Way Too Early Top 12 Running Backs For 2024! | Fantasy Football Advice

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Before we get to our Top 12 running backs for 2024, we’ve got some news items (1:50) with Mark Andrews practicing and the Browns making changes to their coaching staff. We also talk about how to approach Christian McCaffrey if you’re in a playoff challenge and can only use him once … Unveiling our Top 12 RBs (7:20) with McCaffrey and Breece Hall at the top for everyone. It gets more interesting with RBs 3-6 (15:50). It’s the same four players but in different orders for our analysts. We debate Bijan Robinson vs. Jahmyr Gibbs and also talk about Jonathan Taylor and Kyren Williams … RBs 7-9 (27:32) include De’Von Achane and Travis Etienne for everyone plus some votes for Saquon Barkley, Rachaad White and others. Is Achane going to get enough work? Can Etienne be more efficient? And then we finish with RBs 10-12 (43:29) which include Isiah Pacheco and James Cook plus a few other RBs who made the Top 12 for some but not all of us. Do any of these guys feel like Round 2 picks? … Your emails at fantasyfootball@cbsi.com

0:00 Intro

4:35 Injuries, News, and Notes

7:20 Top 12 Running Back Questions

10:00 Ranking RBs 1-2

15:50 Ranking RBs 3-6

27:32 Ranking RBs 7-9

43:29 Ranking RBs 10-12

51:00 Answering Emails

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Top 12 running backs for 2024 these are our lists and we will be sticking to them contractually obligated to stick with these top 12s until uh until the season starts welcome everybody it is Wednesday happy hump day happy Wednesday everybody it’s Adam Dave Jamie and Heath

Hey Heath welcome back you know you said something before the show that really really confused me and so I I just want to I’d like to start off with me asking you a question you were talking you were talking about sledding with your kids and you said you didn’t sled but you

Pulled them yeah on the sled yeah where I’m from if you go sledding somebody pushes you when you go down a hill were you like just running around your driveway pulling them on a sled backyard okay and they’re too young did you have a like a a tractor or a car or something

You were pulling them with Rope Rope at the front of the sled and you were the one like running or walking pulling yeah I jogging yeah okay yeah yeah yeah I have been pulled on on a sled but it was behind a truck on the road no they’re

Three and five I can’t just let them go down a hill I to a tractor you’re good I almost wiped out man like I it was really icy it wasn’t it wasn’t like mushy snow it was icy and I’m with the sled and I was like almost completely lost it so like a

Horse yeah exactly yeah it was like a reindeer out there but one that was slipping so probably more like a pony and he said something before the show about Christian mcaffry so we’re going to get to that some quick news and notes then we’ll get to our top 12

Running backs uh early top 12 running backs for 2024 uh Mark Andrews was limited in practice would love to see him play this week against the Texans and Christian mcaffrey practiced in full so he’s good to go but heathan in terms of playoff challenges what little conundrum are you running into yeah the

Conundrum that I’ve run into is do you play Christian mcaffrey this week in leagues where you can only play a guy one time I mean obviously the what what you’d like to have if you think the 49ers are going to be in the Super Bowl is that you have mcaffrey as the hammer

For the Super Bowl but there’s no guarantee he’s going to make it there and I think this is probably the best matchup that he’s going to have on his way there this might be a week where he scores 35 or 40 points and if somebody

Else gets those it’ll be kind of hard to make that up it’s the it’s the that’s the the the challenge of the playoff challenge in in these formats is when to use these players like I I’m I’m in one where uh I think the the Chiefs could beat the

Bills I have more a little bit more confidence in Buffalo at this point but um I’m I’m going with a I could play up to three quarterbacks so I’m playing Stout I think they’re done I’m playing um I used love last week I’m playing Stout I’m playing Baker and I’m playing

Um uh Mahomes I play three quarterbacks but I’m going with a chief stack in this in this particular lineup of uh Kelsey um as well and it’s like you lose those guys if if they if they advance to not have them for you know potential you know two more games but that’s the

That’s the the choice you make is when do you use your your key guys and if they if you don’t use them you know so like let’s say you don’t use mcaffry this week and let’s say you tried okay now they Advance they’re in the NC championship game you want to use them

For Super Bowl and they get knocked out and like you said you didn’t get those 40 points so that’s the uh that’s the tough call it’s really difficult sometimes with these with these leagues but that’s the fun of it yeah I I would probably wait just if you felt confident

In him being in the Super Bowl or you know because he he’s match he’s basically matchup proof right you know but you also want to get his most points that’s the thing well the other thing for for me specifically I’m I’m playing in the baby Bowl which is a uh a charity

Raises money for some good causes and I’ve got like a 10-point lead on the field I finished first out of everybody well I’m kind of just thinking let’s just stack a lead and hope that nobody can catch me in the Super Bowl I’m I’m planning on actually stacking one side

Or the other of that Lions Bucks game because I figure this is the Lions probably last game indoors so even if they they make it next week they’re probably not as good or just go with Baker Mayfield Mike Evans and Chris Godwin wow that was also like you said

Though you want to make it to the Super Bowl and have players right that’s that’s the the biggest thing is like how do you get to the final game while still having the ability to field a full lineup that was a very really elaborate humble brag there you know thank you oh

Yeah took a lot yeah took a long way to get there but paid off did not go unnoticed Dave Richard the Cleveland Browns fired three members of their offensive coaching staff coordinator Alex Van pel has been the OC for Four Seasons there uh running back coach stump stump Mitchell and Coach tight end

Coach TC McCartney All Fired uh by the Cleveland Browns and they actually surprised to me they ran the most plays in football in 2023 and seventh most in 2022 but uh yeah any reaction to this Dave I think it’s interesting that these guys got fired after the year that the

