The Lineup Show - 5 Training Camp Battles with HUGE Fantasy Implications | Dynasty Fantasy Football
STACKED extracted the fantasy-relevant player signal from this podcast and kept the full transcript here for context.
34 min
Duration
Estimated from transcript
Jul 13, 2026
Published
Mon, July 13, 2026
33
Player insights
18
Players mentioned
Topics
Jonathon BrooksBrian Thomas Jr.Chuba HubbardLuther BurdenParker WashingtonBijan RobinsonDrake LondonJacory Croskey-MerrittKyle PittsAJ DillonAntonio GibsonEmmett JohnsonMichael Penix Jr.Nicholas Singleton
Player analysis
Player insights
AJ Dillon
NegativeDepth Chart50:31
The Panthers brought in A.J. Dillon as a minimal addition to the backfield, described as 'the ghost of Quadzilla,' suggesting they have confidence in Jonathan Brooks rather than investing in veteran competition.
Insight pageAntonio Gibson
PositiveValue0:03
Gibbs has significant hype around him, but Bijan Robinson is getting slept on, especially if Tua is the starter, making Bijan potentially the better value.
Insight pageBijan Robinson
PositiveMatchup0:02
Bijan Robinson will be much better if Tua gets the starting job, and if Tua wins the competition, Bijan should get the edge over Gibbs as the first running back off the board.
Insight pagePositiveUsage0:03
Bijan Robinson is an exceptional pass catcher who can be a high-volume pass catcher out of the backfield, and with Tua's low ADOT, he could project for a billion targets in 2026.
Insight pageBrian Thomas Jr.
PositiveProjection0:08
Brian Thomas Jr. showed strong connection with Trevor Lawrence at minicamp, reminding analysts of his potential as a wide receiver who was ranked 4th at the position in his rookie season.
Insight pageNegativeBust0:08
Brian Thomas Jr. had a catastrophic 2024 season, finishing as wide receiver 44 after being drafted in the second round, with issues including bad drops and poor body language.
Insight pageNegativeValue0:10
If Brian Thomas Jr. hype continues to grow heading into preseason, his ADP will rise and managers who drafted him last year will become terrified of repeating that mistake.
Insight pageChuba Hubbard
PositiveRole45:41
Barring injuries, Chuba Hubbard will get the vast majority of work with the starters in camp, but his grip on the job could weaken if Jonathan Brooks works in significantly with the first team.
Insight pageNegativeProjection50:07
Chuba Hubbard has been painfully inconsistent throughout his career, and the analyst was one of his biggest misses of the year, suggesting skepticism about his ability to maintain a starting role.
Insight pagePositiveInjury50:21
Chuba Hubbard was hurt a lot last year with a calf injury that allegedly impacted his performance, but when healthy, he has shown he can be good.
Insight pageDrake London
PositiveMatchup0:04
Drake London bodes better with Michael Pennix as the starter, as he has produced elite numbers with Pennix and performed dramatically better with him than with Kirk Cousins.
Insight pageNegativeMatchup0:04
If Tua is named the starter, Drake London should be faded given Tua's deteriorating ADOT and inability to support downfield receivers like London.
Insight pageEmmett Johnson
NegativeBust33:37
The analyst groups Emmitt Johnson with other late-round running back prospects the fantasy community is overestimating, suggesting he won't get meaningful work in the backfield.
Insight pageJacory Croskey-Merritt
PositiveDepth Chart0:18
Ja'Cory Krosky-Merritt is competing with Rashad White for carries in Washington, and if he gets early-down work in camp, there's a good chance he'll get it in the regular season.
Insight pagePositiveProjection0:18
The analyst admits being out on Ja'Cory Krosky-Merritt but acknowledges it would be funny if he becomes a league winner after being dismissed.
Insight pageJonathon Brooks
PositiveBreakout45:02
As a Jonathan Brooks believer, the analyst is ready to declare victory as soon as Brooks gets a single snap with the starters in camp, indicating strong conviction in his potential.
Insight pagePositiveRole45:13
Jonathan Brooks has shifted from being a sneaky sleeper to being treated as a genuine competitor for the starting job, with the Panthers' decision to let Rico Dowdle leave and not add significant backfield talent signaling confidence in Brooks.
Insight pagePositiveProjection49:18
Jonathan Brooks is 23 years old with high draft capital as potentially the best running back in his class, and the analyst believes his youth and pedigree keep standing out despite not having played at the NFL level due to injuries.
Insight pagePositiveValue52:25
At his earlier summer price, Jonathan Brooks was a good value pick even if he only became the RB2 with decent work, but he's now shot up draft boards and requires him to get significant work to justify his cost.
Insight pageKyle Pitts
PositiveMatchup0:05
Kyle Pitts would be in a better situation with Tua as the starter because Tua targets the tight end position heavily, as seen with past tight ends like Jonnu Smith.
