0:00It's a great day to break down my week five fantasy football running back rankings and tears. Going to be going through my top 48 backs ahead of this
0:07week's slate of action. And we got some by-weeks now, guys. So, we really need to keep our eye on that prize. Ball out
0:13and make some good star set decisions.
0:15In addition to going through the ranks, I will also be having some bigger picture topics being covered. Things such as the best and worst of schedules
0:21moving forward. Guys who have the biggest advantages and disadvantages in the trenches this week and lower own handcuffs that you, a scholar, should be
0:28getting on your bench sooner. rather than later. So with that guys, let's get things started with the Big Eight in tier one with Mr. RB1 Jir Gibbs guys.
0:36116 PPR points this season. Second to only Jackson Smith Nigua across all positions very much cementing his status as the 101 without big plays. He has
0:48gone 193 touches since his last 25 plus yard gain. Yes, I will continue to repeat this statistic as long as it
0:55continues to go on. It's not damning.
0:57It's just incredible that he has done what he's done even without his superpower, which is these monster plays. We could be looking at 30 plus
1:04PPR points per freaking game, guys. Once Gibbs really gets going, the RB1. Yeah, easy. RB2, Bejian Robinson. If you think he's better than Jir Gibbs, I don't even
1:15doubt you. The difference in fantasy lands, we just don't get the same amount of receiving points. Okay, two games with Michael Pennix, partially because
1:22the Falcons are just rather inexplicably blowing everyone out these days. He's only had two catches for 19 yards and then one catch for just two yards. But
1:30whatever. It's Bejian Robinson. Every touch has the potential to go the distance. And he's in fact the fastest offensive player in the league. At least
1:37with the ball in his hands. NextG stats does have Bejon as the fastest offensive player this year. Hell yeah, bro. RB3. I
1:44got Kron Williams guys making a leap up the ranks. Smash spot here against a bad Bills defense on Sunday Night Football.
1:50Rams Bills has the highest game total of the week. They're actually tied with the Lions and Cardinals. But yeah, 54 and a
1:57half point overunder. Got to be loving that. With Kairen, guys, he's got 48 touchdowns in his last 49 regular season games, which is freaking crazy. Again,
2:0648 touchdowns in his last 49 regular season games. And they're really tapping into him as a receiver, which I thought was mostly just a week three thing
2:13without Puka Akua in the picture, but no. Saw it again in week four. now his two highest single game regular season
2:20totals and receiving yards guys have come in consecutive matchups. So I don't know that the Rams are going to constantly constantly be trailing as
2:27much as they have over the last few weeks, but I don't know. It could certainly happen here against the Bills who have allowed the six most PPR points
2:33per game to opposing running backs this season.
2:36RB4, I got Chase Brown, guys going up against the Dolphins. It's a fantastic matchup. last time he was in the stadium
2:43109 total yards and not one not two but three touchdowns out there. I think without Jamar Chase we just see Chase
2:50Brown actually get unleashed as a receiver which happened last week. Last week Chase Brown one fantasy point from rushing 10 rushing yards but who cares
2:57when you got freaking 18.1 fantasy points from receiving. If T Higgins is out two wheels up man again RB4 I don't
3:05know if I'd even move him up. Tiggins is out again. don't have too many guys ahead of them. But Dolphins second worst
3:10defense in PPR points per game allowed the position. I know it's been a relatively slow starter for Chase Brown.
3:15Hasn't found the end zone since week one. I will be shocked if I'm back here saying that in week six. RB5, I got
3:21Derrick Henry going up against the Atlanta Falcons on Sunday Night Football. Just a little bit lower because one, it's looking iffy that we
3:27get Lamar Jackson out there.
3:28Unfortunately, deal with an ankle injury. Sounds like he's on the wrong side of questionable right now. And two, don't look now, guys. This Falcons
3:35defense is awesome. One of my favorite stats is called havoc rate. I believe I got it from Bill Connelly in the college
3:40football streets back in the day. But basically, havoc rate is the percentage of snaps that a defense registers a pressure, a tackle for a loss, a pass
3:47breakup, a forced fumble, or a pass breakup. So, yeah, things that kind of denote havoc. And the Falcons rank first in the NFL despite not even blitzing at
3:56a league average rate. So, it's incredible what they're doing. They got key guys in the front seven suspended and on IR. and they are just keeping on
4:03keeping on dominating the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball.
4:06Shout out to Kevin Sansky, Jeff Olrich, and the entire coaching staff for getting the most out of these players.
4:11So, look, it's King Henry. All right, he's the RB3, RB4, excuse me, in total PPR points uh this season. Even without
4:18Lamar Jackson, we're still going to be expecting big things. And you can make the argument that without Lamar, maybe we do see more touches than usual for
4:24King Henry. But again, just situation where RB5, RB4, whatever, start King Henry. and similar sentiment for this entire tier honestly. But RB6 Christian
4:33McCaffrey, we have seen a decrease in usage. All right, last year he averaged 18.3 rush attempts per game. This year it's at 12.5 and his receptions have
4:41gone down from six to four. We're still talking about north of 16 combined carries and targets per game. All right, with the upside for 20 plus obviously
4:49when the situation calls for it. Just haven't needed to totally lean into the guy yet, which is fine. The 49ers offense is huming and CMC looks healthy
4:57and good out there. All right, 4.4 four yards per carry. Like this was looking rough going at into the end of last year
5:02with his efficiency. We've seen that be better and it is a high-scoring offense.
5:07Mike McDonald has generally done a better job against the 49ers than most.
5:10You know, spoiler, he's done a better job against pretty much every offense than most. CMC a little bit of an exception. There's
5:17been five matchups where CMC has taken on Mike McDonald. Okay, he has scored 25.1, 14.6, 23.2. But the two more recent matchups at the end of last
5:26season, 11.7 and 12.4 PPR points. So, not exactly a smash spot for CMC. That's why I got him at RB6, but still CMC
5:34obviously. RB7, I got Jonathan Taylor, guys. The good news is JT's a beast. He scored multiple touchdowns in three or four games this season, and the Colts
5:43actually come in first in Rotoire's updated offensive line rankings. The bad news is Daniel Jones in this passing game look pretty abysmal right now
5:50because of injuries for sure, but abysmal nevertheless. And we are seeing JT average a career low 4.1 yards per carry without the same sort of just
5:59receiving juice that we saw last year.
