brown comes back you've got speed and him and Xavier Worthy if it doesn't open up some more situations for Rashid rice yeah I do I just wanted to use this note because it's a great one from the researcher on today's show he was 229th in his average depth of Target last season that's crazy crazy A crazy stat but just to underscore how much of a you know sort of screen game receiver he was that number I think could easily catapult uh from at least 229th to 129th that would be a big jump absolutely also not for nothing but in the the game where they played all their starters together the most volume Patrick Mahomes was like Rashid rice Rashid rice and Rashid rice it was like three plays in a row that's who he was looking for which I find interesting you've only got a limited number of plays and who are you working on it with predominantly him no wide receiver over the last seven days has seen their ADP rise more than Rashid Ricefield in part because not having that suspension come across as we thought it might happen means that he has turned into a value in fantasy football currently coming off the board as the 33rd wide receiver he's absolutely going to beat that this year if he's if when our week one ranks drop and I believe they're going to drop as soon as this Friday he will be probably 15 slots higher than wide receiver even against a good Ravens defense with you on that all right let's talk about the Ravens what a segue my friend who knew we were so good at hosting they flowers finished as wide receiver 31 last year here's my big question Stefan I'm going to throw this at you Z flowers I don't go ahead okay go ahead Z flowers nervous about big question is in an offense where we love all the things that are happening here right they got Derk Henry we're very big on der Henry Derry Mark Andrews is still going to be fantastic they didn't really add a pass catcher that makes you feel like whoa there's going to be a ton of targets that just get taken away from Zay but Lamar Jackson has only supported one top 25 wide receiver in fantasy football in his career do you think that Z flowers can become the second one to be able to be at least a top 25 wide receiver with Lamar Jackson is possible I don't know if it's probable you know I think that the Z flowers upside is super super high but I'll be curious to see how they divide up the looks in this Ravens offense um this is really interesting to me 26.4 PPR fantasy points last season fifth most of any Ravens wide receiver under John Harbaugh I suppose that doesn't surprise me because they haven't had a lot of consistent deep targets for Lamar Jackson but still after just one year that seems like that seems to indicate that he's a pretty focal point for Lamar Jackson to lock into so um if there's big plays I think it's going to be him I just think that Derk Henry it's going to be interesting what he takes away from the passing game yeah the question is whether it's kind of like a chicken versus egg dilemma I was thinking about that too want to use that is that like Lamar and we talked about this a lot going into last season maybe it was two seasons ago I think it was last year though I think there was some Rashad baitman Buzz yeah and I was kind of like you know guys like Lamar this gonna be the year had a wide receiver that's like meaningfully produced over the Long Haul of a season other than that one year in which Hollywood Brown was wide receiver 22 which is not terrible right but it's not elite elite and why if you're the Ravens would you change when you're consistently amongst the best teams in the NFL and coming off last year in which Lamar what did he do last year oh he won the NFL MVP oh that's right ring NFL um there's not a big reason for the Ravens to change things however I do think this might be one of those where I am banking on the player making a big leap and the team not altering how they play offense but just leaning more into the ways which are best suited for Z flowers because what's interesting about Z is if you saw him walking the streets you'd be like that is an incredibly jacked human but he's also not that like not like this big guy he's a small receiver that pays plays big as opposed to I thought Quinton Johnson coming out of the draft was a big big receiver that played small and it kind of reared itself last year in his rookie season Zay was a vertical threat but he obviously is excellent when the football is in his hands near the line of scrimmage so I am banking on Z having a meaningful step forward for the Ravens because they just haven't had somebody like him in all of these years with Lamar like I am buying that contract a little more than I am the idea that Lamar has just never supported a top 20 wide receiver in his years as a starting quarterback well you mentioned it too off the top like if you're talking about a guy that was wide receiver 31 his rookie season yep second half of the Season like down the stretch week 12 through 18 we saw a handful of really big games from him kind of came into his own now you get another year that second year of a leap if he can be wide receiver 31 as a rookie wide receiver in this Ravens offense and you tell me I I don't think it's that all out of the question that wide receiver 22 of what Hollywood Brown the highest that he's ever had that seems like that's at least in play for him to be able to hit that Mark currently coming up the board as the 25th wide receiver which is about where we have him ranked right now I think where we're going to see the difference this is what I think is in the big play because Mark Andrews was injured for a lot of last year and he's when they're in that red zone he's such a huge threat for takeaway so now he's healthy you have to pay attention to him Derrick Henry is going to be huge threat in that same region so where do they get the opport I'm thinking like in that 25 to 40 yards out from the end zone that's where you're going to see Z flow so if all he does are big plays or run away with the football when he gets it that's a lot of fantasy points but will he get it every single week that's what it's harder to predict yeah he's not going to be a guy that gets a lot