RB Primer: CMC’s Competition for RB1 + Draft Strategy | Fantasy Football Happy Hour (FULL SHOW)

let's look at wide receivers 31 through 40 Amari Cooper now I tell you I thought this shirt at the time when I put it on this morning very early this morning I thought it was going to look good but I'm on TV now and I don't think it does and it's my fault I just want to be clear about this this is not Stephanie's fault this by you in between segments I know he was Kev there's no helping me applaud the effort but not i' say you're third out of the three of us today for sure I agree with that today I would agree with that right I think by the way I think I'm a distant honest with you all right let's go back to whatever we were talking about fantasy football happy hour with Matthew Barry served by Applebees welcome to the fantasy football happy hour I'm Jay Croucher here with Matthew Barry in a new shirt get your thoughts on that in second Matthew and Lawrence Bobby Valentine Jackson got the glasses today the mustache who's Bobby Valentine the manager of the M you get my reference yes I do I heard of Bobby Valentino R&B singer that's about it for me new look this season not oh the only thing that's different is my my mustache I see all these NFL players you know in the preseason with they little mustache well I'm just growing mine out to show y'all who mustache is boss is is is that should I take that as a sign of aggression towards me as you just showing me that you can grow hair when you want to because ially challenged well see if I was going to do that Matthew I would go from the top with it I still got it going at the top I ain't going to do you like that that's why I wear the hat so we just go we just go with the facial here I appreciate that I appreciate that all right clothes look better today Matthew thank you very much well I I let Stephanie take over again you know I mean like like we drove for an exit and then I was just like you know what I'm going to pull over to the side of the road Stephanie you take the wheel and so yeah we're back so uh anyway thank you again to uh to uh Stephanie you were uh you were on vacation with your family yeah yeah out there appreciate it man you know I was out there in Orlando Disney hustling you know going to Disney for 5 days is like harder than an actual job like you get up the next day a little bit sore here and there from all the walking all that stuff but hey good time is for the kids we love it probably probably should have gone to Universal Studios but I did I went there you know I'm using that free NBC pass for that yeah good that's good I went to the NBC Sports uh beer Grill got me a little discount I'm taking advantage of down all right there you go I haven't conquered I haven't conquered Disney yet with my three daughters but it's coming but well where you went somewhere you went to a amusement park let pass play play in Ryan New York which is uh yeah on a hot day with kids 6 three and two was was a long day but that's okay I have no doubt haven't conquered Disney yet we're going to try conquer running backs today continuing our positional preview be sure to check out wide receivers from yesterday's show tight ends from the day before but today it is all about running backs and that is why Denny Carter the running back hero himself yes he drinks free today because it was his birthday yesterday which we forgot about yesterday so and by we I want to be clear about this Denny I want to be clear about this by we we really mean backup producer Pete backup producer Pete who honestly he produced that yesterday and he's just like Denny manyy like just just you understand that when when Pete when backup producer Pete is putting together of the show Denny Carter you are nowhere near his thoughts at any point hey maybe we should had to get lawrenson today hey I want to feature Conor hey you know what's I wonder what rat's doing but just he never ever considers you Denny just so you know hey we got to make sure Lawrence is around like it just just so you understand but we all the collective three here along with Conor Rogers we were like what why didn't we wish Denny a happy birthday so again our our friend and colleague Denny Carter Den Denny Carter UH 60 years old 61 61 but the hair of a 16y old boy the hair of a I'm insanely jealous of it in the end all right let's get into running back uh Matthew let's talk about strategy first just broadly how do you feel about uh zero RB hero anchor RB what are you broadly what you think about running backs this year well let's let's just sort of Define that just in case people these get these terms get banded about a lot online on Twitter and that kind of stuff and some people may be like oh sure I know what that means or maybe I don't but just so you understand if we're talking about it this is how we're defining it as well very clearly very clearly zero R RB is not that you don't draft any running backs what it means is that you don't draft any running backs in the first five to seven rounds okay like but the important thing is that if you go with this approach obviously you have to crush a wide receiver but you're also going to get an elite quarterback an elite tight end basically saying I'm going to get I'm going to get Elite at every position and then rounds you know rounds 8 n 10 that kind of thing I'm going to Target cheap volume at running back the nji harrises of the world the you know the the Devin single Tes Brian Robinson those type of players along with high Insurance backs and you hope that some of them pop that you find a that you find a Kiren Williams that kind of stuff and you hope that maybe like whatever that suddenly tank bsby or Jordan Mason or somebody like that pops uh at some point during the year right so that's the idea behind zero RB another uh phrase that gets thrown out a lot is hero RB or anchor RB that's exactly what it says like basically you're drafting one high-end running back early and then you're ignoring the position for four or five rounds so this year that would be like you draft mcaffrey and then it's wide receiver so Bree Hall bejon those kind of things uh for me I wouldn't want to do the the I think the lowest tier I would want like I think I think you could do Anor uh RB and we'll get we'll get into this but I think you can do anchor RB with with you know with Derrick Henry with saquan with JT with Pacho um I'd be a little nervous to do it with with Williams and Anan based on the uh based on injury history there but that's the idea there is that you get an elite running back and then you ignore the position for the next like four to six rounds and again then you're for your rb2 you're looking sort of in that that same range of those cheap volume guys that we talked about and then the last strategy here very quickly is obviously is heavy RB or bully RB sometimes people call it and