6:01So we never expected Taylor to be the 600yard receiving back, but we did have a newfound decent floor last season that
6:07unfortunately has kind of evaporated. So we saw TJ Watt in this front seven give Jones a ton of problems last year. It's
6:13Jonathan Taylor. I'm expecting him to rip off a big run here sooner rather than later. And even if he doesn't, he
6:18could be just fine like he's been through the first four weeks of the season. But again, difference between Taylor being the RB7 like I have him and
6:25him buying for that RB1 overall spot.
6:28RB8, I got James Cook going up against the Rams on Monday Night Football. This is the last running back of the tier.
6:33And again, there is some good news here.
6:34Namely, that Cook is generally making the most out of his opportunities. Six yards per carry and very much still looks like an awesome reallife running
6:41back and you're starting when fantasy and feeling fine about it. The bad news is, as much as we love to call back the
6:46training camp reports that came true, not all of them did. namely James Cook actually getting a bigger receiving role. It has been rough, guys. Six
6:54catches for 24 yards through four weeks of the season. Wow, less we forget his quarterback is tied for the league lead
7:00in rushing touchdowns with pretty much all of them coming from the oneyard line. So, I'm not criticizing the Bills for doing it. Why wouldn't you do one of
7:06the most efficient easy button plays from the oneyard line in the league? How many times pretty much weekly do we see
7:12a team again try to give it to their running back two or three straight times only to get stopped again and again and
7:17again? With Josh Allan, you don't have to worry about that. So, I get why the Bills are doing it. They're awesome.
7:22Keep doing what they're doing. But, we have to adjust to that in fantasy land.
7:26We can't just complain about it and then be pissed off every time it happens. So, James Cook, my RB8, still expecting big
7:31things here. Should be a shootout. It'd be nice to see the receiving stuff turn its way around. I'm kind of doubtful.
7:37That's why he's my RB8. Key question for this tier, guys. I want to look at the running backs and see what percentage of
7:43their fantasy points are actually coming from rushing versus receiving through four weeks of action. So, got a handy dandy chart for you. Blue indicates a
7:50higher percentage. Red obviously indicates a lower one relative to the rest of the group. So, when we are looking at the top 48 over running backs
7:57overall, you do see some big swings particularly with the guys closer to 48 than one because they've scored less fantasy points. So, focusing on the top
8:0424 running backs who have really been racking up most of their production on the ground versus through the air this year, we get the usual suspects. You
8:11know, Derrick Henry, Jonathan Taylor, Kyle Manungai, Brian Robinson, or Marian Hampton, but man, James Cook, guys, really is on that same level, even
8:19though I don't think we as a society think of him that way. 87% of James Cook Cook's fancy points this year have come
8:27from rushing. Obviously, just 13% from receiving. I mean, Dererick Henry's at 87%.
8:33Jonathan Taylor 83%. Like, that is who James Cook has been kind of forced to be in Buffalo right now. So, again, he's
8:40still the RB1 and PPR points. The sky isn't falling or anything. But just again, a new kind of normal, I guess,
8:46for James Cook's usage. And then meanwhile, for the receiving production guys, Ashton Genty. Thank god this dude is getting the work he is through the
8:53air. 64% of his fantasy production this year has come from receiving. you have to go all the way to RJ Harvey at RB28
9:01to find someone more reliant on what they're doing through the air. So again, fantasy points or fantasy points. This is more of a descriptive stat. I'm not
9:07trying to really put down anyone. It's just what's happening out here and we can use this to our knowledge when we
9:12have tougher matchups down the road versus uh rushing versus receiving stuff. So RJ Harvey, that would be the other guy to highlight because just 13%
9:19of his fantasy production has come from rushing this season. I got the stat later. I'll throw it out again. But I
9:25want to say he's like the RB62 and fantasy points from rushing, but he's the RB4 and fantasy points from receiving. And a full PPR scoring, we'll
9:33take it, baby.
9:35Tier two, we're feeling pretty good here. Okay, starting off with RB9, Jaylen Warren going up against the Colts. Assuming Rico Dattle is out, if
9:43we do see Rico D return, I wouldn't move Warren down too far. He would still remain in this tier. I think I'd
9:51probably get him around the RB16 spot, but as things stand right now and hey, maybe D doesn't return from what seems
9:57to be a turf toe injury. Wheels up for this guy, man. All the advanced efficiency stats really throughout his entire career and also this season. Say
10:04Jaylen Warren is one of the single best running backs in the NFL and he finally for the last two weeks has had a
10:09workload befitting of his talents. We are talking about a 91 and 97% snap rate. You just don't see that. So I know
10:17I know it would be cool to get a touchdown one of these days but with that sort of every down volume really
10:21doesn't even matter that much. So again Jaylen Warren easy top 10 running back for me with if Rico D remains sideline
10:27even if he returns still going to be sitting pretty inside the top 16.
10:31RB10 I got Javvante Williams going up against the Buccaneers on Thursday Night Football. This historically has been a tough matchup against Vita and company
10:38on the ground. That said you know we did actually see last week the Packers the freaking Packers of all teams look
10:43passable on the ground. Caleb Johnson rip off a couple good gains for example.
10:47So either way, Jamonte, even if he doesn't get much going on the ground, we're talking about something with 19 touchdowns in 20 games since joining the
10:54Cowboys and he's one of only seven running backs averaging 20 plus PPR points per game on the season. So really is again a situation where the Cowboys
11:01are just always such a freaking juggernaut and their ability to score points cannot go just disregarded out here. Juggernaut on offense. Okay, I not
11:10overall, just on offense. They lead the league or they're tied for the league lead in games with 30 plus points dating
11:15back to week one of last season.
11:16Javvante gets the football. He's their primary touchdown score. All I'm trying to say RB10 for me. RB11 is going to be
11:23Ashen Genty, guys. Again, just 3.4 yards for carry this season and was getting mocked by Mike Washington to the extent that we did see Washington set season
11:31high marks in touches with 10 and snaps of 21.4%. That said, didn't make too much of those either because for the
11:38second straight year, it really is more the offensive line than anything. So, this group is just 27th, I believe, in RB rush yards before contact per carry.
