Podchaser Logo
Home
Round 2/3 RBs Part One! Who to Draft With Those Crucial Picks (06/11 Fantasy Football Podcast)

Round 2/3 RBs Part One! Who to Draft With Those Crucial Picks (06/11 Fantasy Football Podcast)

Released Tuesday, 11th June 2024
Good episode? Give it some love!
Round 2/3 RBs Part One! Who to Draft With Those Crucial Picks (06/11 Fantasy Football Podcast)

Round 2/3 RBs Part One! Who to Draft With Those Crucial Picks (06/11 Fantasy Football Podcast)

Round 2/3 RBs Part One! Who to Draft With Those Crucial Picks (06/11 Fantasy Football Podcast)

Round 2/3 RBs Part One! Who to Draft With Those Crucial Picks (06/11 Fantasy Football Podcast)

Tuesday, 11th June 2024
Good episode? Give it some love!
Rate Episode

Episode Transcript

Transcripts are displayed as originally observed. Some content, including advertisements may have changed.

Use Ctrl + F to search

0:00

Get the champagne ready. The NBA

0:02

Finals are here. Welcome to the

0:04

NBA Finals. Let's raise our glasses

0:06

and our rings to the two

0:08

phenomenal teams left standing. My

0:11

goodness! Here's to high stakes action, to

0:13

thrilling moments we can't miss. He

0:15

times the game and the buzzer! And

0:17

to crowning our next champion. Here's

0:20

a toast to the NBA Finals.

0:22

Bang! Bang! The

0:24

2024 NBA Finals, presented

0:26

by U2 TV, continue

0:28

on ABC. Robert

0:30

Half research indicates 9 out of

0:33

10 hiring managers are having difficulty

0:35

hiring. If you have open

0:37

roles, chances are you're feeling this too. That's

0:40

why you need Robert Half. Our specialized

0:42

recruiting professionals engage with our

0:44

proprietary AI to connect businesses

0:46

of all sizes with highly

0:48

skilled talent in finance and

0:50

accounting, technology, marketing and creative,

0:53

legal, and administrative and customer

0:55

support. At Robert Half,

0:57

we know talent. Visit roberthalf.com

0:59

today. This

1:05

is fantasy football today from CBS

1:07

Sports. What a play! Can you

1:09

believe this? Can I know it again? It's

1:13

time to dominate your fantasy league. Off

1:15

to the races! And he

1:17

stays at his feet! He's just gonna go

1:19

the distance! Now here's some combination of Adam,

1:21

Dave, Jamie and Heath. Okay,

1:26

you've got a big decision to make

1:28

in round two or three. You wanna take

1:30

a running back? But you're having trouble deciding

1:32

who do I take? James Cook, Isaiah Pacheco,

1:35

Alvin Kamara. Actually, it's a whole list that

1:37

we're going through in the consensus ranking, similar

1:39

to what we did last week. But this

1:41

is nine through 17. And

1:44

Jamie, Dave's here as well. But Jamie, last week

1:46

you and I did that show with the wide

1:48

receiver rankings. It was your rankings, not consensus. And

1:51

it was 10 through 18, I

1:53

believe. And it was

1:55

Olave, London, Waddle, Pittman,

1:58

Adams, Evans. Uke, Nico

2:01

Collins, Deebo Samuel. And I thought what

2:03

was so unique about that group is

2:05

really you could see them going in any order,

2:08

right? Some people could be a big Iuke fan,

2:10

they could take them ahead of Chris

2:12

Olave or whatever. This, I don't know

2:14

if you feel that way about this group, but

2:17

this is the group like after Barkley, Kyron

2:19

Williams, and ETN. Probably a little bit

2:21

more question marks here. And the consensus rankings

2:24

are Rashad White, James

2:26

Cook, Isaiah Pacheco, Josh

2:29

Jacobs, Joe Mixon, Derek

2:32

Henry, Alvin Camara,

2:34

Devonne Achan, Ken Walker.

2:37

Do you think that group is completely

2:39

interchangeable or do you think there are

2:41

tears there? I

2:44

think they're somewhat

2:47

interchangeable. Somewhat

2:51

interchangeable? Okay. Yeah, I

2:53

mean like that group

2:56

is I think pretty much locked

2:58

in. Like you could make cases

3:00

for potentially Montgomery, potentially Zamir White.

3:02

You know, if Jonathan Brooks

3:04

is 100% healthy, maybe he jumps into this

3:06

group. You

3:09

know, if something were let's say to

3:12

happen to, you know, the

3:14

Cardinals don't love Trey Bentz and James Conner creeps back

3:16

into this range, you know, something like that, but or

3:18

vice versa, injury to one of those guys. So,

3:21

but I think those are the

3:23

running backs that you're talking about for sure, you

3:25

know, in this range. And

3:27

where they go is probably

3:30

just the biggest, you know, determining factor.

3:32

But like you said, you know, it comes down to I

3:34

think personal preference. Like, you

3:37

know, I'm getting a little bit more concerned about,

3:41

you know, Josh Jacobs, for example, by

3:43

comparison to a couple of other guys in this group.

3:46

Dave, could you see how many

3:49

of these guys could you see going late in the second

3:51

round? So just give me a yes or no. Could you

3:53

see these guys going in the second round Rashad White? In

3:57

PPR? Yes. James Cook. No.

4:01

Really? Okay. No. Pacheco.

4:06

Yeah, I think he could. Jacobs.

4:09

Yeah. Mixing. I disagree

4:11

with Jamie. I mean, I'm curious to hear Jamie's thoughts on

4:13

Jacobs and what he sees, and I'll give

4:15

you my research on Jacobs. Who'd you say? Mixing.

4:19

No, not round two. I'm not

4:21

asking about you. I'm asking, do you think

4:23

people would take him there? No, not round

4:25

two. And you're still a no on James

4:27

Cook? Correct. Okay.

4:31

Derek Henry. Non PPR. Yes.

4:34

Half PPR. Full PPR. Maybe

4:36

in half PPR. Camara.

4:39

Nope. H-N. Not

4:41

round two. H-N. You got to

4:43

say yes on H-N because his ADP is- I do have to say yes on H-N.

4:47

Ken Walker. No. Okay.

4:51

All right. So let's get to it. Give me

4:53

a running back in this range, 9 through 17

4:55

in the consensus rankings, Jamie, that you find yourself

4:57

drafting a lot. James

5:00

Cook. And you're cool with him

5:02

in round two? Very much so. All

5:05

right. Let's get about it. Let's hear about it.

5:07

Yeah, yeah. Go ahead. Go

5:10

ahead. I mean, we talked about this previously. I did

5:12

this for our bold predictions for the magazine. So I

5:14

think he's going to have a chance to lead running

5:16

backs and receptions this year. I'll

5:18

Azur stat it for you. So if you take out the

5:20

game where he didn't get a target, now, it's not because

5:23

of injury or anything else. I'm just doing it

5:25

for fun. But if you take out the game where you didn't get a target,

5:27

which is a little weird, in week 16, match up against the Chargers in

5:30

the nine games with Joe Brady was on pace for 60

5:32

catches. Now they just lost over

5:34

200 targets and over 120. What was it?

5:38

Receptions, 150, two receptions and

5:40

241 targets with Gabe Davis and Staphon Diggs. I'll

5:47

say that the right way with Staphon Diggs and Gabe Davis

5:49

gone. That

5:52

you're looking at this receiving core and there's a

5:54

lot to prove. And so I think what Joe Brady

5:56

will do is just give James Cook an opportunity to

5:58

catch more passes. And so we'll he. get to 76

6:00

or 77 like you know, Breece Hall and and

6:02

Alvin Kamara were a year ago, probably not but you

6:05

know, just having some fun with it. But

6:07

in any event, in the nine games, he

6:09

was on pace for 52 catches. I'm

6:12

sorry, in the nine games, yes, he was on pace for 52 catches.