that's where you're going running back running back sometimes running back running back running back there and once you do that so you're you're you know maybe if you're at the end of the first round and I've seen you know beon drop sometimes like you go beon and then you go Barkley in the second round right right and at the end of the third you know I don't know maybe maybe like there's a yeah that's probably too late for etn but you know is there like a you know is there somebody like uh maybe like a swift run yeah I feel like that's too early for for for Swift as well but whatever there you know there's like an hn or somebody like H that would probably be too late for hn but whatever Kenneth Walker that'd be a good example right you know kenth Walker CA somebody like towards the end of the third round whatever you go running back running back running back is the point and um uh and then you basically ignore the position until like the kind of late rounds and you're taking some flyers but basically you're locking up your running back position at the at the very early Point what I would say here just in general and then we're going to get into specific positions but what I would say here in general is that I wouldn't want to go into a draft saying well I'm definitely doing zero RB I'm definitely doing hero RB or I'm going RB RB like again wait to see what your draft pick is wait to see how the draft comes to you i' I've seen some drafts like on ESPN where the first three picks are mcaffrey Breece and beon right or three of the first five or the very running back heavy on ESPN then I've seen other leagues especially like on Yahoo where bejon or Bree will last till the end of the first round where it's more wide receiver heavy so again you just every league is different um so I kind of want to go in the league let the draft come to me and sort of figure it out but what I will say here is that if you decide to I'm going zero RB and that's just like great wide receiver value Great Wide Receiver value Great Wide Receiver value and then you you suddenly find yourself in round six you know and you're like wow I hate all the running backs in this round and there's still some really good values at wide receiver too bad you sort of you're kind of pot committed at that point the only thing you can do the only at that point you're just you're you're sort of pot committed to this strategy and you can't suddenly draft like you know and wait you know wait till long the the only thing you can do there Lawrence is if you know your league if you're like in a league with people that you're friends with or that you have relationship with and you're like okay you know what I know I'm going to be able to trade so if you're just like oh the value is still I've gone zero RB but the value is still better at wide receiver or tight end I'm just going to load up on that because then what I can do is I can take my my number two wide receiver or number three wide receiver trade it for a stud running back as opposed to reaching it because I now have all this incredible depth at wide receiver because the value kept being there but that only works again if you know you're going to be able to trade in your league if you're in like a high stakes League or a league where you don't have great relationships or know the people then you got to you got to sort of stick with uh whatever uh strategy you uh committed to yep indeed all right let's get into the tier start off with tier one Headlines by Christian mcaffrey uh no surprise there just three guys in this tier m Bree Hall is your rb2 Matthew and then bejan Robinson is rb3 let's start off with Christian mcaffrey and first of all we haven't seen a lot of Christian mcaffry in the preseason but Kyle Shanahan does not seem too concern yeah that's what's good when you're that obsessive about everything I mean when you're hurt you're hurt you can't go um but when you take every rep every walkr everything you do you're just so deliberate in everything when he's probably walking down the aisle to get married he's probably thinking about his feet and how to do routes no no offense to Olivia but um it's he's obsessed with it and so when you do get in these situations where you do get hurt and you can't go do all that stuff at least he's put the work in before tough break for Olivia but good news for ners fans that Christian mcaffry is thinking about his routes as he's walking down the aisle do you think the Christi mcaffry Lawrence is just the clear uh 101 uh clear cut as in like this is the only person you should draft in a fantasy league uh I wouldn't say that he's the consensus number one I've had number one and I've taken him number one but I've also had a second pick and taken uh Bree HW so if you're in a full PPR League I wouldn't be mad at you if you took CD lamb especially now that he got his contract I would be mad if you took Tyreek Hill cuz listen both of these guys were within one point of Christian mcaf on a points per game basis last year uh for Fantasy so if it's those guys and maybe breea then we have a conversation but if you're if you're going into half PPR if you still play standard yeah I'm taking Christian mcaffrey uh number one in that situation Matthew do you think there's a case to take Bree Hall over mcaffrey uh with the first pick I think there's a case uh it's not one that I would make but you could always make a case which is just that right you know m has been injured throughout this preseason he has PRI prior to this you know like there were two years where he basically was unusable in fantasy now he's been great the last two years he's been great ever since he came to San Francisco but there were two years where again similar situation he was the number one player draft in fantasy or very high draft pick in fantasy and he missed much of the year so Bree Hall uh you know younger younger in in theory not as much of an injury risk although it's it's crazy to think about that because obviously you know two years ago he had he had he had the he had the big injury as well but so I think there's a you can make a case for Bree Hall but I to me the better case is that if you're not going mcaffrey at 101 then you're you're going CD lamb or Justin Jefferson or Tyreek Hill like you're going just a different position but it it feels like feels like if you're going chrish mcaffrey I will say this though I just interest for whatever it's worth I'm in a guillotine league and 18 this is an 18 person Guillotine League not ours a different one um 18 person Guillotine league and the team at number one picked Bree Hall over chrish mcaffrey so I could sort of see that just because it's a guillotine league and maybe you feel like and again it's going to be 36 picks before so maybe feel like there's maybe a slightly higher floor or safety to breall because of this we've seen mcaffrey miss the