Week 1 Fantasy Football RB Rankings (Top 43)
STACKED extracted the fantasy-relevant player signal from this podcast and kept the full transcript here for context.
1 hr 25 min
Duration
Estimated from transcript
Sep 8, 2026
Published
Tue, September 8, 2026
29
Player insights
26
Players mentioned
Topics
Breece HallDavid MontgomeryDe'Von AchaneBijan RobinsonBucky IrvingChase BrownChristian McCaffreyChuba HubbardD'Andre SwiftJadarian PriceJahmyr GibbsJames CookJavonte WilliamsJaylen Warren
Player analysis
Player insights
Bijan Robinson
NegativeProjection6:41
Bijan Robinson is ranked as the RB2, though the source expresses concern regarding the Falcons' offensive line changes and a tough Week 1 matchup against the Steelers. While he remains a top-five talent due to his receiving floor, the team's low projected point total (27th in the league) and the uncertainty surrounding the coaching staff and quarterback situation create a 'drastic canyon' between him and the top-tier running backs.
Insight pageBreece Hall
PositiveRole34:46
Breece Hall is viewed as a workhorse for the Jets' offense. Despite a low team total, he is considered an undervalued asset who should see heavy usage against the Titans.
Insight pagePositiveRole36:32
Breece Hall is expected to play in Week 1 following a groin injury that the team initially downplayed. While there is uncertainty regarding the involvement of other backs like Braelon Allen near the goal line, Hall has proven he can be a top-12 fantasy back if he receives sufficient volume and the offense improves. He finished as the RB17 in the 12 games played without Brett Rypien last season.
Insight pageBucky Irving
NegativeUsage48:41
Bucky Irving is viewed as a fantasy RB2/3, with his outlook complicated by a significant split with Kenny Gainwell and the potential goal-line role of Sean Tucker. The Buccaneers' offensive line is strong, but the Bengals' defense has been bolstered by the addition of Dexter Lawrence, making the matchup tougher than last year's stats suggest.
Insight pageChase Brown
PositiveProjection20:48
Chase Brown is a high-ceiling RB1 play who finished as a top-three RB in points per game over the final 10 games of last season. Despite a tough matchup against the Buccaneers, he is expected to be a focal point of the Bengals' offense.
Insight pageChristian McCaffrey
NegativeProjection11:51
Despite being a must-start, Christian McCaffrey faces significant concerns due to his age, a massive 450-touch workload from last season, and poor underlying efficiency metrics (37th in 10+ yard run rate, 36th in yards after contact). He is expected to rely heavily on volume and receptions to maintain value, especially against a tough Rams defense that now features Aaron Donald and Myles Garrett.
Insight pageChuba Hubbard
PositiveRole93:58
Hubbard is confirmed as the lead back for the Panthers to start the season. The source feels comfortable with him ahead of Jonathan Brooks until proven otherwise, noting that Hubbard was a productive fantasy asset in 2024 and is expected to maintain the starting role.
Insight pageD'Andre Swift
PositiveProjection30:46
D'Andre Swift is in a favorable position within the Bears' offense, which is expected to perform well. Even if competition exists, Swift's efficiency in a larger role suggests he remains a strong fantasy play.
Insight pageDavid Montgomery
PositiveProjection54:09
David Montgomery is ranked as the RB21, with potential to finish as a top-15 to top-20 fantasy back. While there is uncertainty regarding his split with Woody Marks, Montgomery's arrival in the offense is viewed similarly to Joe Mixon's move to Houston, suggesting he could outperform expectations despite a challenging matchup against the Buffalo Bills.
Insight pageNegativeProjection90:37
The source views Montgomery as a player in slight decline and is concerned about the right side of the offensive line being among the worst in the NFL. While he could finish as a top 20 or top 15 back, the source is cautious, ranking him RB23 and noting that Woody Marks may see significant playing time.
Insight pageDe'Von Achane
PositiveUsage18:54
The Miami offense is expected to revolve around De'Von Achane from a volume perspective, keeping him ranked in the top tier for Week 1.
Insight pagePositiveUsage27:19
Devon Achane is ranked as the RB6. Despite the Dolphins being road underdogs with a low team total, Achane is projected for high volume (position-high 6.5 targets) and total yards. The source believes the Dolphins will lean on him heavily due to a lack of experienced skill-position players, making him a potential league leader in touches early in the season.
Insight pageJadarian Price
PositiveUsage98:34
Despite concerns about the Patriots' defense and potential committee involvement with George Holani, the source believes Price has a high ceiling and should be started in flex spots. The source argues his role could be better than Kenneth Walker's was last year, even if Zach Charbonnet eventually caps his volume later in the season.
Insight pageJahmyr Gibbs
PositiveProjection3:23
Jahmyr Gibbs is ranked as the RB1 for Week 1. With David Montgomery gone and no legitimate competition in the backfield, he is projected for a massive workload in a high-scoring game environment against the Saints. The Lions are favored in 14 of 17 games, and Gibbs is expected to have a breakout season comparable to Saquon Barkley or Bijan Robinson's 2,000-yard campaigns.
Insight pageJames Cook
NegativeMatchup28:09
James Cook faces a difficult start to the season with one of the league's hardest schedules for running backs. His Week 1 ranking is lowered due to the Texans' strong run defense and uncertainty regarding his passing game role.
Insight pageJavonte Williams
PositiveMatchup24:09
Javonte Williams faces an excellent matchup against the Giants, who struggled against the run last year and lost Dexter Lawrence. Williams is viewed as a top-12 running back for Week 1.
Insight pageJaylen Warren
PositiveRole115:17
Warren is viewed as a strong fantasy option against the Falcons, with the source noting he is the incumbent starter and a better fit for the current scheme. The source expects him to be involved in valuable passing situations and potentially outperform Rico Dowdle in total usage.
Insight pageJeremiyah Love
NegativeInjury110:43
Coming off a high ankle sprain, Love's status for week one is uncertain. The source believes headlines about his progress were blown out of proportion and expects Tyler Algier to be heavily involved, potentially even starting, to avoid rushing Love back.
Insight pageJonathan Taylor
NegativeProjection20:45
Jonathan Taylor is ranked as the RB5. While he is a volume-heavy back with no backfield competition, his production is highly dependent on game script (drastic splits between wins and losses). The source notes that while the Ravens' defense is a tough matchup, Taylor's potential for increased passing-game usage—especially if Daniel Jones is less mobile post-injury—keeps him in the top tier.
Insight pageJonathon Brooks
NegativeInjury93:58
Brooks is dealing with soreness and is considered a scary scenario for a back with a history of health issues. The source is skeptical of his immediate impact, noting that preseason performance was just okay and that he is a long way from proving his concept as a starter.
Insight pageKaelon Black
PositiveSleeper15:00
The source recommends picking up rookie Kalon Black as a high-priority handcuff for Christian McCaffrey. He is identified as the primary backup to own in the 49ers' backfield should McCaffrey's heavy workload lead to injury.
Insight pageKeaton Mitchell
NegativeInjury19:12
Keaton Mitchell's availability is the primary variable for the Chargers' backfield rankings; even if active, he is viewed as a change-of-pace player rather than a high-volume threat.
Insight pageKenneth Walker III
NegativeUsage26:27
Kenneth Walker III is expected to see heavy volume in a game plan focused on running the ball against the Broncos, though the matchup is difficult. He is a low-end RB1 who may see increased screen pass usage.
Insight pageKyren Williams
NegativeUsage41:08
Kyren Williams is ranked as the RB17, with concerns that Blake Corum will see increased involvement. While Williams has been a top-10 fantasy back on a per-game basis for three years, the team's late-season shift to a drive-by-drive rotation suggests a potential split. Williams remains the preferred option in pass protection and when trailing, but his fantasy ceiling is tied to the team's overall scoring output.
Insight pageMarShawn Lloyd
NegativeValue103:52
The source identifies Lloyd as a risky sell, citing a committee approach in the Packers' backfield and a difficult matchup against the Vikings' unique, blitz-heavy defense. With Josh Jacobs potentially returning sooner than expected, the source warns that Lloyd's week one performance may be underwhelming.
Insight pageOmarion Hampton
PositiveValue19:00
Omarion Hampton is considered a 'smash spot' play against the Cardinals, with the Chargers being 10-point favorites. He is a potential difference-maker who could finish as a top-three RB in points per game over the first two weeks.
Insight pageRhamondre Stevenson
NegativeUsage45:32
Rhamondre Stevenson is ranked as the RB18, with his workload heavily dependent on the status of Trevion Henderson. If Henderson is out, Stevenson could see 75-80% of snaps. Despite a tough matchup against the Seahawks, Stevenson is expected to maintain a floor through volume and potential pass-catching opportunities in a new-look offense.
Insight pageSaquon Barkley
PositiveProjection16:46
Saquon Barkley is ranked as the RB4, ahead of consensus, due to a favorable Week 1 matchup against a Commanders defense that allowed the fourth-most fantasy points to running backs last year. The Eagles are expected to prioritize the run game to improve their league-worst three-and-out rate, and Barkley has historically dominated the Commanders in previous matchups.
Insight pageTravis Etienne
PositiveUsage32:26
Travis Etienne is expected to see significant volume with Kamara out and limited competition in the backfield. He benefits from an upgraded offensive line and a high-paced offense, making him a potential difference-maker.
Insight pageFull transcript
Episode Transcript
0:00The first running back rankings of the season has arrived.
0:03Yes, week one is here. And we've already got some big dilemmas.
0:06I mean, we have to deal with the Jonathan Brooks injury and what that means for Chuba Hubbard.
0:11Obviously, Marshawn Lloyd is set to get the start, but how much of a workload do Hayden and yes, Justin Boone on this episode expect?
0:18Jadarian Price makes his NFL debut. Machel Tootin versus Chris Rodriguez.
0:21I mean, again, a summer of arguing leads into a summer and a week one of debate on top of it.
0:26So we hit it all on this episode of Yahoo Fantasy Football with Josh and Hayden.
0:31Stick around. Oh, yeah, we are back week one running back rankings.
0:34And this year we take it to the next level.
0:37Yes, we welcome on a guest, not just on this episode, but every single running back episode for the entire season.
0:42His name is Justin Boone, the title owner, the man who wears the crown of the most accurate ranker in the fantasy football world.
0:49Boone, welcome to the show. Hey, it is great to be here with you guys.
0:53I feel like I've had nothing but complimentary things to say about you for what the month or so that you've been here at Yahoo.
1:00It's been awesome. I told you guys already, this is like iron sharpens iron, right?
1:04Like we're going to get an opportunity here to bounce things off of each other to kind of work through some of
1:10these rankings, maybe even change some on the fly.
1:12I'm not against doing that. If someone makes a really valid point.
1:15I told Harmon last year, like I finished as the most accurate receiver ranker.
1:19And I absolutely think doing shows with him all the time and texting with him all the time, it played a part in that, right?
1:26It seeped into my brain somehow. So, you know, I thanked him for that along the way.
1:30And hopefully at the end of all this, all of our rankings are going to be better.
1:35Gentlemen, we'll all be near the top. I have a feeling that there's what five of us doing rankings on Yahoo, that
1:41our consensus will be as good as it gets out there.
1:44But I know, Josh, you have the other consensus that we're going to obviously argue with.
1:48I do. I'm going to go through a few names and then we'll get into like how the show structure is going to be through the entire season.
1:56But I know that people want to get to these players.
1:59So let's dive in and then we'll take another reset and talk about that.
2:03Here we go. The first name, number one for week one, Jameer Gibbs, as the Lions are seven point favorites here against the New Orleans Saints.
2:10Boone, I saw Dan Campbell get on the mic and said that running back two job is between Jacob Saylors and Sione Vakai.
2:16So we might be looking at what 80% snap share running back on a team projected for over 28 points here in week one.
2:23I mean, assuming health, we can just keep him locked into this spot for most of the season, right?
2:28The Lions are favored in 14 of their 17 games.
2:30Their backfield has the easiest fantasy schedule this year.
2:33Not that Gibbs needs it. But now with Montgomery gone, there isn't any legitimate competition like you said.
2:38So he is set for a huge season and a huge week one.
2:41Like these are two of the fastest paced offenses from last year.
2:44You have the Saints who were number one. You have the Lions who were number 12.
2:49We're going to get a lot of chances for scoring in this game.