11:46That's usually the offensive line style I like to look at when it comes to run blocking. So, with Genty, I also don't
11:51think he's necessarily 100% healthy.
11:53Still coming back from that angle issue.
11:55So, it's a mixture of factors, but he maintains a top 12 ranking for now because of that affformentioned receiving upside, guys. Again, 47.5
12:04total PPR points from receiving this year. The only running back with more is Jir Gibbs. Ashen Genty has more fantasy points from receiving than Malik
12:14Neighbors and Luther Burden. Yeah, it's nuts. So, having Brock Bowers back, you know, is going to help limit not, it's going to limit. It's not going to help
12:22anything. It'll limit Genty's overall upside with it a little bit, I guess.
12:26But, I don't know. You could also make the case that defenses can't focus on him as much and do that thing. So, as
12:31long as Genty continues to get this much pass down work, got to feel good about him still returning low-end RB1 value,
12:36even if be be a lot cooler if a healthy version could be looking at top five status.
12:42This is where things start to get a little wonky, but hear me out. RB12, I got Brillin Allen, guys. The Jets only
12:48ran 32 plays last week, and Allen was on the field for 94% of them.
12:54All right. The reason why we had Jaylen Warren and Trouba Hubber as top 10 running backs last week was because of
12:59this. And now Bron Allen has it. So, no, I don't feel as good about the Jets as I do. Definitely not the Panthers or even,
13:07let's face it, the Steelers who've been playing some good football for the past few weeks. But with Bron Allen, our big
13:12question going in last week was how involved will Isaiah Davis be? And the answer was pretty much not at all. And
13:17honestly, not to put down Isaiah Davis, but I like seeing Bron Allen get involved out there. His raw 3.6 yards per carry isn't great, but it is a
13:25situation where I like looking at more than that. And I don't think this Jets offensive line from a run blocking perspective has exactly been all that
13:32great this season. And accordingly, we've seen Brillin continuously push these piles. I've talked about yards after contact not being my favorite stat
13:39because guys will break an arm tackle the line, then run for 70 yards. The one I like to use is percentage of carries
13:44to gain at least three plus yards after contact. Man, among 46 qualified running backs, Brown Allen is 10th. Bree Hall is
13:51second to last. Bree Hall has a lot of really good things, but we're looking at a 22-year-old mountain of a man who is
13:58also pretty spry on his feet. That touchdown he had earlier this year, like we're seeing some good vision from Brown Allen for a guy his size. So, I feel
14:06like a lot of people have just written him off as sucking, but I don't know.
14:09He's been injured. He's still such a young guy. I think Brown Allen's a pretty solid running back, man. So going up against the Browns who haven't been
14:16that great on defense at least against a run this year and that's been with Mason Graham who's now expected to miss a
14:21couple weeks with a knee and ankle injury. So yeah, Brillon Allen for me based on the usage and a winnable enough
14:27matchup RB12 ahead of week five.
14:30RB13 Aaron Jones speaking of that usage guys in three games without Jordan Mason 81% 80% and 73% snap rates 23 22 and 24
14:40touches. Can we just get more fantasy points Aaron Jones? It hasn't been bad.
14:44He's finished as the PPR RB23, 14, and 17. I think we finally get a boom here, though, guys. We, if you, like me, watch
14:51this Monday Night Football game. You saw just how incapable the Saints were stopping anything the Falcons wanted to do. And I get it. The ATL Falcons
14:59certainly a better rushing offense than what we've seen out of Minnesota, but still pretty horrific showing. And now on the season, the Saints have allowed
15:06nearly five additional PPR points per game over the next worst defense uh when facing opposing running back. So Aaron Jones, however much longer he's going to
15:15get to lead this backfield without Jordan Mason involved, he's going to continue to be at the minimum a top 20 running back for me. This week he cracks
15:21the top 13.
15:23Next one's tough. RB14, DeAndre Swift.
15:27All right, didn't go great last week. We all saw Kungai go nuts and we saw DeAndre Swift basically get doghouse after a fumble. I don't think it's going
15:36to be a long-term issue. I think Ben Johnson is a really good coach who saw Swift fumble for the second time this
15:42season and held one of his star players accountable and sat him on the bench the rest of the way. We also heard Ben
15:47Johnson say speaking of Manungai after the game, quote, "When you see a guy running like that as a play caller, you
15:53just want to keep feeding him. Elevates everybody blocking for him and gives the whole unit a spark, which we really needed." Makes sense. Kungai was running
16:01well. Keep feeding him. They did. He played well. The Bears won the football game. seems reasonable enough to me.
16:08It's not good for DeAndre Swift, and we saw that play out last week, but I find it very hard to believe this is going to
16:15become a multi-week thing when they just gave the dude a threeyear, $34 million extension a month ago. Now, that money did not stop them from benching him last
16:24week. That fact is not lost on me. I feel a little better about Manungai dealing with his thumb injury just in
16:30terms of them not relegating Swift to again the shadow roam or anything like that.
16:36I just think Swift by and large this year has played good football. Ben Johnson made his point. Ball security, job security. Swift certainly is going
16:44to be keen on that. And it really was a rough like if we had to rank the lost fumbles this year that DeAndre Swift
16:51fumble is going to be towards the bottom of the list. Sometimes, you know, it's just the ultimate peanut punch. It's like, man, I don't know how anyone could
16:57hold on to it. Not so much the case with Swift last week. So, he still had 17 touches out there, which it wasn't part
17:04of the Bears running 89 plays or whatever it was. But 14 for me here, I'm not going to be too concerned. I think
17:11the answer to which Bears running back to start might just be yes, guys. Both guys, top 10 in rushing. Two of 10
17:18running backs this season have 300 plus rushing yards reside in Chicago. Bears are running the crap out of the football. They're controlling the game.
17:25DeAndre Swift, better days will be ahead. RB15. I'm going Ball Toot, guys.
17:30London game against the Eagles that you know aren't looking too good right now.
17:33Never good when you got star players retiring. Shout out Lane Johnson.