Insight pagePositiveProjection0:05
The analyst is high on Kyle Pitts regardless of which quarterback wins the starting job, though he prefers Tua as the better situation.
Insight pageLuther Burden
PositiveDepth Chart36:45
Luther Burden is currently WR21 in redraft and WR17 in Dynasty, positioned as a second-year receiver who was playing behind Olamide Zaccheaus for most of his rookie year.
Insight pageNegativeProjection37:24
Luther Burden finished outside the top 24 receivers in all but 2 games last year and finished as WR48, indicating inconsistent production despite his current draft capital.
Insight pagePositiveRole39:08
Ben Johnson is buying Luther Burden stock for the year and specifically calling him out, which the analyst interprets as a positive signal about his role and opportunities in the offense.
Insight pageMichael Penix Jr.
NegativeDepth Chart0:01
Michael Pennix has struggled in his career and is in a true 50-50 competition with Tua in Atlanta, representing a lesser-of-two-evils situation.
Insight pageNicholas Singleton
NegativeBust32:39
The analyst suggests the fantasy community is 'kidding ourselves' into thinking Nicholas Singleton will get meaningful work in a crowded backfield, indicating skepticism about his fantasy value.
Insight pageParker Washington
PositiveValue0:08
Parker Washington is undervalued despite recent hype, and he led the Jaguars with 114 targets last season and finished 9th in the NFL in Pro Football Focus receiving grade.
Insight pagePositiveProjection0:09
Parker Washington was the wide receiver 16 from week 9 onward after the bye week, led the team with 114 targets, and finished 9th in the NFL in Pro Football Focus receiving grade.
Insight pagePositiveValue0:10
If Parker Washington wins the training camp battle, he should be drafted as the wide receiver 1 in Jacksonville, much higher than his current wide receiver 33 ADP.
Insight pageRico Dowdle
PositiveDepth Chart50:30
Rico Dowdle was really good when he was in the Panthers offense last year, and the fact that the Panthers let him leave signals they may have confidence in Jonathan Brooks to fill that role.
Insight pageTravis Hunter
PositiveRole0:13
Travis Hunter is getting more reports that he will play mainly defense going forward, which is the standard moving forward for his role.
Insight pageTua Tagovailoa
PositiveDepth Chart0:01
Tua is in a true 50-50 quarterback competition with Michael Pennix in Atlanta with no clear favorite, making it a coin flip who will be the starter.
Insight pageZachariah Branch
PositiveProjection0:07
If Tua gets the starting job, Zachariah Branch might lead the NFL in targets behind the line of scrimmage, as he did in college.
Insight pageFull transcript
Episode Transcript
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0:45The biggest fantasy football gems come from the most ambiguous situations.
0:48Let's break down five training camp battles that will have huge fantasy football implications, including one that could produce a true league winner.
0:55Let's go. Welcome into the lineup fantasy football show.
0:58I'm Mitch Anderson. I'm Justin Mello. And Mello, when people think summer camp, they think toasting marshmallows and telling ghost stories.
1:04But when we think summer camp, we are thinking about our favorite players reporting back and kicking off the true fantasy football season.
1:11So let's break down some positional battles here between players ranked very closely together in ADP and point out who has the
1:17most upside and who has the most to lose.
1:20I'll let you kick it off first with, I think this is one of the most important, just like the ramifications of this training camp battle.
1:27Yeah, I'm starting off with really what I think is the biggest quarterback battle or the most ambiguous where it doesn't feel
1:33like there's a true leader or a true favorite.
1:36And that's out of Atlanta. We have Tua Tungvaluwa and Michael Pennix.
1:40Yep. A true 50-50 in my mind, just a coin flip of who's going to end up starting.
1:45Much like all of Tua's passes, a true 50-50 of which team's going to get it.
1:49The color jersey. Who's going to come up with it?
1:52Yeah, 100%. And things haven't been great for Michael Pennix, which is why here we are in year three with him, even in a competition.
2:00So it might be the lesser of two evils.
2:02But with that said, there are a lot of implications.
2:05The first being probably the least exciting but the most obvious, which is which one of these guys could be rosterable in your fantasy league.
2:12Obviously, whoever doesn't get this job is just going to be off the radar in most formats.
2:17But to be honest, even the winner, I'm not really going to be drafting outside of maybe some super flex leagues.
2:23So I don't really care that much who wins this battle in terms of who I want at quarterback in fantasy.
2:29It's really the weapons. The weapons are going to be greatly impacted by this decision because there are really great weapons on this offense.
2:36So let's start with those guys. First off, Bijan Robinson.
2:39Yeah, I think we'll be much better if Tua gets the job.
2:43I've been kind of teetering back and forth all winter and spring and now here in the summer, just teetering back and
2:49forth between Bijan and Gibbs for who I think should be the first running back off the board.
