10 big RB questions + more NFL injury updates | Fantasy Football Happy Hour (FULL SHOW)

Intro fantasy football happy hour with Matthew Barry served by Applebees welcome to the fantasy football happy hour I'm Conor Rogers alongside Lawrence Jackson and Denny Carter guys Matthew and Jay are out today they'll be back Monday reacting to all the pre-season action from over the weekend but Dani I'll start with you great to have you guys on for the first fantasy football happy hour of the year that you're joining us how we doing absolutely it is great to be here and you know we've been we've been grinding uh uh beat writer interviews on the rotor World football show me and and and Pat Dy so I feel like I have I have a lot of insight to share here from from the you know the beat writers who are at practice who are watching these teams who are interviewing players and and coaches it's a it's a lot of great stuff and uh I'm going to be spamming you guys with that information today Lawrence what do you got for us how are you GNA top that uh well I'll top it by saying that I got to talk to you know a former fantasy football stud and Drew Brees uh yesterday I got the chance to interview him for around 40 minutes uh I'm out here in New Orleans actually at his uh Pickle Fest uh out here with a player X so it's a good time but you know I gotta step outside for a minute so we can have some fun here on the uh fantasy football happy hour football is sort of back we had some preseason action that we will get to later in the show but the main Top RB Storylines: expectations for Jahmyr Gibbs & De’Von Achane, role concerns for Josh Jacobs and James Cook storyline for us is the questions around the running back position and of course the storylines around the running back position similar to what we did in the middle of the week with the quarterback so we will cover all of that and of course injury updates as well as unfortunate injuries to receivers Josh DS and Rond Del Moore but guys let's jump right into it with the running backs and this is the more high-profile guys are the adps a little bit higher here jir Gibbs here Denny when you look at this backfield where there was so much expected of him in his rookie season and it felt like the second half we saw some major major flashes but David Montgomery is still here obviously a Red Zone monster this offense has plenty of continuity they do use both backs can Gibbs return first round value in a shared backfield yeah I think he can and I'm not totally opposed to drafting him at ADP I don't think that he has that sort of insane upside that you would get if he had the entire backfield to himself now this is a Lions team that last year was quietly very runhe heavy especially when they had the lead they had a lot of positive game script on their side they really took the air out of the football in those situations I think that means that that both both Gibbs and Montgomery can get there for Fantasy purposes if things go right for the Lions this year I could see both of them you know being I don't know top 12 top 15 running backs we've seen it before on good teams okay and I think the lions are a good team it's weird to say still getting adjusted to that uh but you know we like I said you know we we talked with a Detroit beat writer on the rot World football show and he said look Montgomery is not going anywhere Dan Campbell loves this guy he's still going to be used a lot especially in short yardage and goal line situations Lawrence the good news is for Gibbs even though Montgomery's like Denny just said like he's going to get the touches he's going to get plenty of goal line touches as well last year when Gibbs got more than 12 touches he averaged more than 18 points a game so this is a guy when he gets a normal workload which isn't that's not that crazy that's just sneaking into double digit touches this is the guy that makes the most of them yeah and and we the good thing is Conor and Danny we got a chance to see what how he could flourish as a guy in a two-man backfield and we got to see him do his thing on occasion when uh David Montgomery missed uh last year jir GES my running back seven finishes running back eight and points per game last year with David Montgomery so I think where when we look it from that perspective whatever he did last year is like that's the you know as they say the floor right GM Brad Holmes said a few months ago jir Gibbs is gonna have a bigger role and despite all that he still just fell about 55 yards shy of a thousand yards so yes he's worth the first round value and think of it like this too fellas like how many running backs are owning their back field outright C CMC uh Bree har we presume bej Robinson and that's where right and that's why I say presume right um and that's why they're getting drafted when we're getting drafted then you got Jonathan Taylor Maybe saquon Barkley's in there and then you get to the the best guy who's not sharing his back who is sharing the backfield and that's undoubtedly jir Gibbs at this point so if if there's only so many bats that could go in the first round you're looking at that one two turn like I better get this guy because I'm not going to get him on the way back I will say toward the end of the season guys uh Gibbs started to separate himself from Montgomery in the past game you know he started to run more routes see more targets and you know so if you're in a PPR or even a half PPR format uh that makes a huge difference speaking of shared backfields much like the Lions the Dolphins have a shared backfield that is very successful throughout it's not just one guy eats all the time but one guy that was so productive and explosive with the touches he got was Devon achan and during the rookie season 7.8 yards per carry almost unheard of 21% of his rushes went for 10 plus yards here Lawrence now you got to throw in the fact that he got banged up which was always the concerns at his side of course at his size of course this is a backfield that has two other intriguing players with moster who had a phenomenal season now Jaylen