2:52A lot of chances for fantasy points. And it's one of the higher projected point totals on the week as well.
2:58The Lions are second to only the Chargers. So it's just like everything pointing in his direction.
3:03Not that he needs it at all. But man, this year, he's going to be the one.
3:07Two years ago, we saw Saquon Barkley go over 2,000 yards.
3:10Last year, we saw Bajon Robinson do it. This year, it's going to be Gibbs.
3:14Yeah, it just depends. Like the level of the tier that he's going to get to is like the only thing that's up for debate.
3:21Average 25 half PPR points in eight games that David Montgomery has missed or played in under 25% of the snaps.
3:27And like you said, it's not just that Montgomery is gone.
3:30Pacheco is also gone now. So like right now, the betting markets have him at 19 half PPR points.
3:35Like that feels way too low to me. So yeah, we'll see that.
3:38You know, there were a bit of a slow start for the Lions last year.
3:42I think part of that was because of the offensive line reshuffling that they did, you know, this year.
3:48Juice Scruggs now playing at center with Cade Mays, I believe, injured at this moment.
3:52Blake Miller coming in at right tackle. If that's the case, if they gel with that front five with Paneso moving to left tackle.
3:58Can't wait to see what this group does. All right, Boone.
4:01Number two was the number two pick in most drafts out there.
4:04Bajon Robinson at the Pittsburgh Steelers. Three and a half point underdogs here for the Atlanta Falcons with the fifth lowest team
4:10total just over 19 points right now. We're going to get a little wild with some of these rankings compared to the draft rankings.
4:17Not yet though, right? Bajon Robinson, we're keeping him at number two.
4:20The Steelers are a fairly tough matchup. They were the six toughest opponents for fantasy backs last year.
4:25We have a lot of changes to consider for this Falcons offense too.
4:29And that kind of scares me. I mean, Bajon's so good, right?
4:32Like this guy can overcome a lot. But you think about the new coaching staff there.
4:36You think about Tua Tagovailoa, who I initially was like, okay, Tua will start the season.
4:40Panics will eventually take over. And then everything we heard and saw this summer was Tua did nothing to win this job.
4:46Nothing at all. He played the Broncos. He looked terrible in the preseason.
4:50He played the Dolphins, who are arguably going to be one of the worst defenses in the league.
4:55And he looked okay in that game. But he won this by default, right?
4:59So this offense, I think, is going to be held back a little bit by him.
5:03It might be able to help Bajon Robinson early in the season.
5:06Because remember what happened in Miami? We saw Tua just checking down all the time to Devon Achan.
5:11I think we could see some of that. And maybe Robinson might need that in this game because it is a slightly tougher matchup here.
5:18So I'm looking forward to when Panics is healthy and we can see what this offense kind of really is going to
5:24look like as the year goes along. I think we're going to have to see him get by early in the season with some of the passing work.
5:31And, you know, hopefully just that natural talent coming through.
5:34The other thing, Aiden, I want to ask you about, I'm curious what you think here.
5:38Are you worried at all about the changes on the offensive line?
5:42Caleb McGarry retiring. And now, you know, we're bringing in a guy who is not nearly the run blocker in Juwan Taylor.
5:48Like this has been a fairly good offensive line for him for a while.
5:51And now I'm just a little bit concerned. He's so good, it'll probably be fine.
5:55But it just knocks his projection down a little bit for me.
5:59I think firmly in the next tier, not the Jameer Gibbs tier to me.
6:03And I think that you can even flip them with some of these next couple of names.
6:07I think that the offensive line undergoing some changes, obviously a new brand new staff.
6:11Ryan Robinson will see if he's actually going to be in the Algier role.
6:15They said that that's going to be the case that ended up mattering for Bijan a little bit last year.
6:20He's still going to catch so many passes that he's still going to finish the top five guy almost every single week.
6:26But the Falcons are projected for the 27th most points this week, you know, in Pittsburgh.
6:31And that's the big difference. The Lions will never be 27th.
6:34And then the 49ers, they will never be 27.
6:36And you can roll down the list. Saquon Barkley, he'll never be 27.
6:40So that's the thing that you're going to be overcoming with Bijan the entire season.
6:44He's done it before. He's most likely going to do it again.
6:47But I would say among second overall picks, I think one of the most questionable ones that we've had in quite a while.
6:53So funny when we get to week one, we're like, oh yeah, there's actually a drastic canyon of a difference between, you
6:59know, the Detroit Lions and Atlanta Falcons. Obviously, we would bring that out.
7:03But, you know, so many people out there, it's just, you know, splitting hairs between pick one and pick two.
7:08But no, once it arrives to us, it's a big canyon.
7:11Okay, let's go to number three. That is Chris McCaffrey on Thursday in Australia against the LA Rams.
7:16The 49ers here are three and a half point dogs.
7:19Boone, I want to ask you. I mean, we know that CMC was a league winner last year.
7:24That though was with some of the worst underlying metrics you could ever see when it comes to a running back.
7:2937th in rate of runs to gain 10 or more yards.
7:3232nd in rate of runs that failed to gain yards.
7:3536th in yards after contact per rush. So are you expecting that to change?
7:39Or do you still expect, you know, Chris McCaffrey to catch a million balls?
7:43And if he's active, if he plays all season long, he's the true difference maker that you need.
7:47Yeah, he's totally a volume guy. We know he's a good player, but absolutely.
7:51We've done enough shows recently together, Josh, on the fantasy forecast side of things, where I've talked about my massive concerns about CMC this season.
7:58And the 450 touches when you include the playoffs and his age.
8:01And we've just never really seen a guy improve his stats at this point with that kind of setup.
8:06So I'm worried when he's out there, though, he's going to get the volume.
8:10And early in the season, you're going to feel okay playing him, even in what's a very tough matchup against this Rams
8:16defense that looks even scarier on paper this year.
8:19But I mean, just look at what CMC's done against them, right?
8:22Like, you know, he didn't have a lot of success against last year's version of this defense.
8:2612 carries for 30 yards in week 10, 22 carries for 57 yards in week five.
8:31Average less than three yards per carry in those matchups.
8:33But he passes in both of those games and he just keeps coming through that way.
8:38So, yes, I think you have to put him in your lineup, obviously, when he's healthy.
8:42Right now, he's healthy. There was a bit of a scare there.
8:45And I think people were very concerned and reliving that 2024 preseason when they kind of hit the injury maybe before week one.
8:52He looks like he's going to be fine. He's healthy right now.
8:55He's in your lineup. But please, please. And I talked about this in my waiver wire column this week.
9:00Go out and pick up his backup, Kalon Black, the rookie.
9:03You want to have him on your bench because if this does go south at some point, he's the guy that you're
9:09going to want to have in this backfield. One of my favorite strategies is picking up the Thursday night backup running backs
9:15because you can pick them up, watch the games, and then drop them.
9:18Pick up a different running back on the Sunday slate.
9:21Do the same thing for Monday. Keep that thing going.
9:24Increase your chances for hitting the jackpot there. So, I like that.
9:27I had the same eight receptions in both games against the Rams stat from last season.
9:31The only thing I wanted to mention, fourth round left guard Carver Willis is going to be a starter.
9:37The other four players are returning, but Carver Willis, never heard of him fourth rounder.
9:41It seems like he's going to be the start getting the starting nod.
9:44Aaron Donald, welcome back. That's your first game. And Myles Garrett here too.
9:48So, you know, in the two games where CMC averaged 2.6 yards per carry against this Rams defense, they did not have Aaron Donald or Myles Garrett.
9:55And now they get both. But like you said, Boone, don't look at the carry stuff.
9:59Look at the receptions here against this Rams defense.
10:02All right. Let's go to running back four. You're actually two spots ahead of consensus.
10:06I like to look at consensus, as Hayden mentioned, with 70 plus experts out there.
10:10We have our own experts here on the show.
10:12So I love when the little differences, especially at the top of the board and Saquon, they're running back six.
10:18You're running back four against the Washington Commanders. Four and a half point favorites.
10:22I mean, boom. When I look at this, the Eagles had the worst three and out rate in the NFL last season.
10:2829% of the time they went three and out.
10:30It's another reason why all offseason, I've said the number one mission here is for the Eagles to get the running game back on track.
10:37And you think it's going to happen here in week one?
10:40Yeah, right away. The Commanders defense was bad last year.
10:42They gave up the fourth most fantasy points to running backs.
10:45It's even worse this year, I think. And for all the struggles that this offense had on the Eagles side, he still
10:51had a really good game against them. 132 yards and a touchdown in their contest.
10:55But you can go back before that, right? 122 yards and three TDs in the playoff game two years ago.
11:01150 yards and two scores, 208 scrimmage yards and two touchdowns the matchup before that.
11:05So he has feasted on the Commanders. I think we've talked all offseason long about why we think this offense could rebound,
11:11better health in the offensive line, Sean Mannion taking over his coordinator and maybe breathing a little life into this attack.
11:17So there's a lot of reasons why I think it's going to get right there compared to last year.
11:22It might start a little slow on the pass game front though, right?
11:25They're really trying to change things. Mannion's trying to ask a little more of Hertz.
11:29The good news is they have these great matchups starting with this one to begin the season.
11:34So yeah, they're going to lean on the running game.
11:37Saquon's going to go out there and get off to a very hot start.
11:40And the Commanders defense is going to be one that we're targeting all season, just trying to get fantasy players in our lineups against them.
11:47Yep. Eagles eighth in projected points this week for touchdown favorites here at home.
11:51He's nuked the Commanders and then Commanders. They're trying to get better.
11:54Well, we'll see about Sonny Stiles. First round linebacker.
11:57Leo Chennault comes over there. Odafe Owe, Tim Settles.
11:59They're trying. It's a lot of new players in a new system there.
12:03And then last year, opposing running back rooms averaged 20 more rushing yards per game than their season average against the Commanders.
12:09That was the third largest gap out there. So once you adjust for the schedule, the Commanders got absolutely roasted last year.
12:15I think that's going to continue. All right. Devon Achan, you actually have as your running back five.
12:19This might have been some late movement in the Boone rankings.
12:22I love it. This is against the Las Vegas Raiders.
12:25Three and a half point road underdogs here. Second lowest team total of the week at 18 and a half.
12:31Boone, I guess we're going to get answers immediately about his receiving usage here.
12:34Well, I'm going to ask this live on the air here, but are we going PPR or half PPR?
12:39I thought we were going half PPR. That's the most.
12:42Okay. Half PPR. I have Jonathan Taylor. Okay. Then we'll move it.
12:45We'll reset. So we got to move him ahead.
12:48There we go. Slight difference. And we want to get it right here because as people know who watched our staff draft
12:54show, I took Jonathan Taylor third overall, went totally against my rankings, had to justify it to everybody.
12:59I knew people were going to be upset. Oddly enough, everyone on our staff really didn't give me a hard time.
13:04It was people that interacted with it on social media.
13:07It was fine. I was ready for all of it.
13:10And I get the concerns about Taylor, right? I get the idea that, you know, when they're winning, he's crushing 127.3 rushing
13:16yards per game in their wins last year, 63 rushing yards per game in their losses.
13:20That is a very big difference. There's also context to that though, right?
13:24We know the Daniel Jones injury kind of changed the shape of this offense.
13:27Philip Rivers corpse out there, Riley Leonard out there later in the season, this team was not the same offense.
13:33And then in the losses, when he did have Jones out there, they all happened weirdly against like really tough rundies, the
13:39Rams, the Steelers, the Chiefs, the Texans, the Jags.
13:41So it makes it a little more difficult for him to come through in those ones.
13:46Four of those five games were also on the road.
13:48The one game at home, he did have 121 scrimmage yards against the Texans defense.
13:52Pretty good defense to do that against. This week he is at home against the Ravens, 47.5 projected game total there.
13:58That suggests there's going to be a bunch of points scored in this one.
14:02It's in the dome. So fast track. We know he's a big play guy.
14:06Hopefully he can hit one of those. We know the offensive line is very strong and this offense is like pretty healthy
14:12kind of compared to where we thought it was going to be going into week one.
14:16Seems like Alec Pierce is going to be out there.
14:19They have Keenan Allen added to the mix. Tyler Warren, Josh Downs, they dealt with some injuries in August.