2:54I've changed my mind on the matter about as many times as Tua turned the ball over last year, which was a lot like we mentioned earlier.
3:02But despite those turnovers and how much we like to clown on Tua, I do think he's the best thing for Bijan.
3:09And I think if he's named the starter, I would give Bijan the edge over Gibbs as the first running back off the board.
3:16Yeah, I feel like that's like weirdly bold to say right now, but I'm actually with you.
3:21I think there's so much Gibbs hype that Bijan's getting slept on, especially if he has Tua throwing him the ball.
3:27If Tua is throwing him the ball, I would lean that way because you look at the way A-chan and Miami got
3:33used in the passing game with Tua over the last couple of years and how drastically Tua's ADOT has fallen in the last couple of years.
3:41And you compound that with the fact that Bijan is already an exceptional pass catcher and he's already proven that and he
3:47can be a high volume pass catcher out of the backfield.
3:50All of a sudden Tua is the starter and you're projecting a billion targets for Bijan in 2026, give or take a few.
3:57Maybe only like 900 million, but you get what I'm saying.
4:00And on the contrary, I think London bodes better with Penix, who he's already produced elite numbers with.
4:05I've gone through these numbers on the show before, so I won't bore all of you with it again.
4:11I'll just give you the spark notes. Basically, Drake London has been dramatically better with Penix at quarterback than he was with Cousins.
4:17And pretty much every major statistic backs that up.
4:20So we already know he's been very good with Michael Penix and Penix isn't afraid to push the ball downfield.
4:26That obviously bodes well for somebody like Drake London.
4:28So if Penix is named the starter, I'm excited for London.
4:32If Tua is, to be honest, with where London's currently being ranked and where he's currently going in drafts, I'm probably fading him.
4:38I just don't really trust Tua to support him.
4:41The really interesting one to me is Kyle Pitts, who Mitch, I know you had a little kindergarten crush on your boy
4:47Kyle Pitts, even though I think he's a complete con artist, but we don't need to go there again.
4:53That's the one I'm most conflicted on. I don't really know how I'd change my view on him with this.
4:59I think I probably prefer Tua just because we've already seen Kyle Pitts really struggle with consistency with Penix already.
5:04He was better probably with Kirk Cousins. So at least we know he's not been very good with Penix and maybe there's upside with Tua.
5:12But I don't know. I'm open to your thoughts on that one because I'm very conflicted.
5:16I feel very strongly that it would be a better situation with Tua than it would be with Michael Penix.
5:22We've seen it the past few years. We saw it with Johnnie Smith.
5:26Tua is going to target the tight end position a lot.
5:29So for me, it's a huge bump for Kyle Pitts.
5:32I think I'm high on Kyle Pitts no matter who the quarterback is, which shouldn't come as a shock to you.
5:38But I agree with you. I'm also the same thing with Bijan where it's like, okay, if it's Michael Penix, he's still Bijan Robinson.
5:45I'm not that bothered by it. But Drake London is the guy who gets affected and I think is the most important
5:51and valuable fantasy football asset that's actually going to have their value determined by this training camp battle.
5:57More so than even if you're in a super flex league rostering one of these guys.
6:01It's Drake London that's getting affected the most here.
6:04And I think what we've seen with the deteriorating ADOT from Tua the past few seasons, like you mentioned, it doesn't bode great for Drake London.
6:11Whereas you've gone through it ad nauseam. He performs extremely well with Michael Penix.
6:15So Drake London feels like he's sitting on a razor's edge right now for how we should value him.
6:21And at the current moment, I'm staying away. But if I start seeing that like Michael Penix is more healthy than we
6:27thought and that he's starting to win that training camp battle, because I think a lot of people are leaning the Tua side right now.
6:35I see that I'm going to start scooping up Drake London before his value skyrockets.
6:39Yeah, I haven't really. I've just been kind of like treading lightly before ever drafting London anywhere now because I'm scared.
6:45And I don't know who the starter is going to be like.
6:49I think it's a true coin flip between two not very good lefty quarterbacks.
6:53And it's a shame. Could you imagine if this offense had like even just a fringe top 10 quarterback under center?
6:59These weapons would all be going in the first.
7:01I mean, they already are. Like they are going to mention here.
7:05Not as high on the list, but somebody that we're pretty high on is like Zachariah Branch.
7:10Like if we get Tua under center, like get ready.
7:13Zachariah Branch might lead the NFL in targets behind the line of scrimmage if Tua ends up the starter.
7:18Solely behind the line of scrimmage. Yes, 100%. That being he did in college already.
7:23Man, all right. Before I get into my first training camp battle, if you guys are enjoying the content, please make sure
7:29to hit that subscribe button and also like the video.
7:32It helps us out so much. If you're listening to us on the player profiler feed, hit us up at the lineup fantasy football show.
7:39Mo, let's talk about my lord and savior, Parker Washington.