Wright who they traded up for into the third round to go get and his explosive in his own way what kind of regression can we expect from hn because the reality is the rate he was at per touch last year is just unsustainable in any format doesn't mean he can't have a great season though yeah it's gonna be tough to average uh you know around eight yards a carry again almost a first down per carry right that's crazy um but at the same time he is that type of player like I could like Devon aan can average up towards six yards a carry like he's that type of dude and he's going to he's going to need that especially when you see he only had three games last season with more than 12 touches like he's that's why they have him right that's why they got him in that offense and the good thing about Devon hen it's not when you don't get to the goal line and take him out Miami's using every running back at the goal line it just happened to be much more Raheem Ard in that fashion as we saw him with his 18 uh rushing touchdowns last year and again just like David Montgomery Raheem oer is not going anywhere in fact it's like he turned 30 years old and is now getting is having career years every year now so um as long as he's in that offense there uh Raheem Moz Devon aan is gonna have to share a little something but you can count on those explosive runs like Conor you notice you watched them mat Texas A&M he did it then and we're like oh this the NFL as soon as he getting that game I think it was the Broncos game where we really saw like oh he's this dude is really like that so um best ball drafters are gonna love him in redraft it'll be tough but if you if you bought in and he's your rb2 it's a solid pickup Denny for me when I look at Anan it feels like he has his own Ro in this offense while they drafted right as moster insurance was that something you would agree with because it it feels like as great as moster was last year especially at his age like Lawrence indicated this guy's got a laundry list of injuries throughout his career so it gave them some insurance for him with right why there's just there's no replicating replacing what aan brings to the offense you're right and I and I do think that that Jaylen right he was drafted probably to take the moster spot in that Miami offense but because I struggle I struggle to take aan at that at ADP that's a lofty ADP I mean that basically is predicated on this guy having a much bigger role both in the running game and in the passing game and I think this Dolphins team which lost a lot of defensive Talent uh in in the offseason didn't really replace much of it I think that they will not be in the position to really establish it and and and have run heavy uh offenses throughout this season like they did last season when they had the lead the Dolphins were among the Run heaviest teams in in the league League last year I don't I don't see that happening this year I think that the Dolphins will be more pass heavy than than we think if hn can take over that pass game role then yeah I think he can he can get there in best ball formats love Anan okay I can't get enough I'm telling you though it's going to be frustrating with this guy in redraft you're going to plug him in and sometimes he's going to win the week for you and that's cool and and you know honestly like I I can't tell people not to do that not to play pick the player who can single-handedly win win your week but there are going to be frustrating weeks I mean most's not going anywhere barring injury so now we kind of pivot here Denny to a Back Field that it looks like they have the guy especially when you look at the money that they handed him especially in the one-year vacu vacuum with the Packers and Josh Jacobs now somehow someway not only is AJ Dylan back with this team he has three straight Seasons with 200 plus touches but on the flip side of it this is a team that looked for a little bit more from their backup running back by drafting Marshon l at a USC but with those two guys behind them I mean are they just going to heavily lean on Josh Jacobs like we've seen the Raiders do with him in the past yeah you know on the road worldy football show we we spoke with the Packers beat writer who said look they they don't overthink this guys you know because I'm I'm overthinking the Josh Jacobs thing big time this summer and he said don't overthink this they brought him in to be the lead back and the lead back includes pass pass route running role and and and pass catching and goal line work so I do think that he will get a a shot at that now does it concern me that Josh Jacobs was per the metrics one of the worst running backs in the NFL last year it does it it that concerns me a little bit and it makes me interested in Lloyd although I will say that AJ Dylan best shape of his life okay this is this is what we're hearing at of Packers Camp best shape of his life and and could be in line for rb2 duties I know no one wants to hear that no one I don't want to hear that you guys don't want to but it but it could be the reality so I am taking l as a hedge on if Jacobs is really struggling but Dylan again is just going to be annoying he's just he's going to be there he's going to take on a lot of that early down rooll I think yeah Lawrence how do you see this one shaking out yeah I mean we for years that when Aaron Jones was there we'd always say like free Aaron Jones you know AJ Dylan would come in there I don't see it being any type of different situation in that right we knew Aaron Jones was the lead bat but we knew a J Dylan was a guy who was going to come in there uh take some carries away from AJ Dylan could catch the ball out the back field too to be honest he ain't just some big slow dude who be stumping through there like Frankenstein like dude he got he got he got good feet and he's he's there literally to take the touches from Josh Jacobs but Josh Jacobs will like Denny said they said he'll be the they said it'll be the lead guy and that's just how I'm viewing it right now I'm still thinking like what happened with Aaron Jones like