of End Zone targets given his size and stature right like when especially when you've got not close in I don't think well right especially when you have Derrick Henry to be able to pter the goal line or bigger guys like I say likely and Mark Andrews all right let's talk about another wide receiver here Houston Texans oh my gosh we've had so many conversations about these three wide receivers guys tank Dell had seven touchdowns in 11 games last year he was unbelievable as a rookie we were super high and what a sophomore season could be and then the team went out and traded for Stefan Diggs I kind of dumped a little bit it's like I don't want to say it's a wet blanket but like on tank Dell's fantasy value like Stefan dig sort of like dumps him you know cold water all over us and where we thought things were going to be so field I don't think he can repeat what he did last year given the addition of digs to this offense what can he be knowing that you've got three guys here as top 25 out of the question is top 30 more likely I think end of season fantasy points finish top 25 is in play but he's going to have more up and down weeks given that 100% yeah uh and you know the first preseason game in which the Texans play CJ Stroud's on the field throws a touchdown pass the tankel incredible a reminder this guy is a stud we getting hurt last year he was wide receiver eight so he finished he said wide receiver 39 but that of course factors the half season he missed uh being on IR um tankal is incredible he's a great football player playing with a great quarterback yep in an offense that will play a ton with three receivers on the field I also think that he will be the third wide receiver in terms of total snaps played in games in which he is also on the field with stfond digs and Nico Collins I think I think by now people know where I stand on this I think Stefan Diggs is the highest floor week in week out I think he will lead the team in wide receiver Target this is my stance I think Nico Collins has the highest ceiling and I think he will have the most Boom games I think that tank Dell is the lowest floor because I think there will be games where he is just the odd man out but I also think he will have five games or so this season some I'm I'm I'm saying a handful arbitrarily right some number of games this year where he goes off because he's great and he plays with CJ Str that's but someone has to be third of them St and there's just not a lot of history of three wide outs from the same team being consistent lineup locks it really is it I mean tankel led the team in Targets in receiving touchdowns I mean he was the focal point for a while before he got hurt as you say you and I are a little bit different I think Nico Collins is one who gets the most volume and has I I think there'll be weeks where Stefan Diggs is invisible um but I think he presents a huge threat like obviously they're just such a high volume potency offense I think there will be enough to make tankel worthwhile having on your roster I certainly don't mind him as a flex option but I I think the the focal point of him in the game like those days I don't think we're going to see them like we did last year the good news though about just healthwise because I know people wonder fractur fibula it's kind of what Tony Pard very similar injury to what Tony Pard had and we saw him struggle very different players very different positions and tankel was back in Spring practices um had that incident where he he was injured you know soft tissue injury with his thigh related to gun shot actually but he came back and hasn't missed a step from any of that so if anybody was wondering just putting a little bow on that he's totally healthy coming into the Year this is one of those situations I feel like in a draft where people are going to have to make the mental decision do I want to take the potential wide receiver three in this offense or a wide receiver one of a different offense guys right around Malik neighbors is is real close to where tank Dell is coming off the board Z flowers is not even a question for right and so it's it feels like tank Dell we've got a lot that we love about him but I feel like that's elevated as value given all the three wide receiver stuff that but even if and again I don't know that he'll rank He he'll probably be a fringe top 30 wide out in my week one rankings he's the most valuable insurance policy wide receiver in the NFL I agree because if he's one injury to either of those two starters away from being a top 20 player yep on a weekly basis right now the top receiver ranking whoever you think it is whether your Team Stefan Diggs like me your team nio Collins like I think pretty much everybody else on the show there's if if it was just two of them versus three of them the highest ranking is going to go even higher yeah right like if if something if tank Dell weren't available Savon digs might be wide receiver 12 for me and niiko Collins might be wide receiver 14 but because there's a third guy in in I've got Diggs is like wide receiver 16 and Collins is like wide receiver 19 so Dell is one of the most important players to be drafted like you actually might be able to justify paying close to full Freight on tank Dell even if his value isn't touch contingent upon the health of the other two wide receivers on his roster because when you get into by weeks and and you're having to throw some darts like I'm okay with throwing that dart on tank Dell every once in a while like I I am acknowledging and and who knows how this is all going to play out but if it plays out like I expect it to I'm okay acknowledging that like there's going to be some dud weeks but the possibility for like 5 108 and a touchdown for tank down in week one is of course in play yeah wide receiver 26 for me it feels like when you're drafting him there it's like you're you're looking at him as a weekly flex play for your fantasy roster I'd rather have him as like my first bench wide receiver just given the uncertainty of the target share within that offense also Joe mixon's there now and I I mean I think he's going to eat up some targets too in a way that running backs