RB depth charts: Breaking down the pecking order in Pittsburgh, Dallas, and Tennessee

again got to love some new era Dwayne it's Battleground backfields day on the fantasy live show what a freaking time to be alive we got eight different situations to go through something like that maybe six who can really know for sure at this point but starting things off we got to talk about one of our favorite and my favorite I mean least favorite people in the NFL Arthur Smith's backfield over in Pittsburgh we got Naj Harris we got Jaylen Warren we got maybe Cordo Patterson what did you see out of this group in the preseason and accordingly what are we expecting in 2024 yeah so Arthur Smith is a wild card I'm glad that we're just starting here um you know he's a guy that catches Strays pretty much every show when we're not talking about Arthur Smith we're talking about Arthur Smith um yeah when you look at Naji and Jaylen warham we also have cat you know we have one of your alltime faves you are the cural Patterson fan club leader after all I do think that all three guys are going to be in the mix I do think Nai Harris and Jaylen War are going to be the two lead guys and it's one of those situations Ian where like you look at the players and Jaylen Warren he's still it just he pops in every way right whether you're talking about you know I put out my my guys article um this morning folks can check that out for free over at Fantasy Life but this is just you know one of the most efficient running backs in the NFL and whenever you look at what he can do on a per touch basis it's still hard to not get excited even though we know Arthur Smith could like just be like completely unwilling to use him or he might get cpat more involved than what we would think but just if you look at you know Jaylen Warren last year Ian uh PFF run grade was 85.3 and so this is a minimum of 150 attempts that was 11 out of 37 running backs that qualified Miss tackles Force per attempt 35.7% number one out of 37 backs that qualified average yards after contact 3.7 The League average is 2.9 he ranked second out of the 37 qualifiers and then Target per route run oh yeah he's also awesome in the reer game 27% that was third out of 37 qualifying running backs so the guy has just been able to do amazing things when he gets the ball he also is is good enough that you want to prioritize him in the passing game what I'm gonna say about Jaylen Warren is if he ever gets to a stretch this year where he is the lead back in Pittsburgh he could win your fantasy league and I think that's the main thing you've got to remember when I look at Naji Harris I also think that where he's going in drafts Ian he could be very valuable to your fantasy fantasy team I don't think he would win you your league but I do think that he could be a value with where he goes now if I'm just having to chop this thing up and assume that everyone's healthy for the entire season I've got it as a pretty close split I've got nii actually leading the way on in the rushing attempts by a little bit but giving more of the passing down work to Jaylen morren those two guys just kind of rotating in and out all game long and that makes it a little tough because we're not super excited about the Steelers offense but we do know they'll be committed to the run like if you look at Arthur Smith All The Way way back to his time in Tennessee he has been very committed to running the football that's also part of Mike tomlin's DNA whenever he doesn't have a quarterback that can just drop back and sling it all the time like Ben rothberger he's shown us since then that he's willing to lean much more into that run game we know we've got the quarterback challenges so I do think for if we look at all the teams that don't have you know an Anthony Richardson because Russell Wilson is not that level now they might end up with an Anthony Richardson with they might get Justin fields on the onto the field at some point but I think this will be one of the teams ends up running the ball maybe like the fifth or sixth most in the league maybe fourth most like I think they're going to be one of the highest you know te Total Team attempts as far as rushing attempts go so I think there is enough to go around but I think this is really more of a split but when I'm drafting I'll I gotta be honest and I mean I've drafted a ton of teams I'm like 80% Jaylen Warren and like 20% Naji like across all those drafts that I've done um just because I think his upside so much higher I think if we have certainty that both running backs are playing 17 games you could make a reasonable you know projection that Naji will score more points than Jayla Moren but it's that boom upside it's that best case scenario it's that first or last mindset that does have us you know buying more into the lottery ticket in Jaylen Warren so maybe is the lead back Dwayne I mean last year in Atlanta we saw bejan Robinson have 272 touches Tyler air 204 and then in Pittsburgh niji Harris 284 touches Jaylen Warren 210 so similar splits going on but who's to say Warren couldn't Maybe be that lead dog with Arthur Smith you know potentially coming to town more outside Zone Concepts which potentially do fit Jaylen Warren a bit better so you did mention the potential problem here and that is Justin Fields as much as we would like to see him out there for our Justin Fields bags that's the only way I really see these guys not returning again some quality upside rb3 value with the potential for more