what made him want to make that switch was it like Josh Jacobs being a couple years younger but I because Aaron Jones looked like a beast in the playoffs so I'm like yeah whatever all right Josh Jacobs is cool like Denny said Josh Jacobs wasn't as efficient uh 50th amongst qualified running backs and points per touch that's kind of scary but it's a good offense though you got Jordan love running off so I so I do think joshh Jacobs will get better opportunities than what he had as a Las Vegas Raiders so you have to like that portion of it so it's like a little give and take like you get more touches on the Raiders you get better opportunities better offense better quarterback play with the Packers and you're right Lawrence in that you have to consider the offensive environment for Josh Jacobs last year in Vegas it was atrocious I mean no one could survive that even Devonte Adam couldn't survive that fantasy wise for a lot of the Season you know until they really started Force feeding him targets uh near the end but really I mean yeah so Jacobs was in the worst possible spot last year now he's in an ascendant offense with Jordan love at quarterback with a lot of receivers that are scaring defenses so that that should make a difference I I didn't mean to suggest that he's like done dun he's not he's not even that old right even though it feels like he's been in the league for 15 we should we we should point out real quickly that while he did sign on the surface it's a 4-year deal for 48 million uh essentially that's a one-year deal with 125 million of that guarantee so when you see the big four and the big 48 don't see it as they're committing to him for the next half decade he's got 12 and a half million guaranteed and that's pretty much what the going rate is for you know a top running back per year right now yeah they could simply run him into the ground I think that's what that contract tells you right there so guys a player that we don't have any volume questions with which is always one of the toughest in fantasy with backfields is Rashad white on the Bucks I mean this was a volume King last year one of two running backs last season with 250 Rush attempts and 60 receptions now I'll say this Lawrence Dave Canales left to go be the head coach of the Panthers so the play calling will be a little bit different but at the end of the day can Rashad white simply volume his way into another top 10 finish you know yeah if they if they're gonna force it like that uh I don't see how you can't um he only he averaged under four yards per carry but was a top 10 running back in points per game bases rb10 to be exact um I they they draft Bucky Irving to come in there who's got a similar skill set uh to Rashad white I would say Bucky Irving runs a little tougher than he does uh neither guy is a breakaway speed type of running back there so lot of I it it's tough like he had a lot of dump offs and screens and it's like can you rep can you replicate that and that's again like you said Conor can that be replicated uh with Dave Canalis gone we'll have to see but I would say to that is who's there to really threaten that like who like if Bucky Irving ends up as the backup running back are they really going to split time with Bucky Irving as rookie I don't see that happening especially like he was it wasn't like Rashad white wasn't reliable he wasn't fumbling everywhere and stuff like that so I think he in fantasy football volume is King and so yeah I think he can I do think that um the hesitation on whether white can hang on to that workload is kind of reflected in his redraft ADP you know he's going rb1 1415 in PPR formats you look at drafters are really Savvy it's it's uh it's it's something I've I've noticed over the past five years like like the average fantasy football drafter knows what they're doing to an extent that is almost frightening and they they see they they know that bashad white got away with it last year largely based on volume not a good rusher not even really a great pass catcher but saw a ton of carries no one threatened his workload he led the entire NFL in running back pass routes okay like you know those things are those are Treasure Trolls of fantasy points for us right um am I going to chase that I don't I don't think so I don't think so because I think that the likelihood is they're going to try at least try to split up the back field a little bit but again you're talking about rb5 it's not going to kill you if you take him there and he ends up as the RB 13 or 14 somewhere in there yeah guys Rashad white 860 snaps last year is just insane for any any kind of running back and you know as much as yeah we have to know that they drafted Bucky Irving in the fourth round Buck iring is 192 pounds it's a bottom percentile weight so you might see him more in certain packages and looks third Downs at absolute best but I think the opportunity for white to volume his way in it's not pretty you don't have to love it but you might have to respect it in fantasy this year as Denny said with where his ADP is at all right one more high end in terms of where you're gonna the cost of getting this running back James Cook guys I mean Denny simply how high is the ceiling for James Cook let's take out goal line work right I mean four rushing touchdowns and 326 career carries now Stefan Diggs is out of this offense obviously Josh Al Allen is a guy that gets touchdown equity in his own right but it feels like just as a pure receiving back on top of the rushing volume James Cook has a massive massive ceiling going into this year where there's a lot of question marks on the offense and he's not one of them no and and apparently you know he's he's drawing ra rave reviews from beat Riders and coaches in training camp um I I'm good with taking him and certain you know depending on how you want to make your fantasy team I think that he's a nice running back to to grab based on volume but I will say that the touchdown drought is going to continue until morale improves for James Cook uh last year uh Josh Allen was the the you know the Bill's main