PodcastFrom Fantasy Football Today
2026 Fantasy Football Breakout RBs | 8 Running Backs Ready for a BIG Year (08/12 Fantasy Football Podcast)
STACKED extracted the fantasy-relevant player signal from this podcast and kept the full transcript here for context.
33 min
Duration
Estimated from transcript
Aug 12, 2026
Published
Wed, August 12, 2026
7
Player insights
7
Players mentioned
Topics
Chase BrownChristian McCaffreyD'Andre SwiftJonathan TaylorJonathon BrooksKenneth Walker IIIQuinshon Judkins
Player analysis
Player insights
Chase Brown
PositiveBreakout9:24
The panel identifies Chase Brown as a top-tier breakout candidate, with all analysts ranking him as a first-round talent. His ADP is currently lower than Gentry and Hampton, making him a high-value target.
Insight pageChristian McCaffrey
NegativeBust30:57
Christian McCaffrey remains a top-tier option, but analysts are divided on his health outlook. While he finished as the RB1 in points per game last year, the heavy workload from previous seasons creates significant risk for drafters.
Insight pageD'Andre Swift
NegativeValue25:16
DeAndre Swift is being drafted in the same range as Quinshawn Judkins and Scadaboo. Jamie notes he chose Swift over Judkins in a draft, though he expresses potential regret, suggesting Judkins may have a higher ceiling.
Insight pageJonathan Taylor
PositiveValue30:57
Jake Seeley leans toward Jonathan Taylor over Christian McCaffrey by a hair, citing concerns about McCaffrey's health after a heavy workload. Taylor is noted for his extreme production split between wins and losses, but remains a top-tier draft pick.
Insight pageJonathon Brooks
PositiveSleeper29:35
Jonathan Brooks is a high-upside target for those who believe in his college talent. Jake Seeley suggests that if Brooks is healthy, he could take over the starting job from Chuba Hubbard by the midpoint of the season regardless of injury status, making him a valuable late-round flyer.
Insight pageKenneth Walker III
PositiveUsage10:03
Kenneth Walker is expected to have a significant role in the passing game, with the team specifically designing plays to fit his skill set. Jamie notes that Walker could realistically reach 40+ catches, and his potential as a three-down back makes him a borderline first-round pick.
Insight pageQuinshon Judkins
PositiveBreakout20:52
Jake Seeley projects Judkins as a potential bell cow with 260-270 carries and 30-40 receptions, noting his pass-catching upside is often overlooked. Despite concerns about the Browns' offense and offensive line, Judkins is a target in round four as a top-20 or top-15 running back, especially given his efficiency when receiving 15+ carries.
Insight pageFull transcript
Episode Transcript
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1:37Slow play! It's time to dominate your fantasy league.
1:39Off to the races, and he stays on his feet!
1:42Now, here's some combination of Adam, Dave, Jamie, and Heath.
1:45What's up? You ready to talk breakout running backs?
1:48You're going to have to make a decision on this pretty early in your fantasy drafts, because Ashton Denti could be a first-rounder.
1:54Omari and Hampton could be a top-15 pick, and we're pretty excited about them.
1:58Cam Scadaboo in round three. Quinshawn Judkins maybe in round four, rather.
2:02Round four for Judkins as well. And there are others that aren't going into their second year.
2:07And we welcome Jake Seeley of The Athletic. Hey, if you want to play in a fantasy league with Jake Seeley, well,
2:13it's too late, because his FFT Open League is sold out.
2:16But we still have about 80 spots. Let me tell you all.
2:20Let me just do some quick math here. 11 times 36.
2:23So we had 396 spots for sale. That's impressive, Matt.
2:26We have about 84 left, which means just on the FFT Open, we've made about $78,000 for St.
2:31Jude. It's pretty cool. That's awesome. Yeah. And Jake's a big part of it.
2:35His league sold out. So 11 people are going to be playing fantasy with him in the FFT Open.
2:41But we still have spots available. Please go to tinyurl.com slash FFTdonate2026.
2:44And you'll see the FFT Open spots available. If you scroll down to Auction House, you'll see the Podcast League spots available.