6:15

Take out that game, he was on pace for 60 catches. And

6:18

I think that's going to be a huge part of

6:21

huge asset for him, on top of the fact that

6:23

I think he'll score more than six total touchdowns, certainly

6:25

more than two rushing touchdowns. So I

6:27

like the setup for James Cook quite a bit. Dave,

6:30

why are you would know on cooking round two? I'm

6:33

just going to go on the track record of

6:35

Buffalo Bills running back since Josh Allen has come

6:38

to power at quarterback for them. And

6:40

just every year, we get

6:42

enamored with a bills running back and

6:46

it was kind of easier to be okay

6:48

with the bills running back before this year

6:50

because the draft capital wasn't very high. James

6:52

Cook last year, where were we taking him

6:54

four or five somewhere in that range? I

6:56

felt like that wasn't too high to take the chance

6:59

on James Cook, knowing that things could go wrong. And

7:01

for the first half of the year, things definitely weren't

7:03

great for James Cook in the second half of the

7:05

year. He did well, the

7:07

offensive coordinator changed man, he got a ton more

7:09

work. But then he tailed off at the end

7:11

of the year. And it just makes

7:13

me nervous to be that

7:15

all in on a bills running back,

7:18

even when as talented as James Cook, I

7:21

don't care about them drafting Ray Davis. I know

7:23

someone else is going to be there, whether it's

7:25

Davis or Ty Johnson to take away some work

7:27

that shouldn't stop you. What stops me is that

7:29

Josh Allen dominates in the red zone, he gets

7:31

tons of touchdowns on the ground there. And

7:34

he's going to continue to throw the ball to

7:36

everybody. It's not going to be just James Cook,

7:38

the types of targets that are missing from that

7:40

offense. Gabe Davis is an example, that's deep shots.

7:42

Those are downfield. I don't think James Cook is

7:44

going to get a lot of those. Stefan Diggs

7:46

was working the intermediate area, the shorter he worked

7:48

everywhere. How many of those targets is James Cook

7:50

going to get? I get

7:52

where you're coming from. And I think he's going to

7:54

be good. I just don't think he's going to be

7:56

around too good. It's too close to his ceiling for

7:59

me. Okay,

8:01

so how about a who was the player day

8:03

that you draft a lot? It's

8:06

Jacob's and it's it's because of where

8:08

he's ended up and I really like

8:10

where he's ended up and the potential

8:12

that he has. And what

8:15

we've seen from him not last year because I think we

8:17

can all agree that last year was

8:19

kind of a mess for him. But

8:21

I think moving forward, he's got a

8:23

chance to be the not

8:25

just the lead back in Green Bay. It's

8:28

obvious, but I think he's going to get a lot of

8:30

work. He got over 20 touches a game last year when

8:32

he was healthy in Las Vegas. This is

8:34

one of my favorite sets. I shared this with you,

8:36

Adam. I want to share it with everybody, including Jamie.

8:39

LeFlore's coach for five years in Green Bay,

8:41

83 regular season games, 67 of

8:43

those 83 regular season games,

8:46

at least one running back, at least one

8:48

has had at least 15 touches in a

8:51

game. Last year when Jacob's had 15

8:53

touches that happened to 11 games, he averaged 15.1 PPR points,

8:57

15.1 is okay. The year before was the breakout

8:59

year, the contract year for Jacob's, 15 games

9:02

with 15 plus touches, 20.8 PPR points per

9:04

game. This is

9:06

a better offense that he's in compared to what he

9:08

was in in Las Vegas. I think the opportunities are

9:11

not going to shrink form. The track record is what

9:13

it is with LeFlore. I think the offensive line is

9:15

an upgrade form as well. And he's not going to

9:17

be holding out going into training

9:19

camp. He won't miss a chunk of training camp. Hopefully,

9:22

fingers crossed, he stays healthy in the early going.

9:24

The 26 year old Jacob's can go back to

9:26

being 15 plus PPR points with

9:29

higher upside than almost any running back

9:31

that we will talk about on today's

9:33

show. I just don't see in the passing

9:35

game, that's the problem. I think they're going to use Lloyd and then

9:37

they're going to use Dylan too much. It

9:39

just feels like a passing game. No, no, no, no, no, they're going

9:41

to use Lloyd in the passing game. They're going to use Dylan, I

9:44

still think too much. They're going to use Lloyd in the passing game.

9:46

Yeah. That's interesting. Yeah, I think

9:48

they will. Well,

9:50

Josh Jacobs in his career, I think he

9:52

has nine catches on third down. So

9:55

again, this is another guy that stays

9:58

on the field so much like Mixon. where

10:00

it doesn't have to be a third down back. It's just

10:02

a matter of is Jordan Love going to throw to him

10:04

on first and second down. So how

10:06

many catches are we thinking? That's where you

10:08

guys disagree. How many catches are we thinking for Jacobs? Well

10:13

last year, what did he average? I'm looking at it

10:15

right now. 37 and 13 games. 2.3

10:18

catches per game. It's actually one of

10:20

the lowest catch per game averages and only

10:22

three targets per game. That's not

10:24

true. That's what he average. I said one

10:26

of the lowest of the guys that we're going to talk

10:29

about today. No, I think he averaged more catches in that

10:31

unless I have the wrong stats for him. I'm looking. Oh

10:33

no, that's at the end of the year. Three catches per

10:35

game. I had a filter on for James Cook. That's my

10:37

bad. What do you see? Three catches

10:40

per game. I would take that in a heartbeat. That's

10:42

50 catches if he stays healthy. Let's put it

10:44

at 48. So that way he's just shy of it.

10:47

That sets a realistic expectation. And just the

10:49

reason why I was surprised by what you said about Marshawn Lloyd at

10:51

USC, 34

10:54

catches in three seasons, Jamie. That's

10:56

not an established part of his game.

11:00

I expect him to be more involved in the

11:02

passing game because I don't think that Jacobs is

11:04

going to be the primary pass catcher. That's

11:08

interesting. I'd say 35 catches

11:11

is realistic for him.

11:13

Man this is I mean it's really fun that

11:15

you guys disagree so much on those two players,

11:18

you know, if you're on the clock. I'm drafting

11:20

Josh Jacobs. I'm not taking him in round two

11:22

and I'd rather have James Cook. You'd

11:24

rather have James Cook. I'd rather have Jacobs. I'll

11:26

take Jacobs in round three. I'll take Jacobs in round three.

11:28

Jacobs in round three? No. Late

11:31

round three. And

11:33

that's how I feel about Cook. We're going

11:35

to differ by about a round on those

11:37

two guys. You'll take Cook and I get

11:39

it with the catches. Yes, James Cook will

11:41

have more catches than Josh Jacobs. I think

11:43

if Jacobs stays healthy, he'll have more touches,

11:45

more total yards, more touchdowns. Jacobs

11:48

has been a top 15 running

11:51

back per game in full PPR in four

11:53

or five seasons. He's been top 17 in

11:55

all five seasons. 17 was his

11:57

lowest finish in full PPR. That was last year.

12:00

per game. Last year was terrible for Jacobs. He

12:02

held out. He got off to a really bad

12:04

start. He wasn't, truthfully, he wasn't that much better

12:06

after he just got a lot more work. But

12:09

you know, he's an interesting per

12:12

carry guy. He's had three years where he's been

12:14

really bad per car, you know, not good per

12:16

carry, two years where he's been fantastic. But

12:19

he's never had competition. He's just

12:21

never, ever had competition. He's

12:23

been on pace for like over 300 carries, I

12:25

think, in four or five seasons. We've never seen

12:27

that from a Packers running back. Will they use

12:30

him differently than Aaron Jones? We will

12:32

find out. And I guess we'll get

12:34

further into those guys in a little bit. I gotta take a break.

12:36

I'm gonna ask you who you're avoiding

12:38

in this range. Got a couple of news

12:40

items. Got a funny comment from Apple podcasts,

12:42

and we'll be right back on fantasy football

12:44

today. Exclusively on Paramount

12:46

Plus, Cindy, Cindy, Cindy, Cindy,

12:49

Cindy Lauper, catch the new documentary

12:51

critics are calling a revelation. She's gonna

12:53

fight the fight as Cindy Lauper reveals

12:55

in her own words, the inspiration binds

12:57

her biggest hits. If you do what

13:00

you love, magic, see what

13:02

shaped music's most authentic superstar when you're

13:04

that different, you view other people as

13:06

having a problem. Catch Cindy Lauper, let

13:08

the canary sing new documentary now streaming

13:10

exclusively on Paramount Plus, go to Paramount

13:12

Plus com to try it for free

13:14

in terms of life. You

13:16

can now relive the best moments of the UEFA

13:18

Champions League 24 seven.