should one go down because you look at the Steelers you look at the Falcons you even look at Russell Wilson's Broncos all three of those groups were top six offenses terms of expected PPR points per game last year the Bears they were I think bottom three bottom four and we see them with the Eagles we see them with the Ravens teams with those mobile quarterbacks who are scrambling instead of checking down and again factoring to the equation near the goal line just not exactly a recipe for Fantasy success so Jaylen Warren is our preferred pick out of Pittsburgh Dwayne the only again just thing holding them back is if something happens to na or something happens to Jaylen and cpat actually does have a bigger role than expected that's the one problem man did see signs of that in the preseason yeah and that and that wouldn't surprise us because it's Arthur Smith and and that's the one thing you've got to remember I I thought about that one and you and I have talked about it a lot on the live draft streams that we've done and folks can go check those out like we put them up they're $300 drafts you can see what's happening uh from all the different positions that we draft from but Ian and I really in those we talk through the players but we talk a lot about strategy as well so so be sure to check them out but we've talked about these players you know specifically and I know at one point you were pretty worried about cpat but like the more we sat there and thought about it and looked at the fact that Arthur Smith did have cpat last year right and he didn't really get him involved now we never saw a stretch of games where we were missing bejan Robinson or Tyler alir to see would he then let cpat step up but we are talking about an older player they do value him as the guy handling the kick returns right and probably doing I don't know if he'll do any of the punt work we know he's going to get all the kick return work it'll be I'm really interested in seeing him in this new format and what that looks like so I I don't I don't know I still feel like if either one of the other guys went down their roles will expand I do think cat's role expands but I think the other guys would also get a little bit more work as well and again I'm the most confident with Jaylen morren because I think he has an every down skill set nii has an every down skill set quote unquote but like he's not electric in the passing game and the one other thing the Steelers when I think about him it's like okay you've got George Pickins and then what like we don't know like you're hoping Roman Wilson who hasn't even practiced right it's going to be a while before Roman Wilson would beat anything as a rookie you got van Jefferson slotted to play all those snaps outside I then we got Pat fouth who you don't even want to put on the field like you're giving the guy like 50% route participation so I feel like Jaylen Warren like is honestly like the sneakiest way to get some underneath stuff going in the passing game so but I will say that's where CPAC could also be a two I mean the guy was a wide receiver coming out of college and then they end up transitioning him over to running back so I I I agree with you it's not it's not enough though to scare me off of those guys but it could damp their ceiling case scenario if they decided to give cpat 30% of the work if one of them went down cat just 59 touches in 14 games last season so it shouldn't be this 1 a 1B 1C situation but yeah could potentially just lower the Handcuff ceiling just a little bit there so we're not trying to slander Nai I thought he honestly probably looked the best he has since entering the NFL or at least since his rookie season last year out there but it's more so Jayla Mo and just being that freaking good really does look like he's you know na on two time speed out there when he is is doing his thing so good stuff there Dwayne another backfield that has some new parties involved is residing in Nashville the Tennessee Titans Tony Paul Taj Spears we've heard from Callahan we've heard from Holtz really the entire offseason constant drum beat of these running backs being essentially co- STS and interchangeable are you buying it based on what we've seen in the preseason yeah I absolutely am it's really interesting though because in drafts right now you get to see these real-time adjustments happen taji Spears is falling down draft boards and Tony is moving up why because he scored one touchdown when they decided to put him in in a preseason game and guess what the game before when they started them which was game one of the preseason they all rested in game two it was Taj Spears getting that carry so some of this has come down to luck of when the players have been on the field and the coaches may have just wanted to see Tony Pard in that situation because taji Spears guess what guys go back and watch it already made a sweet cut back down at the goal line where the whole right side of the offensive line was bottled up he makes a just a smooth cut to the backside smooth sailing straight into the end zone to score a touchdown so both of these guys are capable what I'm going to say though Ian is the way this preseason utilization has come down if you look at it on just like on the surface it's 58% of the snaps to Tony Pard 42% to Taj Spears that would seem like oh man Tony Pard actually is the onea and we've got you know tazy Spears sitting here as a 1B maybe even like a high 2A but then once you dig into it like you see