2:51Both the Superflex Podcast League and the regular 14-team Podcast League.
2:54The Beyond the Box Score Dynasty League, which is starting this year.
2:57The Eliminator League, which is starting this year. All these things.
3:01Zoom calls with us. Not Jake. But Zoom calls with the CBS crew.
3:04They're available. Go to tinyurl.com slash FFTdonate2026. All right.
3:07Without any further ado, Jake Seeley of The Athletic at All In Kid.
3:11Welcome to the show. Thank you. And who did not sell out as fast as Nando DeFino, who texted me to let
3:17me know that he sold out before I did.
3:20That is not true, is it? He sold out in like 36 hours and sent me a text.
3:25And he's like, sold out before you, Jake, as he always says.
3:28Listen, I'm not doing this so I can brag.
3:31I'm doing this so I can take a shot at Nando.
3:34I had to join the league with Nando and say, hey, you're now competing against Adam and Nando to get sales going.
3:41So you carried his league? Is that what you're telling him?
3:44I did. I carried the league. I carried that league.
3:47So this actually came about at Jake's event at the Flex Draft where Nando and Adam came to just hang out because they're such swell guys.
3:54And so I said, Nando, why don't you do one of the FFT Open Leagues?
3:59He's like, no, I don't want to do that.
4:01That requires too much work. And so I said, come on, man.
4:05You're doing it for charity. He's like, I'll do it if this guy does it with me, that guy does it with me.
4:12I said, Nando, everybody's going to want to play in a league with you.
4:16I don't know what you're complaining about. So then he decides to do it.
4:20And he has like all these crazy ideas. He's going to send giveaways to people and all this like wacky stuff that Nando does.
4:27But it was like, no, no, I can't do that.
4:30It's too much. Yeah, well, he's doing it. All right, Jake.
4:33So I actually, I don't even know who the running backs you're going to talk about are.
4:38But let me start with Hampton and Gentry because that's those are two guys that Dave has on his breakout list.
4:44And it makes sense, right? We have to buy into these guys and we have to hope that they do better than they did last year, especially Gentry.
4:52What do you think about these year two running backs who were first round picks in the NFL draft just a year ago?
4:59So I'm actually a little bit more excited for Hampton than I am for Gentry, despite the recent talk of, oh, we're
5:05going to use everybody in the backfield and everything with Mike McDaniel.
5:09And he used multiple running backs with the Dolphins and they were both just fine there.
5:13So I'm not that concerned about this recent talk.
5:16Actually, I hope it drops his price a little bit because I feel once we start paying that first round price for
5:22Hampton, now we're buying basically all the risk in case that he has like a Gentry like season from last year, this year.
5:29And he's still an RB2, but now you're kind of buying that he has to break out.
5:34So I would love the fact that it dropped.
5:36I mean, we're talking about what McDaniel can do with his weapons.
5:40And I do think Hampton is going to easily be the lead.
5:43I go back to last year's draft. I don't know anybody on the show was with me.
5:48Dave's really smart, so I'm assuming he is. I was one of the people that said Gentry and Hampton were like this close together.
5:55Like I was one of the ones that like I didn't think there was a giant gap.
6:00So for them to have similar seasons, I am very much on Hampton.
6:04Gentry, I still have concerns. I know the Linderbaum signing.
6:07I know the offensive line is supposed to be better.
6:10I know everything's supposed to be great with the coaching change and whether we have Kirk Cousins or Turn to Mendoza and everything's great, great, great, great, great.
6:18We've seen that before. How much better? I'll give you the simplest version on why I still think Gentry is going to
6:24break out, but maybe not top 10 is because to get to top 10, he has to average six more fancy points per game.
6:31That's a giant jump for just all these things are going to magically fix everything, despite the fact he is an elite talent.
6:38Don't get me wrong. Elite talent. I just think that's a lot for him to be on the Raiders to get to the top 10.
6:45Just real quick. Sorry. When you say he has to average six more points per game, we kind of default to PPR.
6:52Is that the format you default to? It's half, but I mean, it's probably six and a half.