14:24They're healthy. So what's really to stop this offense from maybe not repeating what they were doing in the first half of
14:30last season when Daniel Jones was healthy, but at least looking a lot better and maybe something a little closer to that
14:36side of things as opposed to what it looked like as the season went along when they lost him.
14:41So I'm looking at Jonathan Taylor. Someone's going to get a ton of volume.
14:45Doesn't have a lot of backfield competition. And I think he can come through even in a fairly difficult matchup.
14:50I think the Ravens are going to be one of the best defenses in the league this year.
14:55I really have liked what Jesse Minter, their new head coach, has done over the course of years, even going back to the Michigan days.
15:02And they have enough guys to work with where I think it's going to be one of the most difficult matchups.
15:07But I think we're threading that needle where he's the healthiest of the skill group, but the rest of the school groups
15:13are at least out there to keep the chains moving.
15:16I'm not sure how many of these skill guys can walk in a straight line like Daniel Jones, Alec Pierce, Josh Downs,
15:22and then Keenan Allen separately to that. They've been kind of wobbling the last couple of weeks here, but I think that they're healthy enough to play.
15:29I think it's going to help Jonathan Taylor out this year.
15:32So those splits are really drastic. There's going to be some weeks where we're going to want to rank Jonathan Taylor as a top three back.
15:39I think this is one of the weeks to drop him down just a couple spots.
15:44We also saw last year, he caught more passes last season, right?
15:47And I think that's something that could continue this year in part because of some of those injuries and those guys maybe
15:53not being a hundred percent early in the season as they try to figure some of this stuff out, but I've repeated this stat all off season.
16:00Last year before Daniel Jones got hurt, Jonathan Taylor was the number one running back overall.
16:05There was some inflated touchdown scoring in there. Obviously he was catching some more passes, but he has that within his range of outcomes.
16:11And I think if Daniel Jones is maybe a little less mobile coming off of the injury, that might result in some more passes thrown Taylor's way.
16:18So I think there's reason to be very excited about him.
16:21I agree though, this matchup, he's maybe a couple spots lower than I would normally have him.
16:26Yeah. Yeah. Big contrast in wins and losses for them last year.
16:29Like obviously when they won, he was averaging over 30 half PPR points.
16:33And then when they lost, it was, you know, less than that.
16:36Let's say, okay, let's reset. Devon Achan is your running back six.
16:39Hey, and I'm going to send it to you this time.
16:42All right. Since I already did this once to Boone, this is at the Las Vegas Raiders.
16:47And despite being at the Las Vegas Raiders, I believe the Dolphins are three and a half point road underdogs here.
16:53Second lowest team total of the week at 18 and a half.
16:56Typically that's not a running back environment that we love, but here we sit with Devon Achan sixth overall at the running back spot.
17:02Position high, six and a half targets. And the third highest projected total yards at 106 and a half.
17:07The only guys ahead of them at the position are our first and second overall players.
17:12Now he has to catch passes. He has to rack up the yards because the touchdowns are not going to be there.
17:18I do think that this offensive line is underrated.
17:20And that's why I've been drafting more Devon Achan than almost everybody out there.
17:24So I got in that fifth overall. But then you are still higher than I think a lot of other rankers.
17:30And I think we should keep it that way with, with Devon Achan.
17:33I would not be surprised if he comes out of the first like month of the season, like leading the league and touches.
17:39I think that that is, that's possible for him just because the rest of the skill groups, a bunch of rookies out there.
17:46Um, and I think it's so easy to get him involved underneath that.
17:49Um, I just want to keep relying on the volume.
17:52Yeah, we can't project injuries. It's very difficult to do maybe with everybody other than JK Dobbins, but it's hard not to
17:58see them leaning on him so much this year because they have to, and him maybe eventually breaking down.
18:03That's one of my just kind of personal like gut feelings and concerns for Achan.
18:07But right now he's healthy. This is a game where, I mean, how down bad are they that they're dogs to the
18:13Raiders in week one, like just absolutely brutal times for Miami.
18:16And yet this seems like a game where they will be competitive.
18:19They will stay in it. I don't really have a strong feeling about whether he's going to get the same kind of passing volume or not here, right?
18:27Like 78 receptions for 592 yards and six touchdowns two years ago, and then 67 for 488 for last year.
18:32That is a lofty number. And Malik Wills is not that kind of quarterback.
18:36So they're going to have to kind of go out of their way to get Wills to get him the ball.
18:42And I'm a little bit intrigued, at least by the receiving core there, that maybe they could do something this season.
18:47The rookies, Chris Bell and Caleb Douglas kind of flashing a little bit in the preseason.
18:52So I'm curious to see what this Miami attack is.
18:54It's going to revolve around Achan and just volume wise.
18:57I think we still have to keep them up in this range.
19:00The smash spot of the week is Amar in Hampton and Harry stands as the running back seven against the Arizona Cardinals.
19:06Hayden, 10 point favorites. You look up and the chargers are 10 point favorites in week one against this Arizona Cardinals team.
19:12We do know that Keaton Mitchell did return to practice yesterday.
19:15But again, as we've said for the last five years, this is what we term a smash spot.
19:20Yeah. I mean, they're projected for the most points in the league and the Cardinals were terrible on defense last year.
19:26So to me, the only thing that's going to change my rankings is just, is Keaton Mitchell available or not?
19:31I would move him up or down a couple spots from here.
19:35But if like, this is the spot to go crazy with Omar and Hampton's and everybody gets home type of matchup.
19:40Yeah. I mean, not much to add to that.
19:43I think the Keaton Mitchell thing we'll see about the injury, but even if he's out to this, isn't a big volume player, right?
19:49He's always been that change of pace kind of guy.
19:52So to me, Hampton, people forget just how good he was last season.
19:55And I think part of it is because he dealt with injuries and wasn't out there all year, but RB 16 and
20:01per game scoring average, 13.3 fantasy points per game, double digits in six of his last seven appearances.
20:06And though he was limited to just nine games, he posted top 24 results in over half of his appearances had three
20:12weeks where he was an RB one for fantasy.
20:15Like this guy has the potential to be a true difference maker.
20:18And with the McDaniel set up and starting with just an outstanding matchup like this, I think we're going to get him
20:24off to a very, very hot start. Yeah, I think we could look back and Omar and Hampton might be the running
20:30back two or three in points per game over the opening two weeks.
20:33I mean, they open with the Cardinals and the Raiders after that, then it's the bills, the Seahawks, the Broncos, the chiefs,
20:39the Rams, the Texans, and the Ravens. So it gets a bit more difficult, much quicker, but yeah, these first two weeks,
20:45uh, Omar and Hampton is the dude. That's for sure.
20:48Okay. To close out this top tier chase Brown, Justin Boone is your running back eight.
20:52This is against Tampa Buccaneers three and a half point favorites here.
20:56The Bengals are. Yeah. Love chase Brown this season for a variety of reasons.
20:59I mean, Vita ve got his money. That always hurts any running back matchup when you're going against the bucks.
21:05They've had fairly good run defense for a while here.
21:08The fifth fewest rushing yards allowed last year, but chase can just win in so many ways and quietly had a strong season last year.
21:14I think a lot of people remember what happened early in the year when they had the quarterback injury, they had tough matchups.
21:21He wasn't really performing up to speed then, but by the end of the season, he was the RB 12 and fantasy points per game.
21:27And if you look at the final 10 games, when you had Flacco and when you had Joe Burrow back, all of
21:33a sudden this dude was top three in running back scoring.
21:36Like that's the ceiling here. Like this is a guy that could actually get up into the top five, into the top three kind of does it all.
21:44I'm not that scared of smudge AP Ryan. So yes, he is a fantastic play this week, even in what looks to
21:50be like a little bit tougher of a matchup with the bucks.
21:53The 21 games with Burrow active the past two seasons, RB 12 and RB five usage, the offensive line is getting better and better.
22:00So I think he's going to get closer to that top five number that he closed out last season with.
22:05This is the matchup where it's just a pass funnel.
22:08Everyone knows it's a pass funnel. The secondary is still very unproven.
22:11Ruben Bain's going to help a lot up front V to V getting him back.
22:15Uh, so I think that this could be a spot where, you know, in a better matchup, I would rank him even
22:21higher than this at the same time. Bengals third in projected points.
22:24He's going to be a focal point of the offense.
22:27So it's still very clearly an RB one. All right.
22:30Well, send it to their AFC North rivals for the running back nine.
22:33That is Derek Henry and Hayden. I'll pass it to you first, uh, three and a half point road favorites here against the Indian Apple's Colts.
22:40We love playing Derek Henry when they're favorites. Yeah.
22:43The splits are massive. Just starting with Lamar Jackson, healthy 32 games together.
22:46He's the RB six at 17.4 half PPR points per game on RB 15 usage.
22:50He's number one in rush yards over expected because you have to defend Lamar Jackson zone read game.
22:55So I think that Derek Henry has largely looked about the same player as he was in Tennessee with Baltimore.
23:01The offensive line has me a little bit spooked here and the Colts, uh, they do have a DeForest Buckner back.
23:06They drafted CJ Allen, the second round linebacker as well.
23:09So I think this is going to be more of a neutral matchup long-term against the Indianapolis Colts, but still Baltimore six
23:15and projected points, uh, with Indianapolis kind of limping into the season.
23:18So a good spot for Derek Henry, not the best spot in just a fine spot.
23:22And you mentioned the offensive line. Like we have a center making his first start and Javon Quinn, like going up against
23:28DeForest Buckner, that's going to be a tough challenge.
23:31I feel like I'm always the one like talking down Derek Henry and it makes me look foolish because he just keeps
23:37like pushing away father time here, but I'm just a little bit concerned about him because the line, are we worried at all that like Patrick Ricard's gone?
23:44He's in New York now, like things are changing.
23:47They might throw the ball more and maybe that'll pull people away from the line and make life a little easier on him.
23:53But man, with the age, with the offensive line, at some point, this is going to go south for Henry and it's
23:59probably not going to be this year. And I probably will look foolish once again, but I feel like I'm always the
24:05one kind of pointing out the, you know, holes in the armor of the King.
24:09Well, I will say that there's going to be some huge games and some dead games, Josh, like to your point, uh,
24:15over his entire career, he averaged 104 rushing yards in wins and then 61 rushing yards in losses.
24:20Like that is a ginormous gap here. So like, I think we're going to play a little bit of a whack-a-mole with, with Derek.
24:26And I think it just really comes down to how good is Jesse Menor?
24:30How good is Declan Doyle? Like those are two like kind of up and coming coaches.
24:35If they hit both home runs, then the Ravens are going to be a super bowl contending team.
24:39We just don't know yet. Number 10, Javante Williams at the New York Giants.
24:43We'll continue on this offensive line talking point because the Cowboys just lost one of the better left guards in all of football in Tyler Smith.
24:50Uh, I believe it's hand surgery out for four to six weeks, four to six games.
24:55Uh, that's a big deal here, Boone, but we know Javante Williams, uh, this is one of the best matchups you could potentially have.
25:01The Giants no longer have Dexter Lawrence and they were still getting run on last year.
25:05That's for sure. Yeah, absolutely. I mean, and last year you think about what he did.
25:10He was so good for fantasy, RB 13 fantasy points per game, RB nine through the first 15 weeks before he kind
25:16of trailed off a little bit and he didn't play in week 18, which was a matchup with the Giants.
25:21So we only have one game, but like you said, 130 scrimmage yards and a touchdown, they're going to have success here no matter what.
25:28So while there might be some matchups where we do worry about the offensive line, I don't think this has to be
25:34one of them and no real competition there. Malik Davis isn't coming for his touches.
25:38So Javante has got a spot here where he's going to start very, very strong and keep up what he was doing last year.
25:44Yeah. Giants dead last in pretty much every single rushing category last year.
25:48And they lost Dexter Lawrence. Now you bring in Harbaugh, like literally to stop the run and they drafted an off ball linebacker who's awesome.
25:55And Arbel Reese, but it's like his first, first career game.
25:58So we'll see about this one. Javante Williams to me, there was a lot of reasons to like, kind of maybe feel
26:04like a little bit squeamish and drafting the third round, like in redraft over the entire course of the season.
26:09But like Boone said, he was at RB one last year and the Cowboys are fifth in projected points is the awesome matchup here.
26:16Like he is without a doubt, a top 12 running back to me.