17:37Amazing career. He said personal reasons. Wanted to spend more time with his family. Kudos to him, man. Just saying. Not a great sign. I think we can
17:44agree on that. Okay. Be Tuton though. He had two rushing touchdowns called back by penalty. I talked about in my beyond
17:51the box score report video though. I just I have a hard time coming to you guys and saying that's why you got to be
17:57excited about BAL Tutin. I am excited about Bashalt Tutin, it's not because he had two touchdowns called back on penalties that pretty much allowed the
18:04touchdowns to happen in the first place.
18:06Okay, the reason why I'm excited about Bashaw Tutin is all these advanced stats I'll throw at you. The yards after contact per carry, the percentage of
18:12yards after contact, the tackles avoided, you see Toutton's name up there at the very top of the list, man.
18:18Kenneth Walker, Bejan Robinson. These are pretty much the guys that you see alongside Bashaw Tuton when trying to look at the best numbers we have to help
18:25quantify individual running back performance.
18:29Liam Cohen slowly but surely we're not seeing Laquent Allen Abdullah touch the ball. Chris Rodriguez has gotten I think between six and eight carries per week
18:38out here. Bashaw Tuton has been the lead running back in an offensive line and overall run game that we've seen perform
18:44a little bit better than expected and an offense that's running the damn ball just like Ben Johnson like this is one
18:50of the more runheavy offenses in the league and they've gotten to play with some leads and everything and they have a badass defense but I don't exactly see
18:55those two things changing.
18:58I have seen recent trades on Yahoo. You can actually go look these up trades that have happened in the last 24 hours.
19:03Tutin has been acquired for Terry McLaren plus Olly Gordon, Bucky Irving plus Denzel Boston and Jaylen Waddle straight up. It's always going to depend
19:11on your team. All right, if you're loaded at running back and Waddles your wide receiver too, yeah, don't go trade for Tutin in the right team though. I
19:20think getting Toutin now before the inevitable breakout makes a ton of sense. All the usage stuff, all the underlying stuff, it points to Tuton
19:29being awesome. I think the raw count number is gonna catch up very very soon.
19:34RB16, I got Emanuel Wilson, guys. This implies that Zack Charbanet will miss another week with the knee injury. If we see Charbanet come back, it's probably
19:42going to be one of these situations where all three Seahawks running backs are going to be outside my top 24.
19:47Reminder that Joe Mixon actually was not signed by the Seahawks. Apparently, they brought him in. They said he looked great. Then they brought him in for a
19:53physical and all of a sudden he didn't.
19:54You know, they take his shoe off and there wasn't a foot. I don't freaking know. But man Wilson last week 21
19:59carries 81 yards and a tut on the ground. Also looked good in the pass game. Caught three passes for 39 yards
20:05and another touchdown. Could be a potential sneaky shootout. Seahawks and the 49ers. We've just been waiting for this backfield to center around anyone.
20:12And it wasn't Jaren Price. Now it's Emanuel Wilson. How about them apples?
20:15So could it get a little messy in a game where the Seahawks are trailing? I think so. That would be the one caveat here.
20:2260% snap rate for Wilson last week in a game that they controlled very very early on. So, I could see it flipping
20:28over to George Lani a bit more if we do see a situation where the 49ers get up early on the Seahawks, but I wouldn't
20:34say that's especially likely to happen.
20:36And even then, man, like if you wanted to be a little bit more pessimistic about Wilson saying, "I'm buying in a
20:41little bit too much." I think after you hear some of the names that we're still having to get to in this week, you'll
20:45see where I'm coming from. RB 17, I got Cam Scatteroo, guys. NFL high 68 carries without a rush for 15 plus yards. But I
20:54don't know about you guys, if you saw that pass pro we had where we freaking put that linebacker in the dirt. He's
20:58doing the little things right. He's getting highlights for pass pro.
21:01Meanwhile, Naji Harris is losing fumbles. And we have seen the Giants more and more continue feeding this man the football. 18 16 23 most recently 19
21:10touches for Cam Scatteraboo. If we can just get some more stuff going on as a receiver where we really we know he's
21:15really capable, that could just be the icing on the cake. So tough matchup against Sunny Styles and the Commanders.
21:20We have seen them be very strong against a run this year. Get your freaking popcorn ready for the first time we see,
21:25you know, Scatteraboo step up with a blissing Sunny Styles going on. I think we all remember what happened the last time that happened with Saquon Barkley
21:32uh on the tracks when the Sunny Styles train was running through. But yeah, Cam Scato guys, just tough to get anyone too
21:37far down the ranks when you have a reasonable chance for 20 plus touches in an offense that you know doesn't completely suck. RB18,
21:46Jeremiah Love, man. And I almost want to move him lower, but I'm running out of running backs to feel even somewhat okay
21:53about. So, it was a weird week four for Jeremiah Love. I think he injured his other ankle. Shout out to Yahoo's Hayden
22:01Winks and then shout out to Fantasy Points Dr. Jeff Mueller for confirming it, but there was a play where it looked
22:06like he hurt his right ankle. He had a left ankle injury in training camp.
22:09Tried to run out like one play after that and then didn't play the rest of the game. They asked Love after the game
22:15though. He said he wasn't injured and then he had the quote heard around the world. This is probably going to be the
22:20longest year of my life. I will say he was talking about managing the injuries, which has got to be the most frustrating
22:26thing for a football player. So, I don't I don't think Love was trying to put down his team or teammates or anything
22:32like that or the situation. I think he's just frustrated that he can't play more because they are actively managing him playing through the pain. That was my
22:39read on it. Regardless, guys, I don't exactly see that situation changing anytime soon. Love has been playing through the pain and it hasn't been
22:48great. 66 touches without a gain of 20 plus yards that's tied for the third highest mark in the NFL. It's not one of
22:54these situations where it's just night and day between him and Tyler Algier. It should be. I'm sure it will be for the
23:00foreseeable future once Low gets healthy, but he's not healthy right now.
23:05This dude was a walking big play at Notre Dame. Even playing through the pain in the college football playoff, he's ripping off 98 yard touchdowns or
23:12whatever that was against Indiana. So my concern for Jeremiah Love, it's not the natural talent or the long-term future.
23:19It's this week while he's banged up, while Tyler Aier is coming off a game where he had a real nasty 22 yard
23:25touchdown. I don't see the takeover happening this week. And now we also have to deal with an offensive line that we already weren't exactly writing songs
23:32about now without their starting left tackle Paris Johnson for the rest of the season due to a bicep injury. So better
23:38days ahead in the future for Jeremiah Love. Is he a buy low?