haven't recently uh we'll talk about this more later but I am like remarkably sweaty right now so you guys see me at some point like my shirt starts to like I'm sorry I am just like toasty you don't even do you don't need to apologize about anything for like the next field you are a TR we're going to get to it but you are an absolute trooper I already said this and the internet has said it too you were the Matthew Stafford of fantasy analyst so pumped that you are out here all right another wide receiver last one that we are going to talk about we already had a lot of conversation around Jaden Reed and Christian Watson so we're going to table that sophomore conversation with Jaden Reed and talk about Jack Jackson Smith and jiga now in not now still in the Seattle offense they have an offensive coordinator change Ryan grub coming over from the University of Washington it's another year talk about another three wide receiver team is there a chance in this I don't think that he's going to overtake DK mcf as the wide receiver one in that offense you can tell me if you disagree but I do think that there is a definitive chance that he becomes the very clear wide receiver to over Tyler Lockett this might be the one where we've like totally just wh miss the mark right now like we need to be ranking Jackson Smith and jiga as like wide receiver 23 or something it's hard to you know there's a little bit of like needing to see it um and a little bit of the wide receivers in like H how do you move him up wide receiver 23 to 35 field there's so many good St there that's a lot of guys are going to have to jump ahead of um and Tyler Lockett even at his Advanced age I'm not going to go Mike I'm not going Mike okay M his Advanced age um even coming off of off season in which they required him to take a pay cut to stick around right um he's still a factor you know he's not going to just fade away Into The Ether here so um jsn such a talented guy this does feel like one I I I will remind people like I don't think Seattle went into the draft last year saying we really need to Target a third wide receiver early I think it was a byproduct of the draft falling in a way that was unexpected he was remember that no wide receiver tiet until W until the 20th pick in real life not this pass track but the year prior so um it might end up being like a luxury pick for a couple of Seasons that proves to be like a long-term starter for them so uh I I feel wrong having him outside the top 40 Daniel um so I'm acknowledging that could be a big whiff but great depth at wide receiver and the presence of DK MEF and Ty Lockett he could still be the third wide receiver in this offense yeah he could be but I don't think he will be like I'm I'm just high on him I think because he's sneaky and it's valuable you know you can draft him right now because I think it he doesn't excite people we talk about these non-sexy picks who can end up being super productive and I think he is exactly one of those picks I love Tyler Lockett but uh he's another one where you we've seen the streaks of Tyler Lockett being hot or not and he is a veteran receiver who I think is there more as the leadership veteran because that's not what DK Mecha provides in fact it's the the opposite of that so I think between the that like sometimes the quiet it's a little bit of tortoise in the hair right I mean I think Jackson Smith and jiga is going to slowly climb up and by the end of the season I think he could be their number one wow it's crazy to say but uh it sounds crazy to say because of the pure talent of DK Mecha but I'm building in a lot of other things I think this offense is going to throw the ball I think a lot this year if you look at the way I'm hoping that they throw the ball at the way he could be one of the seismic shifts in the NFL I mean Ryan grub again you mentioned Daniel he comes from University of Washington and maybe it was the Personnel he had he had some good wide receivers there to be fair yeah he goes from a great great wide receiver Trio to a great wide receiver Trio right but they Chuck that thing all over the yard college football is a very different animal than the NFL no two ways about that but that was an aggressive scheme in college that if he carries it to the NFL will mean really good things for all the Seahawks wide receivers probably my biggest concern is and Mike has brought this up on the show is the offensive line is could use some work and so being able to make sure that Gino Smith has time to be able to find those guys downfield is going to be really big all right let's talk about let's switch from wide receivers to running backs couple of guys here that were expecting to potentially or hopefully potentially do some more things this year Taj Spears I Second year break-out of slump: Running Backs want to start here because we've been going back and forth about what we're going to do with either Tony per or Taj Spears they're very similar kind of running backs in the same back field this last preseason game we saw Tony Pard run right off the gate with the ones Taj spirits still got a lot of playing time came in with the twos but it was Tony per that was out there on the field first I don't want to read two too much into preseason action field but I want to ask you when you see something like that does that give you any pause on thinking I think maybe this is more where the team is leaning we need to adjust things made me think a little bit but we've also learned that perhaps more than any other position in the NFL you'll see a legitimate Factor at running back in there with some depth level players because you can only play one running back at a time right so um it's like you know hey could you have split those reps with the ones up absolutely you could have uh uh but stf was talking about this recently contuct yeah the Dolphins about how just like you know it's like these the guys who's actually the person who's actually managing those snaps the running backs coach like it's so much more Feld that it is like here's how it's going to work the first seven snaps go to Tony Pard and then Taj Spears takes over at snap 8 through 12 right A lot of it is like