Browns had think about all the different quarterbacks that they went through running backs losing Nick chub early on and they were still able to be a successful team so it’s it’s almost like what did these guys do Van Pelt especially to fall out of favor in Cleveland we we’ll we’ll see what the

Reaction is and and what the move after that is but stefansky has been calling the plays this whole time in Cleveland so van pelt’s probably been more of a sounding board than anything else I’m curious to see who’s who’s moving into that role especially the OC role to be

That new sounding board for stefansky all Mike Tomlin says he’s gonna coach the Steelers in 2024 Tyler higgy did tear his ACL that stinks sorry to hear that and I don’t know why I thought Gerard Mayo went to Florida he went to Tennessee yeah that was a bad

One I don’t know I really remember him being on the Gators like I really feel like the internet you’re thinking of Brandon Spikes I’m not thinking of Brandon Spikes I remember you guys talking about yest it’s like all right maybe they’re right on this but I thought I thought I didn’t think Mayo

Went to Florida no I I really think everyone’s wrong and some has a big conspiracy here because I just remember him being on UF but all right I he guess he went to Tennessee congratulations to the Tennessee Volunteers now have a head coach uh Heath I wanted to promote fft

Heard Robert CRA wanted to hold the mail though exactly uh fft Dynasty every Tuesday you guys did a live superflex startup Dynasty mock draft yesterday we were all part of it was a lot of fun but uh what do we have coming up in the offseason eth well first off it always

Reminds me when I do one of those how good you are at your job because hosting a podcast while you’re doing a mock draft in this particular mock draft I end up drafting for two teams very very very difficult but yes we’ve got uh we’ve got you know we got Jagger May

From football guys coming on next week we’ve got a bunch of guests lined up for the weeks following those we are going to talk playoff risers and followers we will have more mock drafts we eventually might even get to more than one show per week that’d be great all right check it

Out fantasy football today Dynasty give little scan that little QR code there all right let’s get to our top 12 running backs in 2024 uh first question for you was it difficult to come up with the back end of your top 12 certainly was for me was

It difficult for you guys to come up with the back end of the top 12 no I don’t know if difficult is the word 11 and 12 specifically were tough for me but like you couldn’t find players to fill those spots or you had too many players to fill those no I

Couldn’t I I didn’t feel like I had 12 guys I really felt no I I I I have 13 I think there was actually a week between the time when I sent Jamie my top 12 running backs and my top 24 overall and my top 12 running backs might have changed in that

Time oh yeah I mean yeah mine diders have changed for sure uh but okay so okay so no difficulty there okay fair enough um second question was what were you looking for in your top 12 running backs did you care more about projected workload efficiency both um what was

Most important Jamie I’ll let you start there what was the most you know so yes uh the the players that I think have the chance to be close to Workhorse backs in terms of playing on passing Downs getting goal line opportunities um you know taking a step forward from where

They were this season you know so uh to sort of tie in your first question you know the the tougher ones for me were you know Sequon Barkley who’s 12 and Josh Jacobs who’s just outside of that you know where are they playing next year so that’s you know the the tough

Call but really in terms of the the the the question marks were you know somebody like Devon Anan is he going to be the lead guy and in what capacity will he be the lead guy and then you know for me it was the only real struggle I I I think was

Where to put Bean because of the hope of what the new coach and system will be so you know one thing that I wrote about and again you know when we go through these you can see all of our top 12 on the site um you can see our top 24 and

It’s not just the four of us it’s also Jacob Gibbs and Chris towers and Dan schne uh you know contributing to listing their top 12 as well um was trying to see okay who’s different and who has you know different you know talking points you know to uh to make it

Interesting and the bejan versus Gibbs uh ranking debate was was interesting I think it was uh four and three I forget which way it went but um you know pretty even split of who who likes one of the two you know now sophomore running backs over the

Other all right anybody else want to comment on that or should we just unveil the rankings let unveil them let’s do it okay uh number one mcaffrey right yep for all seven how far into the off season will we get before somebody starts getting worried about McCaffrey’s

Age like at some point in June or July there’s gonna be articles coming out he’s he’s 28 years old remember what happened to Eckler last year yada yada yada I think it’s just something that you have to know and accept with mcaffrey and I I mean I I sat in this

Exact same spot three years ago going on and on about he’s had five injuries in the last 13 months or whatever it was and I was nervous about him but he changed he he told everybody he changed his offseason routine changed the way that he you know put his body together

And for whatever reason with you know some fortuitous luck included and probably going to San Francisco that helped too he he’s managed to stay healthy and just super reliable and he’s what he’s like five six PPR points per game better than everyone else in the field when you look at the entire

Season he’s he’s like Kelsey at tight end or maybe we should be saying that Kelsey’s like mcaffrey at running back he’s almost or probably even more better than everybody else than Cooper cup had been the last two years yeah exactly and what happened to Cooper cup well I

Mean I I think it’s interesting that the two names that you mentioned you know Austin Eckler and Cooper cup because Eckler had the holdout situation you know and how much did that change not his training regimen from him personally but just being in football shape and you

Know look he had a ankle sprain so that’s not necessarily a soft tissue injury but it is an injury nonetheless to an older player and they may be a little bit tougher to come back from and come back at the same level I think the thing that worries me a little bit with

Mcaffrey is it’s not just that he’s going to be older it’s now back-to-back Seasons you assume of two long playoff runs and so that’s a lot of wear and tear on his body you know for especially for somebody that’s got an injury track record so again I you know for for the people

That are going to have the number one overall pick and we’re going to get a lot of the Justin Jefferson got hurt and mcaffrey got hurt you know and is is the is the the one spot cursed you take that player what he does when he’s on the

Field when he’s healthy is not matched you know and you could say maybe Bree Hall gets there maybe beon or Gibbs get there if they get those opportunities and you know certainly we saw CD lamb for example outscore him uh from a total points perspective you know so taking