entire preseason but I don't know I every time I've had the 101 I've been taking Chris mcaffrey yeah I think the concerns about mcaffrey would be last year his stats were a little bit dependent on these long explosive runs which are not as um projectable going forward also he was healthy for the full season until basically the final week which he missed the ners were awesome last year and were constantly in positive game script just in general you know project them to on average be the number one seed again so it's a little bit with McCaffrey and the injuries and well by the way not just the injuries but this is I think an under reported story like so much has been made about CI lamb Brandon auk Jamar Chase's hold out Trent William is holding out here and they are a different team with Trent Williams on the offensive line you know and taken from somebody that you know went through like Trent Williams is one of those guys like take it from a commanders fan like Trent Trent ain't bluffing you I mean you know I mean like that's a guy who wants his money Trent wants his money and by the way if you look at the numbers of Brock pie I know this is a running back show but if you look at Brock P's numbers with and without Trent Williams they are Stark there's a very big difference so hopefully that gets figured out and Trent gets back in the camp but I that is something that I would say now mcaffry is such a asset in the passing game and Shanahan is such a a creative play caller that I think even if Trent Williams isn't there they will scheme different ways to get him the ball but I'm just saying like again if you want to make the Bree Hall case that's another thing that you could add to that case is that like again they're missing their you know one of the best laugh T left tackles in football history yep uh Lawrence let's jump to brce Hall who I mean last time we saw him he was getting like 37 carries against the Patriots week 18 seems like he is primed for Workhorse usage behind an improved offensive line in New York and also what should just be an exponentially improved offense with Aaron Rogers yeah that's why it makes what he did last year all the more impressive because he was doing it with that version of the Jets offensive line and you spoke on week 18 during the fantasy playoffs from weeks 14 to the end of the season he was the best running back in fantasy at 25 Point uh fantasy points per game in in that span so the whole season he's rb2 right in points per game again with that version of the jetso line how high would I take him I just said it earlier I've taken him with the second spot because I know if I like I'm not I don't have a chance to get him back if you're at the number two three four spot and you want that top tier level running back you have to get him at that point or you run the risk of letting someone else get him at nine or 10 that team's going to be good if your team getting Bree Hall at the ninth or 10th pick in your fantasy draft that's going to be a pretty solid team so I would take him as high as two and that's exactly what I've done yeah I I don't think there's much more I can add to how good Bree Hall is better offensive line better offense longer sustained drives a and um oh by the way uh you know Rogers wanted to protect Rogers they're going to want to be more balanced on offense as well I think the better the better question is is what about Bree Hall versus Bean Robinson I've seen that bait right and they're it's razor thin they're both awesome they're both going to have monster years I guess to me the argument for Bree Hall over Bean Robin this is why I did this like at this level you have to sort of you know you have to nitpick a little bit and I guess I feel better about the Back Field that Bree Hall's in where I'm not worried about you know brillan Allen's going to get a little bit of work but whatever versus Tyler aler who we continue to see like Tyler's good he's not bejon Robinson but Tyler aler is good and the reports out of Camp is that they do want to use Tyler alga or some bejan Robinson is still gonna get a ton of work he's still obviously going to be active in the passing game but when you think about um when you think about the the Falcons oh you know they they've got bejan Robinson and Tyler I guess he just I just I feel better about the talent of Tyler aler uh and the competition better meaning worse like I think tler Geo is a higher level of competition for beon than Allen is for Bree hall or Jordan Mason is for Chris mcaffrey yeah it's an interesting one because I mean there's so much going on here first HG was awesome his rookie season wasn't as good last year though he was sub 4.0 yards per carry last year bejan Robinson who quietly had like almost 1500 scrimmage yards eight touchdowns he was fine overall he just didn't live up to expectations but last year bejan when you're factoring cell Patterson's carries as well he got less than 50% of the Falcons running back carries which is just I think insane and I think there Arthur Smith again can we just go back in time and fire him again he might a new chance to get fired based on how the Steelers have looked in preseason but I think the thing with Bean is that there are just so many kind of institutional pressures that are going to push him towards more Workhorse status where like the Rahim is coming you think he's not going to use beon Robinson you really think he's not going to use he already said he's like our plan is to get our best player of the ball um in fact speaking of Arthur Smith is smart the Jo what I call the Josie offense that that is smart Matthew uh and speaking of Arthur Smith bejan's first nine games last season 16 touches a game his last eight went up to 19 and a half touches per game unfortunately for Arthur Smith he waited too late to do that so oh now Raheem mois comes in he's like you know what I'm not going to play around like that I'm going to get this young man the ball who's doing behind the back catches and stuff like that I'm going to get him the ball so yes Tyler aler will will have a rooll and should quite frankly have a r as the change of pace running back but if you're get if you're going to get BJ Robinson 19 touches per game that is enough for him to pay off where he's getting drafted Oh we love beon this year again he's gonna have a monster year the question is just Bree versus Bean where do you have him ranked I have bejan as rb3 okay yeah same thing is it would Bree is definitely the number like I feel like he closer to CMC to me than bejan would be to breach because of the point you made about the competition that they'll have in their respective bfield they're they're both all three guys are tier one running backs all three guys are first rounders this year it's just to me that's the debate every I think most people agree chrish mcaffrey won it's Bree versus Bean for