hey if Tony Pard gets like three straight clean runs where like he just kind of sort of just walks out of bounds because a receiver a Defender like angle tackles him as opposed to smokes him he might be fine but if Tony Pard on the first play of the game gets jacked up by some you know Colts linebacker might be like all right you're right out because so it's more predictable here's what I'll say about Taj Spears in 20 Tony B this is the flag that I the flag that I have planted on these two guys I would be surprised if either of them started the season ahead of the other one and stayed the full season ahead of the other one I think there is just too many factors that work in the favor of each of them and too many factors that work against the favor of each of them to think that this is ever going to become one guy is the clear Alpha and one guy is the clear only just in case back I'll tell you what that's exactly the way that ADP and everyone who was drafting looks at it because they are back to back two picks apart exactly and and that feels like the right thing I mean Tony par talked about um in our running backs feature that we did talked about feeling like he got a fresh start going to Tennessee um expects to be used a lot in the passing game was reminded me that he was a receiver in college first and that's you know he's good at catching passes out of the back field but part of the reason he came to play there was he felt like he would could get a refresh remember last year injured to start the season coming off the ankle injury we were just talking about that where an ankle fracture in a big receiver is very different than a running back who needs to be nimble and make a lot of cuts and he said he really didn't feel like he was himself till the back half of the Season we talk about that players won't usually admit it but then in The Following Season they'll tell you yeah I wasn't really myself till the second half so it'll be interesting to see for him having a healthy offseason new regime feels like he's able to be used in all these different ways that provides them more options to do exactly what we're talking about which is use those running backs have some versatility in the game and interchange them and I think that's what they want to do I do not think that either of these backs is like ideally equipped to be like a 250 k I think the Cowboys learned that last year with Tony Pard I think that Taj spe has given his stature and he was a and so far it's been no problem but huge medical question mark coming out of Absol yes very much so a lot of teams were just gonna bypass that player right off the board um so and and he has held up I'm not trying to like so like he deserves a lot of credit for that I don't think either of these guys though is like I think having a 1A in 1B or 1A in 1A might be best for for the two styles of players that they have and last thing I'll say this might be a super pass heavy offense Brian Callahan of course comes from Cincinnati Mike likes to remind us how pass heavy it was there yeah obviously it's tough to be able to project goal line carries there when you're moving from Derek Henry to either one of these two guys to be who is going to get the goal line stuff yeah it's going to be a very different offense there this year all right what about Chase brown guys we've been having this conversation back and forth it feels like Chase Brown has started to overtake Zach Moss as the wide excuse me running back one of this offense in spite of the fact that we saw Zach Moss be really good last year Stefania when he took over for Jonathan Taylor in Indianapolis if you were drafting today would you have Chase Brown on your draft board ahead of Zach Moss as the running back one of that offense yeah this one's tough for me but I feel like the chase Brown chatter has sort of got me thinking about him more like this is one where I don't think out of the gate it's like o Chase Brown dramatically over Zach Moss but I do think that there's this upside feel to chase Brown and he is likely going to become the number one for the Bengals by the time the season is over last year he had no touches inside the five he's not somebody you think of as your goal line back who's going but he impressed them in various spots throughout the season able to catch the ball well you know multi-purpose running back who they like a lot and Zach Moss has had some injury concerns of his own over his career thus far so there's a lot to like about Chase Brown I think quietly yeah it's this one's been a hard one for me to sus out in part because I think that there are some things that Zach Moss doesn't do at like a super high level I also think Zach Moss does some of the stuff that running back coaches and offensive coordinators just love Yeah excellent pass protector gets tough gritty yards right that like I think that allows him to hold value a little bit more not in fantasy yeah NFL value like real value that it's like I don't know that he is going to that he meaning Chase Brown is going to ever be able to have like a dominant role so um these guys are being ranked as such as well so that's no problem for our concerns it's not like anybody is sitting here saying like yeah Chase Brown like needs to be drafted as a top 25 running back they aren't I have held steady with moss leaning ahead uh in my rankings heartly because you know Cincinnati did make the concerted effort to sign him this offseason two years 8 million bucks not crazy money but still a little bit of money um and he was really good last year yes he was Zach Moss was he like he was a little bit of glue for them when went down it was first four weeks of the Season we were like there's no way there's no way oh my God there is a way remember it was like Trey Surman and like kind of the roller coaster of of running backs behind jonthan Taylor we were talking about like maybe it was uh was it Dion Jackson remember him he was still there with the cold yeah remember that one time he looked pretty good in preseason right like no Zach Moss third round pick in his own right by the way just a few years ago like held up pretty well uh for Indianapolis last year so