7:42And the guy he's battling at camp with, Brian Thomas Jr.
7:45I had to talk about this one and it made me so happy that we were going over guys that were so close in ADP.
7:52And I go and check. And they are two spots apart right now.
7:56Brian Thomas Jr. wide receiver 31 in redraft. Parker Washington, the wide receiver 33.
8:00Their separation is a little bit different in Dynasty.
8:03The wide receiver 26 for BTJ and 34 for Parker.
8:06And I got to say, trust tree here. This does not leave me, you, the comment section, anyone.
8:11I kind of hate how propped up Parker's getting right now.
8:14Oh boy. Oh no, Mitch. When I first started talking about him in January, he felt like our little secret here at the lineup.
8:21And now the hype's getting a little bit nuts.
8:24But I still think he's undervalued. I think the big story out of minicamp that we've seen this summer is how well Brian Thomas Jr.
8:31and Trevor Lawrence were connecting. And I have to admit, it gave me that little glimmer back in my eye thinking about
8:37the same BTJ that was wide receiver 4 just two years ago.
8:41It feels like eons ago in his rookie season.
8:43And it's all kind of reminded me. The potential's there.
8:46Obviously, last season was catastrophic both from a statistical perspective.
8:49He finished as the wide receiver 44, and he probably drafted him in the second round.
8:54But also from an optics perspective, we had the bad drops.
8:57We had the bad body language. And so it's made it all the more difficult for Brian Thomas Jr.
9:03manager seeing Parker Washington kind of explode onto the scene last season and all of a sudden start getting all this traction this offseason as everyone's fantasy darling.
9:11Like last season, I feel like people thought Parker Washington was just kind of good in the last few weeks.
9:17He was the wide receiver 16 from week 9 on after their bye week.
9:21He has also, I've mentioned this a million times, he led the team with 114 targets.
9:25He finished 9th in the entire NFL and pro football focuses receiving grade.
9:29And so now the question is, who's the real wide receiver 1 in this high-powered Liam Cohen-led Jaguars offense?
9:35I can tell you one thing. If we knew who the true wide receiver 1 was, we would not be drafting them
9:41as the wide receiver 33 and 31 off the board.
9:44They would be going a hell of a lot higher.
9:47So that is what we are trying to look for here in this battle.
9:51And I think a lot of people right now are speculating that the Brian Thomas Jr.
9:55hype that came out of minicamp was fluffed to raise his trade value or a negotiating tactic against Parker Washington as he looks to get an extension.
10:03But to me, I think we're not really going to know the truth until that first day of training camp truly hits
10:10and we start to get a clearer picture of who Trevor Lawrence is actually connecting with and who his favorite target is.
10:16Once we do, I think you're going to start seeing these guys separate a little bit more.
10:21If it really does lean Parker Washington, you're going to see this flip and you're going to finally see Parker Washington being drafted as the wide receiver 1.
10:29But if this Brian Thomas Jr. hype starts growing and it's actually becoming more and more of a real thing getting closer
10:35to preseason, you're going to see that separation build and all of a sudden Parker Washington might be a value again.
10:42Brian Thomas might start getting propped up again and everyone who had him last year is going to get terrified.
10:47I think my takeaway from all of this has been to just drive Jacoby Myers.
10:52I know I mentioned that on a recent episode.
10:54You're such a Jacoby Myers fan. Early, early, I'm talking like early offseason when I was a sicko monitoring, you know, ECR and ADP.
11:01He was actually higher than both of those two guys.
11:04He's lower than both now in most places you look, not everywhere.
11:08You know what's really interesting? A result of this that I didn't even consider is that both of these guys get insane
11:14hype out of camp and no one's talking about Jacoby Myers and Jacoby Myers becomes an insane steal later on in the summer.
11:21I think he will be. He's just always the same.
11:24I just think his role in this offense is the safest.
11:27But with that said, I don't think he has a path to a top 12 finish that I think Brian Thomas does because he's done it.
11:34And to be honest, I do think Parker Washington can do it.
11:38I know you love him. Okay, I was like, you better say that.
11:42I think it is totally possible. What I'm most interested to see in camp is who's out there in two wide receiver sets consistently.
11:49Because we know all three are going to be on the field in three wide receiver sets.
11:54Travis Hunter probably will get mixed in two. But predominantly will be those other three guys we mentioned.
11:59And why I think that could be really important to monitor, especially as we've seen in recent years, I think Sean McVay kind of led the charge.
12:07Sean McVay was always a three wide receiver guy.
12:09And now he's the two tight end, two receiver guy.
12:12And the league's kind of like pigtailed off that.
12:15And you even saw this year in the draft, James Gladstone.
12:18That's our GM, right? James Gladstone? Yeah, James Gladstone.
12:21He talked about it. They drafted a blocking tight end in the second round.