6:57I don't think it's going to be that big of a difference if you jumped on PPR.
7:02Let's see. Top 10. He averaged 14 and a half points per game.
7:06Cam Scadaboo averaged 16 points per game. He was RB10.
7:09Okay. Maybe that's slimmer than PPR. So there you go.
7:11Easier to do in PPR. So there you go.
7:14Yeah. Especially because he caught a lot of passes, Gent.
7:17He had 55 catches last year. Yeah. Dave, these were the guys.
7:21First of all, Dave, did you have the hood on in the last show we did?
7:25You're going to have to go back and watch.
7:28What do you think about Gentian Hampton? Who do you like better?
7:31And how confident are you in using a top 15 pick on them?
7:35Very confident in using a top 15 pick. And I'm with Jake.
7:39I don't believe what Mike McDaniel is saying. I don't think there's going to be very many games where Keaton Mitchell or
7:45Kamani Vidal is outproducing Omari and Hampton as long as all three of them are healthy.
7:50Everything that you could look at that went wrong for Gentie last year and say, well, it's better for him this year.
7:56His offensive line is better. That means he's going to be a little bit more efficient.
8:01His play caller is better. He's a contributor to the passing team.
8:04All those things that you could say about Gentie getting better, Hampton has ahead of him now.
8:09Offensive line is better in L.A. I like Clint Kubiak a lot.
8:13I think Mike McDaniel is a much better play caller for running backs than Clint Kubiak is.
8:18Being able to get targets, yeah, I'll submit that Gentie might have more targets per game than Omari and Hampton.
8:23But it's not like Hampton is with a coach that doesn't throw to his main running back.
8:28And I'm pretty sure that Hampton can beat the three and a half targets per game that he had in nine games last year.
8:35He was more efficient last year. And then you get to the schedule.
8:39And, man, that schedule is really tough for the Chargers.
8:42They play the NFC West. They play the AFC East.
8:45Obviously, the Broncos, the Chiefs, those defenses are tough.
8:47But you know what defense the Chargers play twice this year?
8:51The Raiders. You know which defense the Raiders play twice this year?
8:54The Chargers. That's just a little nitpick on top of everything else that leads me in the direction of going with Hampton over Gentie.
9:01I don't fault anybody that's got Gentie out of Hampton.
9:04I think this is a tough call. But I'm going to go with the player on the better team with the better offensive line.
9:11I like that you said Hampty, too. That was a fun call.
9:14That was a weird slip, wasn't it? That was a fun combination.
9:18Maybe I'll start calling him that, Hampty. Hampty. Yeah, Chase Brown is a breakout that Dave just wanted to throw in there
9:24that we've been kind of talking about as sort of our FFT guy.
9:28I like him better than both. Me, too. How would they?
9:31Okay. He's a first rounder for me. We all do, I think.
9:35Right, Jamie, everybody? Yes. Yeah. So Chase Brown. He's in our rankings.
9:38He is fifth. Do you have the ADP, Thomas?
9:41Chase Brown's going after Gentie for sure, I think.
9:44I don't know about Hampton. On CBS, Chase Brown's ADP is 14.3.
9:47Gentie's is 12.7. Hampton is at 17.6. Okay. All top 20 players.
9:51But Brown's the best of the three. On Fantasy Pros, it goes Gentie 10th, Hampton 13th, Chase Brown 16th.
9:56So Jake agrees. Chase Brown is the man. Love it.
9:59Let's get one of Jamie's guys here just because he's in the same range.
10:03It's Kenneth Walker. And yeah, this has been a steady one for you.
10:07You've been really high on him and now so much great.
10:10Jamie was in before all the buzz. But what do you expect from Kenneth Walker?
10:14It's true. I think the biggest thing for him is going to be the role in the passing game.
10:20And that's the exciting part about this. If you go back to 2024, he only played 11 games.
10:25He was actually on pace for 71 catches that season.
10:28So if that's something that he can do, I don't think 71 is realistic.
10:32But if he can be a 40-plus catch guy, which I think in this offense is realistic, given the hype that we're
10:39hearing and the scenarios that I think could play out because of the competition that he has, I think Emmitt Johnson will have somewhat of a role.