rb2 and we're both Bree slightly over Bean because again slightly less competition for Bree in the um uh in the back field there yep all right let's jump into tier two headline by saquon Barkley now a Philadelphia Eagle he's comes in at six on your list Matthew we'll get to him just in front of him Jonathan Taylor Jia Gibbs Derrik Henry on the other side of Barkley and then Isaiah peo Kiren Williams Travis eten Jr coming up a massive workload in Jacksonville last year and then Devon aan who is maybe the highest variance running back on the board um but let's start off Matthew with saquan I think there is some uncertainty here and it mainly revolves around is he going to get goal line work for a team that obviously loves the tush push and also is he going to get receiving work which Philadelphia running backs historically have not had with Jaylen Herz and that's the concern right since Jaylen Herz became the starter the Eagles are 28th in the NFL in running back targets right think about DeAndre Swift Last year DeAndre Swift who comes there like that was his whole game prior to he went to Philadelphia was he was this great pass catching running back out of the back field he had a career low Target share last year now they ended up using him you know he got a he got a huge workload and the other argument is he's saquan Barkley he ain't DeAndre Swift right he you know he's not some of the other guys they've they've had there but uh but yes that is a concern Jaylen Herz throughout his career as a starter in Philadelphia has not shown a propensity to dump it off to the running back and so if saquon's not getting a not getting a big Target share like he'll get some because he's saquan and they're paying him a lot of money for a reason but just that's the concern is that does his does his passing game production go down a little bit and that there's concerns to me about his touchdown Equity again because even if Herz doesn't run it as much as he did previously last year and again uh you know and no Jason Kelce on the offensive line that's going to hurt a little bit but uh you know you don't it's just it's a slight concern all that said it's a it's a better offense and it's a better offensive line right he's going to have more opportunities while the receptions are concerned he'll have more opportunities to score uh the football look at this this number right here DeAndre Swift had 14 carries inside the five last season that was 11th in the league saquin only had six carries inside the five last season which was 33rd and that's you know just being on the Giants offense if you go to saquon's year before that when the giants made it to the playoffs right sequan had his best year since his rookie year he had 15 carries inside the five and scored seven touchdowns like that I expect that number to go up so while the receptions may go down a little bit he'll have more opportunities near the goal line yeah with saquon my concern with b and this is from Jacob Gibbs on Twitter in terms of the past three seasons just his tackle avoidance percentage he's been at 12.9% the NFL league average has been 18.44% saquon's in the same range as guys like Jamal Williams and Rashad white and AJ Dylan like I'm just worried that he is not the same guy physically that he was when he came out as a generational running back Prospect so so obviously the environment changes he's going to be more efficient just with the Eagles o line uh and just the offense in general but I think there was a little bit of concerns with his age injury history that he might not be the guy that everyone expects it's why he's in he's in tier two and I like you sort of look at the tier two and that's why I like I sort of like going with either a you know one of those first round running backs or waiting a little bit here uh a as well right so you think about think about uh Kieran Williams right so we like uh like Kieran Williams right but um uh there's concerns about injury right this is somebody who has missed five games each of his uh at least five games each of his years in the pros and now there's this weird stuff Lawrence like he's going to be returning punts yeah do you see that from and and that sent people online into a frenzy all of a sudden he's he goes from Kyon Williams to people to Darren spros like now that's what they see but your former colleague Mike Clay over there at ESPN tweeted something that actually made sense cuz a lot of people like people were like you know oh man I can't draft Kyon Williams now yes you can this is what Mike Clay said Kyon Williams handled 100% of the Rams punt returns last season weeks one through three in that span he was he played 80% 86% of the offensive snaps do we like that I think we do he saw 19 t targets and had 39 carries in that span then he took over only one of those games uh cam Acres had that the game where he went 22 carries 29 after that it was all Kyon Williams right so he's still returning punts this what a lot of people don't understand sh like fantasy aside punt returning you got to trust the guy you put back there sure do I expect KY Williams to return every punt this season absolutely not he may start out you know returning Punt and they like all right we found somebody you know you're back to Ken Williams also too he averaged 21.3 fantasy points per game last year no one else as a running back had more than 18 so just take that into consideration remember we're not drafting him like a top three to five running back like he was last season so we kind of already have the Blake km R baked into that so what 60 if he gets 65% of the snaps like we cool with that the positives the positives of the punt return thing is that obviously McVey is not worried about any health concerns that's one of the big knots on on kyen Williams and and maybe they think that you know they're going to get some quality snaps from Blake corm so okay if if if kyen Williams has to take a handful of snaps to return punts okay that's fine because we've got Korum to uh uh to you know handle that you know to take on a little larger workload here but that's why Kiren Williams despite last year despite the the the massive success the massive workload that's why Ken Williams is in tier two as opposed to tier one because just based on the production last year and the expected role this year he would still be tier one but that's that's why he's there um and then the you know the the next guy in in tier two I don't know if we're going to um uh to the let's jump to De let's jump to Deon aan who is I think Matthew the guy the skill position player with maybe the widest range of outcomes this season of anyone where if he if rahee Mo gets hurt and Deon Anan assumes closer to bcal responsibility he could be the number one running back in fantasy like that's a a viable outcome and he could also just be in a time share and not be particularly