I lean toward Zach Moss but this is a backfield that I have not been targeting a ton in drafts yeah everybody right now in ADP leaning towards Zach Moss he has there's a 25 pick difference between the two uh Chase Brown for what it's worth coming off the board in the 14th round I mean he's basically free and given what his potential workload could be in this offense especially if anything were to happen to Zach Moss I don't know what he would look like from a goal line perspective but given all that passing game work that you talked about Stefania 14th round Dart throw Chase Brown not bad I'm very okay with that all right let's talk about one more running back here Jal mlin and this one is interesting because it seems very obvious to us that javante williamsfield who you have started to talk up more and more as we've gotten closer to the season is definitely going to be the guy he's I mean he's the guy they expect to be the running back one of this offense no one's thinking jul mlin is going to come in and potentially take that away from him at the start of the season but what do you think he could turn into over the course of this season this one will be interesting over the next call it 30 or so hours because Denver might be one running back heavy right now I think to mlin has a little bit of Tony Pard to his game in this regard I don't think you ever want him being a big huge focal point of your offense every single week smaller back not a big incredibly fast awesome awesome big play player effective in the passing game just don't know that that's exactly what you want to have out of a guy that's handling the rock I don't know if he's the kind of guy you want to have handling the rock 15 to 2 which is why I do think dvon Williams kind of like a like a really young version of James Conor boring but useful running back too potentially um so I think he's a totally fine Dart throw um but I I think he's appropriately ranked as running back 48 right now yeah I think that's very fair I feel like um listen it's my word so I can I I can say how I feel but like I don't want to be miscued as being like all in on javante Williams it's just that right now when I look at the running backs that are being drafted in the 11th round it's like one of these things is not like the other most of the other guys going in the 11th round like I don't project to be the starting running back on their team who might also carry the rock a lot gavonte Williams I do so I'm surprised that a player who is 15th in the NFL and touches last season is falling this low so I think this is one of the things that it and if anything were to happen to uh javante Williams again and he were to miss time this season I don't know anything more than what I've seen and watching the preseason but it feels like they like audri estimate too as a potential like Bruiser like you know first and second down kind of a back given what you said about the stature of Jalil mclaughin like you're not going to go out there and throw him out there to have a million touches in this offense given how small he is so even if that were to happen with Javon Williams I don't know how big the role would obviously increase but I don't know as though it would Bloom into something that's so large that it's like he automatically becomes a top 25 running back in our weekly rankings yeah and this is this is a really tough running back room for me to read like you said they might be one heavy SM pery is the other running back that we're not mentioning but he is like he is the past protection guy he is like a uh was it like a security blanket running back I think for the Broncos and so it's really hard to imagine like what how do you get rid of that security blanket for you know rookie that you obviously went out and got his fifth round I think so you obviously are wanted him and they really like him like you said gavonte Williams if he can get back to what he was after that horrible knee injury which again we're talking about two years removed from it and I expect better things out of him and then now we're talking about where's Jalil mlin fit and all this I this is the hardest or at least one of the hardest running back rooms for me to read I need to figure out and I may be the one saying it wrong is it mlin or is it McLaughlin because all I think about is Sarah mlin every time I say his name and I'm not the only one that does it I'm sure J it's j j exactly thank you field thank you for that I'll give you this is unscripted I'll give you one last name for running back and I'm not this is not like a troll like hey like you guys have been down this path before uh oh but I think cam acres is a much more important insurance policy I just we're tweet hold on well let's save that then let's let's have this conversation Insurance backs because we're about to jump into some insurance Running Back Field I didn't know how much time we had left when we're going to go when we're going to how what we're going to do we need to save time for you know for some other things yeah let's be quick on this then if you were going to rank insance running backs yep I think that right now Tyler aier and blank Korum are the clear one two top Insurance running backs in fantasy football do you agree with that big time yeah big time I'm not sure it's Clos and I think you can make a case for Blake corm even ahead of Tyler aler yeah given all the things that we saw from Tyler Alger last tyer has yeah been a minimal factor in the passing game so you could make the case like you know Blake Corum uh may not have exactly the Kiren Williams role and not like Kiren dominated as a pass catcher every single game last year but you can make the case of Blake corm ahead of Tyler year yeah close though very close yep very close all right so then if those are the clear-cut one and two guys who's third on this list and is it worth outside of those two who we I believe is worth drafting in in standard 10 team leagues is there another Insurance back that you're like boy I got to run out and get a guy like brayan Allen or a jayen Wright in case anything happens to Miami is there another Insurance back that it's like I got to get him I