Ice & Fire Picks, Surprise RB1's - LIVE in NYC

Well, you already did your fire. He's a hard player to be fire, right? He's a grinder. You want to know. You're expecting him to be the... Did you hear the part where I said when he was playing? Yes. And Weeks 8 through 13, and he was the running back 10. Oh, that's nice. By my calculations, that's a running back one. All right. So the question to start this show was what running back going outside of the top 10 could actually finish as the number one running back? Not just a...

number one running back, but the number one. And to me, the clear-cut guy who can do it outside of the top 10 is Joe Mixen. I can't believe someone yelled that out. Well, we've got a smart audience, Andy. That was Brooks. Brooks, was that you? Was that Brooks? Listen, Joe Mixon.

I think everybody agrees he had a down rookie season. We were disappointed at his efficiency. You think we agree? I'll bet you there's some Bengals fans out there. Facts and film and performance and all those things agree. They come together. So here's a deal. Brooks can attest to this. While we've been on this trip, I have gone through and watched as...

every snap of Joe Mixin starting in week three to watch and see like, what went wrong? Because he was so electric in college. What went wrong? You both loved him coming out. Yes. And you're right. The offensive line was as bad as you could possibly fathom. It was atrociously bad. But when I watched the film...

I saw him he was so much faster than the other players on the field. He was so much more athletic than the D.Bs, but you can't outrun four guys behind the offensive line. Then you have a weird thing that happened last year for the Bengals. First of all, he wasn't the starter to start the year. He didn't actually become the starter to like the second half. He did get... Oh, Jeremy Hill. Yeah, Jeremy Hill.

Jeremy Hill is gone. You burned bright, Jeremy Hill. Did you get that tattoo removed a few years ago? I'm still... It was really big. I'm still working on it. Joe Mixon was a good running back last year with a bad offensive line. I will put my personal stamp on that. They made improvements this year to their offensive line in big ways. You know, they drafted a center in the first round. They...

Courtney Glenn, we've got someone out there that knows the Bengals offensive line well. He just pulled it out. At the left tackle. They've made improvements to this line, but there was also this really... Very educated audience here in New York. There was also this really weird thing. Yeah, go through you. That's right. Whoa, look at the man who is educated. Uh-oh. Eagles. He has an Eagles jersey. He's getting booed. Is he the one who told me Chris Carson exists, too?

Probably. Okay, so here's the deal. Last season, the Bengals as a team rushed the ball 377 times. 377. That is a very low number. How low? I went back year by year by year. I went back over 20 years in the Bengals, and then I just got bored and was like, I'm stopping. I never...

I never found one that was below 400. In fact, in the 15-year Marvin Lewis era, they average, and the team hasn't always been good in that era. They average 453 rushing attempts. That's 80 more attempts than they had last year. On average, they've upgraded their offensive line. Jeff Ratcliffe tweeted out their pro football focus.

running back strength of schedule, which is not based on last year's results. They take a look at the current team, the current players, down to the man. They look at their ratings and say, who has the easiest path? The number one easiest schedule this year was Joe Mixon. You can't become the number one running back if you don't catch at least 55 balls. And Joe Mixon has the talent, the opportunity, and he's going to be great. I'm calling a shot. That's a pretty compelling case, don't you think?

It was. I did it! That's right, I did it. It was very compelling if you leave all the other running backs off the roster. No. Oh, give me a break. I will not give you a break. Gio Bernard was still heavily utilized last year, even when Joe Mixon was the starter. Okay, so just to interject real quick.

While he was on this bad offensive team that was not running the ball, having problems with their offensive line, and Gio Bernard was playing the second half of the year while he was the starter. Do you realize that Joe Mixon during the second half of the year had a 4.26 yards per carry and was on a 16-game pace of over 1,100 all-purpose yards? Yeah, Mike. Yeah, Mike. Cool. All right. Is it ready? We're moving on. We got the mailbag.

We're getting into the mailbag. You get ready, warm up the pipes. And for those listening at home, who don't know who our special guest is, I'm going to introduce them right now. We're going to welcome them back to the stage, the one, the only, ESPN's Matthew Barry. Back, baby. SF Foot Clan, welcome. We got a mic for you. He's grabbing it. Here we go. Twitter has been asking for this, too. So we are coming together. We are joining forces.

For a New York mailbag. Now, are you ready? By the way, if you were selected, go ahead. Can I ask a question first? Yeah. Are you part of the mailbag? No, I just, no, I was backstage listening a little bit. Did Jason compare Jordan Howard to Todd Gurley? I sure did. I mean, you guys just let that slide. I'm like,

We can only choose so many things. I mean, it just sort of slipped by there, just, you know, and Todd Gurley went 17th last year, and so now, Jordan, I'm like, have you watched either of those guys play football? That's a throw-in. I mean, just like, how do you guys let that? Here's the deal, Barry. If you say enough stupid things, they just can't correct them all. Listen, I've made a career of that, so it's fair. That's a fair statement. That's a fair statement. But just so you know my current footballers' rankings.