12:25And people were surprised by it. And he answered very candidly saying, we're seeing this trend like going into heavier packages on
12:31the field, more tight ends on the field. We want to be equipped for that.
12:35If the Jags start shifting to more heavy personnel, and you're only going to have two receivers on the field at a
12:42time more often than we saw last year, it's really important who's on the field in those sets.
12:47So that is something to really watch in camp.
12:50Yeah, 100%. I love how we call it a copycat league when really it's just a copy Sean McVay league.
12:55Yeah, it's copy Sean McVay, who, by the way, little aside, absolutely yoked.
12:59I don't know if we've addressed that yet on this show, but if we haven't, it needs to be mentioned.
13:05I feel like that's not even new news. But yes, I do know the picture you're talking about in these gen.
13:11Oh my God, he looks like white Aaron Donald.
13:14Just to wrap that all in a bow though, watch the Parker Washington and Brian Thomas stuff.
13:19A side quest here, if you want to, is try to monitor what's going on with Travis Hunter.
13:24I mean, we're getting more reports now that the him playing mainly defense is going to be the standard moving forward.
13:30But also watch that Jacoby Myers price because not only Mello do we know that what his role is going to be
13:36in Jacksonville, because we know what his role is going to be, there's not going to be all that much hype around
13:43him and no one's going to be talking about Jacoby Myers.
13:46And that's the exact type of guy that kind of just slips in your drafts and you end up getting a steal.
13:52Yeah, he'll be going as like the wide receiver 40 in drafts and finishes the wide receiver 19.
13:57And it's like, he's not like a crazy Lee winner, but he's a guy who's absolutely going to return on that value on that ADP.
14:05We got to do another boring players episode and just talk about Jacoby Myers for like an hour.
14:10He is the king of the boring players. If it ain't broke, don't fix it.
14:14That sounds right until you actually do the math.
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15:24Compatibility and availability varies 18+. All right, well, we've gone through quarterbacks here.
15:27We've gone through receivers. I got a running back battle for you.
15:31Let's go. Really eager to see how it shakes out.
15:34And that is Rashad White and Ja'Cory Kroski-Merritt, a.k.a.
15:36Bill. Bill. And we can throw in Katron Allen to the rookie.
15:40I'm not as convinced he's really part of this competition, but we'll throw his name in there.
15:45This competition is super interesting to me because this is an offense that I think a lot of people, especially you and
15:51me, Mitch, we're really projecting a bounce back. We're projecting this offense to be closer to the 2024 version of itself than
15:58the version last year, especially if Jaden Daniels can stay healthy.
16:01So the running back on this offense could end up being a really nice piece, one that could really help your fantasy team.
16:07And both of these guys, White and Bill, are both super cheap right now.
16:12They have a fantasy pros ECR of running back 38 and 39, respectively.
16:15Very similar range in ADP as well. So, yep, late 30s, early 40s.
16:19So, very affordable. Katron Allen running back 67, so he's like dirt cheap.
16:23And I'll start off by saying I think this is likely going to be some sort of committee.
16:28I agree. And I use that lightly. Like, I don't know, it's kind of ambiguous what counts as a committee, what counts
16:34as a starter versus, you know, a change of pace back.
16:38But I'd be pretty surprised to see anyone be a true bell cow, I guess is what I'm trying to say.
16:44With that said, I think it'll be critical to monitor how these backs are being used in camp.
16:49Because I've been all aboard the Rashad White bandwagon.
16:52I've been drafting him a ton. I've been talking very positively about what he can do in this offense.
16:57Some haters of Rashad White have been quick to point out the fact that he looks slow.
17:02Which, to a certain extent is fair, but to be honest, at this point he's gotten a bit out of control.
17:08People are acting like he's me out there trying to play dizzy bat after 12 blood lights.
17:13Because it's not that bad. Like, he's put some good stuff on tape.
17:17He was actually PFF's 12th highest graded running back last season without any qualifiers or anything like that.
17:22So, he's been productive. So many people just commented, they're like, yeah, but you're forgetting Rashad White's bad.
17:27And it's like, well, the metrics don't back that up at all.
17:31Especially with Bucky Hurt last year, early in the year.
17:34Like, Rashad White was winning people fantasy weeks. Like, he was productive.
17:37But, I mean, I get to a certain extent, like, I just admit it, I don't think he'll be a bell cow.
17:44And I do think his skill set lends itself more to being a pass-catching third down back.
17:48Definitely more so than Ja'Cory Krosky-Meritt. Yeah. But I will admit, his value will be severely limited if that is all he does.
17:55Because I don't think Jaden Daniels is going to be checking the ball down a ton.
18:00It's just not something he really does. He pushes the ball downfield.
18:03He takes off and he runs. We love that mobility.
18:06So, Rashad White's probably going to have to get a good portion of the early down work to really return on ADP.
18:13But I definitely think it's possible. And we'll learn more once we go into camp.