uh enjoyable to managing fantasy so where do you sit on Devon hm well you know look he I I I'm in on David Devon hen I I'm actually in on both Dolphins running backs at cost like to your right like what are we doing playing for a second you're right there's a wider range of outcomes with Devon Anan than there are with some of the other running backs but number number one running back in Fantasy is well within the range of outcomes for him as you as you pointed out he's also somebody that can individually win you a week we just we saw that last year multiple times and so getting rid of you know there are health concerns and if we knew for a fact if Mike McDaniel came out and said by the way I'm guaranteeing you guys 17 touches a game for Devon Anan like he's he's going as a top four running back right I mean he's got you know he might right I mean he's right up there so the problem is we just don't know is it going to be 10 touches the game 12 touches the game or could it be 17 to 19 we just don't know that this is somebody I will say hn is somebody who did get a decent workload at Texas A&M in the SEC and if you go back and watch the film like this is somebody that used to like they it wasn't just all sweeps like they would run them off tackle they would run him between the lines so like he's a tougher guy than you think and so uh I'm I'm in on hn in a big way I just think Elite Talent and uh we saw it on display in flashes last year going to take another step this year and and just real quick Tyreek Hill Jaylen Auto braxon baros and Malle Washington those are the four active receivers on the Dolphins right now the other guys are hurt right now but three and a half targets per season last year they've already experimented with putting Devon aan out wide so they will use him in that way as well yep all right let's jump into running backs tier three uh some of the big names on this list Joe Mixon running back 12 overall he's just in front of James Cook Josh Jacobs now Green Bay Packer Rashad white and Alvin Camaro I think it's poetic that they are side by side couple of PPR merchants and then Kenneth Walker then my man much forgotten James Connor who will'll get into in a second but let's start off Matthew with Alvin Kamar will the PPR scam continue in 2024 I think it will I mean I I think what's really interesting about tier three is you've got for the most part a lot of guys that may not be the quote sexiest name but all have really big volume opportunities here with Alvin CRA like kendri milons is going to start on the physically enabled perform list and like I don't know like if you can read between the lines like I feel like Dennis Allen hates Kendry Miller like a fiery passion damn near said it I mean right about to say I hate he almost said I hate him I felt like he about to say that like he was just sure to say yeah just yeah I mean like I feel like you know Dennis Allen is just anyway it's not going well for kendre Miller in New Orleans and Jamal Jamal Williams obviously did not have a great ear last year as well so Alvin chra again not great but we expect this offense hopefully to be slightly better at least slightly better under Clint kubak hope maybe even a lot better but we definitely think it'll be at least slightly better and we think there's honestly there's less Target competition camra is going to get a massive workload like he ain't great but like he's going to be again a PPR Che code and think about it Personnel wise what has really changed with this offense nothing they lost Michael Thomas that's what Chang yeah that was a couple years ago look he 86 targets 75 receptions right both of those numbers are only the fifth best in his career like this dude is used to getting 100 targets 80 catches with Drew Brees right so to have these numbers and finish as rb3 on a points per game basis he will be you know he'll be doing that again can we go back to the Stephen can we go back to the uh the rankings page real quickly the the the the the tier three rankings page here um I just want to point something out real quick here as we look at the numbers from Alvin chra so look at Josh Jacobs there at number 14 uh these Graphics were built before the news yesterday that came out which are two things number one uh AJ Dylan going to IR his season is over unfortunately we feel uh hate to see that but also Marshon Lloyd is currently banged up so I think the concern was that H marshan lyd's going to eat into him you know AJ Dylan's going to still you know get a handful of touches and so Josh J the Packers running back room is now at the moment Josh Jacobs and Emanuel Wilson like that's the list and if you look closely at the at the contract that Josh Jacobs signed it it's like a four-year deal and a big money blah blah blah blah blah this is the only year that's actually guaranteed his guaranteed money is only for this year so I think there is a scenario a very likely scenario where Josh Jacobs once again gets 350 touches this year and they just they ride them into the ground Lawrence and like bab I mean just just a massive massive workload for Josh Jacobs so I just wanted to point that out that I think you know when my rankings update comes out he'll be a little bit higher um uh based on the news that again like he literally now has Emanuel Wilson's like Emanuel Wilson's a guy yeah the Packers were top five offense last year they have a solid offensive line he is unopposed in the back field and they should be in scoring position T and he won the rushing title two years ago we'll get to those odds um for this season in the third block but let's go to Kenneth Walker Lawrence who couple years ago finished second in offensive rookie of the year was defined by these massive 70 yard runs a little bit of an underwhelming season last year um but the pre-season Camp hype has been huge on him are you buying into Kenneth Walker or you bit afraid of Zack sharan now um I'm still I'm still concerned about Zack sharan a Kenneth Walker only three times last season he played above 70% of the snaps in those games G still he was RB 20 on a points per game basis so like you said he's going to give you those big runs he'll give you the big games here and there but and like Zack shanet I feel like will get more run than Tyler algir will to bejn Robinson and that's where any concern would lie for me see I disagree with that I have a lot of charbon this year and I hope you're right but I think I I think you're not going to be because the everything I keep hearing out of Seattle Camp they love Ken Walker and they're going to make him the guy that they want him to be a Bell cow here new coaching staff obviously with Mike McDonald and Ryan grub and so Walker who's a nice pass catcher they just didn't use him that way a lot but he's been fairly efficient and good as a pass catcher when he's gotten that opportunity I think he's