10:46I think maybe Di Mercado will have somewhat of a role.
10:50But those guys don't scare me when it comes to Walker.
10:53Really, it's just about health. And we know that's been a problem for him.
10:57But he did play, I think, every game last season.
11:00Certainly was a stud in the playoffs and leading the Seahawks to the Super Bowl and Super Bowl MVP, all those things.
11:06But they haven't had a running back like this really since Kareem Hunt's rookie season.
11:11And so I think that gives Andy Reid the opportunity to kind of go back to what he had in Philadelphia with
11:17a guy that can be a three-down guy, that can be a physical presence that, again, I think will surprise some people in the passing game.
11:24And so I think Walker is a borderline first-round pick.
11:27So I like him better than Hampton. I actually like Gentey better than Hampton.
11:31So I would go Gentey, Walker, Hampton in that order.
11:34Chase Brown better than all of them. But I think Ken Walker is headed for a huge season.
11:40Okay. You're going to have to decide, you know, these guys over Saquon Barkley and Derrick Henry, the older guys, these guys over A-Chan.
11:47It's a really tough call. Jake, do you have a strong take on that big group of running backs?
11:52Like after the first, I guess the first five are gone, which would be Gibbs, B-Jean, McCaffrey, Taylor, Cook.
11:58And then I think we all like Chase Brown.
12:00But the next group, Jake, do you have a take on who you usually draft, who you usually avoid?
12:06So normally I am in that range getting a lot of Chase Brown so far, mostly because as we just discussed, ADP
12:12is not there where I have him back-to-back with James Cook.
12:15And actually James Cook is the purpose parallel that I keep bringing up is that the uptick in the receiving game and we get James Cook.
12:23You get a little bit more touchdown equity, James Cook, and he's already got that ability.
12:28So like that being Cook getting into the receiving game, they're very similar.
12:31So I look at those and I am on Kenneth Walker.
12:35My projections actually have them higher than I do in my rankings just because I think there's a little bit of risk.
12:41But I love what Jamie is talking about, especially with the receiving game and the teams talked him up.
12:46It's not just the fact that they're going to use him in the receiving game.
12:51They specifically said, we're designing the passing game out of the backfield to fit Kenneth Walker's skill set, which, oh my God,
12:57Seahawks, we could have done this for years. So I love some Kenneth Walker in this scenario.
13:02By the way, the enemy kind of runs that similar thing with a lot of the jet sweeps and the yo-yos and
13:09actually frees the running back, similar to what Jamie was bringing about, Kareem Hunt.
13:13So I do like him a lot. To get into the next group outside of this range, I think a lot of these guys are vets.
13:20So I dropped down into like the late teens for two of my breakouts.
13:24One of them is Cam Scadaboo. I know they keep talking about Tyrone Tracy, but it feels like a layup, even with
13:31a split backfield, just because what we know about Scadaboo is that he's underrated as a pass catcher.
13:36I think just by perception, because he wants to play juggernaut ball and just run through people, despite the fact that like it gets him hurt.
13:43And despite the fact he's doing backflips off a busted leg and gets yelled at.
13:48If the coach has to tell you not to do a backflip coming off injury, like this guy's got some serious like
13:54this is Gronk level all over again. But that being said, if he plays a full season, even sharing with Tracy, 250
14:01touches, 260 touches in this offense, which should be better.
14:04The offensive line was kind of overlooked because of how bad things were last year and that it's a pretty good offensive line.
14:10I think Scadaboo has a chance to finish inside the top 15.
14:14I haven't signed my top 20. So I'll kind of let you take control again, Adam, since it's your show, because I
14:20do have more breakouts, but I don't want to keep going and just blow up the show.
14:25No, that's exactly what you're here to do. It's fine.
14:28And would you rather have Scadaboo or Travis Achan?
14:31Scadaboo. Do you guys, Dave and Jamie, agree? Would you rather have Scadaboo or Brees Hall?
14:35Scadaboo for me. A hall for me. I'll try to do the tiebreak hall, but barely.
14:40Yeah, I do. I mean, they're back to back for me.