goal line threat 21 rushes for Josh Allen inside the 10 yard line James Cook was second on the team with 18 but more importantly Josh Allen led the team with 14 rushing attempts inside the five yard line and scored eight times on those carries cook had only four carries inside the five that's not changing like that the bills want Josh Allen to be Josh Allen he's basically Unstoppable you know from the shotg gun inside the five yard line like no nobody's stopping him there so um if you're taking cook you're you're hoping for PPR production you're hoping for the pass catching stuff uh I would struggle to see him scoring more than I don't know a handful of touchdowns on the ground this year I like draft and James Cook and for those who are on the fence about it this is how I would say approach that situation if you're early you get a guy like a Bree Hall bejan Robinson hopefully you draft in a spot where you get mcaffrey if you get even you know Jonathan Taylor jir Gibbs you get one of those guys right um then I had then you get you stack yourself with some receivers like like the next couple rounds having James Cook as your rb2 in that fashion isn't a bad idea because think of it you've already like he can't do much worse in the touchdown department but you're still getting inside of a top 20 fantasy running back and if you're getting that type of production from your second running back when you got a elite guy top five running back as the other running back then you're in a pretty good spot because now you got two solid receivers you got a top tier running back and now you got James Cook and like y'all was talking about his receiving what he's going to bring in the receiving game that's what's going to get you there so you could go into your weeks like thinking ah James Cook he ain't getting a touchdown but he gonna get these receptions he's gonna run it you know from 20 to 20 let Josh Allen do his thing and you'll be all right I will say that uh looking at the adps it looks like it comes down to a choice between Rashad white and uh James Cook and uh I ien cook pretty easily there I think he's just he's the better running back you know he makes defitely he can do a lot with a little in this offense yeah and an offense that even with digs out the door they have Josh Allen a quarterback it's going to be an offense that is going to be productive the RO World Fantasy Football Draft guide is now available exclusively through a new partnership with Matthew Barry's Fantasy Life get a Fantasy Life Plus subscription and receive the rot World draft guide plus fantasy DFS edting tools to help you dominate your draft and the season use promo code roto world 10 for 10% off go to nbcsports.com fantasylife to learn more guys we'll work on getting some promo codes a Denny 7 a Lawrence a Lawrence four Jay and I get like one or two% off so it's it's I need the discount come on yeah it's a good deal all right let's keep the running back story lines going with a couple tiers down right it's easy to More RB storylines: James Conner still undervalued, what to make of the Broncos and Chargers backfields talk about the guys that no matter what they're going to go in the first five rounds but what wins you leagues of course is the guys outside of that and I mean Lawrence I'm going to toss you one that it kind of leaves our show confused every year it feels like at this point why does nobody want to draft James Conor especially in an offense that is finally ascending with Kyler Murray and Marvin Harrison Jr uh gon expected obviously be on the field this year I very much I very much look forward to this Cardinals offense this year with Kyler Murray and Marvin here up and who's the running back James Conor and like you said we do it every year um and this is this is why I think I think people go into fantasy drafts and are and we all do it we're like waiting for the time that James Conor really gonna fall off and then that just doesn't happen in fact he doesn't even need a heavy he doesn't need a heavy workload in the reception Department to make that happen he's proven he could do that he's proven he could be a top 15 running back last year running back 13 on a points per game basis now this year you draft Trey Benson a good running back out of Florida state in the early rounds during the NFL draft time we're talking we're talking about oh Trey Benson he's here to but now the Cardinal staff they like no no no no no it's still the James Conor show so now I wonder now when we all get in on James Conor will the quote unquote fallof uh actually happen and I don't think it will finish the top 15 running back in points per game all three seasons he's been with Arizona I think he's not the most sexiest running back name he's not the flashiest runner um he just kind of gets it done he get he gets it in the Box all the time so I think like it's just a under the radar type of dude and then you look up he's running back two on the week sometimes so I think that's just why we treat this man this way and James Conor we Sorry doc uh Johnny venerable who's a is a longtime uh Cardinals beat writer uh talked to us last month about the fact that Trey Benson is not exactly blowing the doors off in uh training camp and uh and then also in the spring practices for Arizona and that I know this sounds this is a BL Blast from the Past you're not hearing it anywhere else Michael Carter might be the rb2 for the Cardinals going into the season now whether it stays like that who knows if there's a James Conor injury uh venerable seem to suggest that Carter would be the good good last name by the way would would be the the the second running back and that Trey Benson would be mixed in perhaps so we have to keep that in mind Benson um is you know as a late round stash I think at best but getting back to James Connor you are talking about last year the Cardinals were the second run heaviest team in the NFL only behind Arthur Smith's Falcons and they were one of the run run heaviest in the Red Zone uh when James Conor came back from injury in week 10 so from week 10 till the