26:19Hey, and I'm going to send this one to you because I think you closed fancy draft season with Ken Walker, the third as your running back nine.
26:27Here he is, as the running back 11. So overall ninth overall player to hear running back 11.
26:32Now they are facing the Denver Broncos, but with that said, they are three point home favorites here.
26:36A bit of an under discussed story over the last couple of weeks.
26:40Chiefs are starting undrafted rookie Khalil Benson at left tackle.
26:43Josh Simmons is just not ready for this one.
26:45So your expectations in Ken Walker's debut here. I want to take the weekly rankings and like completely put them in a different category than season long rankings.
26:53So like I'm, I'm with Justin here. He's my RB tends to a little bit higher, but this is a very difficult matchup.
26:59The chiefs are projected for middle of the pack points this week at 23.
27:03I think it's going to be a very Kenneth Walker focused game plan.
27:06I'm curious. They're going to throw him a lot more screens because the Broncos play a lot of man coverage.
27:12What's the thing that has frightened us over the years.
27:14It's when Rasheed Rice and Xavier worthy face man coverage.
27:17So I think that the chiefs are going to try to run the ball with Kenneth Walker.
27:22I think the volume is absolutely going to be there.
27:24I think he's going to catch some passes. It's Emmitt Johnson or a, what a fifth round rookie behind him.
27:30So he's going to get the volume here. Just the matchup is a difficult one.
27:34At the same time, no Jonathan Cooper. They did lose John Franklin Myers in Denver as well.
27:39So not quite as good of a defense upfront, but still, you know, middle of the pack scoring environment for Kenneth Walker here.
27:45This is the reason they went out and got Walker, right?
27:48Like the idea of trying to take some of the pressure off of my home, especially early in the season with him coming back from the injury.
27:55So I'm with you, Hayden bad matchup. The volume will be there.
27:58He's a home run hitter. We know he could take any single touch to the house.
28:03So still happy to play him as a low end RB one, but most weeks he will be ranked higher than this.
28:09All right. Moving on. James cook is coming up next as a running back 12 at the Houston Texans.
28:14You are slightly below consensus here. Boone. They have him as a running back 10.
28:18Again, you have him as running back 12, uh, one and a half point road favorites here.
28:22The Buffalo bills are, and I'm watching immediately what the drop back rate is going to be with Joe Brady in charge,
28:28not having to, you know, answer to Sean McDermott at all here.
28:32And if James cook starts to catch more passes and maybe lose a little bit of rushing work, then we are off to the races.
28:38And that's really the key. Like, this is another tough matchup.
28:41We're seeing a couple of these guys who would normally be inside the top 10 slip just outside of it.
28:47Though he did come through against them last year, 116 yards and a touchdown when they played, but that was one of
28:53Josh Allen's worst games of the season. It makes you kind of scared to go after this bill's offense.
28:58When you know that the Texans were good last year might be even better this year.
29:02So that makes me just a little bit worried about him, but it all does come down to, will we see him this year?
29:09Get more involved in the passing game. That's going to be very important, especially early in the season, like their schedule early in the year here.
29:16It's the Texans, the Lions, the Chargers, the Patriots, and the Rams.
29:19So on the season, they have the second worst fantasy schedule for running backs to start the year.
29:24It's arguably the hardest through the first five weeks.
29:26A little bit concerned about the way he starts the season.
29:29He would be an absolute buy low at the end of that stretch or somewhere in the middle of that stretch if his stats aren't there.
29:36But this game is going to tell us a lot in terms of where he's going to be involved in that passing
29:42attack and how much volume he's going to get through the air.
29:46The Texans last year, second best defense against fantasy running backs.
29:49When you adjust for schedule, then this off season, they add Jadavian Clowney, who's pretty much at this point, just a run stopper, like a edge three.
29:56And then second rounder, Caden McDonald is a nose tackle.
29:59So they're even getting better this year, more depth.
30:01So yeah, it's, it's as tough of a matchup.
30:03I'll raise you again, Justin, uh, RB 14 for me, I've, I've lowered them even further.
30:08And then I just checked the live betting markets.
30:10He's actually the RB 16 and those. So this is one where I think that just consensus straight up has James Cook, uh, miss ranked here.
30:17Um, the Buffalo bills. I'm very curious, Justin, to watch your team here.
30:21Like Josh said, what is the offense looking like?
30:23And obviously it's a very difficult matchup to go against here, but they will be tested.
30:28Yeah. Texans top 10 and fantasy points allowed to running backs last year and rushing yards given up and rushing touchdowns.
30:33So one of the tougher matchups for them this season.
30:36And I think what we learned from this game about the offense and about cooks role in the passing game is going
30:42to go a long way to telling me where to rank him moving forward, especially in my rest of season rankings.
30:48The first version of that's going to come out on Wednesday.
30:51All right. This next group of running backs, you are ahead of consensus on that begins with Deandre Swift.
30:56You're running back 13. The bears are three point road favorites against the Carolina Panthers.
31:00Common on guy missed like a half a dozen, maybe even more practices with a hyper extended knee, but he did return on Monday.
31:06With that said, Boone, I feel like everyone in the fancy football universe over the last 12 months has done a one
31:1280 on Deandre Swift and we all love him now.
31:15It's really true. He was kind of one of those guys for a while where the public perception was just down on
31:21him that anything he really got was because of the environment that he was in.
31:25And maybe that's still the case here because this bears offense is fantastic.
31:29This rushing attack's awesome. The offensive line is great.
31:31And I will say, even if menung guy is back this week, which we're not totally sure yet, I guess we should
31:37mention that we're recording this on Tuesday. Most weeks we're going to record it on Wednesday.
31:41So we'll have like a little bit of practice participation information that we can go off of this week.
31:46We don't have much at all. So menung guy still got to ramp up here and prove that he can get back out there for the opener.
31:54Even if he is out there though, Swift's numbers were actually better once menung guy took on a bigger role from week six on last year.
32:01Deandre Swift is the RB 10 in fantasy points per game.
32:04So a good player in a good offense. You expect that this bears team is going to run up the score on the Panthers.
32:10So excited to play him this week, whether menung guy is out there or not.
32:14Yeah, I have him as my running back 12 and that's kind of factoring that menung guy like has a chance to play.
32:21If he doesn't play, I will rank him inside my top 10 pretty comfortably looking at it live projections.
32:26He's RB seven right now, RB seven for Deandre Swift.
32:28And that does make sense. Seventh in scoring for the bears, pretty balanced offense.
32:32I will say Panthers defense, like the defensive line is pretty good.
32:35You add Jalen Phillips, you add Devin Lloyd and stuff.
32:38And I think that in general, the Panthers defense like has, has a chance this year.
32:43So it's like as clean of a matchup as you might think, but you know, I'm just completely betting on the bears to figure it out.
32:50Travis HN steps up as your running back 14 new pronunciation for his last name, new team for him on top of it here.
32:56Boone seven point road underdogs though. The saints are, I mean, this is not an environment that you want your running back
33:02one to step into in week one. Not expecting a lot of competition though with Kamara out.
33:07Kendra Miller's coming off an ACL tear. Do we think that he's actually going to get that involved in this one?
33:12So there's going to be an opportunity for a lot of volume.
33:16The lions were like sort of middle of the pack against the run last year, 115 yards per game to running backs.
33:22And again, this is another player where like the public perception on HN is like down.
33:26I think people don't really like him and they're probably right in terms of he's not an elite back.
33:31He is a guy that's kind of feasted on some good situations and some good environments, but RV 10 and fantasy points
33:37per game last year, of course, with another team, but showing that he has that kind of upside, that was his third
33:43time in the last four NFL seasons where he's got over 1300 scrimmage yards.
33:47Second time he's posted at least 12 touchdowns. So he is definitely showcased that he can be that meaningful difference maker.
33:52And now knowing that Kamara is not going to be around early in the season, that he doesn't really have anybody competing
33:58with him, that he's in this matchup where there's going to be a ton of volume potentially.
34:03I like his chances in this Callan Moore offense and putting up some pretty good stats, especially Will Kamara's hope.
34:08Yeah, I really like him. He's my highest drafted running back this year.
34:12The number one in neutral pace stands out to me.
34:15I think it's an upgraded offensive line. He's never played behind an offensive line.
34:18I think that this is definitely one of the better units across the league.
34:22So I think in terms of environment, I actually do do like this setup for Travis HN, who was like you said, was already an RB one before.
34:30Could shock the world for the second time, right?
34:32Last year, I remember we were debating that Jags backfield about who it was going to be.
34:37And he came out at a huge season. And I think people might be underrating what he could do this year.
34:43And I think he's going to catch passes in this game.
34:46You know, I think just you have to do that.
34:48They don't have enough skill, talent to not throw him the ball four or five times.
34:53Next is Brees Hall at the Tennessee Titans. I mean, one half point road underdogs.
34:57I believe I saw that. I mean, the fourth lowest team total on the board at 19 points.
35:02However, Boone, when you and I were in Buffalo, I was seated at Elmo's eating some Buffalo wings and on the television.
35:07The Titans starting defense, I believe, was getting torched by the Seattle backup offense.
35:11If my memory serves me correctly, long run after long run, touchdown after touchdown.
35:15I know they've got Jeffrey Simmons. They've got some other defensive players and Robert Sala stepping in here.
35:20But man, Boone, I kind of feel if there was one undervalued offense from the markets in week one, I kind of
35:26feel like it might be the Jets here. Yeah, they've added so many pieces.
35:30I mean, we have the Frank Reich scenario here.
35:32We're not really sure what he's bringing to the table and whether he can bring all these pieces together and do something meaningful for fantasy.
35:39But what we keep hearing from the coaching staff is that Brees Hall's a workhorse.
35:43Garrett Wilson's a workhorse. It's going to go through those two guys again.
35:47And yeah, it's kind of like the Dolphins scenario, though.
35:49Like, it's kind of shocking that the Jets aren't favored in this game based on what we've heard about the Titans this
35:55year and kind of the general vibes around them this summer.
35:58It's not been very positive. I don't want to spoil anything either.
36:01I think Harmon's going to continue to do his games.
36:04No one's watching on the Thursday shows. I won't be on it.
36:07I believe Josh is going to take my spot on the Thursday shows.
36:11Guess what's going to be in there this week?
36:13It's going to be this Jets Titans game. Other than the fans of the team and other than analysts like us who
36:19are desperately going to want to watch this game to try to figure out, like, what do these offenses look like?
36:25What are we going to get out of them this year?
36:28I don't think anybody is going to be excited to put this game on their screen.
36:32So this is a spot where Brees Hall can come through.
36:35I mean, you mentioned it. They do have some pieces.
36:38There's one thing that the Titans can do with Jeffrey Simmons and some of those guys.
36:42They can at least put up somewhat of a fight against the run.
36:46I'm worried that it's going to take some time for them to figure out the rest of it.
36:51So, yeah, I'm fine playing Brees Hall this week.
36:53And I think he's going to have an okay season here as long as he's, one, healthy coming off that groin injury,
36:59which by all accounts, it sounds like he is.
37:02They kind of downplayed it when it first happened.
37:04And this week he's going to practice and they're expecting him to play.
37:08And then the question is, how much are they going to involve the other running backs?
37:12Are we going to get Braylon Allen out there potentially around the goal line?
37:16Aaron Glenn always likes to say that stuff, but we know Brees Hall showed us before.
37:20He can be a top 12 fantasy back. We just need him to get the volume and we need this offense to
37:26be slightly better than what we've seen in the last couple of seasons.
37:29Yeah. RB 17 in the 12 games. I removed the Brady Cook games.
37:33If you get waved, I'm sure removed those games.
37:35And he was the RB 17 in those 12 games.
37:38So I think that's a good starting point. I would guess that the Tennessee Titans defense alliance, one of the best in the NFL this year.
37:45I mean, Jeffrey Simmons, John Franklin Myers, Jermaine Johnson, and just like the history of Robert Sala figuring it out.
37:51I will note their starting linebacker, their tackle leader, Cedric Gray, he all of a sudden was in the concussion protocol from like an ATV accent.
37:58We'll see if he plays. I think that would, you know, make us a slight difference here.
38:02All right. Some big conversations to be had coming up.
38:05And that begins with Ashen Jenti here as running back 16 against the Miami Dolphins.