14:43My issue with Scadaboo is just one thing. It's just that broken leg.
14:47I don't want to just fall victim to... Just that one thing.
14:50One little small thing. I mean, look, I like the...
14:53Well, actually, there's another thing. He's pretty slow. And he had...
14:56I think he had one carry last year, more than 20 yards.
15:00Oh, a slow relative to what? To NFL running backs.
15:03He's a slow 40 guy. He doesn't really... I don't think he plays fast.
15:07He's just super physical. I think he's a good rusher, but I think he's like...
15:11Kyron Williams is kind of like that. Kyron Williams doesn't have breakaway speed, but Kyron has probably great vision, and he gets the most out of it.
15:19I'm not saying that you can't be a great running back, but Scadaboo, what did he...
15:24His yards per carry wasn't anything special last year.
15:26He just scored a ton of touchdowns. He's really good at breaking tackles, but he's not running away from people, and I
15:33do think we need to keep that in mind, and he's coming off a gruesome leg injury, and every single year with
15:39injuries, whether it's an ACL or a fractured ankle, whatever it is, it's always, oh, yeah, I feel great.
15:45I'm 100%. He just said I'm 99% to 100%, whatever, but then a lot of times when guys get out there on
15:51the field, they're just not the same, so I don't want to sit here and just buy into every injured player who's
15:57progressing so well and is feeling so good when it happens literally every single year with none of them are going to be like, yeah, I feel 80%.
16:06This is never going to happen, but then sometimes it takes a full year or more for them to recover and for
16:12us to really know the extent of it. Javante Williams is an example of that.
16:16Brees Hall is an example of that. Chris Godwin is an example of that.
16:20So, yeah, that's my issue with Cam Scadaboo, Jake.
16:23You know who else isn't very fast? Kyron Williams.
16:26It's just fine for him. I know. Granted, playing for the Rams versus playing for the Giants, but at the same time,
16:32I think there's some parallels between the two of them.
16:35Obviously, again, a little bit more insane, and we're talking about playing for the Giants, but, you know, the touchdown equity probably
16:41won't be as high, but I'm not going to crush a guy just because he's not one of my other breakouts in
16:48Tootin who definitely has a lot of explosive ability versus Scadaboo.
16:51Right. I'm curious to see how the Giants use Scadaboo in the passing game.
16:55So the report from Dan Duggan of The Athletic that Tyrone Tracy's been in the two-minute drill, and I said it on
17:01the previous show, but that's something that they pretty much split when they were healthy last year.
17:06But Scadaboo is not a good pass blocker. He came into the league with questions about his technique there.
17:12He didn't grade out very well there, but he caught a lot of balls last year, and he did that without Malik Neighbors.
17:19So that was a big part. He had 24 catches in eight games, but if you take out weeks one and eight
17:25where he played less than 21% of the snaps, he was on pace for 60 catches.
17:30So I guess there's just some things about Scadaboo last year that I don't know if he's going to be a 60.
17:36I don't think he's going to be a 60-catch guy.
17:39That's pretty rare. And he's coming off a broken leg.
17:42Why am I talking myself out of Cam Scadaboo right now?
17:45I think I've made some good points, right? I mean, there's a lot of reasons to like him, but there are some reasons.
17:52No, this is why we're ranking him as a mid-back-end RB2 versus a fringe RB1.
17:56That's the risks involved. Yeah. Okay. Let's talk about Basil Tootin when we come back.
18:00We'll take a little break here. And that's a really interesting guy with seemingly a lot of upside, but also some downside because of Chris Rodriguez.
18:08We'll also talk about Quinshawn Judkins and we'll be back after this.
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20:52USPS Ground Advantage. We mean business. All right, Quinshawn Judkins is a guy that Jamie put on his breakout list.
20:58Jake wants to talk about him as well. Jamie, I'll let you decide how hospitable you want to be toward our guests.
21:04Do you want to talk about Judkins first? Do you want to let Jake do it?
21:09Oh, no, let Jake go. Oh, that's so weak.
21:11All right, go ahead, Jake. I think everybody else in the chat was rooting for Jamie on that one.