end of the season week 18 Conor had 140 rushing attempts over that stretch that was the sixth most in the league over that stretch uh he had the fourth most rushing yards over that span only CMC by the way had more rushes of 10 or more yards so he was good like like that's a long way long kind of number Centric way of saying James Connor was really good at the end of last year I think that it'll be he'll have a valuable role in this offense and of course you know it comes down to touchdowns in fantasy and we like our touchdowns and James Conor can give our give us our touchdowns so I I'm in on him at the rb19 rb20 range um I'm not targeting him in every draft but I'm fine with with that sort of valuation guys nobody is a fantasy villain quite like Arthur Smith who's now calling the shots with the Steelers so listen this is a backfield we saw last year pretty evenly split in terms of just total touches with nii Harris and jayen Warren of course Naji Harris got 255 carries to Warren's 149 but Warren caught 61 passes while Naji only caught 29 so the workload here Denny as we've seen in the past can be split up pretty well as we've seen from Arthur Smith he loves using multiple running backs yeah if you have to pick a guy in this backfield which I know if just field starts probably makes you even more hesitant to do so who is the guy for you yeah so I mean right now ADP wise you have uh Naj Harris going as um rb25 and Warren going as rb28 uh according to fantasy pros um because those adps are so close I will just go with Warren I'll just go with the more efficient more explosive back you know look Arthur Smith clearly likes big bodied running backs he liked Derrick Henry he liked Tyler aler you know to much T grin in Atlanta uh Naj Harris fits that mold and I'm guessing that he's going to be you know something of the lead back you know I think it'll be a 1A 1B situation but I think jayen Warren can still can still get there can still be valuable you're right though Connor in saying that Justin Fields as the starter which it kind of looks like it's trending toward you know being that way for week one makes me nervous about Fields taking the those valuable goal line carries or inside the 10 carries or just stripping them of their of dump of dump offs of you know that that Russell Wilson would have given these running backs so I I'm a little I'm a little hesitant to go all in on either of these guys but I would lean Warren yeah I like if Russell Wilson is not the starter those dump offs that's gonna be that drop off is going to be drastic right um these dudes are so close last year uh niji Harris last year running back 30 in points per game Jaylen Warren running back 29 I would lean towards nah Harris last season Jaylen Ward did had games where statistically he disappeared and I want to go with the guy who I know is gonna get double digit carries every single game no matter what and even from what Denny said he talked about the type of running back that uh Arthur Smith likes that's going to be Naji Harris he had Tyler algir running for a thousand yards as a rookie nji Harris coming off a thousand yard season The Quiet One allbe it but he did it nonetheless and he got it there with eight touchdowns if you could guarantee me another thousand yards and eight touchdowns sprinkling in those little meager catches that he gets sometime then I probably would go with uh Naj Harris all right guys another running back you know as we go further down these tiers but somebody slightly in front of the Steelers guys DeAndre Swift coming off a career high uh season for touches 268 touches almost 17 per game in 2023 because of that signs the three-year deal with Chicago 24 million in total 15.3 million guaranteed Lawrence what version of DeAndre Swift are we going to get this year it felt like the usage for him in Philadelphia was much different than we were accustomed to seeing compared to after he was drafted early and thrown in Detroit's backfield yeah much more of a runner than a receiver out of the back field with Philly as opposed to the Detroit Lions where he was much of a uh receiving back I think here in Chicago he could be a little bit of both um I try to pay attention to the little things with like how quickly the Bears jumped out there and signed him and gave him 15 million guarantee we talked about Josh Jacobs earlier he got 12 and a half milon guarantee so and he and Josh Jacobs to this point has had a I we would say he's had a much more successful career than Swift to this point he's been a leading uh rusher in the league not so much for DeAndre Swift finally got to put together you know some games last year for Philly I think he could do a little bit of both at least that's what you hope I like to see we saw Roshan Johnson and khil Herbert both playing in the Hall of Fame game like getting a lot of touches like they was really running them boys so to see DeAndre Swift like just chilling on the sideline that kind of indicates that's just the look of 15 touches the money say it 15 million guarantees so he'll definitely coin seede some touches to these guys um but lead lead back is definitely what they brought in DeAndre Swift for so I'm thinking he going to do a little bit of both he might not catch the 70 I'm sorry the 70 passes in the season that he did in Detroit but if he could hover around 50 60 then he he might even uh outplay uh his ADP I I will say that every it makes me nervous that every coaching staff that has encountered DeAndre Swift has immediately said thanks but no thanks you can you can move on um but I think that he's actually a really good pass catching back you know yards per route run is a metric we use to measure you know the efficiency of um a pass catcher uh you know you know per per each route that they run and especially with running backs uh DeAndre Swift is was top 10 in three of his four years in yards per route run among running backs I think that he can get back to that in Chicago you know you you may say well Denny what happened in Philadelphia and I would say that the Jaylen Herz Eagles offense is