18:17Because if Rashad White is consistently working with the ones, I will be putting a hole in my phone screen from spamming
18:23the Rashad White button in all my drafts. Like, I'm going to need like seven new phones a week.
18:29Call the Geek Squad. Do they still exist? I don't know.
18:32Does Best Buy still exist? I don't know, man.
18:35I'm not. I don't like going shopping. It gives me anxiety.
18:38But if we go into camp and Bill's getting the early down work, if he's getting it in August, there's a good
18:44chance he's getting it in September too. Which, by the way, I will admit as somebody who's out on Bill, it would
18:51be very funny if he ends up being a league winner the year after.
18:55We all thought he was going to break fantasy leagues and solve world hunger and do all these great things.
19:00But we'll see in camp. Like, camp is going to be very telling.
19:04Not only who looks good, but who's actually getting used in certain personnel packages.
19:08And then who knows? Like, we talk about these two.
19:11And then Caitran Allen, who I keep talking about as sort of this distant third piece.
19:16I have my doubts about him severely, but he could just go sicko mode in camp and all of a sudden his draft stock goes through the roof.
19:24So let's pay attention to all that. For me, it's one of the most important and interesting camp battles to watch.
19:30I'm going to say this. I might regret saying this, but like, I kind of feel like no matter what hype comes
19:36out about Caitran Allen, I think I'm just out.
19:39I just don't think that there's a path to him having meaningful fantasy value.
19:43He could be Bill. Yeah, right. No, 100%. It's this depth chart that is on the surface fragile and everyone gets excited
19:49because you can grab a running back super late, which we've had so many conversations about this when we're drafting best ball
19:56together of like, there truly is a running back cliff this year.
19:59And I think we're all trying to convince ourselves that like, oh, well, maybe I could get something out of Nicholas Singleton or Caitran Allen.
20:07I mean, we're talking to Mon Claiborne and we'll always stick by our guy, Mon.
20:11But like, in a lot of ways, I think we're all kind of kidding ourselves into thinking that some of these guys
20:17are going to come in and, or Emmitt Johnson even, like, are going to get meaningful work.
20:22Where I think this battle is truly between Rashad White and Ja'Cory Kroski-Merritt.
20:26And you bring up a good point. I think a lot of people are emotionally burned by Bill.
20:31And so they want to completely write him off.
20:34And that's me playing the devil's advocate as someone who loves Rashad White and thinks that he is going to be the
20:40guy and the worthwhile fantasy asset here. I just want to go into this with a clear mind and like, try to
20:47avoid the biases as much as I can. And just say like, yeah, I think this is completely up for grabs.
20:53And I agree with you. If we start seeing that Rashad White is really just working in on third downs, I'm probably
20:59staying away at a running back, what, 38 price tag right now.
21:03It's a little richer in my blood. Yeah, same.
21:05As someone who's drafting a ton of him, same.
21:08If he's only working in on third downs, it's like, all right, well, that won't be a very valuable role in a Jaden Daniels offense.
21:15But I agree with you. If he's out there all the time, then I want every possible share of him at this price.
21:22If he's getting the majority, not even all, but the majority of the early down work, he is going to be such a steal.
21:29And a league winner. I need to keep in mind, you raised a good point though.
21:33Like, I don't want to have my biases because I want Rashad White because I've been drafting him.
21:39We need the men in black little thing. Yes.
21:41With the flash and you forget. I need that in my grill right before I watch Commander's Camp.
21:46And then I can make a good decision. 1,000%.
21:49I need the men in black flash before I watch any training camp stuff.
21:53And there's no better segue into a guy I've had priors about that I now need to be completely unbiased going into watching.
22:00And that's Roma Dunze as he battles it out with Luther Burden at the Chicago Bears training camp.
22:05Luther Burden, right now the wide receiver 21 in redraft, wide receiver 17 in Dynasty.
22:09Roma Dunze, the wide receiver 30 in redraft, and the wide receiver 20 in Dynasty.
22:14It's been a minute since we talked about these guys, Melo.
22:17I think the last time was during our Dynasty Cells episode with Corey from Fantasy Stock Exchange where we discussed that we
22:23were all out on Luther Burden at cost. I was extremely high on Roma Dunze based on the fact that he was
22:30the wide receiver 3 overall through 4 weeks before sustaining a stress fracture in his foot.
22:34Ends up playing through most of the season hurt.
22:37Multiple wide receiver 1 finishes with that stress fracture.
22:39And then ends up taking off the end of the year from weeks 14 to 18.
22:44Plus the fact that Luther Burden had finished outside of the top 24 receivers in all but 2 games last year and finished as the wide receiver 48.
22:52All that being said, Melo, a lot of things have changed since the last time we talked about these guys.
22:58And I would like, the elephant in the room would like to be addressed.