a bcow this year and I think he's got a shot at a huge year if they if they commit to that workload because he's got that kind of talent if he's getting 20 Tes the game within yeah you I'll take that any day of the week yeah for sure all right another potential below as we round out tier three is James Connor who I don't think anyone noticed last year when he played he was third in the NFL in rushing yards per game people sleeping on James Conor again Matthew each of his three seasons in Arizona he's finished as a top 15 running back on a points per game basis we've got Kyler Murray we've got Trey McBride we've got Marvin Harrison JR this is going to be a better offense like no one is excited to draft James Conor everyone's just like again they just you know it's snoozy it's Arizona he blah blah blah like he's just but you're going to look up he's going to be he's going to have another top 15 season and not cost you that at all he continues to be incredibly undervalued he was on the love list for a reason again uh it's not a sexy pick but it is a value pick every single draft he always goes way too late one of four running backs over the last three years there's only four running backs in the NFL and he's one of them to have at least a thousand yards from scrimmage and at least eight touchdowns each of the last three seasons yep perennially underr it all right the RO to 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 roell draft guide plus fantasy DFS and betting tools to help you dominate the draft all season long use promo code Ro to 10 for 10% off go to nbcsports.com fantasy lifee to learn more whatever you play in you can customize your ranks you play in a three wide receiver with tight end premium scoring and two quarterbacks like you can do this you play point per first time what whatever your custom scoring is you can sink your league into it and get custom ranks for your league and not only for the draft but throughout the season we spent over a year building this Tool uh not we cuz I I'm not but I hired I hired really smart people and they did it and the the tool is amazing people just absolutely love it it's been great to get all the notes saying like thank you so much you crushed my draft for me okay we're going to hit our first break when we come back we'll hit running back tiers four and five and some late round targets clear the shelters NBC Universal locals annual Nationwide pet adoption and donation campaign returns for its 10th consecutive year August 10th to September 10th as part of the monthlong campaign NBC and telmundo owned and Affiliated stations across the US and Puerto Rico partner with animal shelters and Rescue Services in their communities to promote pet adoption and raise funds to support animal wealthfare got a photo here of our friend Darren miners pup olle Fenway uh Fenway was rescued from furry flights to Freedom big Boston fan loves snuggles and rre Stevenson at ADP sorry very good very good all right let's get into running backs tier four continuing our running back primer and one of my favorite players on Earth as part of running back tier four Matthew and that is Naji Harris yeah you want talk why don't you talk up Naj Harris now let's do a little overview of the tier first Aaron Jones comes in at 19 David Montgomery 20 my man Naji Harris 21 Raheem motit rre Stevenson DeAndre Swift my mortal enemy Jaylen Warren Brian Robinson Jr and then Tony poed who kind of looks healthy again and then zamir white at the end uh let's start off with Naji Naji I think the case for Naji Matthew is simply that uh he was born to play for Arthur Smith Smith loves big bodied running backs and with Jaylen Ren who looks like he's going to be okay and may even play week one but Jaylen Warren dealing some soft tissue injuries I think that Naji even though it's not going to be super inspiring it's not going to be super aesthetically pleasing do think he's going to get volume and be effective Matthew yeah last two years under Arthur Smith the Falcons had 500 or more running back touches 500 Arthur Smith offenses have actually ranked top three in rushan attempts three of his Four Seasons as a head coach or an offense coordinator member before Atlanta he was in Tennessee with Derrik Henry and so niji Harris who in all three of his years that he's played in the NFL he's had at least 280 touches he's had at least 1,200 yards from scrimmage like again it's not good it is it is cheap volume but given that they don't have much in the passing attack it's going to be George Pickins and literally like van Jefferson van I mean like no ser and like Fri MTH and what and like they're gonna it's going to be Naji Harris and Jaylen Warren Jaylen Warden and nji Harris Warren's a little bit banged up here as well so uh Na Harris who very quietly was running back 23 last year in fantasy not inspiring running back 30 and points per game basis the running back 23s cuz here's the other thing about nii doesn't get hurt yeah I mean like again like the ultimate sort of this grinder plotter mutter whatever you want to call it like it is uninspiring he's he's a poor man's James Conor Jay Croucher but I'm actually with you I'm actually team n this year I'm very team n and when you think about it too like he can catch the ball as well whatever he gives you uh in the reception game is just a plus 29 catches last season he once caught 74 passes in the season he won't do that this upcoming season but like I said whatever you can get in that department uh you'll take it and let's just let it be know he is the Pittsburgh Steelers starting running back y so Lawrence let's jump to Raheem most friend of the show Raheem the Dream put together a monster season last year a little bit out of nowhere was able to stay healthy uh just massive touchdown count and looks to be primed again um to be a key part of Mike McDaniel's offense yeah again and here's the facts he's their starting running back right now and can he get double digigit touchdowns this season yes that's 10 the offense is too explosive matter of fact Raheem moer getting all his touchdowns is kind of why two of fell a little bit in getting his fantasy points to get near the goal line you just run the ball in and that's what contributed to him getting 18 rushing touchdowns uh last season Y all right uh anything on R him most Matthew I mean we talked about him it just seems someone who got 21 Rush 21 touchdowns last year can't be going this late in draft that's the thing it's just like I it it feels like I get it he's an over 30 running back that has extensive injury history and we all love Devon Anan but he's still at at his current ADB like okay he's probably not scoring 18 touchdowns again but at his current ADP he doesn't have to right like if he scores 8 to 10 this year which is very much within the realm of possibility like he's a perfectly good value I actually