feel like it's Trey Benson is one of them because James Conor is uh you know solid and another value pick I think James Conor is going way late for productive he was I know this is another one where I think some names get boring because people like seen him like there's not it's not shiny new object right uh but James Connor's been solid he's been productive and he's also been fairly consistent at missing a few weeks each year so when he does who is the most likely to step up Trey Benson who obviously is a talented uh rookie who can do everything and it's not going to be a question mark about what his role will be just to see how quickly is he adapting to the NFL yeah uh khil Herbert might be in that might be like nipping on the heat heels of those first two guys okay he's I think he's a a factor for that Chicago offense this year if anything were to happen to DeAndre Swift even with DeAndre Swift healthy I think he'll play a decent role really he's a good player do you think that in that okay with that estimation I think it's going to be annoying for DeAndre Swift managers 10 team leagues would you think DeAndre uh khil Herbert is draftable or is he a guy that you're looking at off of waivers um probably off of waivers but um that that also might be you know like a 10 Team league in which people prioritize those those insurance policies then yes he's fine yeah yeah but I don't I don't think he's a must draft but I would say in a 10 Team league like if if we just learned this over the weekend in the Bahamas like people like ADP takes in all the extremes as well right like if you have ADP of you know wide receiver 35 it might be because in some ways you're going as wide receiver 15 and others are going in wide receiver 55 yep so um it was crazy to see people fall in the drafts that we did this weekend you know I think if I were to like take away a lesson that I think we need to talk about more and more and more is when when you talk about like draft strategy it's your team that's what I was reminded of this weekend people are going to do what they feel like you know why because it's their team it's not mine I'm here to we are all here to like take a bunch of factors um sort of calculate the importance of them and then like package them in this tiny little box that says like I've got uh you know I've got javante Williams by running back 23 but they may say you know what I love Javonte Williams I'm going to take him before then or you know what I hate Javon Williams I won't touch him with a 10-ft B yeah all right let's talk about K ACR then you you brought it up before we get into this why do you think that he's at least worth the consideration as an insur I I don't even know if Damen Pierce is on the team by tomorrow yeah it's very very very strange and cam Acres if you have been watching him in the preseason I actually tweeted this last night because we're were talking about him running and the fact that he's getting the ball looks good guys had two torn Achilles one on each side and I always say if you have a major injury like that that when you rehab the next one you have a little bit better understanding of what what the rehab is going to be like and how much you can push but still there's no guarantee that you're able to come back in explosiveness one of the last things we see he was doing spin moves he's been finding lanes and and showing quickness to make uh cuts and make people miss him tackling like the he looks really good re spin moved on one run like I know nights ago crazy whoop whoop whoop uh I thought it was like a Madden glitch exactly god um but yeah just and and he came with a ton of pedigree right I mean we were talking about him with the highest of hopes going into year two y uh coming off of that Achilles tear um but this guy I mean there was it was really impressive to see I think Damen Pierce probably has like a square peg and a round hole in that scheme and uh Joe Mixon obviously they signed him to a big contract but U or to a new contract I should say three years 27 million bucks is legitimate money for a running back I just would keep my eyes on cam Acres because I just think that people I I think who haven't who have not been like closely watching preseason might say like oh well Damien Pierce has won Joe Mixon injury away from being a factor again I am not sure that's the case I think as a matter of fact if I were to kind of bet my money on it right now it will be cam Acres as they're running back to and he has looked apart it's one of the better under discussed stories of this NFL regular certainly looks that way like you're definitely seeing the way they're using him even in the preseason kind of getting him out there I yeah talk talk some sense in to us for those very quickly who want to have any reason to think that Carson steel could be the insurance back behind his a talking about this yeah uh got some Buzz this off season and then the preseason here he was a cool he's a cool draft story you know Bowling Green to UCLA uh for his college career um and had a great college career uh but he was you know was like had this great run and the the Chiefs final preseason game and it was like everyone was pumped about it yeah with like you know the the backups backups exactly um so I I I believe as as as as boring as this pick would be that if you're going to draft an insurance policy to Isaiah would actually be lad deair and I know that he has been a bust relative to where he was drafted but now given that he is undrafted for Fantasy purposes he would actually represent a worthwhile pickup if you were trying to ensure Isaiah Pacho um and I do think that we've fallen into that backup Chiefs running back trap way too much over the past few years right like I I will not forget this the Chiefs because they have played in that opening night game have reported to training camper I won't forget this leag day two of training camp last year it was like did Eric Prince clearcut Chiefs running back to lock to make the roster and it's like I think he had like eight carries last year and they were all in week 18 yeah you know um so I am not taking the bait there it is confirmed from the great Keith lipam