The receiver makes you know a little bit more sense as we talked about last year with the safety Factor when we were talking about Jefferson versus mcaffry to begin with so there’s going to be a lot of debate about who should be number one overall but when mcaffrey is right

When he’s healthy when he’s on the field there’s no one at that position that does what he does you can also make the case that if you draft mcaffrey we’ll assume that we’ll know who the backup is and knowing the track record of 49ers running backs that running back is going

To be someone that we immediately start can’t expect 25 five PPR points per game but 15 18 could potentially be in that range the problem with that is if it’s Elijah Mitchell is he going to be healthy the week that mcaffrey Miss right I’m not sure if it’s gonna be

Elijah Mitchell at this well see I mean as of now you should be planning on Mitchell you know so if if if for whatever reason you know you can still make transactions you pick up Mitchell if he’s available wherever he is I mean like I I made it a priority in in

Heath’s draft to draft Mitchel and and I’ve done it in a few drafts that we’ve uh I’ve done it in the two drafts that we’ve done already and I I made in my Dynasty leagues to try to acquire him or or roster him um throughout the course

Of the season because if he is in this role behind a 28y old mcaffrey we”ve already seen him as the lead running back for San Francisco be very very good again not mcaffry good as Dave said but still very good startable top 20 type running back so you want that on your

Roster you can have it and again if it’s somebody else then you go and pivot to that but uh for right now it’s it’s Elijah Mitchell and I think that’s the approach you should have he’s gonna be 26 next year and it’s a contract year so

The only way he’s not making the team is if the coaches don’t like him anymore let’s get to not McCaffrey here let’s get to Bree Hall but but there is obviously a clear curse of the number one overall pick the last four number one overall fantasy picks have missed at

Least at least six games mcaffrey twice Jonathan Taylor and Justin Jefferson okay uh that’s indisputable number two I guess for everyone was Bree Hall Jamie everyone was Bree Hall all seven people were Bree Hall that’s pretty interesting you know uh I I mean yeah I’m in on that

Too but I think that’s pretty interesting that it was unanimous guys um yeah I mean look he had an amazing finish to his season you know and and we talked about this last off season that year two coming off the ACL te is typically when these guys bounce back

And and play at at a high level he accelerated that timeline you know which is which is great to see and you hope better quarterback play hopefully better offensive line play and we get the best of what Bree Hall has been which has been unbelievable you know the first

Four games of his rookie season and then the the games that you know sortly showed how good he can be in his sophomore campaign so I mean my goodness it’s uh it’s a lot to love about him I have a brutal call uh in a in a keeper

League where I have to decide between mcaffry and and Bree Hall and I keep them forever you know so I only get to keep one and so I drafted Bree Hall with the idea of okay this is a guy I had mcaffry was my keeper draft Brie Hall uh

With the idea of he’ll be my next Keeper in case something Happ McCaffrey and now I’m torn because the upside for mcaffrey for the next three four years uh comparatively to Hall is is not the same you know Hall’s upside is is much more oh you got

Hall right but I I won the league I’m gonna try and Win It Again mff gives me a better chance if he’s right he’s like he’s going to miss at least six games I just told you that PO potentially don’t jinx him uh it’s not me I’m not jinxing

Him is everyone else is gonna Jinx him he’s gonna be 101 all right so we probably don’t need to spend much time on Brea so let’s go to 345 uh give me your 345 Heath you can start yeah I’ve got jir Gibbs bejon Robinson kyen Williams Gibbs bejon Kiren okay Dave I’m

One of the guys that changed the sophomore running back order after we had to send it in my order as of now is bejan Gibbs and I have Jonathan Taylor at five yeah let’s do three through six because I want because I figure is does everybody have Kiren six or or or higher

Yeah yeah he’s sixth for me three through six bejon Gibbs Kiren Taylor in some order for everybody yep all right so let’s do that three through six so sorry start again so Heath you’re Gibbs bejan KY Taylor Gibbs bejan Kiron Taylor Dave you are bejan Gibbs Taylor

Kiren same exact one and he Jamie your bejon Gibbs Taylor Kiren yep okay and I went bejon Taylor Gibbs Kiren all right uh who’s got like a hot take about why either Bean or Gibbs is number three ahead of this the top of this group of

Four I don’t think there couldna be any hot takes until we find out who who the coaching staff in Atlanta is going to be um and then like I could definitely be influenced by their hire and what their coach says about splitting up touches I I do think it’s more likely that Gibbs

Sees a larger share of the workload next year relative to the share that he saw this year um I also don’t know for sure like this Ben Johnson he wants $15 million to be a head coach what if the lion just say hey we’ll pay a 10 to stay as our offensive

Coordinator then I think they I don’t think any coordinator is making 10 yeah that’ be a lot they they would be doing something that no one’s ever done before that that would be wild uh if you look at the last nine games of the season for jir Gibbs that

Was when Montgomery came back look at those two guys Gibbs was the number 10 running back per game in both half and full PPR and that was with a pace of 17 total touchdowns um but only 245 touches so that’s jir Gibbs he was number 10 10

Per game and half in full PPR Montgomery was number 18 per game and half number 20 per game in full PPR so I you know look that’s a little scary for a guy who could be a top five overall pick um he was terrific he averaged 5.2 yards per

Carry but and then you look at the playoff the first playoff game I mean Montgomery got more there’s there’s just no indication that Gibbs is uh going to out carry David Montgomery he actually scored more touchdowns than Montgomery over the last nine games he scored eight rushing touchdowns Montgomery scored

Seven uh but uh and then they two receiving touchdowns for Gibbs but yeah I mean I don’t know Dave do you what do you think about that split um 240 a 245 touch pace for jir Gibbs and a wow a 255 touch pace for David momy right we saw