23:02And there's 2 elephants in the room. The first one is Roma Dunze who came out recently and said about that foot with a stress fracture.
23:10Quote, this is my new normal. And it's not from a standpoint that I'm always in pain.
23:15But the way my foot broke, there's calluses in there and they create a different type of foot structure with those bones.
23:21That's always good. Different types of things that kind of shift things around.
23:25So my new normal is kind of what I'm going into.
23:28Not good. Don't love that. Not good. Anytime I'm talking about a new normal with my body is very bad.
23:34It's like the first time I tried to eat a whole Domino's pizza post-college and I had to tap out after like 5 slices.
23:41And I'll be honest here, you never really get back to 8.
23:44And it's my new normal. So I'm terrified about Roma Dunze's outlook right now.
23:48Meanwhile, Ben Johnson's coming out and he's saying he's buying Luther Burden stock for the year.
23:53And this could always be coach speak trying to fire up a young guy that he wants more out of.
23:59But I think the fact that he's saying that about Luther Burden and none of these other guys in this offense, it tells me a lot.
24:06And like, I don't think Ben Johnson's fully a guy that just talks out of his ass.
24:11So to break all that down, what are we actually watching for here at camp?
24:16First off, I want to see what Roma Dunze actually looks like running.
24:19How's he getting out of his breaks? Does he seem like he's up to speed?
24:24Or does there actually seem like there's something hampering him?
24:27And then I also want to see if the Luther Burden coach speak is translating into him getting real opportunities and making plays out there.
24:34Or if this is all just internet Twitter hype that we're doing in the middle of June and July.
24:39The fantasy community just hyping up players irrationally? When have we ever done that, Mitch?
24:44I know. It's a new thing we're trying this offseason.
24:47I think I'm glad. I know we're like way past due with those Ben Johnson comments.
24:51But I'm glad we're finally talking about them. Because it's certainly not a bad thing for Luther Burden that Ben Johnson is saying that.
24:58Of course not. It's definitely not bad. But I do think it's been blown out of proportion.
25:03Like, Ben Johnson's brain doesn't think about fantasy rankings and where guys are being drafted and the fact that Luther Burden is going above Roma Dunze.
25:11He doesn't give a shit. He's thinking about the fact that you have the second-year receiver that was playing behind Olamide Zaccheaus
25:17for the vast majority of his rookie year. And all of a sudden it's like, oh, he's going to have a big role in this offense.
25:25Like, we're going to need him to step up and do more than a couple of boom games down the final few weeks of the season.
25:32Like, that's the lens that Ben Johnson is talking about.
25:35And of course he's not going to say he's not excited about his second-year guy.
25:39Are we entirely sure that Ben Johnson doesn't have Luther Burden on his dynasty team and he's trying to prop up his stock?
25:46Like, there's always a chance that you see the—who is the play caller recently?
25:50Who is the play caller recently who said he's playing a lot of Madden to prep for his offensive play calling duties?
25:57You never know what these guys are doing. You never know.
26:00He's going to be so confused when someone doesn't, like, run through the defender, like, literally glitch through them.
26:05He's like, that usually works. Yeah, like, what the hell is that?
26:09Why hasn't four verts worked yet this game? I want somebody to—actually, I think they invented this.
26:14I'm getting off the rails here. I think they invented, like, a fan vote play calling league that didn't work.
26:19It lasted like one season. Comment if you remember it.
26:22Comment what that league was called. Yeah, I want to know what that league is called.
26:27Long story short, though, I still like the value of Rome.
26:30His foot terrifies me. And camp will hopefully give us a lot of answers.
26:34That's a classic Rex Ryan quote. Feet terrifying him.
26:37I don't think—I think Rex Ryan has said the opposite.
26:40Actually, he hasn't found a foot he hasn't liked.
26:42No. Bunions and all. All right. We ready for our favorite battle here, Mitch?
26:46Yeah, that's a great transition from Bunions into these two guys.
26:50Bunions into the running back competition in Carolina between Chuba Hubbard and Jonathan Brooks.
26:54Oh, I love this one. This is my—this one gets me so hot.
26:57I'm ready to run through a freaking wall, Mitch, just talking about this battle here.
27:02As a Jonathan Brooks believer, I may start doing victory laps as soon as Brooks even gets a single snap with the starters in camp.
27:09Like the first— Stop the count. He gets— Yeah, stop the count.
27:13It's over. This one's really interesting to pay attention to, though, because just a few months ago, Chuba was the clear starter.
27:19And Brooks was just, at best, like a sneaky sleeper dark horse to keep an eye on, which is when I started
27:25really being interested in and thinking he had a chance to surprise a lot of people.
27:30But now, all of a sudden, this is being treated as a true competition where Chuba's still the favorite for sure, but
27:36people are acknowledging the fact that Jonathan Brooks could have a real shot at this job.