love this tier right you know Brian Robinson's another guy I've talked about him a lot on this show so I won't go into it but like there's a lot of guys in this tier that I think uh are sort of underrated that um uh and mostard is I think kind of the the poster child if you will for like going too late especially by the way if you decide to blow off running back earlier you only go like you go one RB or zero RB uh you know whatever hero RB or or um or zero RB mostard is a really nice uh person to Target in this range yep Denny C B to draft Raheem most at this season all right let's close out with our running back tier five a couple of key names in this one that we'll jump into Chase Brown and Zach Moss 2829 back to back in a crowded Bengals backfield with a bit of uncertainty Javonte Williams of 31 and then Tai J Spears Devin single Terry Jonathan Brooks who's going to start the season on the pup list hopefully back in week five Austin EA Ezekiel Elliott and Gus Edwards very quickly on Brooks again if you don't need him to be a starter I love Brooks because Brooks G to get a monster workload over the second half of the Season Gus Edwards is another guy that I have a bunch of shares of this year because they are going to be so run heavy it's going to be him and Dobbins in uh with the Chargers as well Ezekiel Elliot there we're going to we have some uh news into the studio about the Cowboys running back situation we'll talk about in a little bit but the first guy I want to focus on there is gavonte Williams and again I feel like Javon Williams is another guy you know a much poorer version of James con a reporter version of NJ Harris where like early Camp reports were really bad about Javon Williams but then recently samaj perine gets cut they do have Conor Rogers favorite audri ese but it really feels like it's going to be Javonte Williams and Jalil mlin we'll talk about mlin in a second here but javante Williams last year very simply like 200 rushes over 45 receptions he's one of only eight running backs to do that both of his full seasons he's had over a, yards from scrimmage over 240 touches like 133% Target share in 20 23 last year remember the Broncos led the NFL in running back Target share so he's a guy that can play all three downs and like he's just I think he's somebody that's going to get I think the Broncos offense is going to be better than people give it credit for and he's going to be out there a lot and he's just he's going way he's just going Dirt Cheap like again not exciting but like better than where he's going yeah also too you got the rookie quarterback you have after Courtland Sutton as far as wide receiver goes a lot of guys Marvin Mims and those guys have to kind of prove themselves so you should I javante Williams and Jal McGloin who like you said we talking about I think both of those guys will be leaned on yep all right let's jump to my beloved New York Giants uh and our Superstar running back Devin single ter uh who I think the best thing to be said for Devon single ter Matthew is kind of that he just exists and he's in this offense and he's familiar with d system uh and it seems like he is going to be the lead guy and get work in an offense I don't think it's going to be great but at the same time he should be able to get the volume that overcomes that yeah he was good down the stretch for the Texans to your point he played for day ball in Buffalo when dball was the offensive coordinator there he averaged over 200 touches and over a, yards from scrimmage in Buffalo under dayall as well and so look Tyrone Tracy is there I really like Tyrone Tracy as a second half of the Year sleeper you know he's one of my favorite Lane Round targets but at the moment Devon single ter should get a massive workload on what should be a sort of competent offense but again he's not single T is a good enough pass catcher that he's not coming off the field and especially to your point it's either the rookie Tyrone Tracy or Eric gray neither of whom inspire a ton of confidence ear this early in the season again I want I have a lot of shares of Tyrone Tracer this year I think he's going to have a nice year but uh for at least the first part of the Year Devon single is going to get a ton of volume Lawrence yeah it'll be all about the volume here especially in an offense that we don't expect to be a top one of the better half of the offenses in the league leag last season Devin single ter only started 10 games still ended up as running back 32 in total running back points that is extremely good because those games that Devin single ter didn't start he wasn't getting a lot of touches in those games once he got going you know he showed that he could do his second half of last season is the reason he's the Giants starting running back right now and that he's not in the time share as of yet okay let's jump to some running back sleepers and late round targets courtesy of our friends at Applebee's who's eating good I'm going to kick us off guys you said his name before Matthew uh well first of all let's read off some other guys who are on the list Blake corm Rico da Ty Chandler Tyler aler uh key Insurance back if beang goes down Jalil mlin trba hubard who I think is going way too late in draft he's going to be the starting running back until Jonathan Brooks gets back there by the way which may be a competen is offense this season the way that Bry Young preseason all the reports out ofan they improve the offensive line too y Bucky Irving Ray Davis bran Allen and Jordan Mason with the news that Elijah Mitchell is on IR Jordan Mason now the clear Insurance back for Christian mcaffrey and is you know one moment away from being a first round type of running back 100% Bucky Irving having a great Camp he's going to cut he's one of the reasons why I'm down on Rashad white this year uh Rico D again I want to talk very quickly uh news came in uh while we were taping this in terms of the Cowboys uh back field but dvin cook yeah dvin cook is back uh NFL Network and Tom peliso uh reporting four-time Pro Bowl running back dvin cook is signing with the Cowboys per his agency laa cook was waiting for the right opportunity no felt it was Dallas a marquee Edition in Big D says peliso I believe he's going to start out on the practice squad I think um by Mary Edition I think he needs doin is a famous name Marque is doing a lot of work there Marque is doing a lot of work there I mean a he's a marquee big name not a big reality he did he looked done last year you think so I do Lawrence wa from my trained eye he looked done on the Jets he did yeah he get the opportunity though he ran a couple times in the playoffs against the Texans he I I wondered why they didn't yes the Ravens they should have used them against the Chiefs yeah Lawrence do you think dvin cook will go into the Ravens ring of Ring of Honor do you think they're going