Them work pretty close to 5050 and I would imagine that that’s going to continue even if Ben Johnson’s gone the only way it won’t continue is if Montgomery regresses is uh coaching staff falls out of love with him or if he gets hurt and then that opens the

Door for Gibbs but Gibbs still has great numbers when he’s getting at least 50% of the snaps uh 18.1 PPR points per game that’s two points better than his entire season average so there’s still plenty there for jir Gibbs to be great for Fantasy managers even though he’s

Sharing it’s because he catches the ball more it’s because he’s more explosive and I know that Ben Johnson leaving that that’s going to be a wild card but there is a chance that the Lions just say hey what we’ve been doing is great whoever the new OC is maybe it’s someone who’s

Already there on the staff they just keep doing what they did this year and everything kind of just rolls right back into place Gibbs is exciting but I think there’s a little bit more upside for bejan now knowing that Arthur Smith is gone a new OC will be there could be run

Heavy where bejon gets the majority of the work and his numbers when he’s had at least 15 touches exactly the same as jir Gibbs and there’s room for that to grow because he can get more touches I want to continue this guy we got to take a break we’re gonna continue

This conversation in just a moment we’re going to be right back after a quick break here on fantasy football today another chapter in one of the NFL’s most epic Rivalries Kansas City and the bills have had some epic matchups to say the least could be another one Here so we looked at the last nine games of the season for Jamir Gibbs and he was on Pace for 245 touches he was the number 10 running back per game how about the last eight games for bejan Robinson that’s when things kind of changed it was that first game against

Arizona um he started becoming more of the goal Lineback and they featured him more so to speak he only had 51% of of the team’s running back carries but he was was actually on Pace for let’s see 200 uh actually 300 touches uh 236 carries and 64 catches and that was

Something Jamie I mean that that I think might surprise people he was more catches than jir Gibbs Bean Robinson do you expect that to continue yeah I do I mean you know he he profiled as a an amazing receiving back you know Steve sarkeesian even said he was you know he

I think he preface it by saying I’m going to piss off some of my receivers but he has the best hands on the team you know and so you know what he was expected to do he just didn’t do it over the course of a full season you know we

Saw you know bits and pieces of I think what his upside could be and that’s to me what is the most encouraging thing about it and if you recall you know I I I wrote a whole magazine story about him becoming the best rookie running back

Ever uh for for Fantasy purposes and he certainly fell way short of that um but you know the hope would be is that okay Tyler aler goes into the Elijah Mitchell role you know of you know we’re going to use him maybe a little bit but you know

Break glass if needed type of player as opposed to he’s getting 49% of the touch I know it’s not him but I’m saying you know what I mean like there there’s somebody else taking Bean off the field way too much and while I think there’ll

Still be a split I think the split will be much more in the favor of bejon from a positive standpoint as opposed to what the the lion situation is because David Montgomery is a much more skilled running back than Tyler aler and more proven so that’s why I lean a little bit

More toward beon but I think he said it best you know until we see who the coaching staff is it’s more hope than anything else because if it’s let’s say belich and he brings in Josh McDaniel and we know what that Patriots system has been where they you like to use

Multiple backs in some capacity uh it may not be the upside of be not that he’s gonna fall out of the top five or six or even 10 but he certainly could fall a couple of spots behind Taylor and potentially behind um Gibbs if you’re so inclined how are we feeling about Kiren

Williams and Jonathan Taylor right now um you know bejan and Gibbs they’re young exciting uh not that kyen Williams and Taylor are old uh but Kiren like I heard Heath I heard you say yesterday he’s the kind of guy that scares you in Dynasty his profile Taylor hasn’t really

Been that Elite playmaker each of the last two seasons last 2022 he had the high ankle sprain that he was playing through this year he was good but not you know not amazing like he was in his first two seasons so like Heath how are you feeling about them are you feeling

Like they’re still like well still I shouldn’t say for Kiren but I don’t know do you feel the same excitement about them that you might feel for bejan and Gibbs not the same excitement like there’s there’s a tear after those first three backs I think but that it’s a

Weird thing because Kiron is exactly the type of running back who scares you with his profile because they have so little invested in him but as we talked about Jamie and I on that show on the show yesterday the the guys who have been replaced with that little draft Capital

Have mostly been guys who have seen coaching changes and I as long as we don’t see a coaching change for the Rams and I think like we saw James Robinson Damen Pierce there there were coaching changes and then they went with different guys at running back eventually um well the example not to

Cut you off I think is relevant is is Peko right yeah because PCO didn’t have a coaching change and he’s been okay he’s EXA the same type of profile a guy who would scare you because the team has so little invest in him I think that the thing that worries me with Taylor

Relative to to Williams is how Little Anthony Richardson threw the ball to his running backs last year just 11 of his 8 four passes went to running backs and then how little the team even when Gardner mchu was quarterback threw the ball to Jonathan Taylor yeah um and so I

You look here it was three catches a game for Kiren basically two for Taylor but in the second half of the season I think one of his last six games Taylor had more than one Target in that game he had two Targets they just didn’t throw

To him at all late in the season and I think Richardson’s really not going to throw to his backs very much um I obviously maybe it’s not obvious but I think Jonathan Taylor is a much more talented running back um he is the type of guy who could like there’s a reason

He was the first overall pick one year but I’m not sure that this situation will be quite as good for him as it is for Kiren assuming that all the pieces coaches and quarterbacks are who we think they’re going to be it it’s it’s funny you mentioned the passing game

Work I wonder how much the final play of the season for the Colts maybe changes some things and how they approached Jonathan Taylor in the passing game because he wasn’t I I know he was coming you know dealing with the injury in the second half of the game against Houston

But he’s not on the field in their most crucial play and the you know you could say okay we’re going to fool the the Texans we’re not going to throw we’re not going to you know Taylor’s on the field they know it’s coming he’s gonna