38:09I mean, look, he was drafted ahead of the 16th overall pick.
38:12This is the easiest game that the Raiders have in their opening 11 weeks.
38:16They are three and a half point favorites here.
38:19Hayden, we have not seen Ashen Jenti since the ankle injury and subsequent prayer circle.
38:23So what are you expecting just overall for touches this week?
38:26Because I have a feeling he's, I mean, running back 16 is extremely low here.
38:30It is low. The Raiders are 18th in projected points.
38:32Like this is in theory a game where you'd like love to have Ashen Jenti be like the seventh running back in our rankings.
38:39I'm waiting for the injury reports. Like I want to see some full practices by the end of the week.
38:44He can be like limited, limited, full, something like that would give me more confidence.
38:48If it's like three straight limited practices or something like that, then I think that rankings down here is going to feel more appropriate.
38:55I also had him 16th overall. I'm just like waiting for more information.
38:58But my, my impression is that Mike Washington is going to play maybe a little bit more than others think.
39:04And I know everyone's discounting him because he was not a work, workhorse in college.
39:08The Raiders drafted him to be like that change of pace guy.
39:11He's like a totally different type of back from the Ashen Jenti.
39:14And I think this team's gonna be so balanced on offense that both these guys are going to play a lot.
39:20So yeah, if we get three straight full practices, I will move Ashen Jenti up from, from this spot, but not, not too much higher.
39:27Yeah. We've come a long way from the, what was it?
39:30The prayer circle on the field when Jenti got hurt.
39:32But I feel like the reports since then have been fairly positive about him.
39:36And it isn't just like, oh, they ask the coach and he kind of just waves it all.
39:41Yeah, he's fine. He's going to be fine. Cause there's another guy that we're going to talk about a little while who
39:47I feel like that's the vibe we're getting on him.
39:50For Jenti, it seems like all along they've been like, okay, the injury wasn't nearly as bad as we thought.
39:55He'll be out there week one. So I think from a health perspective, he will be active.
40:00The thing I am concerned about though, is the Mike Washington of it all.
40:04And the fact that this team isn't going to want to put a huge workload on Jenti.
40:08And in week one coming off this injury and Mike Washington had opened the door for him to show what he could do.
40:14And he did. So we're going to see both these guys use Clint Kubiak actually earlier in the off season was talking
40:20more like, well, Jenti could potentially be a bell cow.
40:23That's changed in recent weeks. Since we saw Mike Washington come on, there's been a lot more talk about how both these backs are going to get work.
40:31And I think it just makes sense in week one.
40:33Why would you put it on Jenti? Let's give both these guys some action.
40:37Let's get Jenti back to full health for sure.
40:40And then you go from there. Yeah. I'm excited for the meltdown when in week one, in the easiest matchup, once again,
40:46that Jenti and Mike Washington are 50, 50 split in this backfield.
40:49Like I couldn't even talk about Mike Washington on the waiver show with Joel, because I think because of us, he's rostered
40:55over 56% of Yahoo leaks right now. And I don't think that would have happened, you know, three or four weeks ago.
41:01Clint Kubiak pounding the table for Mike Washington too.
41:03Again, we'll see what happens, but this might be a fun game just for the reactions afterwards.
41:08All right. Kyron Williams pops up as the running back 17 here.
41:11Kyron Williams drafters have been waiting and waiting and waiting for his name.
41:15But in your four spots under consensus here, whom is running back 13 at the moment.
41:19So speaking of overreactions, I'm ready to do the same thing with a snap split between Kyron and Corum for the third
41:25straight season after this contest on Thursday. I mean, Kyron is such a tough one to rank because you want to go,
41:31okay, well, the way it ended last year, Corum is going to get more involved.
41:35That's how we saw it finish. And yet every year, I feel like we've been playing this game where before the season,
41:41everyone talks about how we're going to have another back involved.
41:44And then the season starts and Kyron's the one that they trust in the last three years.
41:48He's been a top 10 fantasy back in a per game basis.
41:52Right? So that's the part that makes it really difficult.
41:54I think trying to parse what's actually going to happen here because these guys also are not that different in age, right?
42:00This is not an older back and a younger back.
42:03They're the same age. They are just a few months apart in age.
42:07That doesn't mean much, but I just think when people look at this one, they think that, you know, Kyron's 28 years
42:13old and Corum's 22 or 23 and he's the next coming.
42:16It's not that at all. And Kyron also has had a lot of success going against the 49ers, finished as a top
42:22five fantasy back three times in his last four games against San Francisco.
42:25The fourth game, 112 scrimmage yards. He just didn't find the end zone.
42:29So still had an okay day there. I expect that Corum will be more involved this year, but I don't think we
42:35can bump Kyron down much further than this. I think that would be a mistake.
42:39This coaching staff still trusts him. Not that much has changed since last year.
42:42Talk me out of this one. Am I wrong guys?
42:45I was very curious where you're going to have him because I thought I was going to be like way, way, low item is RB 18.
42:52But so I'm glad that you're kind of right there with me here.
42:56I'm just taking it kind of at face value that they ended the season in a drive by drive rotation.
43:01Like in the week 21 game, it was literally you get a drive and the next guy gets the drive.
43:07And I don't see why that would change this season.
43:09They went down swinging with that. Blake Corum, I think is a little bit more explosive than Kyron Williams.
43:14Kyron Williams a little bit better in pass protection.
43:17So I think it will start as a 60, 40 with Kyron Williams, but this team's also projected for 26 points from,
43:23from week nine to the end of the season.
43:25When it was that drive by drive rotation here, they averaged 33 points.
43:29Like this is a big difference in projected points versus where.
43:32Well, but no one's going to be projected for 33 points heading into this week, you know, like still being the fourth highest projected team at 26 points.
43:39Like I don't think Kyron Williams is going to finish as the running back 17.
43:43If you know, the Rams score the fourth highest points of the week.
43:47My point is that while they were scoring 33 points, Kyron Williams had the RB 13 usage.
43:52Blake Corum had RB 41 usage. The only reason why they were both able to stay involved is because they were scoring 33 points.
43:58So if we start chopping off a full touchdown per game and that gap gets closer, that's when the Kyron Williams red flag.
44:04So this is like one of the most interesting spots.
44:07And obviously we're going to learn about this on Thursday.
44:10We don't have to wait until Sunday, but this Rams with T for with their wide receivers and this one, this is
44:16like, this is going to be one of the biggest storylines of the year.
44:19The other thing I'll add is when the Rams are trailing, I mean, Sean McVay just leans completely on Kyron Williams.
44:25I mean, he played 75% of the snaps when the Rams were tired or trailing last year compared to Blake Corum's 24%.
44:31So we'll see. We'll see what happens. But again, I think if the Rams are the fourth high scoring team, then Kyron
44:37Williams will be much higher than the running back 17 on the week.
44:41I can't wait to like, we have actual, like I know for me, Hayden, I have like an actual setup for if
44:47teams are traveling cross country, what that could potentially mean for their projections.
44:50I can't wait now to try to figure out what it means when they're traveling to Australia and figure out exactly how
44:56I should change my projections based on that. Well, they're just doing it.
45:00They're going to get there one day and they're going to fly back home.
45:03The 49ers been there for a while. Quickly on the 49ers defense line, Nick Bosa said, I'm flying out here.
45:09I'm going to fucking play. So he's playing. They added Osa Adigizua, a defensive tackle, a really good player.
45:14Fred Warner's coming back from injury, but Mikel Williams is out.
45:17So lots of moving parts of the San Francisco 49ers.
45:20They're healthier this year than they were to close last year, certainly.
45:23But I do not think this is like quite the same defensive line that we're talking about from a couple of seasons ago.
45:29All right, let's talk Romandre Stevenson. He is running back 18 here.
45:32And this is important because you're three spots out of consensus here.
45:36Boone, Trevor Henderson has mispracticed. It sounds like for the last two weeks, if he's out and it's trending in the direction
45:42that he is going to be out, we could see Romandre get up to one of those 75%, 80% snap range.
45:47The other part of this is they opened last season with really poor blocking.
45:51They've reached out their offensive line. Hopefully it'll help here because the Seattle defense is going to get after it.
45:56So Boone, I'm sure that you would love to see an 80% Romandre game, not be against the Seattle Seahawks on a Wednesday night.
46:03Yeah. It's that weird balance. And we've talked about it with a couple of these guys where there could be the volume,
46:09but we also have a really tough matchup. The Seahawks, the second worst matchup for fantasy backs last year.
46:14I have it ranked right now as if Henderson is out.
46:17I don't have him ranked. And just a little note for everybody out there.
46:21If you do look at my rankings and there's a player not in the rankings and you're like, why is that guy not there?
46:27Don't message me. Just go do a quick search.
46:30I guarantee it's because there's an injury that you're not aware of that I know about.
46:34And that's why I'm just projecting the player to not play.
46:37We try to do like these educated guesses early in the week.
46:40We don't have complete information yet. We're trying to figure out who might play and who might not.
46:45And I take chances sometimes where if I don't think a player is going to play, I just won't rank them at that point.
46:52So I just want to remind everyone of that.
46:54Cause I do get a lot of messages where people want to check in and be like, how come you don't have this guy ranks?
47:01Trust me. I did not forget about that player.
47:03Stevenson last year too. If you go back to the playoffs when they had like some really tough matchups, he was getting a lot of work.
47:10They were kind of leaning on him quite a bit down the stretch there.
47:14And he didn't have a lot of success against most of those teams.
47:18Right. So I just remind everyone that just because he is getting volume, it doesn't necessarily mean it will translate to fantasy scoring.
47:24That's important to remember here. But he's going to get a bunch of volume.
47:28He'll get the chances for touchdowns. And the fact that they've brought in these pass catching weapons, I think could back people
47:34up off the line a little bit and maybe give him a little more room to work with.
47:39So it's a weird balance. I still just view him in this area as like a mid to low end RB too
47:45hard to get much higher than that. When you're going against the Seahawks, I think this is definitely an RB one workload.
47:50The Patriots average almost 20 expected points between the running back room.
47:54I think what Stevenson's going to get 90% of that, if not more, it's what Corey Kiner as the backup here.
47:59The problem is did is your guy, but with all due respect, Josh, Corey Kiner has not done a whole lot yet.
48:05And at the same time, the Seahawks were the number one, the number one defense when you adjust for schedule against fantasy running backs.
48:12So I think, you know, splitting the difference there ends up right in the middle.
48:16That's where he's projected in the markets. And then we just watched this in the Superbowl, 63 total yards caught five passes.
48:22They were in trailing situation. So there's like some level of a floor.
48:25Cause I do think that they would in worst case scenario, throw the ball to him.
48:30Yeah. Just overall in the Superbowl, he ran the ball seven times for 23 yards, Trevion six times for 19 yards.
48:35Tough sledding. Bucky Irving is up next. I drafted more Bucky towards the end of draft season than the early parts.
48:41Boone. They are the three and a half point road underdogs here against the Cincinnati Bengals, a reworked retooled Bengals.
48:47We would like to think with, uh, you know, Dexter Lawrence right there in the center.
48:51However, this Bucks offensive line, uh, is one of the best, if not the best across the league.
48:56And we also have to deal and question and react to the Bucky Irving, Kenny Gainwell split.
49:00That's going to be new for us this year too.
49:03Yeah. We are now into the range where I wouldn't say that I feel super confident about any of these backs, right?
49:09And you could probably start with Ramondre, but at least we know Ramondre is probably going to get the volume of Henderson isn't out there.
49:16We really don't know. And it, you know, you could think about the Sean Tucker situation.
49:20He's dealing with an injury. It's undisclosed. We don't know what it is.
49:24Todd Bowles is calling him a game time decision.
49:26So whether he plays or not, that might not matter for some people because I know he reworked his contract just to
49:32stick around there, but still there's a chance that he could take some goal line work away from Irving.
49:37That's what we saw last year. Gainwell being there just really saps the ceiling.
49:41It doesn't mean that Irving can't be a decent fantasy back, but it means in my mind, I don't see him getting
49:47back into the top 12 or something like that at a per game basis makes him just more of that fantasy RB too, which I think is unfortunate.
49:55He is a good player. This offense probably will bounce back, but Gainwell now is this overqualified number two back that they're
50:01talking up like this is going to be a significant split that he is going to continue to be involved.