Jordan excuse me Jalil mlin m not Glock thank you very much Kei of course we can count on that cool Keith for that speaking of insurance running backs field on Friday of this week I was worried I was going to have to find an insurance running back host for the fantasy Focus football podcast while we were down doing the ultimate draft experience at bajamar in the Bahamas I don't want to bury the lead there's a lot of stuff we want to talk about a lot Bahamas trip recap of people we want to give thanks to and flowers to but but field come on we can't bury this I'll try my best to make this a fairly short recounting of what happened this past Friday but we as part of the weekend we had a a combine basically to determine the draft order it was a variety of activities one of which included this obstacle course the conclusion of the obstacle course was a blowup quarterback dummy that you had the right to kind of run through you could have just avoided him you could have done what Mike Clay did which just tap that thing or you could have pretended like you were 17 and not 37 like I did go up and try to drill that freaking thing so after a great morning in which we ran the Sandy toes 40 and we were doing you know quarterback accuracy contest I figured let me test my luck with this Optical quar let me tell you I was cruising people on the beach I mean I was already confused for Tyreek Hill once earlier that morning because of my speed like my elusiveness like people were like oh my God is this like Debo sill Barry Sanders like who is this guy and uh then all of a sudden we went through this obstacle course and as we went through the obstacle course I decided that it was important for me to go and tackle the crap out of this quarterback and no one we have video we have video we watching right now watching on YouTube we have a video of the of said tackle and the aftermath yeah so I tried my best to crush that thing and I knew right away something was really bad uh and I have been very fortunate to avoid significant injury for the most part in my life uh this was this has been by far the worst injury that I have endured but I knew right away something was bad uh Daniel Mike and I were there Stefania was coming down um shortly yes uh because remember me of the torn planner fascia could not participate in events and so we had recorded a podcast I was going upstairs to change and come down and I was way up at the other end of the property up in the hotel I was frantically texting Stefania after this happened to make this happened so I hit I take the hit and I immediately am like crap please let me shake this off but I know something is wrong I know this feeling it's different than like um you know you stub your toe you you run into something whatever it might be I knew something was very very bad and that I needed some sort of medical attention sooner rather than later but I also was you know candidly like it's a little bit embarrassing when you're with 50 people all having a blast you know it's 11:00 a.m. it's beautiful bahamar Resort people are having a great time um so I'm like let me just go sit down and you know it's weird is my my shoulder you know the headline is my shoulder was dislocated um it was hanging off my arm there and I I kind of could only grab my wrist to somewhat stabilize my arm we all thought it was a wrist injury because of that we just need to stop right here for a moment like to everybody who watches injuries on TV and they're like oh he grabbing his wrist in his hand like a classic for a shoulder dislocation is to grab your wrist because you're trying to just keep your arm from moving I mean some guys will grab their shoulder but often they'll just grab their wrist so again this is just a lesson to everyone out there like all that Daniel's like we thought what's wrong with his wrist what's wrong did he break his wrist what happened and yeah so thankfully I guess I don't know I I don't know thankfully or not uh it was not a wrist injury but I end up uh Stefania and you know I'll do this now because I think it's the really important thing like we talk about this all the time like is simply nobody in the world who compares to stefia with her knowledge of sports medicine and the way that she's able to apply it to Fantasy Football uh but I was she she's the hero of the day because I was in a bad spot an unfamiliar spot for me not just in terms of avoiding injuries but we're down in a foreign country right and these the amazing people at bahamar and the medical staff were all wonderful but you know when you're in a bad spot like there's something very very comforting and familiar my wife was on a plane down coming down to uh to be part of the rest of the weekend she had to work on Thursday so she couldn't join us till Friday this is the second time I've had to call the wife of one of my hosts to say you're going to need to go to the hospital yes um so it was uh and stefia came down you guys all know stefania's if you haven't heard but like she's dealing with planner fascia like her foot is on fire when she takes one step I'm looking up and I'm like Daniel I'm like please get stf down here please get stfa down here and meanwhile like all of a sudden I see her like emerging and I'm like oh my God and stf's running down I'm like she can barely walk she's sprinting that oh no it's St had no idea you know uh stfc like for insurance purposes stfa and none of us were able to really do anything because it would have really compromised my ability to go to the hospital uh but stf kind of gave me a lot of the peace of mind that I needed and she stuck with me for the entire day um we had to go in the ambulance together and I want stf to tell a little bit about that ride but we ended up probably from I don't know from the moment it got separated dislocated until the moment we left was probably 4 and 1 half hours and stefia was there for every step of it um which includes you know there's there's the physical part of it but like you know I'm sitting there and I'm like all I want right now is for someone to take my shoulder and put it back in the sock back in place and there's a ton of paperwork and insurance stuff and