23:46It's probably a buy low.
23:50Let me pull up these fantasy trades.
23:54We'll do it live.
23:57So, I do wonder. Of course, I can't find this now. Fantasy trades. Yahoo. Here we go.
24:06Because like this is probably the worst.
24:09This is what I want to do. You know, find the player when their value is at the lowest. That's when you trade for
24:13him. You don't wait for things to correct themselves. Then the value is going to be too high. Jeremiah Love last 24 hours. Tra Some of these are going to
24:22be wonky and I just don't believe that they actually will happen in any one with a pulse league, but they happen.
24:27All right. Jeremiah Love for Aaron Jones. Straight up that allegedly happened.
24:33Jeremiah Love for Jaylen Warren, Jaylen Coker, and Kyle Manungai. That's interesting.
24:38Jeremiah love for George Pickkins and Caleb Williams. Jeremiah love for Rasheed Rice and Kyle Manungai.
24:46Jeremiah love for Tony Pard and George Pickkins. People aren't giving him away yet.
24:51Obviously, the Aaron Jones one's amazing. If he can do that, yeah, freaking do it.
24:57I'm going to pump the brakes a little bit on it because he could be more injured than we know about right now as
25:04I'm recording this on Tuesday.
25:06It's going to come together for Jeremiah Love. I can't say it's going to be week five or week six or even week seven.
25:14Second half of the season. We'll see what happens. But right now, ahead of week five, not looking great for Jeremiah Love. Key question here, guys.
25:21I went ahead and I looked at the upcoming schedules for all 32 teams here from weeks five through week 10. So, we
25:26got four games under our belts now. I'm using the fantasy points per game PPR against for all these defenses they're facing. I took the averages and now we
25:34have the handy dandy ranks. So offenses with the best running back schedules now coming up over the next month and a
25:39half. The Vikings, Panthers, Patriots, Dolphins, Chiefs, and the Brownies are standing out again. Aaron Jones, as long as he is maintaining this leadback role,
25:48we are continuing to start him. Chuba Hubard, stay healthy, king. Rest up on that bye-week, we'll be back to putting you in the top 10 afterwards. Patriots,
25:56hopefully we can just see the offense look more like they were in week four than weeks one through three. that would
26:01allow a split backfield to actually give us some semblance of upside here, but right now again it has been a little bit
26:07tougher. Raanj remains to play in the meantime. We'll talk more about Ole Gordon in a minute, but I think I'm a
26:12little bit more optimistic on him than some other so-called fantasy alleged experts. Chiefs, Kenneth Walker. I like Kenneth Walker, guys. Don't you? You
26:19know, that's the analysis you guys come here for. And then with the Browns, I hope Quinn Judkins get going more. We'll
26:24be talking about him in a second. The toughest schedules here coming up, guys.
26:27Tennessee Titans, Los Angeles Chargers, Buffalo Bills, San Francisco 49ers, Los Angeles Rams, and the Atlanta Falcons.
26:33So, as always, a tough schedule is a tiebreaker for me. It's why we do the tears. You know what I'm saying? Maybe I
26:39move someone down four or five spots because of a tough matchup. It's never going to be a situation where I go from
26:44looking at, you know, Kyron Williams and saying, "Oh, toughest matchup on the slate. Don't start the guy." All right.
26:49I really do live by the start your studs moniker. Hey, you know, we all different definitions of studs sometimes. So, for
26:55me, legit top 10 player. They're a stud.
26:58Keep them in your lineup even if there's a fire. But yeah, not exactly expecting a breakout from Tony Per with the Titans
27:03or anyone involved with the Chargers based on some of this. And yeah, sounds good there. Tier three, more questions than usual for top 26 running backs,
27:13right? This is what I was talking about when I was saying it gets gross in a hurry. So, Army 19, I got Quinn Sean
27:18Judkins. Bad news. Still struggling to get anything going in the way of efficiency. It's ridiculous, guys. I think it's one out of his last 14 games
27:26he's averaged even four yards per carry.
27:28It is brutal. Only Cam Scatteraboo has more carries this year without a 15 plus yard game. The good news Deshun Watson
27:35and company, they're actually showing some signs of scoring upside and we got a touchdown last week and without Dylan Samson, it's not like Judens is getting
27:42featured. We still got Rocket Sanders going out there. We've only had 32 to 42% route rates for Quinnishon Judkins, but he's caught 13 passes in the last
27:50three weeks, and it's actually helping him be a somewhat okay low-end RB2, too.
27:54And that's all we're asking for at this point. So, maybe we get a breakout against the Jets 26 ranked defense and
27:59RB rush yards before contact per carry wouldn't hold my breath, but Quinn Sean Junkkins, I'm at least feeling better about putting on my flex spot in the
28:06leagues I have him in. RB20, I got Will Shipley, guys.
28:11Oh, man. Saquon Barkley hamstring out.
28:14Tank Bigsby core muscle. He's on IR.
28:16Wolf Shipley is the last man standing. I struggle to go too overboard. First of all, it's a very tough matchup. Shout
28:22out to uh Rich Reebar. Lord Reeves, the goat. Truly a good friend of mine, too.
28:28You know, whatever. Doesn't really matter, I guess. But anyway, Reeves had a good tweet. No human being has gained even 75 rushing yards on the Jaguars
28:36since week one of last season. We've seen Saquon not get targets. Is that really good chance for Will Shipley? I don't think it will. The other issue, do
28:46the Eagles believe in Will Shipley as a true bellcow? Because we saw when Saquon was out and although they were splitting
28:52up the snaps, it was very much tank bigs be getting the majority of the carries.
28:56Will Shipley being more the pass down back. I'm not positive. I think anyone who says they are positive that Shipley's just going to take over all
29:03that work, don't want to say they're a liar, but I think they're a liar. Damen Pierce and Carson Steel are on the practice squad.
29:11Steel actually had a sweet preseason.
29:13Damen Pierce, we all remember that rookie year with the Texans. That dude runs hard.
29:20If Shipley goes out there, he gets an 80 90% roll like Bron Allen. Guess what?