Get the ball in some capacity but I mean they use the third string running back in their most important play of the year and the play faltered you could say bad bad throw by Gardner but I mean I would hope that he can get to 40 catches if he

Can get to 40 catches with what his potential is I mean this is a guy that’s led the league in rushing one season he scored 20 touchdowns one season if he has a 40 catch year and potentially 20 total touchdowns and you know, 1500 plus you know if you want to be conservative

He stays healthy rushing yards like that’s gonna be a top three running back yeah uh by the way so Richardson very limited sample size but if they didn’t play a game together if he had qualified he would have had the fourth lowest uh running back Target rate but here are the three quarterbacks

That threw to their running backs less fre L than Anthony Richardson did Joe burrow CJ strad and Matthew Stafford so Kiren what did Kyon have Kyon had 32 catches in 12 games on Pace for 45 catches right you can see Taylor getting it yeah you just have to get like all of

The catches right even if your throw quarterback doesn’t throw that much to running backs you just have to be the guy that’s playing all the time all right so I guess the top six was uh was it consensus Jamie was did anybody have a different running back in the top six

I will tell you right now SOC Taylor and Richardson did play together in week five but it was not very much uh did anybody have a I think I might have had etn at one point when I first sent mine in but I didn’t the second time y uh Jacob

No uh Dave originally had different six he had aan six uh Dan NOP same six and Chris Chris has hn over Williams okay yeah aan I mean he’s super interesting all right so let’s go uh 789 here why was six afraid of seven let’s go 789 Dave who’s 789 for you well first

You gotta tell me why six was afraid of seven I’m dying over here to find out you already know hn is seven for me etn is eight and I currently have saquan at nine this is when I stopped using my pen and started using pencil right he etn saquan for Dave Jamie

789 uh aan etn and Rashad white okay E I had etn aan and chimra I after the etn Anan Duo no idea don’t want to draft any of those guys I’ll just wait until round 10 and draft a pup and you were the only one to have

CRA in the top 12 yep everyone’s scared of that was my question of was it hard to fill out the back of half the back of your the back end of the top 12 and nobody said yes but Heath it seems like the answer’s yes I don’t know that I

Mean I just I don’t want to draft any of these guys okay it wasn’t that hard I just I mean I should have had Pacho in there I feel like Pacho deserves that I didn’t have him in there but I feel more confident in him now but yeah like I got

To the point where it’s like I have James Cook in there do I really feel like he’s two rushing touchdowns um but no I I like Rashad white i’ probably move Rashad white and jecko ahead of CA now but I think we have uh hn and etn

Everyone all four of us have hn and etn in the top eight at seven and eight in some order and then we’ve got a couple of saquin a Rashad white and an Alvin CA but he said he’d move chimra down a little bit so let’s say two Rashad

Whites and two sequans there but let’s talk about Anan because those first three games Devon Anan was you know 50 points against the let’s see 50 points 51 points against the Broncos 27 points at Buffalo 21.5 points against the Giants then he misses four games comes back he plays three snaps against the

Raiders misses another game after that and then he played the last six games of the season but in the four games the next four games that he played with Raheem moard moard missed the last two of the Season he was the number 20 running back per game moard still got a

Year left on his contract so we all had Anan top eight but it is I mean it’s mostly based on those first three games so where he’s averaging like 12 yards per carry yeah where where do you rank a guy who might be Chris Johnson but also might be CJ

Spiller yeah I’m not ranking him based on those games I’m ranking him based on the final two with the hope that he’s the lead guy right but what indication I mean what indication is there that they’re going to just get away from Rim moer I know again that’s that’s the exercis

You’re you’re you’re projecting based on what you either think or hope is happen in this case for me is the hope that hn becomes the lead guy now the playoff game worries the hell out of me in that moster is coming off two game absence with knee and Ankle injuries and they

Give them the same amount of touches like if you’re trying to win a game especially where you’re an underdog in bad weather against team that you know has sort of owned you a little bit like you got to do a little something creative and different and they weren’t

Creative and different with one of their best Playmakers and so if if there is uh moster back at 30 two I might drop aan a spot or two but he’ll still be a top 12 guy for me with the hope that he becomes the the lead option and moster misses

Time because running backs at that age don’t T typically have a lot of you know staying power in terms of health if they’re getting that much work um if it’s Jeff Wilson I’ll feel very good about hn if they go out and they bring somebody else in and this is a team

That’s a little bit strapped for draft Capital they’re down their third and fourth round pick after a lot of moves that they made uh and I can’t imagine their first or second round picks are going towards running backs but you know this may be somebody that that a team

That somebody wants to come play for because of how much success they have offensively so we’ll see what what happens you know what what type of Market they’re in for another veteran if if they move on from moer but I mean again you you saw what he was able to do

In two losses but still two big games for them against Baltimore and buffalo and he was their lead guy and he had some success you know and some pretty significant success he had five catches you know he had two you know three touchdowns um he can be a a star and you

Know yes the the the Johnson versus Spiller comparison is great uh or or a range of outcomes is great um but I I I think you know if if he is the lead guy in this offense you got to be excited about it injury concerns yes but you

Gotta be excited about and and all those questions is why I have etn ahead just because I think etn is going to probably see 20 touches per game next year unless he gets hurt or something he’s gonna he’s gonna be over 300 touches if he plays 17 games next year probably in at

Least an above average offense if not a good offense have somewhat of a role in the passing game ET there’s more upside with at and there’s just a lot lot lower floor for him than there is with etn were the Dolphins one of the teams when there was talks about Derrik Henry

Moving that there that were kind of rumors were circling around I wonder if he’s a nice Raheem moster replacement I think that was the off season okay before the year I don’t think it was a trade deadline okay so it’s a core belief of Mike McDaniels to use multiple running