13:20

The UEFA Champions League channels a

13:22

new 24 hour streaming channel serving

13:25

nonstop goals, highlights and full

13:27

match replays from the world's most

13:29

prestigious club competition. Reminisce on

13:32

your favorite moments, legendary players and

13:34

brilliant goals with the UEFA Champions

13:36

League channel streaming around the clock

13:38

on Pluto TV, the CBS Sports

13:40

app and streaming on Paramount Plus.

13:46

Okay, so welcome back to the show, everybody.

13:48

So who's a running back in this range?

13:50

And again, I'll give the the names. They

13:53

are James Cook. Oh, I'll

13:55

give them an order in the consensus rankings. I have

13:57

about 1000 tabs open now. So give me one second

13:59

here. here. Rashad white, James

14:02

Cook, Isaiah Pacheco, Josh

14:04

Jacobs, Joe Mixon, Derek Henry,

14:06

Alvin Camara and Devon Achan.

14:10

Dave, who's a player that you typically avoid in this?

14:12

I guess it's James Cook. No,

14:14

I've got two running backs that are ranked even lower

14:16

than Cook. And so I

14:19

would, I would prefer Cook over

14:21

Mixon and Ken Walker. Okay. Mixon

14:23

and Ken Walker. How about you, Jamie? Who

14:26

I avoid? Probably Achan, especially as cost. Okay.

14:29

All right. We'll get into all these guys. My

14:32

heart is beating

14:35

like a drum right now. I, the,

14:39

the angst,

14:42

the nervousness, the, I just made a dynasty trade.

14:44

I just moved up from seven to four in

14:47

our big draft and I

14:49

am on the clock. Okay. I gave up to Heath.

14:51

He's a, he's a, he's

14:54

had the fourth pick. He has a terrible

14:56

quarterback situation in our super flex league. He

14:58

has, what did I say? Justin

15:00

Fields, Ryan Tannehill and

15:02

Aiden O'Connell. So he really

15:04

wanted Minshew. So I, I had

15:07

the seventh pick. He had the fourth pick. I

15:09

gave him Trey McBride. Let

15:12

me just make sure I have the pick, the terms right

15:14

here. Okay. I see it. Trey

15:17

McBride, my first

15:19

round pick and

15:22

what, and Minshew. Yeah. Right. He

15:24

moved seven to four and Minshew

15:28

for the fourth pick and the 23rd pick. And

15:31

I'm taking neighbors. Oh, you got the 23rd pick

15:33

out of it too. Yeah. Not

15:36

bad, right? I

15:38

like it. Oh man. And

15:40

now you're going to get your guy. Yeah. I just

15:42

really want to believe favors. I'm so excited about that.

15:45

News and notes, Ramon Dre Stevenson is slimmer. He

15:47

has slimmed down. They're hoping for more explosive plays

15:49

from him. They really seem to like Ramon Dre

15:51

Stevenson. He appears to be closing in on a

15:53

contract extension. He's not part of today's show, but

15:56

we will talk about him at some point soon.

15:58

And Mike Tomlin signed a three year contract. extension

16:00

through 2027. Okay, let's get

16:03

back to this discussion here. Running back rankings, consensus

16:06

9 through 17. So James Cook, I

16:09

don't know if there's anything more we need to say about

16:11

here. Pros and cons, you

16:13

know, I think it's pretty straightforward, right? He's

16:15

definitely the guy, you know, he's

16:17

the main guy. The question is, is he

16:19

gonna be the goal line guy? They used

16:22

Latavius Murray there last year.

16:24

Are they really gonna use Ray Davis there?

16:26

Because I will say this guys about James

16:28

Cook. The cons

16:30

are obvious. It's that what Dave said, Josh

16:33

Allen always steals all the touchdowns. But

16:36

if they just give him Latavius

16:38

Murray's role, then he could

16:40

have a 10 total touchdown type of

16:42

season, you know? I'm not saying he'll

16:44

have 10 rushing touchdowns, but he just

16:46

needs to be, you know,

16:48

getting most of the goal line running back

16:50

work. Even if Josh Allen has that role,

16:53

Dave, then I still think there's enough to

16:55

go around unless they give it to other

16:57

guys. But if they just say, all right,

16:59

it's gonna be Josh Allen and James Cook

17:01

getting like 90% of the goal line running

17:03

back of goal line rushes, I

17:05

think he'll be fine then. What do you think

17:07

about that? Well, you had

17:10

the stat on a show recently, I

17:12

guess it was two weeks ago, where

17:15

the bills have had like 26 goal

17:18

to go carries. No, it's 27

17:20

touchdowns over the last six

17:23

years from the inside. I think the five

17:25

yard line from running back, which is what's

17:27

going to fell is is

17:29

James Cook, the type of running

17:31

back to make them change their

17:33

philosophy, but it's but they actually

17:36

had the eighth most running

17:38

back carries from like the five yard

17:40

line or closer last year, believe

17:43

it or not. Look, have a

17:45

very few. I don't know. Four or

17:47

something was it was mostly like you're

17:50

hoping for something to happen that this

17:52

coaching staff with two different offensive coordinators

17:54

have viewed, you know, the same

17:57

way they look at James Cook and

17:59

they say, awesome. running back great game breaker,

18:01

awesome pass catcher out of the backfield, and

18:03

maybe not somebody that we want to get beat up near

18:05

the goal line. And that's where

18:08

somebody like Ray Davis, who has a body

18:10

similar to Latavius Murray, physical dude, I've stood

18:12

next to Ray Davis, he was at the

18:14

senior bowl, that's a guy who could get

18:16

it done. They've got a quarterback who's an

18:18

absolute hoss in Josh Allen, he's gotten it

18:20

done. I know that. So that's, it's one

18:22

area that really makes me nervous about Cook

18:25

on a team that's had

18:27

such inconsistent production from running

18:29

backs over those six years

18:31

that you're talking about. And that's

18:33

just, it makes me a little bit nervous to

18:36

trust Cook beyond the catches, because the

18:39

catches will be there. 50 plus, no

18:41

problem. 60 plus, yeah. But

18:43

I just, I worry about the

18:45

rest of Cook's game to

18:48

carry him as a second round pick in

18:50

fantasy. Well, I mean, we spent the

18:52

entire show yesterday talking about regression and Josh Allen was a

18:54

big part of that and coming down from his 15 touchdowns

18:56

to where he usually is, which is around

18:58

eight. And so does that go to a rookie running back

19:00

or does that go a couple, if

19:03

not maybe closer to five to James

19:06

Cook? And if he gets that, he's

19:09

well worth a round two pick. Five

19:11

rushing touchdowns. And

19:13

then what did he have last year? He had

19:16

four receiving touchdowns and that's probably unrealistic, but if

19:19

he's eight plus touchdowns, plus the reception total,

19:21

he's gonna be well worth a round two pick. What kind of

19:23

total yardage are we looking, what was he on pace for from

19:25

week 11 on? Last year

19:27

was 1500 total yards. Well,

19:31

let me give you this. Let

19:33

me compare Pacheco and Cook and

19:35

their best stretches. Their best stretches.

19:38

So this is like the Joe Brady, I'll just give you

19:40

Cook for now. All right, Cook

19:42

with Joe Brady, that's nine games, including the

19:45

postseason. He was on pace for

19:47

342 touches, 53 catches, just

19:51

short of 1700 total yards and

19:56

eight touchdowns. I

19:59

wish I had calculated. round

22:00

two picks. So, you

22:03

know, like Josh Jacob's going

22:05

in round two, I think a lot of people would

22:07

would say no, it's too risky. Dave obviously is okay

22:09

with that. And by the way, I've

22:11

given you consensus rankings here, but Jamie's

22:14

got Cook ninth and Dave has Cook

22:16

fifteenth. So consensus, Cook is

22:18

actually tenth, Rashad White is ninth. I have

22:21

him third on this list for whatever reason.

22:23

So I went Cook Pacheco White, sort of

22:25

grouped them together. Let's talk about Isaiah Pacheco.