uh truly if Stefania wasn't there I I don't know what would have happened but I would have been in a way worse spot so I feel like I should be indebted to you anyways but I am like forever indebted to you and if people ever doubt the sincerity of how wonderful she is as a human and how brilliant she is with her medical stuff like I now uh can say with even more firsthand knowledge that that should never cross your mind um and she made me feel so much more at ease and U Beyond like on top of that she's been a resource in the aftermath we as after we finish this conversation stfa is putting me in her car and taking me as I go see a for the next steps here um so my sincere thanks to you thank you feels is the best I would do it for any of you as you know cuz I'm adding up I'm like go back to the freaking I'm like go back to the thing like even when my wife got there and she came right from the airport to the hospital she's like you can just go and you're like no I'm not I'm good she's like I'm not leaving I'm going to stay here make sure not a chance she's like I want to see you I wanted to see the X-ray so I got to see the pictures and you know I was just wanted to make sure everything it's hard if anybody's ever been in a foreign country and been injured or ill it's scary it's scarier than when it happens in your backyard you know so there's there's a lot to that peace of mind component but honestly the part you know what people don't appreciate first of all I did say to field when he was still sitting there with his shoulder out next time a player goes down with a dislocated shoulder he's like I will never question their toughness ever again you know you see guys go off and they go in the back and they reduce their shoulder put it back back in they put a harness on they come back out and play think about that you know and and so field has an appreciation anyone who questions player toughness when you go through something like this you appreciate it but the ambulance ride I kept saying was something out of like Jason Bourne movie because we are going down streets and if you're if you don't know like you can drive on the the driving sometimes you're on the wrong side of the road there and then we were deliberately going wrong way in traffic and cars are coming head head head first towards us Fields luckily in the back on a g can't see any of those things but every also the roads in Bahamas not necessarily on par with the ones here smooth hot holes boom boom field saying words I've never heard come every time we h a pothole and I'm thinking just good thing he can't see because we are splitting traffic going up on curbs we're next to cement trucks are moving over and I'm thinking how are we going to fit but we got there we got there and everybody was lovely in terms of how they cared for field so that that is the best part for what it's you you want to no that they I I really can't thank the staff at bahamar both before and after doctor stf I just don't want to forget this part field on the drugs after they put the show oh my gosh so many great apparently so many great maybe the Apex of my life saying that what was funny was now I was with jaen because she had arrived at the hospital they take field back they're going to administer some drugs because they have to get your shoulder muscles to relax they have to get you to relax because now to put it back in is going to be uncomfortable after it's been out for a while sure so when they let us back in field is laughing he is high as a kite having a good time having a good time those were something thanking everyone and I will tell you this America that the doctor told us after he comes up to chape it he goes some people say a lot of you know a lot of crazy things when they're under the to these drugs he goes all this one said was I love my wife I love my wife over I love my wife and she she was great as well and uh you know the reality is I'm probably going to be close to a zero as a parent uh for a little stretch here which that that that's been you know I'll deal with the other stuff work's been great uh that's probably the part that you know in the in the what 15 hours since we've been home has been the hardest reality and it will be for a little while here but I know chapen is going to you know carry the load like she usually does anyways uh for us but for what it's worth field like you're a Boston guy yeah you're from Boston so like in your defense you're used to those things being more underinflated than properly inflated okay I I thought you were going to go a different direction there um Bravo but I thought you G have about Paul Pierce and I'll just say this Paul Pierce in that wheelchair makes a whole lot more sense now now I get it I'm telling you and I'm always a Paul Pierce guy so I will never say a bad thing about him but it it did not deter what was was an incredible weekend I was just going to say that shout out to bajamar shout out to bdg Global and everything that they did the nice man League uh I think you should League the bahaman league there was like there were a bunch of people that came down and it truly was and other than this one moment like the ultimate it added to the lore I mean field was a legend when we left the island and I think that everybody you know it just really proved like the all the good of humanity all the people who were there were so wonderful field was a came back and did the panel that day after we got back from the hospital he was there for the Q&A session everybody who were in all the people who came to draft with us they really deserve the ultimate thank you because they rolled with everything and they were wonderful the whole time you know it rained a little bit they were fine with that everything we had a wonderful time and we're planning our next trip that's right hope we have more news on that sometime soon but for now we love you guys so much thank you for hanging out with daniel. field jate stf Bell we'll see you guys Thank you for watching Fantasy Focus! tomorrow by the way the show is presented by Fant excuse me fantasy Focus football is presented by NFL Sunday Ticket on YouTube TV I'm going to you're in the 601