those drives that Tony Pard took and it's fine giving Pard to wide Edge is fine because he's the first back that's getting on the field but his drive with the starters was longer than the second Drive which Taj Spears took in both games with the starters all still on the field so if you look at it from that high level it looks like oh this is a Tony per thing but really it just comes down to how long Tony Pard drives end up being versus Taj Spears oh by the way both players mixed in on the other players drives so on those first drives by Tony Pard guess who got a Sprinkle of snaps tazy Spears on those second drives with Taz Spears Tony Pard was getting a little bit of a Sprinkle of snap so I think these guys are really going to be rotating it's still going to be much closer than what people think and it makes me really like Taj Spears even more in drafts if people now are suddenly thinking that Tony Pard has pulled away and I still like taking Pard but he's moved up like a round well say he's moved up a half a round Ian and Taj Spears has dropped a half a round since the last preseason game so now you have these guys going two to three rounds apart in drafts I just drafted this morning on a team and I got T Spears 20 picks past a you know the average draft position so I still think they're going to be very close and you mentioned it it's not just the preseason games the coaches have told us this all along and their skill sets tell us that they are interchangeable backs both really good in the passing game both smaller backs that are explosive you know you give them a Runway we know they want to run more 11 personnel they're both really good fits for what the Titans want to do this season and just like Naj and Jaylen we can be fairly confident that if anything happens to either running back here the other guy legitimately becomes an rb1 option overnight so Pard obviously saw him handle over 300 touches with the Cowboys last year and just from the eye test it does look like he has some of that juice back in the preseason which is great and then with Spears man please for the love of God take care of yourself stop trying to hurdle people out here in the preseason you know chill out man but looking at what he did as a rookie joined Tyler alir and Derrick Henry as the only three running backs or PFF grades north of 70 and rushing receiving and the ever important pass blocking so legit three down backs in Tennessee and an offense that could wind up being pretty pretty fantasy friendly should the defense continue to suck and they want to toss the ball around the yard just a little bit more all right Dwayne let's talk about the hometown squad for you at least the Dallas Cowboys we got Ezekiel Elliott we got Rico D we got du vaugh and we even have number 20 now dvin cook in town so got a nice note from Mike McCarthy I will read first before I throw it over to you on Rico D yesterday he'll have a lesser role in special teams just because of workload Focus he's a complete running back plays all three Downs I think his pass protection from his rookie year to now has become one of his best assets so the anti- kyen Williams role on the table for Rico D Dwayne thoughts on who winds up leading this committee and who your most comfortable drafting at cost so Rico dle you know about a month ago we started talking about quite a bit and you know we put him in some sleeper articles and things like that and it was so easy at that time Ian just to click on his name because he just going too far after after Zeke there was just probably too much assumption in the market that it's just going to be Zeke and so you were getting this two to three round discount on a guy like d going after Zeke well then they got close together and I was like okay I'll I'll keep taking Rico D and now Rico D has like leapt past Zeke by like two or three rounds and that's where it's like I I do agree I would rather bet on the younger player but this is Rico dle Ian this is a guy I mean he's not been able to get in a starting lineup he's six years old is not like he's some second-year player you know that they were just already brimming with all this hope about it's kind of like well we didn't do anything so we're GNA give it to Rico now again I'm not trying to you know hate on Rico we know at the running back position volume is King and I do still think there's a really good chance that Rico is going to be the more efficient of these two backs just because Zeke you know he's got a lot of wear and tear now I think there are certain things though that Zeke is still going to do better than Rico D and that's where I want your thoughts in but I I do believe that Ezekiel Elliott will get the carries inside the 5 yard line or the majority of them I'm not saying Rico is not going to get any of them but I could totally see the cowboy still using him in that way because Zeke is still really good at that like he's a guy that still has all that lower body strength that you want um Zeke guys you can make fun of him for his lack of ability to hit these big long plays unless he's just in the wide open field but when it comes to power when it comes to Vision when it comes to you know getting skinny through the hole like Zeke still does all of those things really almost as good as any one else in the NFL and so I think they're going to use that when they get down inside the 5 yard line I think he's going to get a lot of those carries I think there's also a chance Ian that Zeke gets on the field more