22:27

Let's move to him. Pros and cons for

22:29

Isaiah Pacheco. Jamie, give me some quick

22:32

pros and cons for Pacheco. I

22:34

mean, the offense he plays on seemingly

22:37

got better, you know, swimming, Ray

22:39

Rice, Ray Rice, Rashid Rice isn't

22:41

suspended for, you

22:43

know, the majority of the season. But if he's there for

22:45

good portion of it, which is what we expect, you know,

22:47

now you have a better passing game, which would open up

22:50

things for the run game. Um, he

22:53

did show that he can be involved in a pass game last year

22:55

and be a significant contributor there. But I

22:57

mean, you know, you're you're asking a

22:59

Andy Reed running back, which for the most

23:02

part has been an unbelievable situation in Philadelphia

23:04

and Kansas City when that guy has been

23:07

given the touches that Pacheco about last year to be

23:09

a star. And that's what he was last year. So

23:12

very limited competition for touches.

23:15

Um, role in the passing game, I think will

23:17

continue to grow. And that's

23:19

the upside. The downside is, is that the

23:21

passing game gets better and they get, you know, continue to

23:23

still be more creative at the goal line. And he loses

23:26

a couple scores and that he's not

23:28

as involved in the passing. Dave

23:31

pros and cons for Isaiah Pacheco, who

23:33

was RB 15 14 per game

23:37

and overall, really, if you look

23:39

at depending on different formats, there

23:41

were seven games last year where he played at least 60% of the

23:44

snaps. He had at least

23:46

20 touches and six of those seven games. He averaged

23:48

19.1 PPR

23:50

points, 16.7 non PPR points

23:52

with five touchdowns, three games

23:54

with over 100 yards in

23:57

those seven. What's stopping the

23:59

Chiefs? from using him to the

24:01

tune of 60% of the snaps

24:03

right out of the gate this year. They're

24:06

running back depth chart is not pretty. They've

24:08

got Clyde Edwards, Elaire as the

24:10

direct backup. He's on a one year deal. Uh,

24:13

I don't think Luis rees. Is

24:15

going to end up being someone that takes a lot

24:18

of work away on, on running downs or

24:20

in the passing game from Isaiah Pacheco,

24:22

that's their rugby player for those

24:24

that may not be aware he's, he's actually like,

24:26

he looks like he could be a difference maker

24:28

in the kick return game in a major way,

24:30

but I don't know if he's going to end

24:32

up playing a lot of offense. I think Pacheco

24:34

is good. 25 years old, been

24:37

in this office for a couple of years. There

24:39

doesn't seem to be a threat for that passing

24:41

downs work for that third down roll. And so

24:43

I agree with Jamie sentiment that there could be

24:45

more for him in the passing game. I'm

24:48

probably making a big mistake by having Pacheco

24:50

behind Josh Jacobs. That's one that I think

24:52

I can fix. And I think

24:54

Pacheco is absolutely worth a second

24:57

round pick. When you get to that point that you

24:59

talked about Adam, when you, you, you don't really love

25:01

anybody that's left on the board, but Pacheco is there.

25:03

And you can say, all right, chiefs

25:06

are running back. They've got two fast

25:08

guys on the field now. So the safeties will play

25:10

back quite a bit and Pacheco could end up being

25:12

a very good player, both in the run game and

25:14

the pass game could end up having his best year

25:16

yet. I know I'm

25:18

going to keep coming back to this. And at

25:20

some point we should probably spend more time on

25:23

it. That, that spot, that area

25:25

that you're talking about, let's say it's what. 18

25:27

to 24, 20 to 24. I don't

25:29

know which, which range you want to talk

25:32

about the end around too. So for me,

25:34

I think it's nine, nine running backs, nine

25:36

wide receivers. And then we'll see how many

25:38

quarterbacks are in tight ends or taken. So

25:41

again, yeah, this, this, this, this is where,

25:43

you know, ADP versus, you know, analyst

25:45

expert drafts, depending on how you want to break it

25:48

down. Um, why

25:50

it's in my opinion, so important to take

25:52

those receivers after you take McCaffrey because

25:55

the picks that you're looking at,

25:57

which is these guys. comparatively

26:00

to Iuke and Waddle

26:02

and Pittman and those guys that

26:04

have, I think, more question marks than some of these

26:06

players. And so if you want

26:08

to go here, RB, these are the guys that you're looking

26:10

at, especially if you start with lamb or Tyreek or Jefferson

26:12

or any of these guys, you know, picks two through six

26:14

or seven. Um, it's

26:17

just to me, the smarter way to draft, smarter

26:19

way to draft is to go McCaffrey and then

26:21

one of the top receivers. Yeah. It's that of

26:23

taking McCaffrey is almost like a curse because like

26:25

what you're at, what you're looking at

26:28

it at 24 and 25 feels a little gross because

26:30

you have to overpay for some guys. I

26:33

think the counter to that is like, who cares? You know,

26:35

just take your best, take the best players. You don't have

26:37

to get a running back there. If you like the wall,

26:39

I don't think you have to get a running back at

26:41

all. But again, it's, you know, do you want to take

26:43

the one of the quarterbacks? Do you want to reach for

26:45

the Porter or Kelsey? Um, and

26:48

I say reaches because I think they're, they're going to slip

26:50

a little bit. Uh, or do you, you

26:52

know, take, take a receiver that you don't necessarily love. Uh,

26:55

yeah. Now the hope is the quarter backs

26:57

go. The hope, right.

26:59

That would, that would help. Um, all

27:01

right. How many mock drafts have we done? Adam, where

27:03

a quarterback has gone around to with

27:05

the fans? I think, I

27:08

think Josh Allen, I think they've been,

27:10

they've been going, the fan, the only

27:12

fans mock drafts have been taking quarterbacks

27:14

earlier than the, uh,

27:17

CBS stress. Okay. Let me, let me

27:20

say something on Pacheco here. His,

27:24

he had, he averaged in 10 regular

27:26

season games with Jarek McKinnon,

27:29

2.9 targets per game in

27:32

four regular season games without McKinnon

27:35

Pacheco averaged five targets per game.

27:37

Huge, huge. Okay. Then

27:39

McKinnon missed, uh, most of

27:41

the playoffs played in the super bowl and

27:45

didn't really get that much work. They

27:47

don't have McKinnon right now. You talk about

27:49

that third down role. I mean, I think

27:51

that is the key for Isaiah Pacheco because

27:54

he had a good year last year, but he didn't

27:56

finish in the top 12. He was 14th in full

27:58

PPR per game. He was 15. Hope

30:00

that made sense. Just to go over their depth chart, here's

30:02

who they have. And you tell me, Jamie, you can tell

30:04

me if they could be the passing down Sky. The first

30:06

one is the one that might have the best shot, Clyde

30:08

Edwards-Eller. And

30:11

he did play more on third down than

30:13

Pacheco when McKinnon was out. But

30:17

it was more even. It wasn't like all

30:19

Clyde. They were both there, but Clyde didn't

30:21

play better than Pacheco. That's

30:24

what I would expect this year if they don't bring

30:26

back McKinnon, if they don't add another passing down to

30:28

the back. Nobody else. Daeneric Prince, I

30:30

don't think he's, I don't know if he's played a snap

30:32

in the NFL. Keontae Ingram isn't

30:34

a passing down to running back. Reeze Dammit

30:37

is a rugby player. Undrafted

30:39

rookies, Imani Bailey, Carson Steele,

30:42

I'd be shocked if they ended up in that

30:44

big of a role right away in

30:46

Kansas City's offense where they've got to protect Patrick

30:48

Mahomes. I think this is setting up very

30:50

nicely for Isaiah Pacheco to be

30:53

in line for his best year ever. Second

30:55

round pick ahead of Jacobs. There

30:58

it is. Okay. Do

31:00

you take, you know,

31:03

Olave, Waddle, London, Adams

31:06

ahead of Pacheco? For

31:11

me it's Pacheco ahead of Adams. I've

31:14

got Pacheco ahead of them all

31:16

because I've got fewer questions about

31:18

him for now compared

31:20

to those wide receivers. I'm going to Rashad White

31:22

here. Rashad White is next up on the list.