50:06And whenever you have a game where they might be trailing, you figure they might go to gain well quite a bit in those kinds of contests.
50:13So I'm interested to see what this Bengals defense looks like, like Hayden Dexter Lawrence coming over.
50:18The Bengals were the absolute cupcake matchup last year for running backs.
50:21And now you had Dexter Lawrence here and it completely changes the game.
50:25Even hearing the way his teammates are talking about him, that it's just like revolutionized their defense.
50:29Now that they have him out there run stopping.
50:32So how much are you factoring that in when you look at what these bucks backs could be doing this week?
50:37Definitely matters. Like I'm just not even looking at the Bengals stats from last year.
50:41That's how big of a difference Dexter Lawrence more experience at linebacker.
50:45They also added a safety. So like the entire room just feels a lot better.
50:49Tampa Bay is 12th and projected points here. I do think that Sean Tucker stuff is a big deal because Sean Tucker
50:55was getting literally all of the goal line carries late last year.
50:58I know he took a pay cut, but he also was making, he's making two and a half million dollars.
51:03That's like more than Rashad. Why? That's more than a lot of RB twos across the league.
51:08So you're not going to burn two and a half million dollars should not involve Sean Tucker.
51:13It's like, what would be the role it could be goal lines, like what they did last year.
51:17So I think Sean Tucker being out would make me feel a lot more confident in the situation.
51:22The matchup's good in general. The Buccaneers offensive line is awesome.
51:25Bucky, I think we'll play better this year. So I think he's a fine like RB two, three, but whether Sean Tucker
51:31plays or not, I think would change my rankings by like five spots.
51:35Interesting. I'm amped for Bucky Irving. Like he was sensational as a rookie in terms of avoiding the arm tackles and forcing arm tackles.
51:41Uh, and then last year was just bad from the start.
51:44So it's, we're going to get a true. Is it year one or year two style from Bucky here?
51:49Okay. That brings us to cam scataboo. Who's your running back 20 here, Boone, but I'm going to send it to Hayden
51:55first, because this is at one point, one of Hayden's most drafted backs.
51:59I believe this against the Dallas Cowboys, a reworked Cowboys defense, two and a half point home dogs here.
52:04The giants are, it's a new era on both sides and especially for the giants.
52:08I mean, so much talk about running the ball and they spend a first round pick and offensive lineman as well.
52:14Yeah. I think it's a great spot for, for cam scataboo.
52:17I've noticed like in the off season that all like the FUD around cam scataboo, like those quotes go viral.
52:22And then they'll also make quotes that like they're going to give him the ball like 20 times.
52:27And like those quotes never kind of go viral to me.
52:30If you look at the depth chart, it's the three other running backs.
52:34They're competing for the RB two spot. And cam scataboo is the work workhorse.
52:37He was the RB nine and RB 15 usage.
52:40By the time he went down in week eight, he caught three passes per game.
52:44He's going to be the goal line back unless like Najee Harris comes back.
52:48And I don't even know if Najee Harris is going to play that much early on the season.
52:53I will say the Dallas defense, like at one point was a complete joke.
52:56It is no longer a complete joke. You add Quinn and Williams, Caleb downs, Malachi Lawrence.
53:01Uh, there's just a lot more weapons, uh, up front in the box.
53:04So I think it's an easy matchup as it would kind of indicate on paper.
53:08That said, the giants are 16th in projected points this week.
53:11They're going to hang in there. And I think that this team will run the ball with cam scataboo repeatedly fullbacks, multiple
53:17tight end sets, all that type of stuff. I'm fading any of the Najee Harris, Tyron Tracy nonsense that we have gotten the offsees.
53:24I think it's going to be cam scataboo as a true workhorse.
53:27I love it. And all I want to know, Hayden is where were you a week or two ago when Josh and
53:33Harmon and I were filming shows at the office in New York?
53:36That was a quick, I was making bold predictions about cam scataboo and they were just lighting me up for it.
53:42I needed some backup, man. We needed you there.
53:44Santa Barbara drinking wine. All right, let's move to David Montgomery who is running back 21 for you.
53:49This is against the Buffalo bills. One half point home underdogs.
53:52Again, we have a new player in a new place.
53:55He's been in our lives for very long. Boone, is this going to be another reaction Monday where we see the splits
54:01to David Montgomery and Woody marks in this contest?
54:03I really don't know. I'm not going to sit here and pretend like I have a clear picture of this one.
54:09I also want to see what happens in week one before I feel confident about it.
54:13What I will say though, is we saw Woody marks get his shot to be the starting back in this offense.
54:19And what was the result? One, it was not very efficient.
54:22It didn't look great. And it led the team to go out this off season and get David Montgomery.
54:27Now, is it possible that Woody marks has gotten better since then?
54:30Yeah, it definitely is. And I think sometimes we forget that younger players can get better with NFL coaching and a full NFL off season.
54:37And maybe he is just a better back and he's earned more of a role in this backfield, but I'm looking at
54:43this one and I'm seeing something similar to what happened with Joe Mixon, where Joe Mixon showed up with the Texans.
54:49People kind of looked at mixing back then. They thought he was done after his time at the end with the Bengals.
54:55He shows up in Houston and all of a sudden rattles off a very good fantasy season.
54:59Now I'm not projecting that David Montgomery is going to be the RB five and have over 1300 scrimmage yards and have this really meaningful season like that.
55:07But can he finish as a top 20 back, maybe even compete to be like a top 15 fantasy back?
55:12I absolutely think he can. The matchup with the bills is interesting though, because we have a totally new defense.
55:18We don't really know how that's going to, you know, impact things here.
55:21We don't know how good this defense is going to be and how long it might take for Jim Larry to get
55:27things figured out on that side of the ball, especially with the run defense, which often people are able to run on the bill.
55:34So I think Montgomery is going to come out and actually look pretty good early in the season.
55:39And it really just comes down to whether Woody marks actually has improved to skill.
55:43So I, the bills changing the defense definitely matters.
55:45There were two high shell third highest rate last year.
55:48I do not think that's going to maintain a three, four defense with, with Jim Leonard there.
55:53So I think it's a more of a neutral situation for David Montgomery.
55:56They're 22nd in projected points this week. I think the offensive lines and just like such a bad spot.
56:01They have a first round left guard and then Ariante Ursary is kind of up and coming left tackle thing that that spot's going to be okay.
56:09The entire right side makes me nervous. Evan Brown's making $2 million.
56:12Trent Brown's making $5 million at right tackle. That's nothing.
56:14Eddie Ingram was like not a really good player.
56:17So I think you make an argument that the right side of the offensive lines among the worst in the NFL.
56:23And I think David Montgomery, I think is a player in slight decline.
56:26So I haven't drafted him a whole lot. I think that Woody marks is going to play a lot.
56:31But still we're very close in our rankings. I only have them as RB 23, but I am the lowest of the group so far.
56:38Hey, now you have Chuba Hubbard takes what we've done.
56:41We've seen from the last, what, two days of practice prior to Tuesday was that Jonathan Brooks was on the sideline dealing with some soreness.
56:48Again, this is also a Tuesday ahead of a Sunday game.
56:51So we'll see what happens. But Boone here is eight spots ahead of consensus running back 30.
56:55They have him and running back 22 here. I mean, do we, do we think that Brooks is actually going to play in this game?
57:02He's dealing with the soreness. Are they just kind of sitting him out, easing him in here?
57:06It's just, it's a scary scenario for a back that we know has had health issues.
57:11And it's so funny to, I find it funny anyway, to watch things flip flop like this, right?
57:16We always have to adjust our priors in these cases.
57:18And to watch the way this has played out this summer, where Brooks is coming back at one point, people are writing
57:24this guy off thinking there's absolutely no chance. He's going to have much of an NFL career.
57:29He manages to get back. He starts to look good this summer.
57:32Chuba gets hurt. He misses time. Looks like it's going to open the door for Brooks.
57:37Though. I always said that as long as Hubbard was back for the start of the season, the way this would go
57:43is he would start the year as the lead back.
57:45And then Brooks would have to earn more of a role as the year went along.
57:50And I think that's where we still are though.
57:52Brooks experiencing this soreness or whatever it is at the moment.
57:55That's definitely concerning in terms of a guy coming back from these serious injuries and whether he's ever going to be able
58:01to stay healthy long enough to have a meaningful, you know, NFL career and potentially emerge as a starter.
58:06He's still young. It definitely could happen, but I will also admit that I think Chuba Hubbard is somebody that Hayden got in our staff draft.
58:13And man, that was one of my biggest regrets.
58:16I should have taken them. I needed that help.
58:18Am I running back to spot? And yeah, I made a mistake not grabbing him.
58:22I thought I was for sure going to be the highest of the group on Chuba.
58:26Boone's got me beat RB 22. I got them at running back 24.
58:30I think they didn't start the season as the starter and we'll see about Jonathan Brooks.
58:34I've not loved the videos I've been seeing from Jonathan Brooks.
58:37I know he's just ramping up and whatnot. I thought the preseason stuff was just okay.
58:42So I think we're like a long ways away from like seeing the proof of concept with Jonathan Brooks.
58:47And in the meantime, back in 2024, Chuba Hubbard was the RB 12 and RB seven.
58:51You said, I do not think that's going to happen again here, but it does seem like he's going to be the starter.
58:57The bears defense is a complete joke. They injured and we're already going to be bad.
59:02And then Mike K I was tweeting positively about Chuba Hubbard, Panthers reporter.
59:05He said in confirmed that it will be Chuba Hubbard as the lead back to start the season.
59:10So I feel very comfortable with Hubbard ahead of Brooks until proven otherwise.
59:14Okay. Let's go to Seattle's backfield. Jadarian price sits here.
59:16Boone for you as running back 23. Again, this against new England, we did not see Jadarian price for a single snap in the preseason.
59:23However, against this Patriots defense, I'll be at maybe a bit healthier and some new players onto it.
59:28Ken Walker got 29 touches for 161 yards. So that's exactly what we should expect here for the rookie Jadarian price.
59:34Right, Boone? Not so much. That was basically the only back that had success against this defense when Milton Williams was out there.
59:40And that was kind of the, the tale of two seasons for that Patriots defense.
59:44When no Williams wasn't out there, not great when he was out there, you know, which was around 50% of the games.
59:50They only allowed one running back to top 50 rushing yards on them.
59:53They were truly like a shutdown unit against running backs.
59:56So I do worry about price, especially early in the year.
59:59I think he's going to be good. Josh, we talked about it.
60:02I believe it was the Buffalo show that we were both kind of surprised that we're like having to encourage people to
60:08go out and draft around one running back in fantasy.
60:11It seems very odd that people aren't excited about a rookie like that, but early in the season, we're probably going to see George Alani involved.
60:18I don't really think Emmanuel Wilson is that much of a concern, but he could get some touches and going against this matchup.
60:24It all just kind of boils down to me being a little bit lower on price, but I still think the ceiling is very high for this guy.
60:32The Patriots also did lose Tonga, who was their nose tackle when they go like a three, four and they played three, three defense tackles.
60:39Tonga was like really awesome. And that exact role.
60:41Yes. So I think that this version of the Patriots defense is not quite as potent as what the last year's numbers would indicate.
60:48Still, it's, it's a, in general, a difficult matchup.
60:50He's at least at home. The Seahawks are projected for the 11th most points.
60:54I think hold on. He's going to play passing situations, but unlike Chuba Hubbard, I do not think he's going to play the goal line role.
61:01And that's what we're actually signing up for. So I think this role versus the Kenneth Walker role last year, I think
61:07the Gendarian price role is actually better than it was for Kenneth Walker last year when both Walker and, uh, Charbonne were
61:13both like kind of fringe top 30 guys. So I'm kind of like rounding up on Gendarian price, but you know, there's
61:19a wide range of outcomes in a, in a rookie's first game.
61:22Yeah. I think people are freaking out based on Andrew Destin's reporting from the athletic that Gendarian price would be the early down runner.
61:29Then a Holani would play third down short yardage and goal line.
61:32Um, again, that's one carry for Holani inside the 10 yard line in his career.
61:36I just don't believe it's going to be that rigid.
61:39Maybe I'm wrong, but I don't think it is.
61:41I, you read running back 23. It doesn't sound like a huge, you know, optimistic lens.
61:45I want people to play Gendarian price in their flex at the very least.