Backs there’s never going to be a time where one running back is getting the kyen Williams treatment the Christian mcaffry treatment it’s not going to happen um and and I’m almost certain that if it’s not Raheem moard it’ll be somebody else that’ll kind of Annoy Us

When it comes to Anan but if you break up anan’s year it’s super small sample size every single time when he had 18 or more touches he averaged he had at least 23.7 PPR points per game when he had at least 10 carries in five games he had 21

Or more PPR points in four of the five games five games with 11 or 12 touches that’s it three times he was below 14 PPR points still had double digits and two times he was above 21 or more PPR points it’s humongous upside it’s it’s

The type of upside of a player that you would consider as high as number three overall if we knew he was going to be in that role he would he blow past everybody except for Breeze Hall and Christian mcaffrey but the downside is just how much work is he going to get I

Would hope and this would be an offseason study for us and then working and keeping a close eye on the Dolphins this off season to see what mistakes did he make last year can they be corrected and if if there weren’t a lot of mistakes then there’s definitely a path

For the younger fresher dual threat running back to earn more playing time than the steady veteran who’s 32 years old going into a contract year who’s had like major knee issues in the past the other thing that really concerns me when you talk about splits with hen is that

His big games were almost excl exclusively in blowouts I remember that first game when he came back from injury and we were worried are they going to use him very much and the game’s over at halftime and they’re handing the ball off to him and resting Raheem moer um he

Had the huge game against the Broncos in a blowout he had the huge game I think it was pretty right well I’m not sure if he was against Washington was it Wasington was at the end of the game the Denver game was early in the game yes agreed but you

Know what to me that’s that’s like experience for him that’s him just gaining that like that might have troubled me during this past season but it’s not going to that’s not GNA slow me down when evaluating think it’s to me it’s relative to the what Jamie brought up at the very

Beginning the usage in the playoff game like they’re in a must-win season on The Line Game and they don’t think we need to feature hen as our top running back I get it if if they’ve got now a full off season to re-evaluate everything that they do at every position and I’m I’m

Hoping I mean this is part of the hope of having hn as a top 12 fantasy running back I’m hoping that they’ll say okay this guy’s got a lot more explosiveness and we need to get him more involved next year now that he’s had his rookie

Year and he’s had his chance to get familiar with the NFL game and you know I was goingon to say getting used to the speed of the NFL game I don’t know if the NFL game is going to get used to his speed because he is unbelievable but I I

I just can’t help but think that they’re I don’t think the Dolphins are going to come into training camp next year and say well we’re just going to stick with this very fast but very experienced veteran when we’ve got this other young player who’s just incredibly good and

Now has a full off season under his belt knows the system knows everything just I think it’s GNA be a completely different deal for hn next year yeah all right so I want to bring this up here because obviously anan’s hyper efficient but you got we heard saquan as rb9 we heard

Rashad white as rb9 we’ve talked about etn as rb7 or rb8 they averaged etn averaged 3.8 yards per carry saquan Barkley averaged 3.9 yards per carry Rashad white averaged 3.6 yards per carry now let me tell you where they where their teams ranked in run blocking according to PFF the

Chargers were last in the NFL lowest run blocking grade the Jaguars 31st the Giants 30th the Buccaneers 29 nth so I’d love to see offensive line upgrades for these teams because we know what etn is capable of certainly we know what Barkley’s capable of although he’s obviously getting up there in age Rashad

White’s never really been a great ypc guy and I’m sure that’s going to concern some people I will point out he had a very very difficult schedule this year um but you know Jamie I I it’s a stat that people make fun of me for but I

Know people care about it we’re not going to ignore the fact that etn Barkley and Rashad white didn’t have great Seasons running the football whether that was on them or not and I don’t even think Barkley’s going to be on the Giants next year but you know

Just just talk about that and their their inefficiency it’s definitely a a a concern when you’re trying to you know say okay who can get to the next level of production you know because you’d like to see either better blocking like you said or you know just the ability to

You know create yards after contact and and do a little bit more of those type of things but I think in in terms of the three guys that you mentioned the hope would be their role in the passing game is what sort of helps them you know exceed some of those potential

Limitations and I always sort of look at yards per carry as okay how many third and one fourth and one fourth and two third and two you know those situations where they’re getting stuffed or not getting you know just getting enough and that’s what’s limiting their

Yards per car you know to break it down in terms of all those different you know plays that that sort of matter when it comes to that but I think you know in terms of you know at least etn and and and white not that Barkley is a dinosaur

But you’re you’re they’re entering the prime of their careers you know and and right and you know you you see the the path to feature workload is has already been established you know so like Heath said in regards to you know uh Kiren I don’t anticipate coaching changes coming

For for those two guys you know Peterson might be a surprise but um I don’t think Tod BS is getting fired after you know playoff victory that that seems pretty obvious at this point and and Peterson staying there so the systems should be the same the rle should be the same you

Know I don’t think take bsby for example because I don’t think there’s anybody on Tampa’s roster that would take the role from Rashad white like bsby was the one that we thought okay maybe if he does anything and he was miserable you know so uh they they seem locked into

Everything that you look for you know doing doing it all and so that’s why you know for for me those guys are in the spots that they are for Barkley look if he goes to the right situation or stays with the Giants I mean I think that’s

Pretty obvious it’s a good situation for him um you still got to be encouraged he’s what 26 27 at most he’ll be 27 next year uh you know so you’re looking at still at least one more hopeful big season uh before the age you know becomes a a question mark but he still

Did enough this year that you should feel confident to draft him as a number one guy I I know I’ve seen a lot from Dan about his lack of of big plays his lack of long runs but the other thing is like and he’s had the role in the