not a good one for running backs it's actually quite bad and especially for pass catching running backs because there are no targets to running backs in that offense for For Better or Worse it's just the way it is so I think that that was I think Philadelphia was kind of a low-key horrible environment for Swift and I think that Caleb Williams would be more likely to dump it off to look for him in the P game and that Swift could be very interesting especially in in PPR formats all right guys let's move to one of the most confusing back fields of course led by Shawn Payton in Denver I mean the Broncos backfield right now here Denny it's got Javonte Williams a guy that it felt like once upon a time at this point in his career we'd be talking about him as a first round pick in fantasy and injuries have kind of put that aside jalo mlin an undrafted guy that came out of nowhere last summer into a very capable pass catcher they draft audri ese who is a really good tackle breaking power runner at of Notre Dame samji perine is still hanging around this roster what do we do with this one I I mean do we just say I want nothing to do with it or is there is there value to be found because of how disgusting this is and nobody wants to touch this backfield Conor give me give me a disgusting Back Field all day I love I love just a clean up the scraps a Back Field that you just can't figure out at all I I'll I'll try give me give me a give me a shot and and I'll try you know the uncertainty here about who is going to do what who's going to be the lead back who's going to do early Downs goal line work pass pass route running all that stuff that has suppressed everybody's ADP including gavon Williams who I think is the the the you know the lead to be the lead back the the the favorite to be the lead back I I'll tell you something Shawn pton said recently about devvon Williams he called him called him a completely different player than he was last summer uh this is from pton quote this time last year in fairness to him he was recovering still from his ACL tear uh he was inside of eight months removed from that tear and then the end of the quote is he's fully healthy now you could see it in the way he plays you know sometimes I think we kind of get as fantasy managers we kind of get spoiled by players who are able to recover from horrible injuries very quickly and so we just assume hey you know he he tour his ACL he'll be fine this this this year and he wasn't he was not the same player jamonte Williams was not the same as he was the year before and the year before that when he was actually really effici really good I think he can get back to that form and the best thing is for Fantasy you can draft him real late you know and and I think this this Denver team is going to be not not not a great offense but you know a middle- of the road offense where a guy like javante can can be um at the center of that and see a lot of high value touches which is what we're looking for with running backs it's a back up your point Denny I mean it was an ACL tear it was an LCL tear and a PCL tear like this this entire knee the Reconstruction of the knee it's you know going to be longer than just a typical ACL tear Lawrence is there somebody else in that back field that you're keeping an eye on or are you on the javante train too well I like Jalil mlin um he came in he was explosive uh good pass catcher out of the back field but I I would say guys make no mistake when week one gets here javante Williams will be lining up first in that back field he'll be lining up there often um and I have no problem have it's definitely not a guy that I've been targeting in any drafts that I've been doing um but having him on the roster as your let's say third running back uh it wouldn't be a bad idea and like Denny said Sean pton we hear coaches talk a lot of things all the time but he's he's he's been talking him up and it is it is logical you know like what you guys said about the injury like it wasn't just a normal ACL ACL tear uh so you know get a guy another season to get back to it um but the the the Broncos backfield is messy I think the audri estimate thing I think that got pumped up a lot on the internet um so that's like that's part of it too you know what I mean but javante would like they were talking like Audrey ese about to be weak one starter 20 carries a game like straight off the bat no they're going to give javante Williams another chance to show what he could do so that that will be the first obviously the first Broncos running back you want I would say mlin is for the the Deep value I that's how I would approach it yeah and you know if you if you start your draft with a lot of receivers and tight ends and quarterbacks and sort of fade the running back position I think javante Williams is a must get he's going in the range of like Ezekiel Elliot you know come on have some respect for jante we'll stay in the division here guys with the Chargers backfield now the good news is with this team Jim Harbaugh and Greg Roman that's a combination a coaching combo Lawrence that wants to run the hell out of the football the bad news is it's not cut and dried who the guy that has the most value is going to be obviously Gus Edwards has been a touchdown machine in the past JK Dobbins is trying to get healthy and get his career back on track they drafted a bit of a sleeper in kamman videll is there a running back that you see that simply carries the most value obviously for a while Gus Edwards has been the guy that was viewed in that way probably because of the presumed touchdown Equity at hand for him yeah and um their offensive coordinator Greg Roman knows all about that he's put he's put uh Gus Edwards in the position that he is in now so I would say he has the upper hand they have been talking about they have been talking about uh JK Dobbins however a little more in the you know last few weeks or maybe the last month or so I think when it starts out it'll be a little committee between the both of those guys uh health of JK Do's uh pending although they said he coming