21:17All right, I'll go. So, like, we understand it's the Browns.
21:20And, you know, shout out to the late, great Mike Tagliere who says bottom five.
21:24We pointed this out in an article a long time ago.
21:28Bottom five offenses, you rarely get RB1 performances just because it's just the offense pulls them down so far.
21:33And the touchdown equity might not be there. To his credit, though, seven touchdowns in his 14 games last year.
21:39And I know there's a lot of questions with the offensive line.
21:42So I'm throwing off. I'm doing the Acer. I'm doing all the negatives first.
21:46Talking about the injury. Coming back, hopefully, for 100% week one.
21:50But he actually sounds a little bit better than Scadaboo in that department.
21:53But it really comes down to what we know about Munkin and Switzer and the run game and what they like.
21:59And that we know about Judkins is also a good pass catcher.
22:03Somebody else who kind of got overlooked for coming out of college and what his passing game upside could be.
22:09Somebody that, to say what you just said, Adam, won't be a 60-catch guy, but somebody that could be in that 260-270
22:15carry range with 30 to 40 receptions. Absolutely. And that's the real telling point about it is I think he's going to be the bell cow.
22:23And what we really want from a lot of our running backs is not sharing as much.
22:28I would actually expect his touches to be higher than Scadaboo.
22:31It just comes down to he's playing for the Browns and what kind of a mess that can be.
22:36But as a top 20 running back, potentially top 15, I'm 100% on board with that.
22:41I have him actually one spot behind Scadaboo. I think the last time a guy on a bottom five offense finished top
22:4712, there were a few of them in 2023.
22:50Brees Hall and I want to say Saquon Barkley on the Giants maybe that year.
22:54I could be wrong about who it was, but it does happen.
22:58And volume. Last year you had like... It's rare, but the volume.
23:01Yeah, Bijan Robinson and Devon Achan were elite last year.
23:04They were on teams that were 22nd and 25th in points per game.
23:08Cleveland doesn't necessarily have to be the worst offense.
23:11They have a very easy schedule. And boy, they really fed Quinchon Judkins.
23:15Jamie, Scadaboo, all of you, but let's go Jamie, Dave, Jake.
23:18Scadaboo or Judkins? Scadaboo slightly. Scat. Yep. That's one spot.
23:21I think the thing that would help Cleveland, and when we had Scott Turner on, he talked a little bit about this
23:27and just, you know, offensive philosophy and game flow.
23:30Like, if they're competitive in the fourth quarter, he's going to get carries.
23:33If they're getting blown out, this is the whole point about bottom offenses.
23:37They're throwing the ball a lot and I don't think he's going to necessarily get the opportunities that are going to make him successful.
23:44I agree with Jake that he's a good pass caster, but that's probably going to be Dylan Sampson in those hurry up situations.
23:51So the thing that you're hoping for for Judkins, he's talked about this a lot when they hired Todd Motkin, is that
23:57could he be among the carry leaders in the NFL?
24:00And I think Jake just, you know, could have alluded to that as well.
24:04You know, this is the type of bell cow that we look for.
24:08He had eight games last year and we know he missed the end of the season.
24:13Eight games last year with at least 15 carries and he scored 13.9 PPR points or more in six of those.
24:19So when he got opportunities, he was successful. And I think when you look at it, the talent around him is significantly
24:25better just with the two receivers that they added because that just threatens defenses more.
24:30The quarterback play could be worse, you know, and that's saying something because I don't think Schuder Sanders was great last year.
24:36Obviously what we saw from the other guys and now you're bringing in Deshaun Watson who hasn't played since 2024 has been
24:42miserable by all accounts in training camp. You know, all you hear about is the interceptions.
24:47And so if they can get just competent quarterback play, it doesn't have to be great quarterback play.
24:52They'll be in games. It will help Judkins significantly.
24:55The defense is going to be worse because you lose Myles Garrett, you get worse.
24:59And so that will hurt things as well. I'm just hoping that Monken can be capable enough, the quarterback play capable enough.
25:06Judkins has the ability to be the type of running back that we look for a lot, especially at his cost.