31:25

Excuse me, James Cook and Isaiah Pacheco. I

31:28

know there's a lot of stats there. I

31:30

tried my best to clear it up. I hope that

31:32

was helpful. Anyway, Rashad White,

31:35

he was RB 15 per game in non-PPR, 13 per

31:37

game in half, 10th per game

31:40

in full PPR. Overall he was

31:42

his number four in full PPR, but 10th per

31:44

game. And remember he had a really

31:46

bad start. He had a tough schedule, scored 13 or

31:48

more PPR fantasy points in 12 of his last 14

31:50

games, including the postseason and 15.9

31:52

or more in 10 of those 14 games. So

31:56

terrific finish for Rashad White. Dave, it

31:58

was our end. once Dan fixed him. That's

32:01

right. No, it took a little bit longer than that,

32:03

but Dan certainly inspired him. Dan, Dave,

32:05

pros and cons for Rashad

32:07

White. The

32:10

pros are that he's basically

32:12

in every downback for Tampa and the Bucks

32:15

seemingly have painted themselves into a corner with

32:17

him because the only addition that they made

32:19

at running back is with Bucky Irving. And

32:22

the draft in Bucky Irving is a fast running back and

32:24

can do things. I think he can do things in the

32:26

past game. I got to double check it, but his body

32:28

pro as

32:31

such. Yeah. So I wonder if he's

32:33

going to take some work off of Rashad White's plate, but

32:36

I just think that he's, I think the Bucks have

32:38

no choice, but to go with him again, he was

32:40

very effective, average 4.4 targets per game in

32:43

his last 12 games, average

32:46

17.9 PPR points per game in those

32:48

games. So he's got potential to blow

32:50

away 15 PPR points. This

32:52

is another guy that I probably should have ranked ahead of

32:55

Josh Jacobs based on that. Stop,

32:57

stop talking yourself out of your

32:59

Jacobs conviction. No, I'm still

33:01

going to take Jacobs in round two. I just found

33:04

two other running backs that I like a little bit

33:06

more because of the upside that they provide. I

33:08

didn't listen, like part of the reason

33:10

why I really liked Jacobs was because he had a year where he

33:13

had a bunch of games with 15 plus such as in the average

33:15

20 PPR points per game.

33:17

I am telling you that I think that's going to be hard for him

33:19

to do. I think he's going to be right in that range of like

33:22

16. Here are

33:24

two running backs that we're talking about who have

33:26

displayed that when given the opportunity to be a

33:28

feature back for their teams can get you over

33:30

17. Yeah.

33:33

Pacheco got you freaking 19. 19 is our

33:35

problem. I'm more excited

33:37

about those running backs and Jacobs just by a little.

33:40

The problem for white is the

33:42

thing that makes him great in fantasy is

33:44

his receiving. And does Bucky Irving

33:47

take that away from him because they want to use

33:49

him more as a strictly,

33:51

more strictly as a running back in the

33:54

traditional role than they have been. And

33:56

if that's the case, then he's going to struggle because

33:58

you've noted this time of time. Again, Adam, whether it's

34:01

schedule, whether it's offensive line problems, he

34:03

just hasn't shown or proven

34:05

to be an elite level runner. Now

34:08

can he do that this year? Sure. There's

34:11

potential that he gets more experience and understands that and that's his

34:13

role. But if he's going to

34:15

dip below 50 receptions, which

34:17

has been the case for two years, I'm

34:20

going to be a little concerned and that's the buckier of

34:22

an addition. So we've

34:25

talked about this since the NFL draft and

34:27

we all kind of get enamored

34:30

too much with these third

34:32

round rookies and fourth round rookies

34:34

and they have opportunities and they're an injury

34:36

away and blah, blah, blah. And that's certainly the case. But

34:42

I think what we've heard from

34:45

this coaching staff without Dave Canales

34:47

is how much they like Rashad White. And that's what

34:49

I keep coming back to is that I think they're

34:51

still going to make him

34:53

that guy and keep him in the passing game

34:55

and allow him to be Baker Mayfield's guy. Because

34:58

that's one thing about Baker Mayfield that's been underrated.

35:00

He did in Carolina. He didn't Cleveland. He

35:03

certainly did in Tampa Bay. He

35:05

throws to his running backs, you know, and

35:07

he's a very good asset to

35:09

his running backs in that case. Now granted,

35:11

he had Christian McCaffrey in the stretch with

35:13

Carolina and he's had Rashad White who's

35:16

been very good at doing this. But

35:19

if Bucky Irving comes in and takes that role from

35:21

him in whatever capacity, it's going to be tough to

35:23

justify taking him around too. So

35:26

and let's just put a bow on the Bucky

35:28

Irving talk and we saw the Bucks last year.

35:30

They tried to get Chase Edmonds involved. They tried

35:32

to get Sean Tucker involved. Neither of those guys

35:34

could really step up and do what the coaching

35:36

staff wanted them to do. Irving

35:38

at Oregon last year, 56 catches

35:40

the year before, 31 catches. So

35:43

that's 87 catches his last two seasons

35:46

averaged over eight yards per catch with

35:48

five touchdowns in those two seasons. That's

35:50

on top of him being a thousand yard rusher. Each

35:53

of those past two seasons, he scored 11 touchdowns

35:55

for Oregon last year. He's

35:57

a lean back. He's 190. But

36:00

he can catch and so this is someone who I think

36:02

is is a little bit more of a legitimate threat to

36:04

take away work in the passing game than someone

36:06

like Marshawn Lloyd who hasn't really done that in

36:08

college and would have to take a gigantic step

36:11

in order to do that in Green Bay. To

36:14

that being said, I still think that there

36:16

will be downs and distances where the

36:18

Bucks are going to count on Rashad White to

36:20

catch the ball out of the backfield more so than

36:22

Bucky Irving. Irving has to earn it. Just the fact that

36:24

he did it in college is nice. That tells you

36:26

that his learning curve won't be quite as high, but

36:29

I still think Rashad White is going to get a lot of work. Well,

36:32

I'm less concerned about Rashad

36:34

White losing his role in the passing game that

36:36

I am in the running game because Rashad White

36:38

is great in the passing game. Even if Bucky

36:40

Irving does have 87 catches

36:42

in his last two years, remember that was

36:45

an offense with a super low a-dot. I

36:47

think they threw the ball a lot and

36:49

Bo Nicks set a record for completion percentage

36:51

because he just threw short all the time.

36:53

But Rashad White doesn't drop the

36:56

ball. He catches almost every target he gets.

36:58

He's really good there. He can make plays

37:00

in the passing game. Simply put, you

37:02

have a hard time convincing me that he

37:04

hasn't been one of the most inefficient, maybe

37:07

worst running backs in football since

37:09

entering the league. 3.6 and 3.7 yards

37:12

per carry. Even for someone who highlights yards

37:14

per carry a lot, that is really, really

37:16

bad. He makes almost no big plays in

37:18

the running game. So at some

37:20

point, if he doesn't get it going, they did

37:22

draft a center in round one, Graham Barton, so

37:24

that could help. They've had a bad offensive line.

37:26

May not be his fault. I don't pretend that

37:29

yards per carry is all on the running back,

37:32

but he's one of the worst. He's

37:34

like bottom seven or something in yards

37:36

per carry over the last two seasons for

37:38

72 running backs who have 100 or more

37:41

carries. So that's the concern

37:43

with Rashad White. You may not

37:45

be that good. He had the line two years

37:47

ago, three years ago at this point, Brady's

37:50

first year there, second year

37:55

there. When they were healthy and then last

37:57

year they were injured and banged up. That's

38:00

why they made fixing their offensive

38:02

line of priority this offseason. So if

38:05

he can get, look, if you're right,

38:07

Adam, that he stays as the primary

38:09

pass catcher to this level. And

38:12

I don't know if he has to be north of 60 catches, but for

38:14

me, it's north of 50. But

38:16

if he stays north of 50 and

38:18

could be a four yards per carry kind of guy while still getting

38:20

this workload, he's going to be an absolute stud. Yeah,

38:22

but four yards per carry is like, oh wait, he hasn't

38:24

even been close. He had 272 carries last year. Three

38:28

of them were longer than 16 yards. That

38:32

is so bad. So you

38:34

know, that's just you remember, there are guys that

38:36

lose their job that we don't expect because they're

38:39

just not effective enough. And I do think we

38:41

have to put Rashad white in that boat. It's

38:43

possible. It's possible. He just does not run

38:45

well enough. And and

38:47

he loses work. Like like

38:49

Damien Pierce, you know, like we just

38:52

we didn't expect it. We never thought Devin

38:54

Singletary was a coaching change though. Miles Sanders

38:56

to, you know, yes, I know. I get

38:58

it. But they were so bad that

39:00

they had to be removed from that role. And

39:03

I just I fear that I don't think from

39:05

what the coaches have said, they don't feel

39:07

that way about white at all. And

39:09

the offseason doesn't suggest that right. But bowls has

39:11

been absolutely the coaches

39:13

said everything right about miles Sanders. It's

39:15

a matter of fact, is he just

39:18

Rashad white's production? I was I was again

39:20

switching teams and they fired the coach. Yeah.