61:49And I think as a running back to, in this spot, I just can't wait to see him on the field.
61:55Like this to me could look like, and I understand why he is this low.
61:59We've said only glowing things about a lot of the backs near the top of this list, but I wouldn't be surprised
62:05if Gendarian price looks excellent in this one. And George Holani plays less than people were expecting to.
62:10Yeah. I think the, the real concern in my mind for price will be later in the season, because I know this coaching staff loves Zach Charbonnet.
62:17And even if Zach Charbonnet is not a hundred percent version of himself coming off the injury, I feel like they are
62:23going to find ways to get him involved. And that might cap price later in the season, but we're going to see
62:29some very big fantasy performances from him early in the year.
62:32Okay. Big talking point here with Marshawn Lloyd. He's running back 30 in consensus rankings.
62:36Boone, he is your running back 24. Hayden, I'll ask you this question.
62:39They are two and a half point underdogs here.
62:42The Packers are, but if you drafted Marshawn Lloyd, isn't it for this game, despite being against this Vikings run defense that
62:48has been stingy in the past, like don't, wouldn't you just play him in the spot as we don't exactly know when Josh Jacobs is returning?
62:55This is the player. We have the widest gap on between the Yahoo rankers.
62:59Harmon's at 19. Boone, you got him at what 24 I'm at 27.
63:02And then the two others are at 29. So this is as big of a split as we get.
63:07My concern taking the negative angle on this is the Vikings are such a unique defense and that they bring so many guys up.
63:14And you really just can't get your running backs involved in the past game.
63:18I think they were running backs against the Vikings got the fewest amount of passes last year.
63:22That's because you don't know who's blitzing and it's too chaotic.
63:25It's also a spot where Chris Brooks, who's a great pass protector, like third down kind of halfback role.
63:30I think they're going to play him a lot.
63:33And that Marshawn Lloyd is a complete question mark in the past game right now that you just can't give Marshawn Lloyd
63:39the same workload as you otherwise would in a more normal matchup.
63:42So the Packers, they're 17 projected points. I think Marshawn Lloyd's going to get the first crack at it, get the ball rolling.
63:48I would also expect Caleb Johnson to play a little bit.
63:51You just got to see what's going to happen here.
63:54Their offensive coordinator said this is going to be a committee approach.
63:57I believe that, especially in this game, just looking at how the Vikings play defense, I would want to play Chris Brooks, protect my quarterback.
64:04I would not make this a Marshawn Lloyd game myself.
64:07So I think he's, he's startable as a flex, but I'm not doing RB to it.
64:11Yeah, I agree. The, the Flores defense is always scary to go against.
64:15I mean, the Packers do have some history with them, but it's still a scary matchup for sure.
64:19I just don't know if I see Marshawn Lloyd as like a 25 touch a game kind of back, or is he
64:25somebody that we think brings that extra gear, which is something that the team has said this off season, that they're excited seeing him bring that.
64:32And is he somebody that could get there on less touches, which I think is the reason one, why I drafted him a bunch.
64:39Well, Josh Jacobs is out and we don't know how that's going to play out.
64:43If, and when he's going to be back while he's out, Lloyd is going to get at least the first crack.
64:49I think we all agree on that. And he's the kind of player in my mind that with 15 to 18 touches could still get there for fantasy.
64:56We saw him get involved in the passing game in the preseason, got a touchdown.
65:00So there's different ways that he's going to be involved.
65:03Even if we see some of these other backs like Brooks, who's not an overly exciting guy, just somebody that the coaching
65:09staff really likes and can be that pass protector for them.
65:12Not somebody that's going to get a ton of volume in terms of that backfield, but the concern of the offensive line
65:18is really what could just wear this backfield entirely.
65:20Right. Especially in a matchup like this. Yeah. Look, the Packers have the jets and the Falcons and the next two games.
65:26So maybe those are the matchups we should, you know, look towards.
65:30I'm just saying like, if you drafted Marshawn Lloyd and we're nervous that Chris Brooks and Caleb Johnson are stealing touches and
65:36opportunities away from him, that's almost a dire situation already.
65:38You know, I mean, he should be well ahead of both those guys in games that they're trying to score points and, and win.
65:45So, um, I can't wait to recap this one on Sunday night.
65:48Let's put it that way. Josh, I'll say something risky.
65:51I think Marshawn Lloyd, if I was going to do one transaction before, I think he's a sell.
65:56I would, I would try to trade them now.
65:58The Josh Jacobs moving up to court date, I think that increase of the odds he's back earlier.
66:03And they're talking about committee approach. I think that the week one performance is not going to be pretty, uh, just because of the matchup.
66:10So if people are kind of holding onto Marshawn Lloyd really high up in rankings, I think he'd be my, my risky sell of the week.
66:17I feel like I'm the complete opposite, but it's also because of where you got him in drafts, like where you drafted him.
66:23Isn't even necessarily at RB 24, right? You got him later than that.
66:27So on most teams, he might be your RB too.
66:29Like me, I'm foolish. Sometimes I went with him as my RB too and tried to backfill, but I think you got
66:35him at RB three or flex type prices. And because of that, I'm more than one to put on my lineup early in the season right now.
66:43Let's talk through Jeremiah love. He's your running back 25 here at the Los Angeles chargers.
66:47Again, 10 point underdogs here. We're also coming off a high ankle sprain for Jeremiah love boon all the way down here at running back 25.
66:54You're certainly not expecting 14 touches in one half.
66:56I am not. No. And again, I mentioned earlier with we had the two big injury situations with Ashton Gentry with the ankle and then with love.
67:04I feel like the general vibe and the comments that we've gotten around love for the most part to me have been
67:10kind of negative other than we get one quote this week where they ask whether he's going to play.
67:15And we get Michael Fleur just saying like, Oh yeah, he's progressing.
67:18He was out there moving around a little bit today.
67:21And then they asked a follow-up question about whether he was going to play and how he felt about it.
67:26And he said he felt good about it. Like it wasn't, if you watch the quote, it was not some like absolute confident.
67:32I feel good. He's going to be out there kind of response.
67:36So to me, I think those headlines got really blown out of proportion.
67:39Now, again, we're recording this on Tuesday and we don't have the practice participation update.
67:43We don't know for sure whether he's out there and what capacity he might be practicing.
67:48So we'll have to watch for all that stuff.
67:50But in my mind right now, I don't think we're even out of the woods for him potentially not playing in this game.
67:56I think if he does play coming off a high ankle sprain, he's not going to be the same player.
68:02We'll see Tyler Algier worked in. I saw as we were recording, there were some notifications on my phone about how Tyler
68:08Algier is listed as the RB one on their depth chart.
68:11And you know, that's what it is. Those kinds of things are just silly, but regardless, I think this team is indicating
68:17that Tyler Algier early in the season is going to be heavily involved, might even get a start in week one.
68:22And it makes sense because why are you going to put love out there coming off this injury, an injury that can sap your effectiveness.
68:29Why rush your first round pick back on a team that maybe they haven't accepted it yet, but let's face it.
68:35This is not a team that is a real contender.
68:37So ease him back into the lineup. Let Algier get out there.
68:41We know what kind of back he is. He can eat some touches.
68:44He can help sustain drives. It just makes sense to me that both these backs are going to be involved, but I
68:50think people should keep a close eye out on this one.
68:53Cause I'm not so sure that love is going to play in week one.
68:57I'd say Jadarian price. If it's like you're waiting for love information or Jadarian price, I would just start Jadarian price.
69:03And then I think we'll have a lot more information on the Sunday morning show, which is longer and better than ever this year.
69:09I'm going even longer this year. So I think it was wait for more information there.
69:13Okay. Let's talk through the Steelers backfield here. And Hayden, I want your input.
69:17That is running back 26 for Jalen Warren, running back 28 for Rico Dowdle.
69:21You are very much pro Jalen Warren through the draft process.
69:24It's against the Atlanta Falcons, a defense that could have a nightmare start.
69:28Their edge rushers are out. They kept the same defensive coordinator, but they changed some pieces on top of it.
69:33And the Steelers open as three and a half point home favorites.
69:36I think you can easily make an argument. This is a bottom three defensive line.
69:40You can make the arguments, the worst defensive line, mediocre off all linebackers.
69:44This is a perfect game script for both Steelers running backs.
69:47We'll get to the other one in a second.
69:49I say that Jalen Warren makes more sense. Incumbent starter.
69:52I think a better fit for McCarthy, certainly a better fit for Aaron Rogers at this point.
69:57And I think it kind of went overlooked that even with Kenny Gainwell, like very much mixing in Jalen Warren was a
70:03top 24 fantasy running back last year. And I would guess that Jalen Warren's going to be more involved this year than less involved.
70:09And I think that Rico Dowd was like a run the clock out situation back.
70:13And I think that Jalen Warren's going to be out there for a lot of the valuable stuff.
70:18And the weight discrepancy is three pounds. I am not going to give Rico Dowd all the goal line work like some other people.
70:24I think it's going to be more split. And I think that the receptions are obviously going to go to Jalen Warren.
70:30So this, this backfield in general fourth in running back usage last year, I'm not sure it's going to be that high
70:36this season within a different scheme, different players, but I think that Jalen Warren was a lot better in fantasy last year than people get credit for.
70:44I have him as the RB 19 of fantasy points per game last year.
70:47And that was with Gainwell as the RB 26.
70:50And I could tell you a story. I think that is very believable that both these backs of Pittsburgh this year are usable for fantasy and fantasy starters.
70:58Right. So I'm totally fine starting either guy if you need to this week.
71:01Okay. We talked through the Steelers split backfield. Let's now go to the Jaguars.
71:05And that brings us to Basial Tootin is running back 27, Chris Rodriguez as running back 33, you know, Boone just people's
71:11fantasy lives on the line here in week one, especially as eight and a half point home favorites.
71:16I mean, is this not exactly the spot that you drafted Basial Tootin to be in?
71:20And yet you have them purged all the way down as running back 27.
71:24This is the ranking that I feel most uncertain about.
71:27Like, I am genuinely worried that we could have a complete flip here, that he could just be a part-time player.
71:32Like the way this has gone from the way that Liam Cohen talked about it earlier in the off season, about how
71:38excited they were about Basial Tootin to, since Chris Rodriguez has come back, there has not been that many Tootin quotes.
71:44There's been a lot of Chris Rodriguez love to make me think that this might be more of a committee.
71:50And I referenced earlier last year before week one, how we didn't know for sure how this was going to play out.
71:55Right. Was it going to be Travis H and was it going to be tank Bigsby?
72:00When would Tootin eventually take over a role in the backfield?
72:03In hindsight, it looks so obvious, but at the time we had no clue.
72:07And we're going into this season now with kind of lesser players in a similar messy backfield scenario.
72:11And LaQuint Allen Jr., who should have a passing role when he's healthy in this backfield, doesn't look like he's going to
72:17play in week one, or at least he's a game time decision.
72:21And now they're talking up like Amir Abdullah could be involved.
72:24The veteran Amir Abdullah who just does not go away, continues to find roster spots, and continues to work his way into touches.
72:30So this is a really tough scenario in my mind.
72:33That's why I've kind of been a little more cautious with the Tootin ranking.
72:36There's a possibility. He has the profile to emerge as the fantasy difference maker here.
72:40But I can't say I feel as confident about that as I felt earlier this offseason.
72:45I feel confident that you got this ranking right.
72:47I got Chris Rodriguez as my RB32 and Tootin as my running back 26.
72:51So we're riding the same page on that. This is a toss-up to me.
72:55I think that a lot of the LaQuint Allen stuff is actually going to just go to Chris Rodriguez because of pass protection.
73:01To me, I think that the Jaguars are curious if they can actually trust Tootin this year.
73:06They could not do it last year. He could be so explosive that they'll live with the mistakes.
73:11But I think that Chris Rodriguez is the trusted player and that he's going to have a real role.
73:16And then if Tootin is so much better than he is just based off of his touches, then that gap will widen.
73:22I think we're going to start the season where the gap is going to be nothing.
73:26And then as the season plays out, one's going to win out versus the other.
73:30And I drafted a whole lot more Chris Rodriguez than Bejal Tootin this year.
73:34And we'll see. They have to overcome this bad, bad, bad offensive line.
73:37At least it's not against Myles Garrett this time around.