25:12You know, so round four, I think is the perfect spot to take him.
25:16And so, you know, Scadaboo, Judkins, Travis A. Chan, you know, DeAndre Swift, these type of guys, you know, that's what you're, you're debating.
25:23And just to tie in Jake's, you know, wonderful draft that he runs with the Flex Leagues.
25:28I referenced this, you know, when I came back, I had the choice.
25:31I started my team with three receivers and a tight end.
25:35And round five, I was staring at DeAndre Swift and Judkins.
25:38I like Judkins better than Swift, but this was at the time when Kyle Monongai was missing practice for we didn't know what at the time.
25:45And I have those guys back to back. I took Swift.
25:49That's probably going to be one that I regret because I think Judkins ceiling is a little bit higher.
25:54But at the time, again, not knowing what Monongai's situation was, if you told me at that point Monongai was missing half
26:01the season, maybe the entire year, we just didn't know, then I would have gone, you know, and made the pick that I did.
26:08So that's one that I'll, you know, track the entirety of the year because it could ruin my standing in Jake's wonderful league.
26:14Judkins, I guess if I could make one point, I don't know if you agree with me.
26:19ADP suggests that this can't happen. This won't happen in a 12-team league, but you never know.
26:24It certainly happened in a 10-team league. I would not pick both Scadaboo and Judkins.
26:28I think that's too risky. You've got basically the two running backs coming off major, scary injuries with their own concerns, you
26:35know, like the Browns have had one of the worst offensive lines in football for the last two years, and it looks
26:41completely different this year, but it might be bad again.
26:44That would be a little bit too risky for me.
26:47I don't know how you guys feel about that.
26:50Like if you went receiver-receiver, then Judkins, maybe we're talking rounds four and five, so whatever it is, they were your first two running backs.
26:57I don't think I would do Scadaboo and Judkins personally.
27:00So what if you went receiver-receiver, tight end? Those are the two guys that are next on board.
27:05So that was going to be my pushback, Jamie.
27:08Like if we are talking rounds four and five, I can't see Judkins not being a screaming value at that point just
27:14because I'm assuming the running backs in round five with them are a complete tier below.
27:19So no, I wouldn't want to, but I kind of feel like you're tying my hands at like, you can't pass on the upside.
27:26I mean, it's first or last, Ricky Bobby, man, nobody cares about who finished fourth place.
27:30Well, but if you get in fourth place, you're in the playoffs and you got a chance.
27:35I guess, Adam, if you're staring at Scadaboo, Judkins, Swift, you're taking one of those guys in Swift.
27:41Yes. Got it. Exactly. I can understand that. Adam was about to make the case for why finishing in fourth place is good.
27:47Yeah, I give out a fourth place trophy. And last guy to talk.
27:51Sounds like a Giants fan. Yes, exactly. Um, let's talk about Jonathan Brooks.
27:55Last guy Jake wanted to talk about as a breakout this year.
27:58Well, he also blazed right past Tootin. Oh God, you're right.
28:01Sorry. Um, all right. Uh, five minutes for Tootin and Brooks.
28:05Uh, for both. Okay. I can do that in under five combined.
28:08Uh, Tootin just really comes down to somebody like, and I want to put this out there not to be like, this
28:15is whatever, but it just, it gives perspective on my opinion.
28:18I wasn't the biggest Tootin fan coming out of college because I thought he might end up on a team that wanted to only timeshare him.
28:25And that was my biggest concern, but similar to Michael Thomas with Sean Payne, similar to the scheme fit that I really
28:32like if price was healthy with the Seahawks, it comes down to fit and Tootin's fit in the Liam Cullen offense is something that I love.
28:39And that's why I love the upside here. Yes.
28:42I see the reports about LaQuint Allen, the passing game.
28:45Yes. I understand that Chris Rodriguez was signed is going to be involved, but even if it's only 55% of the touches,
28:51I'm fine with Tootin as where he's going as an RB2, which also potentially break out inside the top 20 because he
28:58fits what Cohen does and what he wants from his running backs.