Passing game they’ve still thrown to him a lot but his efficiency in the passing game has just been awful for the last two or three years he was below five yards per Target for the third year in a row he was over six early in his career

And so I I do think he’s not he was not in my top 12 but just because this time of year I’m generally pretty worried about 27y old running backs who don’t have a team we’ve SE every single year one of those guys or two of those guys

All of a sudden don’t have a team in September because they thought they were worth a lot more than the rest of the league did so if he goes to a great situation on a team that throws to their running backs and there’s not a designated pass catching running back he

Would Vault up into my top 12 pretty easily um you got get him a good offensive line or a team that’s going to score a bunch of touchdowns but man if we get to July and he’s still looking for the right fit I’m going to feel really really nervous about it and and

And that goes without saying I think for for all of us that we’ll drop him if he’s not you know in in the right situation I I am curious though because you mentioned the age like you have that much more faith in Kamar at his age uh a

Couple years older um then and I I was kind of just assuming that he would stick on the Saints and maybe he won’t maybe that was a wrong assumption uh no he he he he could and and they could also move on from I think it be a

Surprise uh right either way I I just think it’s it’s interesting and I don’t have the answer off top of my head maybe you guys do like where are those situations Heath uh that Barkley goes to the great offensive line and the great pass where where are those available

Right now you know Minnesota Minnesota going yep would love Yeah Baltimore not the past catching but no M be I think it’d be bad for him um I gu although I wonder if Baltimore had the right pass catching back that they might you know with with with Mon’s

Offense that we might see that you know again not a not a 80 catch guy but uh you know 50 to 60 catch guy if it’s the right player what if he went to the Eagles that would suck maybe again what if he went to the Bengals that would suck

Less don’t have the off throwing the running back oh I see like I think if he were to go into his a situation like that he he would make the offense throw a little bit more I don’t think it’s would Baltimore would not be okay you

Know he’s not Justice Hill I I will say like that running back targets are historically really quarterback and offensive coordinator driven um so I’d be pretty skeptical they’d make a huge change but they’d probably throw to him more than they threw to Gus Edwards and

You can tell me if you think chimra is a lock to stay in New Orleans 29 years old he’s got a million dollar roster bonus on March 22nd if they make him a p post June 1st cut they save almost 12 million against the cap they’ll just restructure

It and put two more years on the end of the deal and they’ll be paying him until 2030 that’s what the Saints do sure yeah and so if they do that then he’s going to stay in New Orleans but all bets are off in New Orleans now because they’re changing offensive coordinators there’s

An interesting rumor that John Gruden’s gonna take that job that would be that would be exciting for CA too if he stays or whoever the main running back is there we can marinate on that for a little bit we’re gonna take a quick break here we’re going to talk about running backs 10

Through 12 in our rankings when we come back on fantasy football [Applause] today came all right welcome back everybody they’re not even pay they’re not even paying attention I am dancing right now like literally dancing to the golf promo I was dancing to the golf promo and the

Other guys they’re not even looking at this hilarity all right running backs 10 through 12 so basically we’ve got maccaffrey and Bree Hall at one and two we’ve got some order of bejon Gibbs Taylor Kiren from three through six 7- nine had aan and etn for everyone we saw

A little bit of saquan in there a little bit of Rashad White in there uh camra but I think that’s not going to be the case anymore uh so let’s go to 10 through 12 Dave who’s 10 through 12 for you I have Isaiah Pacheko at 10 Rashad

White at 11 James Cook at 12o White cook Jamie uh PCO cook Barkley pcho cook Barkley Heath uh so yeah I think I’m chimra Pacho I don’t think I have a 12 would you let me to tell you who it was originally I might had I think it

Was David mcgomery was who I had at 12 before uh you did have Montgomery in your top 12 uh you had originally your 9 through 12 was well 8 through 12 was Cima 8 hn n Rashad white 10 uh Montgomery 11 and Pacho 12 there we go

Okay so everyone has again everyone has Rashad white in their top 12 yeah everyone Haso in their top 12 out of you three yes and I didn’t but he was 13 for me but that’s dumb I’m gonna make him 11 and James Cook 12 I had Josh Jacobs 12

I’ll make cook I’ll make Jacobs 13 um Camerra was only there for Heath Barkley is in everybody’s top 12 no that’s not true Heath didn’t have Barkley nope okay James Cook how many of you had James Cook in your top 12 I’m gonna put James Cook in just moved him in

Good we all have James I mean again two rushing touchdown all he needs is that goal line work if he could just get latavius Murray had 11 Carri yeah I’m sure that’s just right around the corner well I didn’t I didn’t really think Gibbs would get it but they started

Splitting that you know they they rewarded jir Gibbs Gibbs doesn’t have a quarterback that’s gonna rush for 15 touchdowns like I said latavius Murray had 11 carries inside the five yard line Josh Allen is that’s not going away but they will give a running back those

Carries it was Damen Harris a little bit Leonard forette even got one but latavius Murray got most of them if he just gets most of Murray’s carries you know then I think I think James Cook had four carries inside the five yard line and latavius had 11 like give me 10 give

Me six rushing touchdowns from him and four receiving touchdowns you probably have a top 12 running back I don’t know I think the thing that we’ll we’ll find out is you know they changed offense coordinators on fly so now Joe Brady has a full off season if he still stays as

The coordinator to put in the system that he wants in and using some Personnel in different varieties and clearly they they’ve already made a switch and their backup running back this week you know by moving on from Leonard forette so uh we’ll see how this backfield shakes out clearly there’s going to be

Another number two running back there whether it’s dami Harris who missed um the majority of the Season or you know bringing somebody else because I don’t think latavius Murray will be 33 I think or 34 um don’t you doubt latavius Murray finding a Rolland that is but you know