29:24He'll be up on that RB1 borderline next week. It's a tough matchup for an offense that is implied to score the
29:30third fewest points of the week. Vegas and all their billions of reasons to try to be right about this stuff. Only has
29:38the Dolphins and the Titans implied for fewer points than the Eagles. That's how bad it's gotten. Lane Johnson retired again. Good reasons. Happy retirement,
29:47Lane. You had an awesome career. Oh, this is bad. This is so bad. And if I can help it, I'd rather wait a week,
29:55wait a week, then really start anyone involved in Philly. It's not just Shipley. It's Jaylen Herz, Dontavian Wixs, Mai Lemon, all these guys. What
30:05scares you as a defense when you look at this offense? Hopefully Devonte Smith can get back. I don't know. It sounds
30:10like a multi-week injury to me. Will Shipley, RB20 would not be someone I'm exactly lining up to spend 90% of my fab
30:17for either. You know, RB21, I got Olly Gordon.
30:22I've heard this a multiple times now.
30:24It's like, oh, sell Ollie Gordon while you can. First of all, I don't know.
30:27Maybe I have too much respect for the average fantasy user out there. Who is really trading awesome stuff for Olly Gordon? I don't think that market
30:36exists.
30:38Let's find out. Again, Yahoo Trade Analyzer. Ole Gordon for Debo Samuel.
30:45Ole Gordon for Stefon Digs. Ole Gordon for Jaylen Coker. Those aren't bad. I stand mistaken. Olly Gordon for Saquon Barkley. Wow. For Bashalt Tutin. All
30:56those ones I just named, I would be surprised if you could get, but if you can, go right ahead. I'm envisioning a
31:02softer market for Ollie Gordon, and apparently there might be out there. You look good last week. And I despise any of you who say, "Well, take away two of
31:12his plays and look how many fantasy points he scored." I only do that [ __ ] when it's Isaiah Crowell a couple years
31:18ago where he falls down, no one touches him, and he runs 60 yards for a touchdown because everyone thought the play was dead. which by the way, Olly
31:25Gordon almost did last week. Didn't count. Got hit by a fingernail, I think, on the replay. But he's 11th among 46
31:33running backs and tackles avoided per carry this year. He's a big dude with some giddy up. And kind of like the uh
31:39Jets, it was a situation where there wasn't enough plays. He only had nine carries because the Dolphins only ran 39 plays period. We did not see Jaylen
31:47Wright be a factor at all. Why would he be when Oie Gordon was clearly the better running back? And honestly, my
31:52eyes have told me he's been a running back for the better part of his two years there next to Jaylen Wright in
31:56Miami. So, I don't think 15 to 20 touches in Miami is going to equal top 10 treatment. Again, I mentioned Dolphins and Titans below the Eagles.
32:05I'm not getting excited about the Dolphins if I'm not getting excited about the Eagles. There's not much pass down work, if any, to be excited about,
32:11but I don't know. 15 to 20 touches for a running back who I do think is good at football. That's a low end RB2. RB22,
32:19Kyle Manungi. If he is not listed as anything on the injury report, we're good to go. The thumb issue is not an
32:25issue at all. I will move him up to the top of this tier. As things stand right now, I'm just a little worried, that's
32:31all. I just think it could mean more swift for a week. So, RB22 for me, he's the RV 13, I think, on the season right
32:38now. Two Bears running backs inside the top 15 guys. We usually see historically about two offenses per year produce multiple top 24 running backs. Right
32:46now, the Bears looking like a pretty good bet for that one. It's a tough matchup on paper against the Packers.
32:51They actually are the league's best defense in RB rush yards allowed before contact for carry, but they did lose their stud linebacker Eden Cooper for
32:58the season with an Achilles injury.
32:59Wheels up for this Bears run game potentially assume the thumb is okay.
33:04RB23. I got Bucky Irving going up against the Cowboys here on Thursday Night Football. Great matchup. Cowboys are 31st in EPA allowed per play this
33:12year.
33:14It's just everything else. It's not you, Bucky. It's everything else that doesn't involve you, right? He's looked good this year. He's done vintage buggy
33:21cutting back across the field. He's clearly the best running back in Tampa.
33:24And yet, Zack Robinson can't stop talking about the other running backs in Tampa. And hey, Shawn Tucker ran hard.
33:30Good on him for scoring that touchdown.
33:32But okay, Shawn Tucker is now back to being a thing on the goal line. Kenneth Gainwell, he's done some good things
33:36over the years. Two yards for carry for those counting. Not exactly great, but okay, he's a good pass down back.
33:41They're going to use him for the pass down role. We're now talking about a guy in Bucky Irving looking at probably
33:48closer to 15 to 20 touches per game in an offense we fully expect to suck while Baker is sidelined and I don't know
33:54quarterbacks coming back from dislocated right thumbs.
33:58I wouldn't bet on the Buccaneers being a juggernaut when Baker returns. It's a between the 20s role for a good player
34:05and a bad offense who's not getting the most fantasy friendly touches out there.
34:09He's my RB23 despite the really good matchup. RB24, RB25. I got Randre Stevenson and Trayvon Henderson. Guys, these last two weeks, so other than the
34:18fumble heard around the world where we saw Trayvon Henderson take over weeks three and four, it's been Mandre leading the way in snaps 59% versus 37% routes
34:2654% versus 31% and inside the five rush attempts. We've yet to see Trayvon get one this year. So Henderson has gotten a
34:33few more carries, but again it comes back the fantasy friendly touches and that's what Mandre is getting. So, I'm not exactly thrilled about starting him,
34:40but he's been involved enough and in those ever important situations to really make Henderson someone that we also can't be feeling good about. So,
34:48hopefully we see the Patriots in a tough on paper matchup. I'm still a little bit doubtful of the Raiders being this
34:55juggernaut defense we got to worry about. Hopefully, we see Drake May company put up 30 plus points on the Raiders and we can start getting back to
35:032025 vibes here. For now though, borderline RB2s for me. RBY 26. I got RJ Harvey, guys. Mentioned before just how
35:13crazy much of his work is coming from receiving. But, you know, as long as Boicks is going to play freaking petrified out there and not throw the
35:20football downfield, we'll take the fantasy points and we can get him. RB 62 in fantasy points from rushing. RB4 in PPR points from receiving. Mr. RJ
35:30Harvey, maybe he gets more involved on the ground. Unlike last year, he's been more effective than JK Dobbins. 4.1 yards per
35:37carry versus 3.5 yards per carry on 12 carries. All right, so very very small sample size here, but you know, Harvey has been a breath of fresh air in
35:48a very, very, very stale Broncos offense. And full PPR, that's enough for upside RB3 treatment for me. Key question for this one, guys. Best and
35:56worst matchups at the line of scrimmage in terms of the RB rush yards before contact per carry. I've combined every matchups into oneway metrics so we can
36:03look at this handy dandies grid that you can see on your screen right now. Shout out YouTube. Blue is good, red is bad.