27:41And I want to level set and just, like, manage expectations here by clarifying, barring injuries, Chuba Hubbard is going to get
27:47the vast majority of the work with the starters in camp.
27:51Now, whether that carries into the season, I don't know.
27:53In camp, Chuba's going to be working with the starters a ton.
27:57It's basically a lock. So, let's go over what we really should be looking for in Panthers camp.
28:02One is how much is Brooks worked in with the starters?
28:05If it's just a little bit, then Chuba may have a pretty strong grip on this job.
28:10But if Brooks is working in a lot, even if it's less than 50%, all of a sudden, to me, that indicates
28:17the staff is telling us that Chuba doesn't really have a clear, easy path to being the bell cow of this offense.
28:23And his grip is weakening substantially on this job.
28:26Yeah. The second thing I'm looking for is how healthy and explosive does Brooks look?
28:30Obviously, it's the torn ACLs that have derailed his career.
28:33All went well in OTAs, but we need to see how everything looks once they rev up in camp and the pads are fully on.
28:40Is he cutting well? Is his burst fully back?
28:43Does he look good in shorts? Those are all the important questions us analysts need answers to in order to know if he's fully back.
28:50And then the last thing, of course, is how does Chuba look?
28:54Because he's been painfully inconsistent throughout his career. Part of that may be because of injuries like the calf last year, which
29:00allegedly is the reason he wasn't very good. If he looks great in camp, maybe last year was just like an injury fluke.
29:07And maybe he is a really good running back and worthy of this starting gig.
29:11But if he just kind of looks meh, maybe he doesn't really have it.
29:15And maybe the door is wide open for Brooks.
29:18So those are all the things I'm going to be paying attention to because they're all going to be baked into my
29:24final valuations before I'm drafting for serious leagues in August.
29:27Yeah, this one is so interesting to me. I think it's the perfect battle for our top spot because I think we
29:33are just going to gleam so much information from this.
29:36I think we need so much information on what these two guys look like.
29:40And we're looking at two guys who are coming off of injury.
29:44If you don't think that what happened to Chuba last year was because of injury, then you're basically just saying you don't think he's very good.
29:51So we've got Brooks who's got the high draft capital, potentially the best running back in his class when he got drafted.
29:58But we haven't seen him play at the NFL level because of the injuries.
30:02But he's 23 years old. And I think that's the thing that keeps standing out to me.
30:07And then there's Chuba who I personally was incredibly high on last year.
30:10He was probably one of my biggest misses of the year, if I'm being transparent.
30:15And like you said, he's been painfully inconsistent. But to his defense, he was hurt a lot of last year.
30:21And so when things are good, they're good with Chuba.
30:23That being said, do you feel like there's a little part of Canalis and this whole coaching staff that's like, hmm, Rico
30:30Dowdle was kind of really, really good when he was in this offense last year.
30:34And even when Chuba's been healthy, he hasn't been that good.
30:37So there has to be some level of them that no matter what they've been saying in the media is willing to
30:44let Jonathan Brooks get a handle on this job if he looks good enough in camp.
30:48And so I think this is a very genuine battle, more than a lot of people want to admit.
30:54And I think things could turn very, very quickly on the onset of training camp if we're seeing Brooks look really good
31:00and getting the majority of the work. Yeah. I'm glad you brought up the fact that Daddle's out of town too.
31:06And Derek Brown brought this up when he was on.
31:09Like teams will tell you without telling you the way they view players.
31:13And they let Rico Dowdle go. And honestly, he didn't even get paid that much.
31:17I mean, he got a nice little bag, but he didn't like the Steelers didn't have to reach super deep in their pockets.
31:24The Panthers probably could have afforded to bring them back.
31:27And you know what the Panthers did do to bring a new talent?
31:31Basically nothing. Like they brought in the ghost of Quadzilla, A.J.
31:34Dillon. That's it. Like that tells me that they have confidence, if nothing else, in Jonathan Brooks being a part of this offense.
31:41Now, whether it's the major part of this backfield or not, that remains to be seen.
31:45Yeah. At his price earlier on in the summer, it was the type of thing where you could take a shot on
31:52him and just be like, at this price, it's fine if he's the RB2 and he just gets a decent amount of work.
31:58And now he's gotten into the territory where it's like, you're kind of picking one or the other here.
32:04And one of these guys is going to have to get a lot of work to make it worth the price.
32:10I still am a Brooks guy, but I'm sad to admit he's no longer one of my favorite values because he is
32:16shooting up everybody's draft boards right now. Those were our five biggest training camp battles to watch for fantasy football here in 2026.
32:23If there are any other positional battles that you think we need to talk about in the future before the season starts, let us know down below.
32:31If there are any guys you are super excited about that you want to talk about on the show, also leave it down below.
32:38Melo, before we get out of here, did we miss anything?
32:41Nothing for me. All right. We'll catch you guys next episode.
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