to retire his jersey for that one run yeah it was a great 11 yards I'll tell you what obviously it's not going to happen my question but does it does it affect how if you were interested in Ezekiel Elliott or Rico D who are a lot of people are targeting late in drafts because again we expect the Cowboys offense to be pretty good and both guys are sort of cheap volume now like are you suddenly out I don't think anyone's dra ing dvin cook but are you suddenly less interested in Rico D or Ezekiel Elliot because now maybe it's a three-headed monster and it becomes a little ugly or you just sort of like ah it's running back depth and I'm not worried about it he's just a bigger name than not yeah cuz why are they even signing him I would say like you had to get a third guy at some point and this unthreatening third guy I think I think that'll be fun I think can you don't think D could going to do nothing I don't think he's I think he'll be the clear third guy all right let's uh let's get agree with there I would agree with there last thing real quickly Jalil mlof and I just want to mention this as well led the Denver Bronco in yards per carry and yards uh yards after contact per attempt mlin is somebody a late round Target that I like quite a bit as well again he's going to be we talked about this Broncos one of the teams that lead the NFL in running back Target share and mlin is their clear third down back especially with the release of samaj perine he's no longer on the Broncos yeah and similar I think audri es is worth a flyer in De leagues just because we don't really have clarity about this situation doesn't seem like Shawn pton is enamored of javante Williams maybe the bull case would be that he's the guy with the most pedigree and he'll get the first crack out it but like audre our friend Conor Rogers adors a I think there's upside there and Lawrence you like uh justice Hill from the Ravens somebody's got to be the backup to Derrick Henry allaha you know kind of like how Taj Spears was last year John Harbaugh already said Justice Hill will be a big part of the offense and behind Justice Hill is Rasheen Ali that's the rookie that's the I like that he he's he could play that's their three running backs on the roster right now Keat Mitchell on the physically unable to perform list we're waiting for him to come back so until Keaton Mitchell come back I would I like I like justice Hill until Keaton Mitchell comes back I'll say that okay fantasy season just got better this season $1 million better create or join a private Yahoo fantasy league and enter the $1 million NBC sweep Stakes plus earn extra entries to win when players on your fantasy roster score a touchdown during an opening weekend game on NBC or peacock download the redesigned yaho fantasy app or go to nbcsports.com fantasy million to learn more we're going to hit our last break when we come back who is the best bet to lead the NFL in rushing yards dking sports book is the number one place to bet touchdowns and new customers can bet $5 and get $200 in bonus bets instantly plus get 1 month of NFL Plus premium download the app and use promo code Barry when you sign up drop DraftKings sports book The Crown is yours all right DraftKings regular season rushing yards leader rushing title last year won by Christian mcaffry here is the favorite again at plus 275 Jonathan Taylor won this back in 20121 here is plus 600 saquon Barkley plus 650 we have Breece Hall Derk Henry Kiren Williams bejan Robinson Josh Jacobs Devon H and jam Gibbs as Flyers at 20 to1 at the end for our picks I will kick us off I'm taking bejan Robinson at plus 1200 now the concern is as a Tyler AER cuts into his rushing workload there are no Workhorse running backs in the NFL anymore who get 350 370 carries a year Christian mcaffrey led the league last year with 280 carries that type of range so I think that bean there are worlds where he can get 60 to 65% of the Falcons carries get to 280 290 carries I think he is a generational Talent who can be five yards per carry and I think the bean here's the key thing too first three weeks for the Falcons are a bit rough in terms of the schedule and then there is a chance in the Falcons final 14 games that they'll be favored in every single game that is how easy the schedule is game script should favor him so give me bejan and the talent at 12 to one who do you like I like that one a lot Jay I'm going to go with a guy who led the league in rushing before Jonathan Taylor here at plus 600 you look at the total numbers from last year 741 but he was hurt you look at his last five games 21 carries 97 yards per game in his last five games so that's a better uh predictor of what we expect from Jonathan Taylor in those five games he got six touchdowns so I'm looking forward to him to bouncing back in a major way very quickly Josh Jacobs 16 to1 he's done it before he's won the rushing yards title before we just talked about the fact that AJ Dylan is hurt uh so is Marshon Lloyd it gets cold in Green Bay so what do you want to do you want to run the ball especially in games that should be close so give me Josh Jacobs at 16 to1 very quickly before we go off air a couple of pieces of news that happened that we didn't get a chance to talk to the Chiefs have waved generic Prince so again if you're looking for an insurance back for Isaiah peo Carson steel has had an unbelievable Camp so uh just a name that you're like like we've mentioned it once or twice on the show but just Carson steel uh potentially worth a late round pick and also the Browns uh released Deontay Foreman there's some conversation that maybe it's just a little bit of roster manipulation they're carrying four quarterbacks at the moment that Foreman's likely back with them but at the moment it's Jerome Ford Pierre strong I still prefer if you're drafting the the running back that's going to be started until the injured guy comes back I still prefer chub chuba hubard to Jonathan Brooks then Jerome Ford to Nick chub yep right now the Browns have four quarterbacks and two running backs they trying to trade them up that what they trying to do yeah I know but no one wants to trade for deshun Watson what oh boy all right there you go listen it's closing time which means you can't stay here um uh you don't have to go home but you can't stay here something like that all right we need Rogers back for Lawrence and Jay I'm Matthew Conor's at a Jet's luncheon by the way peace out hey it's Matthew Barry from NBC sports.com and rotoworld.com and I want to thank you so much for watching whatever it is you just watched 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 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 channel you'll get the latest roto world fantasy news headlines all sorts of great shows including my own fantasy football happy hour so go subscribe now again I'm asking respectfully