along nicely there and speaking of that back to what you said about Williams like JK Dobbins has to you know he's got to be you know a certain time removed from his own injuries we saw him running for the Ravens two years ago we saw him break that long run remember the 44 yard run he still looked like he was limping though so you just got to give the guys a couple times so for all of those reasons and the fact that Gus Edwards had 13 rushing touchdowns last season I would say you know he's the best not just the guy you want to have but probably the best value right now but it'll be it'll be a committee we talking about uh we talking about Jim Harbaugh we saw what he did just last year at Michigan with Blake km and Donovan Edwards so it could be that type of uh you know they could divy it up that way yeah just you know for the folks who are not uh grinding blurs on roto world I just want to share that uh who amongst us yeah right uh it's fun uh Gus Edwards and JK Dobbins have been splitting first team reps uh with the um in in training camp I think that that's that's noteworthy I think that it suggests something of a split backfield uh I guess you know I was out on Dobbins because of the injuries I mean the the run that Lawrence just referenced where Dobbins broke into the open field and ran 40 plus yards one of the most painful long runs you've ever seen in your life I mean he looked like he dragging his leg behind him um and you know so I'm I'm still a little skeptical that he can come all the way back from all the setbacks he's had Gus Edwards has been banged up he missed a lot of spring practice and summer training camp um you know the kamani vid doll thing it was interesting while it lasted he was a good uh he was a good Prospect or at least an interesting Prospect He's listed as rb6 on the Chargers initial depth chart so it has never been more over for Kanani Vidal unfortunately for my some of my best ball teams um if I had to draft a Chargers running back I guess I would draft dobins and just let Let It Ride man you made that sound painful dog yeah yeah yeah like JK I don't want oh that was perfect but you're right you're right look at this Chargers offense is going to be super run heavy and and we just have to come come to terms with that and I will say the Herbert injury probably doesn't make that any uh any easier to be to be sort of a you don't think they gonna throw it 30 times a game well I think they got to I mean like like Justin Herbert has a career average of 39 pass attempts per game okay I can't see it going under 30 it would be a little surprising but I mean 30 is not a lot in the modern NFL you know it's fun game to play find a way to divvy up 30 targets amongst DJ CH Josh Palmer lad makoni Quinton Johnson lad Maki 28 yeah I was gonna say lad Maki is the double digit guy for sure Target per game oh incredible fantasy football just got better this season $1 million better Creator joined a private Yahoo fantasy league and enter the $1 million NBC sweep Stakes plus earn extra entries to win when players on your roster score a touchdown during an opening weekend game that's on NBC or peacock download the redesigned Yahoo fantasy app or go to nbcsports.com fantasy million to learn more all right fellas let's close this out with the roto world player news and we will kick that off before we get into the preseason games with the injury updates kind of playing the tiny violin on this one it's it is really a bummer Josh DS out for four to six weeks with a high ankle spring here Lawrence in an offense that Josh DS is a massive part in the slot in this offense whether it was Rotoworld Player News: Josh Downs out 4-6 Weeks, Rondale Moore out for the season Anthony Richardson out there obviously Gardner muu now it's not like his season's over but this is these ankle Springs can linger as well yeah and it's really tough man because as we all know Anthony Richardson and Josh Josh DS had a nice little chemistry going last year matter of fact he caught or he he was targeted 18 he got 18% % of Anthony Richardson's targets last year they really start develop some and They Carried that over into this training camp like they everyone was talking about how good of a camp Josh D so it just gets slowed up a bit so while he's not out for the season that kind of takes away from you know his development Anthony Richardson's development and their chemistry together so that'll be tough uh I guess we'll see uh who who replace him Shane St said that the Colt starters will play a couple of series here so um the guy directly behind Josh DS not saying he's going to be fantasy relevant but another slot receiver Anthony good out of Oregon State uh you know small fast guy who could run make a big play here there so that that'll be the guy I would look for uh in this situation Denny is there somebody that gets a boost is it an ad I Mitchell or is it just kind of the main stay is it just hey Crank It Up for Michael Pitman so yeah I I just I think this just means more targets for Michael Pitman you know in in offenses with mobile quarterbacks who who run off and which you know that's that's what we have with Richardson uh the wide receiver one gets a lot a lot of looks a ton of looks the wide receiver two not not so much okay there's not a great history there um so I I I think that if you've drafted Pitman already if you're going to I think that you're going to see an influx of targets that maybe wouldn't have been there uh with Downs in the lineup now I mean like I'm talking like DS is out for the year he's not but the fact that the team immediately said it was a high ankle sprain I think that's that's telling because teams don't like to admit that right they they immediately come out and they say oh it's just a very normal ankle spring it's very low dealing with an ankle always it's it's a very low ankle spring this is what they say every time and but they didn't with him so I'm thinking that it could linger for a while another injury a little more serious with this one unfortunately Rond Del Moore out for the season with a knee injury so