on passing Downs because they they're going to trust him in pass protection we saw this in the past where we were just like how is Tony per not on the field for passing downs and it was Zeke all those years so now we have a situation in Dallas where oh we have is CD lamb like and we have Jay we like Ferguson as well but there's there's opportunity here for these backs to pick up some targets so what I'm going to say is I still prefer Rico D in a vacuum but I think that now Zeke is the one that's getting underpriced and he's the guy that I've been clicking on a little more more in draft so essentially this is my me copping out of saying I'll just take the cheaper one but it is the Cowboys so I I want to hear your thoughts though on Zeke and that role that I just outlined well it is just funny you know you look at our ADP toour which I'm checking out right now and we have ESPN sleeper and Yahoo on the left and then we have some higher you know higher Stak sites ffpc and FFC Real Time Sports on right and it's flipped Zeke is the you know far cheaper one in terms of I'm sorry far more expensive one on the more casual sites I mean he's going pick 110 on ESPN Dwayne D's at 163 but meanwhile dle is the more expensive one on all the higher stake sites so I think you know I'm kind of with you it just depends where you're Drafting and when we have this uncertainty yeah just give me the cheaper guy because it does seem unlikely that we see either party just completely take control of this back field and that's not even before we consider if dvin Cook had actually come in and car about a few carries which isn't necessarily going to happen he's on the practice squad for a reason but I'm with you man because as much as Zeke has not been good I mean 43rd and rushing yards OV expected over these past two seasons the last time we saw him in Dallas he was only averaging 3.8 yards per carry and that was with a better addition of an offensive line than we're likely going to see with the Cowboys this year but when we do look at Zeke and we remove that $90 million contract he was you know working under I think it's a lot easier to appreciate his skill set what he can do is a short yardage hammer and obviously in pass Pro as well so look when I can get Rico D literally in the last round of ESPN drafts as I did in Mrs hardit's company draft last night felt good about that one yeah sign me up for it but yeah Dwayne once Zeke is the one starting to fall into the 140s or so I'm cool with that as well so I'm with you where I don't want to be a complete cop out here but at the same time it's a Cowboys offense that's ranked 10th and Ninth and expected RB PPR points per game these last two years perennial top tier scoring offense as long as Dak Prescott has been healthy maybe the answer to which cheap running back to take is just yes yeah and here's the other thing I will say because of the point you just brought up about their back field and how fruitful it's been for Fantasy if they're that spread apart there's no problem taking two there's no problem taking them both and seeing what happens week one and it might just be a complete mess where you're just forced to drop one of them and just hold on to one and hope that maybe you get some clarity but if we do somehow come out week one and it's doesn't really matter which one but one of them is the clear leader of the backfield getting 60 65% of the work you're going to want them on your fantasy team and then you can cut the other one it's not like you're having to pay a premium pick for these two players so it is one of the back fields Ian that I would be willing to take both of the players and see what happens especially if you started your you know Fantasy Draft off let's say let's say you took a wide receiver you know first and then you come back and the running backs you wanted were gone again so you took another wide receiver and then maybe you know maybe you did grab your first running back in round three but then you had to wait again because people just kept taking all the names you wanted you took value at other spots I think in those scenarios you want to start targeting in on some of these game on these on these uh teams where you know you could get both of the backs but we like the team you don't just want to do that with anyone it's it's it's the Cowboys I don't mind doing it with two of the Dolphins backs like moster and Jaylen Wright like I'm willing to with certain teams and the Cowboys are certainly one of those in it is a great point in terms of that really the first couple rounds of roster construction setting the basis for what running backs you want to necessarily attack later we did a draft yesterday Dwayne we went superhero RB we got Devin H and jir Gibbs with our first two picks so guess what they're locked into our rb1 and rb2 spots so when it comes time to start looking at these running backs you know going outside the top 120 picks we were more willing to take you know a flyer on guys like Blake corm and Trey Benson and more pure handcuffs meanwhile if we only have one and we're actively looking for someone that we can start during the early weeks of the season that's when Ric d when chuba hubber when maybe Jerome Ford Julio mclocklin become a bit more in play so again let those early rounds really help you you know set the just precedent for what you're going to do in the rest of your draft and you can check out those drafts Wayne and I did on our you know fanasy life YouTube page so more