39:23

But what is what is Todd Bowles going to say

39:26

about Rashad white? Obviously, he's going

39:28

to praise him. But but the personnel

39:30

says the same thing, though. Agreed. Their

39:33

actions this offseason says it. They didn't get

39:35

in on any free agent signing and they

39:37

drafted a guy in round four with a

39:39

pass catch. And the Panthers spent big money

39:41

on miles Sanders and had Chuba Hubbard as

39:43

their backup. But at the end of the

39:45

day, Sanders was so bad, they had no

39:48

choice but to make that switch. And I

39:50

feel the same way about the Texans. Damien

39:52

Pierce played his way out of that job.

39:54

I'm not we're talking pros

39:56

and cons here. If you're spending a veteran

39:58

to come in. and be ready

40:01

to go because they knew that Pierce would have

40:03

a hard time. On a one-year deal. No, they

40:05

were giving Pierce every opportunity there. And

40:07

I just, I'm just saying, I think if you're

40:09

going to take Rashad White with a top 30

40:11

pick or something like that, you have to be

40:13

aware that in my opinion,

40:16

he's been terrible. I

40:18

don't like the Damien Pierce comparison at all because they

40:20

switched schemes. They changed coaching staffs. I mean, everything was

40:22

just, he wasn't a fit for what Bobby Slope wanted

40:25

to do. But Damien Pierce at least was good. I'm

40:27

just saying Rashad White has not

40:29

been a good rusher. Rashad, I

40:31

mean, I'm going to tell you what Todd Bowles

40:33

said, which I think is the more

40:35

relevant thing here. He didn't say he's a great

40:37

runner. He said he's a great weapon for us.

40:39

Yeah. And that's, I think, what factors in. That's

40:41

why I said I'm more concerned about him losing

40:43

carries and catches. But I

40:45

don't think Bucky Irving is the guy to take him out of that role. I

40:47

think if Irving's going to take him out of a role, it's going to take

40:49

him out of a role as a pass catcher. I

40:52

mean, that thought will change if Bucky

40:54

Irving is like the talk of training camp in

40:56

town. Sure. I

40:58

think people are saying that I'm losing

41:00

this battle. I just. It's

41:03

not a battle win or lose. You're giving your opinion.

41:05

I don't think it's a good example to go Damien

41:07

Pierce. I do think it's a

41:09

good, you could go anywhere. Look, it's not that

41:11

the situations are the same. It's that it's the

41:14

overall thing. Ineffective running backs could lose their job.

41:16

You have to be aware of that. I don't

41:18

have that fear at all with James Cook or

41:20

Isaiah Pacheco. Those guys are really good running back.

41:23

I don't have that concern with Rashad White. OK.

41:25

But I just think that when you're talking about

41:27

those three guys who are back to back to

41:29

back in the consensus rankings, we're

41:31

talking about Devon H. And it gets you get drafted here.

41:34

The only one that I'm worried about being under

41:36

four yards per carry is Rashad White. And he

41:39

hasn't even been close to four yards per

41:41

carry. I mean, three point six, three point seven

41:43

yards per carry is absolutely terrible. So

41:45

I just think that when you're

41:47

comparing them to these rushers, Cook and

41:49

Pacheco, I think their primary appeal and

41:51

HN2 is that they're really, really good.

41:54

They make guys miss. They make big plays. They're awesome.

41:56

I cannot say that about Rashad White, the rusher. Yeah,

42:00

he's really good there, but

42:02

I think it's fair to criticize him for this. I'm

42:04

sorry. I'm not trying to get too negative. It is,

42:06

but you also made a, I think a big

42:08

point in your argument here. How

42:11

much of that is on him and how much of that is on the offensive

42:14

line? And

42:17

that's I think what matters in the minds of the coaching staff.

42:19

Like they may think his 3.7 could

42:21

have been 3.2. Well

42:23

yeah, the lack of big plays though, I think

42:26

is also on him. I mean, again, like, yeah,

42:28

no, it's, it's, it's certainly worth bringing up. That's

42:30

100% relevant. But I think to

42:32

say Damien Pierce is a comp based

42:34

on what happened to him last year and

42:37

Miles Sanders, you know, switching teams, one team switching,

42:39

coaching staff, switching scheme like that, I think is,

42:41

is tough to compare those two. No, I'm not.

42:44

The situations are different. And look, you could even

42:46

counter and say, okay, Canales is gone. It's a

42:48

new coordinator. So that might impact Rashad White in

42:50

negative way too. Yeah, but it's a similar

42:52

type of. No, I agree. But I'm just saying like, if

42:54

he wants to make that as a point, I it's the

42:56

point, the broader point is ineffective running

42:58

backs could lose their jobs and I am, I

43:01

am worried about him being ineffective. Maybe people aren't,

43:03

but I'm just bringing it up. He has not been an effective running

43:05

back. Okay. I'm sorry. Uh, we got to

43:07

take a break here. It's

43:11

going to be a long, good stuff. It's

43:13

not my show. I don't want to hug the mic,

43:15

but no, it's your show too. Well,

43:17

all right. Uh, we're going to take a break. We'll

43:19

get to Josh Jacobs and the other guys after this.

43:22

We need to talk the acclaimed

43:24

Showtime original docu-series couples therapy returns

43:27

with an addictive and revealing new

43:29

season. Dr. Orna is back in

43:31

session helping for new couples grapple

43:33

with real issues from religion and

43:35

sex to polyamorous power dynamics. Collider

43:37

says couples therapy is like nothing

43:39

else on TV. It's

43:41

breakup or breakthrough on the

43:43

new season of couples therapy. Now

43:45

streaming with the Paramount plus with

43:47

Showtime plan. Visit Paramount plus.com to

43:49

try it free. Hey

43:53

everybody. Jon Stewart here. I am here

43:55

to tell you about my new podcast,

43:57

the weekly show coming out every Thursday.

44:00

We're going to be talking about

44:02

the election earnings calls. What are

44:04

they talking about on these earnings

44:06

calls? We're going to be talking

44:08

about ingredient to bread ratio on

44:10

sandwiches. I know you have a

44:12

lot of options as far as podcasts go,

44:14

but how many of them come out on

44:16

Thursday? Listen to the weekly show with Jon

44:19

Stewart on the iHeartRadio app, Apple podcast, or

44:21

wherever you get your podcasts. All right,

44:23

pros and cons for Josh Jacobs. Do we

44:25

need to go through this or did the

44:28

earlier session suffice on Jacobs? I

44:31

think I'm good with what I said. Okay,

44:34

so Dave's higher on him than Jamie is. So let's

44:36

go to Joe Mixon here. If you want to hear

44:38

more about Josh Jacobs, just rewind basically the beginning of

44:40

the show. Let's go to Joe

44:42

Mixon. He'll be 28 years old in July. Jamie,

44:45

what are the pros and cons for Mixon? I

44:48

think he's going to a better situation and you

44:51

know, that says a lot because the situation since now,

44:53

he's been very good for him. But you

44:55

know, this is an offense. That's a chance to be amazing. You

44:57

know, if everything clicks, clearly CJ Stroud's

44:59

on the rise. You know, the receiving core should be

45:01

better. Should have an opportunity to

45:04

score more points. I think he'll still

45:06

be involved in the passing game. The

45:09

negative is that Joe Mixon is, you know, was kicked to

45:11

the curb for a reason, not just salary related, and that

45:13

he might not be the best version of Joe Mixon at

45:15

this point in his career. So I'm

45:19

excited about the scenario for him, but

45:21

I'm cautiously optimistic. You know, I don't want to go

45:23

too far all in on Mixon. I kind of feel

45:26

similar to him than I feel about Josh Jacobs, except

45:28

with Mixon. I

45:30

don't view Damian Pierce as competition. I know

45:32

you do, Adam, just based on, you know, something

45:34

that you sent me in regards to our magazine about,

45:36

you know what, D'Amico Ryan

45:38

said about a one-two punch. I

45:41

think Mixon is going to dominate touches there, which is the plus for him.