the Falcons wide receiver room takes a hit right there Denny Ray Ray McLoud bumped up into the slot after Rond Del Moore is out is this more Darnell Mooney I mean or is this the same Playbook we just ran with Michael Pitman where it's like hey look at Drake London maybe look at Kyle pittz those guys just get more on their plate now you know when they asked me to come on the show today I said under only one condition I get to talk about Ray Ray McLoud and and so thank thank you we granted that access for letting me do that uh yeah so the here's the thing with McLoud who's who's a journeyman's played for the ners um has had some fantasy relevance over the years especially when like receivers around him go down to injury um McLoud was already running with the first team offense in Atlanta and Rond Del Mo was running with the second and third team uh so he was already kind of locked in I think that Raymond McLoud could be like a Mainstay uh on the field with the Falcons offense that is sure to run a lot of three receiver sets does that mean I'm like super excited to draft M cloud of course not but I think in in deeper leagues where you you got to fill a bunch of flex spots or something like one of those leagues that just stresses you out to make a a starting lineup every week I think you could do way worse than McLoud I when you said you were gonna talk about Ray Ray McLoud I didn't know you was serious I was dead serious but uh you know all I got to say all I got to say about that is uh get well soon uh Rond Del Moore and you know from a fantasy standpoint this doesn't affect the you know what the Falcons offense was going to do it's gonna be Dr London it's gonna be Kyle pittz and then Darnell money all right guys let's get into some preseason action here real quickly to close it out and we have to talk about the Giants backfield which has a lot of eyes on it now for various reasons obviously during the preseason you know you're going to see more opportunity for the guys behind Devin single ter while Eric gray had the big night two touchdowns 98 total yards he had the 48 yard touchdown run Lawrence Tyrone Tracy started ahead of gray and in limited action Tracy looked really good as well yeah I think what I what I got mostly from this is that they all those guys Tyrone Tracy Eric gray they basically competing to see which guys are going to get those few touches away from uh Devin single ter uh that's why I think these got both ran well to be honest I know Eric gray had the long run but Tyrone Tracy has some nice tough runs in his own right but that's pretty much what I got from this and pretty much that whole game is that these guys are competing to see some real field time in the regular season Brian D said something that stuck with me a couple weeks ago which was that Devin single ter quote knows the system and a coach loves a running back that knows the system and that's what we have with single ter who's he's boring okay I'm actually for R world I'm writing a piece on boring running backs and he's going to be the cover guy uh his boring running back I think that he's clearly the lead back and I don't think these guys are going to threaten his his role both as an early down guy and as a pass catcher out of the back field um now you know an injury to single Terry and these guys become interesting gray especially but uh I I like single Terry a lot of course I do I do enjoy some late round running backs NOS the system is like the new version of when you need five years of experience for an entry-level job it's like how do I get five years of experience if I've never had the entry-level job you got to know the system how do I know the system if I can't play over other guys that know the system well and single ter played for Deo in in Buffalo if if folks forget and so you know you know he's a system knower and I I I do value that no so bottom line know the system know the system guys I'll close out with a fun one here uh Lawrence and then to Denny where's the Panic alarm on the CD lamb Cowboy situation right now at a 10 give me the Panic scale I was just talking to a guy I'm like they got they're going to sign CD like it should be no Panic but a but a dude like Jerry will make you think that it is some panic in that and I just don't even be thinking Jerry knowing what he be talking about sometime man he just out here go he gonna mess around and write this dude a check for 41 million a year and and be because you know he look he he like to overpay his guys he did it with Zeke a couple years ago I think he just he don't know what he talking about right now what what a bizarre interview he had about CD he said he said look I went to high school I went to college and we're GNA we're going to sign CD when we get the chance and I'm like I'm sorry thank you for confirming Jerry that you went to high school and college uh my you know uh I'd put it at like a six right now as far as Panic goes that's that's sweating I mean I'm I'm sweating you know a little back sweat uh for uh for CD lamb situation uh I I'm I'm thinking that it's going to linger into August it's it's a really it's not a good way to go into the season but of course if I had the chance to get CD l fantasy drafts I'm doing that all right guys that's it for us a reminder we are back next week all five days Monday to Friday we're back in the studio on Wednesday Matthew and Jay will be back Monday to break down everything from the first week of the preseason a huge thank you to the guys alongside me and Denny Carter and Lawrence Jackson I'm Conor Rogers we'll catch you on Monday hey it's Matthew Barry from nbcsports.com and rotoworld.com and I want to thank you so much for watching whatever it is you just watch or if nothing else being too lazy to click out of the autoplay after this video started after whatever it is you actually wanted to watch finished but now that you're here I'd like to take a moment here to ask you respectfully respectfully now okay I'm asking you respectfully to subscribe to the NFL on NBC YouTube 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