73:40The ceiling for Rodriguez in fantasy, though, it's just not really there in my mind.
73:44Right? Like he's always going to be, even if he takes on the larger part of this backfield, he's always going to
73:50be like that RB3 kind of TD or bust type player because he gives you nothing in the passing game.
73:56So if you're going to take a chance on somebody, it's still Tootin.
73:59But man, I agree with you. I feel like it's going to be a lot closer in the opening month than we thought.
74:05Yeah. 80% of this offensive line playing in new spots this year.
74:09Just listening to you two. And Hayden, I know you weren't.
74:12But I hope you guys didn't say a positive thing about Basial Tootin heading into this year.
74:16Because if you did, then your followers, your listeners, your readers better not have drafted Basial.
74:20Again, this is the spot to draft him for.
74:23Right? I think Liam Cohen knows that. And I would be pretty surprised if we look back on at the end of this week.
74:29And if Chris Rodriguez is like in a different bracket, in a different group, then Basial Tootin is ahead of this backfield.
74:35Like, I actually believe that Basial Tootin is going and he should get the first crack at this.
74:40Or else they just simply don't believe in him at all.
74:43And maybe they don't. And if that's the case, then bless your drafts out there.
74:47That's for sure if you have Basial Tootin on your team.
74:50On the opposite end of this is Quinchon Judkins.
74:53You are seven spots below consensus. Running back 22 for them.
74:56Running back 29 for you, Boone. Eight and a half point underdogs against a formidable, long, strong Jaguars defensive line.
75:01Sixth team point total of the week. Just over 16 points.
75:04Big task for this offensive line that is new and hopefully improved.
75:07But Boone, this is a pretty disgusting start here for the Judkins players.
75:11Yeah, you know, Josh. You know I like him as a talent.
75:14I'm sure we all do. Like, he was pretty good when he was out there last year.
75:19At an awful, chaotic Browns situation last year. When he was healthy, he was solid.
75:23He was good for fantasy and he looked really good in real life.
75:26And they've talked about him taking on more passing work, which can give you a little bit of hope.
75:31But man, this matchup is awful. The Jags, just a buzzsaw against, you know, against rushing teams.
75:36Like, they were the third toughest defense to go against for fantasy running backs last year.
75:40The reports out of Jacksonville that nothing has changed, right?
75:43That they look even better against the run this season.
75:46And this Browns offense in however many games we're going to get with Deshaun Watson.
75:50I don't think that's going to be the best version of the Browns that we see this year.
75:55So, worried about the quarterback situation. Worried about the matchup.
75:57And I think Judkins, if he does get some work in the passing game, maybe that'll salvage something for him.
76:03But it's not going to look much better than RB 29 this week.
76:0673 and a half total yards for the betting markets for his projection.
76:10It's just the touchdowns, you know. That's just, we're going to have to get used to that with Quinchon.
76:15I think that he's startable in your flex and you're flipping a coin if he's going to actually score a touchdown this week or not.
76:22Jacksonville's defensive line will be one of the best in the NFL.
76:25It was last year and I don't think anything's changed at all.
76:28Okay, we've got 10 minutes to hit on these next names.
76:31So, let's go quickly. Rapid fire. Boo, new first on Tony Pollard as running back 30 against the New York Jets.
76:37One and a half point home favorites. I don't know how often we'll be able to say that for the Titans this season.
76:43Yeah, it just looks like they're going to use multiple backs here.
76:46Tajay Spears was involved more with the first team offense in the preseason.
76:50Tajay Spears has really continued to be involved, especially in the passing game.
76:54So, that kind of limits Pollard's upside. It's like I was saying about Chris Rodriguez.
76:58Like, what's the ceiling for some of these guys?
77:00And I think with Pollard, even if everything goes well, he's just kind of like a low-end RB2.
77:05It's not that exciting for fantasy. Hayden mentioned his RB fantasy usage by team graphic and the stat that he has there.
77:11This team was on the complete opposite end of that.
77:14They were the fourth lowest on that chart. So, a lot of problems, I think, for the Titans early in this season
77:20as they try to figure out what this offense is going to look like.
77:23RB20 and RB31 usage and half PPR last year.
77:26And it's just, I think that gap's closing with Tajay Spears.
77:29Hayden, you're up for J.K. Dobbins at running back 31.
77:31This is at the Chiefs projected for just 20 and a half points on Monday Night Football.
77:36Three-point dogs. That is typically not a J.K. Dobbins recipe for success.
77:39Really tough matchup on the road. Only 20 expected points, too, which is 26th in the NFL.
77:44Dobbins last year when they were rolling, he was the RB25 and RB29 usage.
77:48I think you can discount that because of the matchup and because Jonah Coleman's at least some level of a threat.
77:53So, it's not a good spot for J.K. at all.
77:56Go get Jonah Coleman. He led my waiver where I call him this week.
78:00Jordan Mason running back 32. The Vikings, and we can talk about another backfield here in a moment, among the most irrelevant backfields in fantasy drafts this year.
78:08Jordan Mason, even at running back 32, you seem to have a little bit of confidence, Boone, that he can get the
78:13rushing going and bring that positivity from training camp into week one.
78:17I'm a little bit hopeful. I'm curious to see what this Vikings offense looks like in week one.
78:22Kyler Murray potentially giving them more competent quarterback play could really bring this offense back to life.
78:26And the rushing attack, they've talked about using more wide zone run schemes.
78:30I think that really fits for Jordan Mason. And we saw last year, like when Aaron Jones wasn't out there, when Aaron
78:36Jones was hurt from week three to week seven, we saw Mason actually performing pretty well.
78:40The RB16 and fantasy points per game in week 18.
78:43Aaron Jones wasn't out there. Mason puts up a pretty good day.
78:4694 yards on 14 carries against the Packers. That's who they're playing this week.
78:50I think we could see Jordan Mason actually be a sneaky fantasy starter this year.
78:54If this offense does turn around, a lot of the beat writers are saying he looks great in practice as well.
79:00Okay. Hayden, you're the other maybe worthless backfield here with Christopher Riggs at 33, Kenny Gainwell at 34.
79:04That brings us to Bill Krosky Merritt at 35.
79:07This is at the Philadelphia Eagles. Team total is down to 20 points here for the Commanders.
79:11Four and a half point dogs. We know no Laramie tons of what left tackle their center.
79:16Nick Allegretti missed almost all of August. Where are you at with Bill for this one?
79:20I don't think you can start him in week one.
79:23Him and Rashad White were gathering more information there.
79:26The defensive line is just way too good. There's too many concerns here.
79:29So I think they're going to be forced to pass because of game script.
79:33They're 28th in points projected as a team. And I think that Kory Krosky Merritt is going to be the goal line
79:39back, but I actually don't even know that. And then if this thing gets lopsided, I think it's going to be more Rashad White.
79:45So I have both of them outside my top 35 list.
79:48Like, I really hope you have a better option than these two guys.
79:52It's the Cowboys in week two for them, then the Seahawks, then the Indianapolis Colts.
79:56So again, the next two weeks, depending on how the Cowboys have bounced back this year for their defense, the first three
80:02weeks for Bill might be a total wash. But we'll see.
80:05I'm intrigued if they run a bit more outside wide zone and all that type of stuff.
80:09Okay. I'm going to throw all the names left on here, Boone, and let you pick one that you can give a
80:15point to or say, nah, you shouldn't play them at all.
80:18All right. Next is Blake Corum. Actually, while recording the show, we found out that Aaron Donald was not playing against the San Francisco 49ers.
80:25He did not travel to Australia as part of that team.
80:28Aaron Jones is next. Then Tyler Algier. Tyler, Tajay Spears is running back 39.
80:32Rashad White at 40. RJ Harvey. Mike Washington. And then you have Jonathan Brooks.
80:36Boone, pick one. Tell me why. Two I want to mention real quick.
80:39One is Aaron Jones. I think his time as a fantasy asset is over.
80:43I know we see the name and we get excited.
80:46Aaron Jones, he's had big days before. We saw last year he was held under 10 fantasy points in five of his last seven games.
80:53He didn't top 15 fantasy points in any of his last 10 outings.
80:56I think his time is over. His age injuries are going to strike.
81:00And DeMond Claiborne's there to potentially be that change of pace guy with Mason.
81:03And then the only other one that I'll highlight once again is Tyler Algier, who I think might actually be a sneaky
81:09fantasy start this week because of the Jeremiah Love situation.
81:12I have the other opinion on Aaron Jones. I agree with you on season long.
81:16I think in week one, I do think that Aaron Jones is going to stay pretty involved.
81:21I think it's a good match of the Packers defense.
81:23The Lions in a really bad spot without Micah Parsons.
81:26They are projected for top 10 points. I do think that Mason versus Jones, I think that somebody is going to pay off there.
81:33I think that Aaron Jones to start the season is going to like be the lead guy barely.
81:37That's how they kind of finished last year. And then Jordan Mason over time will kind of surpass him.
81:43The only one I wanted to mention beyond this is Keaton Mitchell.
81:46If he plays and he's healthy, I do think they're projected for so many points.
81:50And they've been using them. And so such an interesting way that if you're in a really deep league and you're in
81:56a tough spot, you went zero RB. If we get full practice from Keaton Mitchell, I do think that he's going to
82:02have like a fringe top 35 ranking for me.
82:04Sometimes when we have these players who are, you know, the backup running backs and these games that are very lopsided.
82:10I mean, Tank Bigsby might even fall into this situation this week with the commanders.
82:14If they get up big on them, we could see enough Tank Bigsby where maybe he's a flex player.
82:19Let me put you guys in this final question.
82:22Okay. Let's say you drafted Trevion Henderson and he misses this game.
82:25Or we get bad news on something like Ashton Gentry that he's only going to play 15 snaps or Jeremiah Love only 15 snaps.
82:31And you might want to look elsewhere. Is George Halani worth a start?
82:35Or Hayden, is it closer to Keaton Mitchell? Like these are the types that might have been your running back three.
82:41So is your name of that group like, hey, Keaton Mitchell is the one that intrigues me the most?
82:46Yeah, I think it'd be Chris Rodriguez. Keaton Mitchell would be the top guys.
82:50Algier, I think, would also kind of fit that bill.
82:52And then I guess like in a really bad spot, it would be like Rashad White.
82:57But wouldn't Mike Washington be that? If like we get bad news on Ashton Gentry on top of that too, then Mike
83:03Washington would be the opposite end of that pendulum swing.
83:05Even without bad news. I mean, given the matchup and stuff, Mike Washington doesn't need a lot of touches as we saw in the preseason to come through.
83:13Love that. All right. That does it. Episode one is in the books.
83:16I just want to bring up what we have for our schedule.
83:20I know that Bruce Ruiz will throw it on the screen here as well.
83:23You'll have this episode, top 40-ish running back rankings every single Wednesday evening, Wednesday night.
83:28And we're back here on the show, on the channel, Friday with wide receiver rankings around noon, just after that.
83:33Then Sunday morning, we'll get to a live start sit show starting at 10.30 a.m.
83:37with Fancy Football Live. That would be with me and Boone and Harmon doing that for an hour.
83:42And then we flip over again to the Q&A.
83:44Sunday night, we'll be back after Sunday Night Football with our game-by-game recap.
83:48Monday, you already know, me and Joel with Waverwire Pickups.
83:51As soon as Monday Night Football ends, that show will be on your feed.
83:54And then we're back here with Tuesday, Stats vs.
83:57Film live this season at 6 p.m. Eastern, 3 p.m.
83:59Pacific with myself and Hayden and Harmon on that show.
84:02So it's a loaded calendar. That doesn't even include our appearances on the forecast this year as well.
84:07So if you want more of us, you'll get more of us this year.
84:11Let's put it that way. Plus, Boone's rankings are in the description down below.
84:15Hayden's rankings are in the description down below. I want to note for Boone that he updates his up until the last minute.
84:21So this is not the final answer. He is constantly doing the exact same thing as Hayden does in terms of reacting to the news.
84:28And so you all need to read some words and find the most updated rankings there on the site.
84:33All right. That does it. Thanks, Boone. Thanks, Mosho.
84:35Thanks, Boone's behind the scenes. And thank you all for watching.
84:38And ahead of week one, we'll see you tomorrow around noon for wide receiver rankings up the villa.
84:43Talk to you guys soon. See ya.
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