45:45

Not that I don't think Jacobs will also, but I think Mixon's for

45:47

me a little bit safer. They acquired him for

45:49

peanuts and then they gave him a contract extension. So

45:52

they better do it. What I

45:54

like about Mixon is that he's averaged at least 15 PPR

45:57

points every year since 2020. and

46:00

now he's going to an offense that

46:04

they've turned it around so much. And the

46:06

offensive line should be strong. We know that

46:08

the receiving core is awesome. And

46:11

I'm not convinced that this offense

46:13

is going to become like one of the

46:15

past heaviest in the league.

46:17

They'll be up there. They have to be. They've got Stroud

46:19

and they've got these receivers. But Mixon

46:21

can be a little bit of a part of

46:23

that on first and second downs. But he's also

46:25

gonna be able to benefit from so many pass

46:27

catchers out there. Kind of like what I talked

46:29

about with Pacheco. Safety's aren't gonna be lurking down

46:31

near the line of scrimmage very often. And I

46:33

think Mixon is still good enough to get a

46:35

good rushing average, not a great one, but a

46:37

good one, be it eight in

46:40

the box or not. And on top of

46:42

that, plenty of touchdown opportunities, plenty

46:44

of totally hard opportunities. Just I think he's

46:46

in a really good spot. You

46:48

could squeeze one more year of 15 plus

46:50

PPR out of Joe Mixon. Yeah,

46:53

you know, I think Josh Jacobs has one season in

46:56

his career where he's finished in

46:58

the top 12 per game. It was 2022 and he was

47:00

third. I said

47:02

earlier, he's been top 17 per game every year. He's been top

47:04

15 per game almost every year. But

47:07

I think only one top 12 per game in

47:09

full PPR for Jacobs. Mixon on

47:11

the other hand has been top 12 per game in five

47:13

of the last six seasons in both

47:15

half and full PPR. And he was eighth. He

47:17

was top eight per game in 2021 and 2022. So

47:20

that's the pro with him. He gives you a lot of

47:22

a lot of consistency and probably

47:24

getting an offensive

47:27

line upgrade. If you

47:29

if you look at ESPN's ratings of run block

47:31

win rate and you look at PFF last

47:34

year, their run block grades, Houston

47:36

was not an upgrade over last year's

47:39

Bengals team, but their right tackle missed

47:41

10 games. Their left tackle

47:43

missed some time. So they have

47:45

some young talent on that line. So we're thinking

47:47

probably an offensive line upgrade. Will

47:50

he be the third down back? That's a con

47:52

I have listed here. I don't know if he will. Will

47:54

Houston throw to their running backs? They didn't really do that

47:56

much at all last year and he's going to be 28

47:58

years old. And he's

48:00

been kind of a pedestrian running back. But

48:02

Jamie, I'm not really worried about Pierce like

48:05

being a true one-two punch. But

48:07

I'm worried about him getting maybe like 80 to

48:10

100 carries or something like that. I don't

48:12

know. Enough to be annoying, I guess. I

48:16

think that number's high if Mixon's healthy. Yeah,

48:19

it could be. He's

48:21

certainly got a... Look, if Pierce is as bad as he

48:23

was last year, he's not getting 80 carries. He just wasn't...

48:25

I was pretty sure there's about 85 carries

48:28

over the season. He wasn't a

48:30

good fit for this scheme. And so will

48:32

a year in it and another offseason

48:34

help? Hopefully. Look, I

48:36

think Pierce has

48:39

an opportunity to still be productive in this

48:41

league and be productive on this team. But

48:43

it was a disaster last year for him.

48:45

And so this is kind of the hope

48:47

for Joe Mixon. And you can debate the

48:49

effectiveness of him as a running back. But

48:52

Devin Singletary was a very good fantasy asset on this

48:54

team. And I think Joe Mixon is a better player.

48:57

So I'm hoping that what he

48:59

does in now and offense that improved

49:01

from what Singletary was doing last year

49:04

should give Mixon another chance to be

49:06

a top 10, top 12, if

49:08

you want to knock him down a peg or two from his age for

49:12

the season, which is why I keep getting more and more excited about

49:15

him. So I like the setup. I

49:17

like the snare. Like Dave said, they paid him. There's, in my

49:19

opinion, not a lot of competition for touches. And

49:21

so as long as he stays healthy, I think he's going

49:23

to have a bigger... Is he

49:25

safer than Rashad White? Is Joe

49:28

Mixon safer than White or Jacobs? I

49:31

think if you come out on the side of White still involved

49:33

in the passing game, I'll take White. If you come out on

49:35

the side of White not being as involved in the passing game,

49:37

then I'll take Mixon. Okay. Let's

49:40

go to Derek Henry. Dave,

49:43

why don't you give pros and cons for Henry? The

49:47

guy's machine scores touch-ons like crazy. Last

49:49

year was one of his worst years

49:51

yet. It was fairly easy

49:54

to predict from game to game. He was game

49:56

script dependent. Any average 14.8

49:58

PPR points per game. But

50:00

if we do a little bit of Azerstadting, we go over just the 13

50:03

games, 13 out of 17, where

50:06

he had at least 14 touches. And

50:08

remember, he doesn't catch the ball much. 14

50:10

or more touches. 17.9 PPR points per

50:12

game, 13 touchdowns, seven

50:15

games with 100 total yards, another

50:17

two between 95 and 99 total yards. That

50:21

was on a Tennessee offense. That was

50:23

awful. The offensive line was brutal. The

50:25

quarterback play was gross pretty much every

50:28

single game. Now he's going to Baltimore,

50:31

always a competitive offensive line there.

50:33

A quarterback in Lamar Jackson that defenses have

50:36

to reckon with every single week. And

50:38

now he's the running back in that

50:40

backfield without a lot of competition because

50:42

Keaton Mitchell is still coming back

50:44

from his ACL. They'll be

50:46

ready. They've moved on from Dobbins. They've moved on

50:49

from Gus Edwards. They drafted Rachin Ali. I

50:52

don't know how big of a role he'll have. And

50:54

I'm not saying that Derek Henry's gonna get every role,

50:56

but he's, or every carry, but he's going to get

50:58

all the important ones. And this is a team that

51:00

loves to score from short yardage. Henry's going to be

51:03

their answer there. He's going to be their answer

51:05

when they're killing the clock. I think he's

51:07

absolutely going to be in line to have a

51:09

bounce back year, certainly better than 14.8 PPR points

51:11

per game, probably worth

51:13

penciling in in that 16 range, even

51:16

in full PPR, which means that he's basically 15

51:19

and a half and non PPR. Anything

51:22

that, did you do cons there or just pros? He's

51:25

29 years old. He's

51:27

30, right? And he doesn't catch a ton of passes. He's 30.

51:31

And that is it, right? I mean, is it that simple? He's

51:33

30 and doesn't catch passes. It

51:36

really is. And we spent a lot of

51:38

time on this last year, wins versus losses. Well, the

51:40

Ravens win a lot of games. And so he should

51:42

get an opportunity to have a game script in his

51:44

favor. Dave mentioned the

51:47

offense, really the offensive line. And

51:50

he's 30. By comparison, night and day. And so to

51:52

what he's going to and the team he's going to,

51:54

I mean, imagine if Greg Roman was still the office

51:57

coordinator in Baltimore, my God. But,

51:59

you know. Henry is

52:01

going to dominate carries

52:03

and really if he avoids

52:06

injury, I mean

52:09

I don't think 2000 yards is on the table

52:11

because of Lamar Jackson who just gets 800 yards rolling out

52:13

of bed every time he's been healthy. Derek

52:17

Henry is going to be 1500 plus rushing

52:20

yards and I mean

52:22

Gus Edwards scored 13 rushing touchdowns in this offense. Derek Henry

52:24

could get 18 to 20. So

52:28

to me he's an easy round to pick. I guess

52:30

the one running back in this backfield that could take him

52:33

off the field is Justice Hill who

52:35

for whatever reason this coaching staff really liked him

52:37

last year. He can

52:40

play all three downs but I'd

52:42

be shocked if he had five touches a game. I think

52:44

Derek Henry is going to get a lot

52:46

of work here. A lot of

52:49

work. Maybe in blowouts he won't get quite as many.