36:09Best matchups of the week go to James Cook, Aaron Jones, and whoever is going to be leading the way in Arizona and
36:14Green Bay. If we do actually see the Jeremiah Love ankle injury be a big issue. I think I would actually just
36:21cross out Jeremiah's name and put Tyler Air in their RB18. Green Bay miss me with that. Toughest matchups of the week, Giants, Texans, Chargers, Jaguars,
36:29and Titans. And speaking of several of those guys, brings us to tier number four where I would much rather start a
36:34wide receiver in my flex spot if at all possible. So RB27 for me, David Montgomery, RB1 and PFF's pass blocking grade for RV guys in pass blocking
36:44fantasy leagues. 45th among 46 running backs and yards for carry. Yikes. And now we're getting Woody Marks getting the goal line stuff. If there is one
36:53strength of the Titans, it's probably Jeffrey Simmons in that defensive line.
36:58Monty has had six, 11, and 10 rush attempts over the past three weeks. I'm good there. RB28, Tony Pard, he's had
37:05the touches recently. 8, 15, 21, and 18.
37:08He's a return top 24 numbers these last two games. I think we see the most pissed-off version of the Texans defense
37:14yet. They've been getting clowned. Now they get to feast on the Titans. I'm good. RB29, I got Alvin Chimera. Hey, RB9 finished in week five and a very
37:24inefficient one. So, I'm just not looking forward to seeing what the Saints are going to be able to do against Brian Flores and the Vikings.
37:30League best defense pretty much overall and also for our purposes and PPR points for game allowed to running backs. We also do see running backs, tight ends
37:39usually forced to kind of stay in the block a little bit more when they are facing such a blitz happy team like the
37:44Minnesota Vikings. So, honestly, you could see a lot more CJ Donaldson out there. Chimera did get banged up last week as well, which is another thing to
37:50figure. Mid-tier RB3 for me. I'm not getting carried away after one good solid game. I mean, if you start with Chimera, I'd be happy about it. I'm just
37:57dubious that it happens again given that they continue to use all three guys last week. RB30, I got Tyler Alier tied for
38:05the highest game total of the week. And if Jeremiah Love is going to be banged up, then yeah, it should still be more
38:09Tyler Alier. It's just he's not exactly someone to be all that excited about either. Had a fun 22 yard touchdown run
38:14last week. Nice little stiff arm there at the end. Love to see that. That was his first gain over 11 yards on the
38:20season. Losing Paris Johnson, being an offense that just more and more I think is going to realize they just need to
38:25let Jakobe throw 50 times a game. Not that they're going to be good doing it, but I don't know. It's better than just
38:30running their head into the wall. Yeah.
38:31Tyler Argier RV 30. I got Brian Robinson, RV 31. The RV19 in PPR points per game this season. Brian Robinson.
38:40What a time to be alive. This dude runs hard. I mentioned the percentage of carries to gain three plus yards after
38:45contact. Bro has led the league in each of the past two seasons in this man. So, I don't think hot take. I don't think
38:52he's going to score three touchdowns on 14 carries again anytime soon. But, you know, the Falcons have scored 80 points in the last two weeks. Now, they're
39:00going up against a potentially Lamar Jackson le Ravens team. Who's say they're not going to get up on Baltimore and continue to feed Brian Robinson.
39:07Hey, RB31. What a time to be alive.
39:09RB32, Amarian Hampton, ranking Brian Robinson over Marian Hampton. And why not? Hampton had the third most snaps in his own back field last week. Keenan
39:17Mitchell, who's my RB33, and Kamani Vidal played more snaps than Marian Hampton. I don't know. I'm not saying Hampton's the best running back in the
39:26world. He does great out nicely on that yards after contact stat. He's a big dude who runs hard. I think they could
39:31use more of that. I'm also not a doctor or a football coach. Just tough to feel good about 12 touches per game this
39:36offense before they lost potentially both their starting tackles. Rashan Slater with a high ankle sprain. I believe Joe Alt left last week with a
39:44neck injury. I don't really want to play Mitchell either. Ke Mitchell is cheap enough to maybe hope for things to turn
39:50around, but tough schedule still coming up here, guys. I think the most likely answer to which Charger you want to play
39:55period in fantasy football is no. RB34, I got JK Dobbins just seeing the worst version of him. Previous to this year,
40:03he had never averaged fewer than 4.6 yards per carry. Right now, he's at 3.5.
40:07I think the whole offense is pretty broke, but yeah, accordingly, that's not helping out Dobbins. 27th in scoring.
40:12He's getting mogged by Harvey in the pass game, leaving Dobins with a whole lot of nothing for our purposes. And lastly, RB 35. I got Woody Marks going
40:18up against the Titans. As bad as Dave Montgomery has been, Marks hasn't been any better. He's 41st among 46 qualified running backs in yards per carry. And
40:27guess what? I don't think it's either their fault. I think it's his offensive line that continues to suck. But because of that, it's CJ Stra throwing the ball
40:34to a lot of people. Usually not Woody Marks. In four games this year, he's caught one, five, one, and zero receptions. man. He's gotten the goal
40:42line touchdowns over the last two weeks.