You would hope that they bring in somebody else look they’re aggressive trying to retool their back field dis offi moving on from single ter and and bringing in Damen Harris who they thought you know was going to be their their their physical running back presence so it it still goes without you

Know you have to have a little bit of caution with with cook um you know I think most people probably prefer to draft him in round three he could push his way into round two depending on how your draft unfolds there’s a ton of upside you know we saw at times he was

Amazing in the passing game then they go away from him you know so there’s just like it’s all over the place with how he was used but when he was on his game I mean he was as good as what we said with aan you know just just amazing you know

Top five potential so hopefully that’s the case on an offense that may have totally different receiving CT too I will say talking about these running backs like eight through 12 just confirms for me I hero RB all the way this year I’ll draft a running back in

Round one and then I don’t want to draft any of these guys but you say that though you know you you may be picking seven through 12 and you’re talking about maybe Kiren Williams or Jonathan Taylor at best right right and if you don’t like those guys you’re basically going zero RB

But if one of these guys fell to you with the 33rd pick would you take James Cook there would you take 33rd sure I don’t think he probably will but yeah that’s that’s okay I think that’s kind of my point what I was asking earlier is

How many of these guy you know I said you did you have trouble filling out your top 12 maybe a better question is how many of these guys in the back end of your top 12 Pacho Barkley Rashad white James Cook chimra maybe how many of them feel like second round picks top

24 players to you right now all of them hn hn is by default etn is a second rounder figured be saquan right place mid to late second round Pacho is when I might start getting nervous about second round but if I’m like at 22 23 24 I think I’d

Probably take him knowing that I’ve got that early third it’ll depend on what’s left at wide receiver if there’s a bunch of wide receivers that I like and Peko is the only running back I like when I’m picking late round of course I’m going to take the running back and just settle

For whichever wide receiver I have ranked the highest when I’m back up in round three If This Were last year you know I could make an easier case to say well just take Josh Allen or Hertz there but we feel so much better about the quarterback position now than we did a

Year ago y I’m not sure I’m dropping Allen as much as everybody else Allen might still be at that two three turn for me okay oh he’ll be gone by 80P right he’ll probably be gone by ADP but in our drafts and in drafts like ours he’s

Going to go at the point when a manager says I don’t like any of the running backs that are left I don’t love any of the receivers that are left it’s too soon for a tight end give me the quarterback that’s still going to be back end round too might be I don’t

Think it’s gonna be that way for me though so you know one person happy in our uh chat says what about James Connor I it’s just a great point you know Connor with Kyler is top 12 he’s a free agent right he is do they bring him you

Know if they bring him back I hope they do um if he’s back on Arizona is he a top 12 running back he’s close but he’d be behind these guys for me I I’d put him ahead of chra and ahead of Barkley he’s in a contract

Here he’s not a free agent he’s not what’s his what’s his cap number this year I thought this was just a voider if it’s a voidier then yeah he’s a free agent I’ll double check we should know this I think it’s a voider pretty sure he’s a unrestricted free

Agent all right I’m looking right now uh he has a roster bonus due March 18th that’s just $1 A5 million they would only save6 million against the cap if they cut them I do not see it as a void year according to overthecap.com let’s talk about pancakes here we’re

Gonna get to our emails fantasy footb at cbsi um likely to get read on the show fantasy footb cbs.com that is the letter i this email is from will will says last year we established a last place punishment in which the loser would spend 24 hours in a 24hour diner but

Could knock off an hour for every two small pancakes he ate wait this is a punishment when the time came he went to the diner and he left after 10 hours and 14 panc cakes which still left seven hours unaccounted for he claims that they were giving him the evil eye and

Made one comment but we say this place is 24 hours and wouldn’t have given him a problem if he had just said you can do your thing and come move onto a new server whenever you want now he’s won the championship this year first would you say he adequately completed the

Punishment from last year and second if not then are we right in mounting a gentle but firm campaign then an honorable Champion would pay tribute by finishing his punishment now seven more hours but he can still knock off More Time by eating more pancakes right yeah

Just give the man 14 pancakes and call it a day yeah so he did 70% of the challenge I would give him 70% of his payout oh man that’s true he AER sted his challenge yeah he can have 70% of his payout but if he thought like goes to

Pancakes for the league did he feel like his life was in danger or did he just feel like he was ticking off the staff at the time and that made him uncomfortable I was very uncomfortable last night I went out to dinner with a friend and we stayed there so late I was

Like I think we should go I think we should go they they were turning off the lights and everyone was leaving except for us I was like I think it’s time to go it was really really embarrassing it was very good dinner though um duck mushroom

Quesadilla that’s sound how do you go to the strangest places it’s a great restaurant were were they out of cinnamon raisin bagels duck mushroom quesadilla same place with the rabbit PA oh God no this you know how doesn’t that sound good to you guys a duck mushroom I don’t like mushrooms

So I would get it without the mushroom I do like mushrooms do you like duck duck is good it’s fine this was terrific sounds expensive I’m pretty cheap anything it’s like a $20 I don’t yeah something like that 1820 all right from Ryan would you

Trade saquin Barkley for the 1.3 in in a dynasty League yes one QB PBR League yes the answer is very much yes the answer is I like that laugh I like the of course laugh that’s good stuff all right I wish I was playing in that League

Laugh Dave has a an 11:15 that he needs to get to so yeah what kind of a doctor is it what did I say before the show okay no no not gonna do that you want to say it it’s an eye doctor everybody I’m going to see the eye

Doctor you must live five minutes away from the eye doctor you’re going to be late I do you should uh you should take Heath with you he’s got issues I need I need to go to a get a second opinion I went to the eye doctor a couple days ago

Told me my eyes are perfect this was he reading the draft [Laughter] board all right uh have a great day everybody we’ll talk to you tomorrow with our top 12 wide and a DFS preview for the weekend care