29:01Arguably like it remains to be seen, but arguably his explosiveness might even fit better than Irving or Rashad White did when he was with the Buccaneers.
29:09So all that being said is like, I really think there's a chance here that even if we don't get, you know,
29:1565% of the touches for Tootin that he can still finish as a top 20 because this offense ascends so much.
29:21And just from the first half to the second half last year and what is doing, what they're doing under Cohen.
29:28It was just a perfect marriage of all those pieces there with Trevor Lawrence and Cohen, everything there on the Brooks side of it.
29:35This just comes down to what this kind of similar to Tootin.
29:38What did you think about Brooks coming out of college?
29:41If you thought he was a potential top 10 running back in the NFL, you're in on Brooks.
29:46If you have questions about him coming out of Texas, you're probably out because we don't know if he looks anything like he did coming out of college.
29:54We're hoping he's 100%, but also does that even mean that he succeeds in the NFL.
29:59But the truth is, if the talent is still there, it doesn't even take an injury to Chuba Hubbard for him to take over that job.
30:07And that's why I like Brooks because if he is the Brooks that we knew, he's taking that job by the midpoint of the season, health or not.
30:15So that's why I think Brooks is really worth a late flyer.
30:18Still going to like, I think right as of today, still like eighth roundish, maybe he's climbing up to the seventh.
30:24I'll throw this out there because I feel like there's a lot of risk with it.
30:29Do you think Brooks and or Tootin will at some point just kind of run away with the job and, you know,
30:35get, can they get, let's say, 14 or more carries per game?
30:39Brooks, yes, more than Tootin, but I think they both could.
30:42Agreed. Okay. Last question for you. I am on the clock in a draft that Jamie is making me do in the middle of breakouts day.
30:50I have the sixth pick. Should I take PPR?
30:52Should I take? Oh, it's half PPR. Yes. Jake, should I take Christian McCaffrey, Jonathan Taylor?
30:57Which running back should I take? Those are the only two.
31:00Or St. Brown. No, it's all the running backs other than the top two.
31:04Or should I take St. Brown? I'm going to take St.
31:07Here. I'll throw it back to you. I'll ask you this question.
31:11Do you think the Colts are out in both 500 teams?
31:14Probably. I know you're going to. It's a great stat.
31:17I put it in my notes and I said, Jake Seeley said this is a great stat.
31:22And he was also pretty bad in losses two years ago too, Jonathan Taylor.
31:26Yeah. It's just an insane number last year. 30 points per game and wins 10 in losses.
31:31That's insane. I don't think it would obviously be that bad.
31:34But I kind of lean Taylor by a hair.
31:37Just because I legitimately do have the Christian McCaffrey concerns.
31:40I think if you're true, if you're shooting for first place to go back to my argument, I have often.
31:45Yeah. You want it? You want me to finish in fourth?
31:49I was gonna say I've often been taking Christian McCaffrey because if he stays healthy, he's one of the few running backs
31:55like he just did finishes number one in points per game, even with terrible running metrics last year.
32:00So if you want to play the game where you like we're going to get you guys all know this.
32:06We're going to get to the end of the season and there's going to be the one camp.
32:11Ha ha. I told you Christian McCaffrey can stay healthy again and there's going to be the other camp that's ha ha.
32:18There was no way it was going to happen coming off all those touches and one of the camps is going to be laughing in the other's face.
32:26That never happens. I took I took McCaffrey. So and then Dave took John of the Taylor.
32:31Jake Seeley. There you go much. We appreciate it, man.
32:34Just real quick. Tell everybody how we can follow your content.
32:37The little small site that I've been working for the athletic.
32:40If anybody wants to go check it out, we're growing.
32:43Hopefully you can give us some support over there.
32:46If you want to listen to the podcast, I love this because this is the format of my podcast.
32:51All in speed run 20 minutes or less to try and get in and get out in those little bits of information you need.
32:58Well, we failed 28 minutes. Thank you to Jake, Dave and Jamie.
33:02Close enough. We got if you're watching wide receivers with Chris Harris coming up in a half hour.
33:07We'll talk to you then on fantasy football today.
33:09On podcasts.