52:51

When it's 56 to 19, he won't

52:54

see Derek Henry on the field but when it's

52:56

31-19 he'll be there. I

52:58

guess I have 31. So this is the last

53:00

guy we're going to talk about today and we have

53:03

a best ball show tomorrow but that won't take the

53:05

full time. So we'll probably finish up on this topic

53:07

tomorrow. Tomorrow we'll do Camara, Achan and Ken Walker. But

53:10

to say that Henry is an easy second

53:13

round pick, it's interesting to me

53:15

because I know you like to fade the older guys,

53:17

Jamie. So if the situations is too

53:19

good. I know but if we remove the running backs, right, and

53:21

he's not, if you're on the clock and you've got Jalen

53:24

Waddle, Chris

53:26

Olave, Drake London, these third and fourth

53:28

year guys going into their prime versus

53:30

a 30-year-old with over 2,000 career

53:33

carries who's going to have like

53:35

maybe 70 to 80 fewer catches,

53:37

that might be a lot than those guys. How

53:40

do you take Derek Henry or would you take Derek Henry over

53:43

those? I like their series better. I guess he's not

53:45

an easy round to pick. I

53:47

think I have him ranked 26, 27. So I shouldn't

53:49

say he's an easy round to pick. He's

53:51

in this mix. I mean, you know,

53:53

again, it's hard to overlook his lack

53:55

of role in the passing game. But for him, it's

53:57

kind of been something that he's done his entire career.

54:00

And so, you know, give me

54:02

a number of games for Henry. 16,

54:05

17. He's a workhorse.

54:07

He's a horse. I mean, that's 2000 total

54:10

yards and 18 touchdowns. No way. No

54:14

way. I think you can rush for 1800 yards. All

54:17

right, let me just, isn't

54:20

it so possible that

54:22

we're going, hey, what lessons did we learn in the 2020, 24

54:24

season? Right?

54:27

This is like January of 25. We're like, never

54:29

ever draft a 30 year old running

54:32

back. You know, with, with

54:34

2000 carries, you can't really compare

54:36

him to mostert. The thing is like, you

54:39

can look at, at Henry and kind of

54:41

see a decline. He hasn't been as good

54:43

the last couple of years. Still good. And

54:46

he's 30, he has 2030 carries. He's

54:51

just a freak of nature though. And,

54:54

and all the greats and

54:56

who've played running back in the NFL

54:59

have managed to do well after 30. But

55:02

have they really? Almost

55:04

all of them. Have they had this

55:07

many carries? Yes. Okay.

55:11

So I listen there, there's a decline. I don't expect

55:13

him to average five yards of carry. I

55:15

don't think that he'll have that same, you know,

55:18

like Gus Edwards had five yards for carry for

55:20

a bunch of seasons. I don't think

55:22

he'll have that hyper efficiency just cause he's playing

55:24

with Lamar. Maybe he does. That would

55:26

surprise me. But I think he's,

55:29

I think he's in line to have a very good year worthy

55:32

of a round two, three turn pick. That's

55:35

going to be where he goes in full

55:37

PPR. He's around one pick and non PPR.

55:40

I think he's the easiest one of this

55:42

group to analyze because you, you

55:44

like, you kind of know the only thing is

55:46

like, is he going to, to phase?

55:48

Is he going to start fading? Is he going to

55:50

start playing worse and not really being that good? And

55:53

also Baltimore has three new offensive

55:55

linemen. We talk a lot about their offensive line

55:57

as if it's a given. Well, they.

56:00

They've got a pretty new group this year.

56:02

You trust them to be good. They're just

56:04

Baltimore, and Jackson's gonna create a lot of

56:06

opportunities. But you don't have to, oh, how

56:08

many catches did it get? What kind of roles is it gonna get? It's

56:11

not like Cook, it's not like Pacheco. I have to worry

56:13

about that. Does he get to 25? The McKinnon factor. 25

56:15

catches in 17 games? Probably right around

56:17

there, right? But

56:20

we know what the situation is. This is the question,

56:22

is it father, it's either, is it gonna be Derek

56:24

Henry or father time? Who's gonna win, right? This is

56:27

pretty much that simple? I mean, father time is undefeated,

56:29

so that's clearly a knock against him. But

56:32

is this the year? Right,

56:34

is this the year? That's it, that's all it

56:36

is, right? I mean, he's not, he's- I've

56:39

drafted Henry once. It's the league that

56:41

we're playing out. It's our magazine league.

56:43

And to me, it was an easy

56:46

pick. It was round three, middle of round three.

56:48

I started with Justin Jefferson and Crystal Lavey. So

56:50

it was very, very simple for me to take

56:53

Derek Henry. Now this is a three receiver PPR league, and

56:55

my two running backs are Derek Henry and Najee Harris. So

56:57

I'm not exactly counting on my running backs to

57:00

lead the way from a reception total, but I'm

57:02

only starting two running backs. I've got four receivers

57:04

that are going to, I have five receivers that

57:06

I can rotate in for four spots. So

57:08

I'm not worried about what Derek Henry's reception

57:11

totals are, but you get

57:13

it around three, it should be fairly safe. By

57:15

the way, we can end on this.

57:17

You're looking for the comp for Rashad White. Najee

57:21

Harris has played 17 games every single year. He's gone from

57:23

307 to 272 to 255 carries. He

57:29

has a good running mate. I don't know that that

57:31

exists in Tampa Bay, but that would be more of

57:33

the comp. It's like Harris

57:36

wasn't good enough to justify all those

57:38

carries. But again, the

57:41

counter to that would be, Rashad White went

57:43

from 50 catches to 64. Yeah.

57:48

Year one to year two, that's why you're

57:50

drafting Rashad. No, I understand. I just, that

57:53

was- And Najee hasn't been replaced yet. He

57:56

hasn't, but Jalen Warren has cut

57:58

into his work because- just

58:00

isn't as good as Jaylen Warren. All

58:02

right, so we have talked about James

58:04

Cook, Pacheco, Rashad White, Josh

58:07

Jacobs, Joe Mixon, and Derek

58:09

Henry. Six running backs. We'll

58:12

finish the show. How do you rank them? The

58:17

names again? They are

58:20

Cook, Pacheco, White,

58:23

Jacobs, Mixon, Henry. Okay.

58:27

I've got Pacheco. Cook, White. Oh,

58:30

go ahead, Jay. Cook, Pacheco, White, Henry,

58:34

Mixon, Jacobs. After

58:39

all the changes I made today, I've

58:42

got Pacheco, White, Jacobs, Henry, Cook, Mixon,

58:44

and I've got a couple of guys between

58:46

Cook and Mixon. I don't

58:48

understand why it is so hard for these two

58:51

people in this chat to understand the point I

58:53

am making about Rashad White. I hope everyone else

58:55

is clear. Obviously, I'm drafting him ahead of Najee

58:57

Harris. Duh, forget it.

58:59

All right, that's it

59:01

for us. And Dynasty's coming up right

59:03

now. Hopefully, Heath will talk about that blockbusting. You know, I'm

59:05

gonna ask Heath if I can come on the show and

59:09

talk about our big blockbuster trade. You don't have

59:11

to ask Heath. You can just get the link

59:13

from the shop. Yeah,

59:16

in Neighbors. I got Neighbors. Okay. The top,

59:18

yeah. Send him the link and he'll just

59:20

dive bomb the show. And everyone's in

59:23

on it, but Heath. Okay, see y'all.

59:25

I love you all, chat. I love you

59:27

all. Till

59:29

tomorrow, best ball, and we'll finish this discussion

59:32

with Camara, A. Chan,

59:34

and Ken Walker. See ya. This

59:40

is Tony Kornhiser Show. I'm Tony. Were you

59:42

expecting someone else? So what exactly is the

59:44

show about? I don't know.

59:47

It's a sports show, nominally. Football's over, but we're

59:49

finally at a point where things matter in college

59:51

basketball and baseball season is on deck. Greatest three

59:53

words in the English language, pictures and catches. We

59:55

have some of the best voices come on and

59:58

explain what matters or what makes an up. upset

1:00:00

like Ryan does. Nine over eight. No, that's

1:00:02

not an upset. No, yeah, it is, Bob.

1:00:04

And if you're lucky, I might just tell

1:00:06

you about my search for discounted sleep pants

1:00:08

or my worries about what my dog just

1:00:10

ate. Listen on the Odyssey app or wherever

1:00:12

you get your podcasts.

Unlock more with Podchaser Pro

  • Audience Insights
  • Contact Information
  • Demographics
  • Charts
  • Sponsor History
  • and More!
Pro Features