40:43I still don't think he's like definitively the goal lineback. I just think it worked out that way, which is kind of good if you need a spot start
40:50here, but I also just again can't rely on that either. And when he's not getting the receiving work, my RB35, I
40:55don't exactly feel too bad about it. Key question here, guys, what backfields are stuck in neutral from Aisha's perspective at the moment. So again,
41:02talked through most of the big dogs already, but I did want to highlight a handful of backfields who didn't even have a single running back break the 50%
41:09snap rate mark in week four. The Broncos are one of these, which is hilarious to me because yes, Tyler Bedet remains
41:15involved in this offense. Chargers as well, which we just touched on. The Saints, now Chimera did get banged up in it, but again, we even saw this before
41:22Travis Etchen got injured. They were using Etchen Donaldson and Kendra Miller. The Eagles is more of an entry in this situation, but also the
41:29Washington Commanders. There's a reason why I haven't named one of these guys yet. I think at this point Rashad White is the only dude that we can have a hope
41:36for. Cuz in a game without Rashad White, the artist known as Bill, 44% snaps and actually had an explosive play or two
41:44early as he had one explosive play early with a 35 yard catch and run. Crazy.
41:50They brought Austin Eckler post Achilles 31-year-old Austin Eckler brought him back in and immediately said, "Hey, Jacorei, get real comfy on that bench
41:58for over half the game." Craig Reynolds short yardage. Yeah, freaking gross, man. Tier five. Oh, speaking of I named this tier, ew, yuck. Gross. Ear gross
42:08yuck. Actually, RB36, Marshon Lloyd hurled a guy last week, but come on, guys. Chris Brooks could be out with the ankle. Maybe it actually does condense
42:16around Lloyd or Caleb Johnson. I don't want to find out. It's a good matchup on paper, but the Bears defense as a whole
42:22has been pretty damn good over these last three weeks. If you want to start a Packers running back, be my guest. I'm
42:27good there. RB37, I got Chris Rodriguez just needs to fall into the end zone, which he's done to be fair in two
42:32straight weeks, but we haven't seen him get more than eight carries in a game.
42:35I'm good. RB38, Blake Corm. I will say if you ever see Blake Cororm on the waiverwire, guys, remember he is one of
42:43the single best handcuffs in all of fantasy football. Okay, so I thought it was going to be more of a 10 to 12
42:48touches per game situation for him. I think it still will be in games when the Rams are able to play with the lead.
42:53Probably not going to happen for at least too long here against the Bills on Monday Night Football. RB39, Kenneth Gainwell, just don't see too much to be
43:01excited about here. RB4, Caleb Johnson seemed like he was on his way to maybe taking over the backfield and then he
43:06lost a fumble at the goal line. Who knows what's going on in Green Bay. RB41 to Cory Crosky Merritt already kind of
43:12on him, but yeah, 2.8 yards per carry this year. Goodness. And I know he had a long touchdown against Seattle, got called back. Either way, RB42,
43:20Kendra Miller also lost a fumble. He's the 1B in the worst matchup of the week.
43:24RB43, Kayn Black. Man, remember the week one Kale Black game. What a time to be alive. Since then, he's had 25, 17, and
43:3113 scoreless yards. Not expecting big things against the Seahawks. RB44, George Helani. If they trail a lot, maybe catches five or six passes. I
43:39would still be surprised if it's anything meaningful in the box score.
43:43RB45 Sam Peron 14 yard touchdown call back our penalty last week you know should be killing all the Sam Piran faithful fantasy managers out there yeah
43:52whatever RB46 Taj Spears RB47 Justice Hill RB48 Tai Johnson the one thing I have to say here guys Tai Johnson's a
43:59freaking savvy receiver man going back to 2024 we've had 46 running backs get at least 50 targets number one in first
44:07downs per target let's go start him or anything. But hey, you bet your ass I'm putting Tai Johnson in a DFS showdown lineup. Mark it down.
44:19Last question, guys. Best low roster handcuffs to stash on your fantasy bench. If you've been listening to me for a while, thank you. I appreciate it.
44:25You know, I don't like hurting myself patting myself on the back. I will say we ended the show last week with the
44:32quote, "Brian Robinson is getting just enough work to be a deeper league flex that doesn't completely make you want to unal alive yourself." And that came out
44:40to fruition. Just saying. Please don't look up everything else I've said for the better part of my career as an alleged fantasy expert. But for one
44:48fleeting moment, we kind of got a throwaway line right. How about that?
44:53Okay. I'm assuming Brian Robinson is going to be well over the 35% threshold we like to look at here in ESPN and
45:00Yahoo leagues. That is already true for Kayn Black, Tyler Alier, and Katon Mitchell. So with those guys again, yeah, if they're out there, like please
45:07go ahead and get them on your team. But assuming they are not in available in your league pal, Raiders running back
45:13Michael Washington still only roster in 21% of ESPN leagues. Chiefs running back EMTT Johnson probably not, but they do have a buy this week. So when we see
45:21this happen, you can't get the sporadic cut out there. EMTT Johnson remains a fantastic handcuff if you happen to see him out there. The real sick ones under
45:2810% Bengals RB Saj Perine Bills RB Ray Davis and it was good to see him actually play last week despite popping
45:35up on the injury report with the hamstring injury. And then deep deep deep deep leagues. Colts running back Seth McGoan next up behind Jonathan
45:42Taylor and we haven't really seen anyone else I believe touch the football there.
45:45And then Cowboys running back Tyler Goodson in both situations and the Bengals. I get worried if something happened to Chase Brown, JT or
45:55Dvonte. Like it's it's so unproven. Or in just Peron's case, you know, he's kind of old. Look at him. He's old. It's
46:02just those situations where I do wonder if they just bring in someone else and even Emtt Johnson a little bit the
46:07Kareem Hunt factor that he's still out there. But I don't know. EMTT's looked really good with his opportunities.
46:12Kareem Hunt might get signed. He's still EMTT might still lead the way. But either way, Beggars can't be choosers in some of these leagues and accordingly
46:19those would be the lower roster handcuffs I would be going after. But guys, that's going to do it for me today. If you like the video, please
46:24like the video and that subscribe button always does help out as well. Hollow in the comments any questions, thoughts, concerns. I hope you guys' fantasy teams
46:30are 4 and0. If not, America loves a comeback. Enjoy the rest of the week.
46:34Give your mom a call. Tell her you love her. Do all that jazz. You know, it's important to win fantasy games. Even
46:38more important to be a good person out there. So, anyway, with that, guys, I'm Ian Hard. Thanks again for tuning in.
46:43And until next time, take care everybody.