First, second, third. I'm just to see you know. Oh, that was. Just so you know. Ladies and gentlemen, let the audio show that Mike Wright was number one in the rankings. I now dislike Kalin Belage all of a sudden. I'll tell you exactly. Oh, that's right. It's true. It is. It's true. You and I share a not-so-secretel love of Kalin Belage. But when you were talking up Darius Geis earlier. I knew you would appreciate it. Yeah, listen, Darius Guys is my fantasy writer-die this year. Oh, all right.

All right, if you're in the mailbag segment of the show, you got the bracelet, come get in line. New York, are you ready for a mailbag drop? Warm up them pipes. Because I need to hear it. Him get in line, by the way. If you're in the mailbag, come get in line behind the microphone. Mailbag time, here we go. Mailbag. New York City. I knew you wouldn't let me down, New York. Now, as you come up to the mic, we're so thrilled to have you here, Matthew. Yes.

Thank you. My pleasure. I know the podcast, Fannie's Focus, getting started again next week. You've got the marathon coming up. Yeah. Well, so, right. Are you sure you're ready for the marathon? No, but, you know, I never am in that. Nobody's ready for marathons in any context. So, yeah, but I appreciate you guys letting me be a company man. So August 13th, starting at 6 p.m. Eastern, ESPN, ESPN, ESPN, 2. Fantasy football, marathon. Thank you very much. We've got to somewhere for the 06.0-10. It'll be insane.

So, yeah, 29 straight hours of fantasy football coverage. What are you guys doing? Both networks. Be great. And I'm really excited this year. I think it'll be even more hardcore than it has been in the past. No water. They're denying them water this year. And so that's great. And, yeah, for those who enjoy fantasy football podcasts outside of the footballers, the fantasy focus 060 and makes its daily return on Monday, July 30th.

We'll be broadcasting live on Twitter this year. There's an ESPN and Twitter made a deal. Good stuff. It's a horrible idea. I'm going to be live for an hour. Like, it's the end of my career is what it is. But until they cancel us, 11 am, Secret Squirrel is in the house, by the way. What's up, Daniel? Shout up. Secret Squirrel is up there. I just see lights. Yeah.

I believe you. All right. Anyway, so, yeah, so 11 a.m. Eastern, every Monday through Friday, live on Twitter. And, of course, you can always download it on the app store. All right, let's jump into the first mailbag question. Come up here. State your name. Speak loudly into the microphone. Hey, everyone. My name's Brett. Got a bit of a home leak. Need a little help with. You got it, man. Ten men.

Full PPR, no tight end. We play an extra flex, but you get five extra points for touchdowns over 50 yards. Okay. So I was thinking about stacking like a wide receiver with a quarterback going Matthew Stafford, Marvin Jones for some value, but I would love to hear your thoughts are 50 yard touchdowns too unpredictable to think about, or what would your strategy be? Sure, and you said a five point bonus for the 50 yard touchdown? Yes. So for me personally, it's...

When you're talking about bonuses, our league, our league of record, it's not as extreme. It's a two-point bonus for 40 plus touchdowns. And I actually like the fun that it brings to the scoring format and the enjoyment of being able to watch with Andy as something massive happens. And there's this huge point swing. Having said that, while I like to have it, I don't play into the scoring system. I'm not counting on.

a player getting two extra 50-yard touchdowns. Like you said, predicting it. Even Tyree Kelly, you're talking about 30-yard touchdowns, 40-yard touchdowns. He's not qualifying for that bonus. So it's fantastic. I like to have it in my league, but it definitely does not affect the way that I draft players. Matthew? I don't like to have that in my league. I mean, I just like... I thought I was number one, Matthew. No, no, no, no.

Well, you know... Am I moving down already? It's a very fickle system. But here's the thing. Jason's always three. That's the important part. Yeah. I have to check the ADP. You mean number three in the rankings, Andy? What? No, no, no, no. No, no. Andy's two. Andy's still too. No, no. I'm just saying I don't love scoring bonuses like that just because...

It doesn't reflect real football, right? You don't get extra points for a 50-yard touchdown in real football, right? Fantasy football mostly resembles real football to the extent that it can. So, having said that, I agree with your assessment there in terms of trying to draft towards that, I think, is tough, because big players are so unpredictable. What I would probably use it for is as a tiebreaker and maybe towards the end. Listen, you want to take a flyer late on Deshawn Jackson, you know? And you should. Right, you know.

Got no problem with this, or Chris Godwin, right? But so I don't mind taking a little bit of a flyer there, but I can't imagine stacking it. Like, if Matthew Stafford and Marvin Jones are the best wide receiver and quarterback available at the time that you're picking those positions, I got no problem with it. But I don't know that I would try to stack someone to try to get those rare five-point bonuses. Yeah. I would just assemble the best team I can and maybe use as a tiebreaker late.

adds value to those later flyers. Yeah, as a tiebreaker, if you've got like a possession guy, if you're looking late for, again, like Deshawn Jackson or Danny Amandola, maybe you would go with Jackson instead of Amadola, although I love Amandola.

By the way, I know everyone's on Albert Wilson. Yeah, a Tyler Lockett, a Paul Richardson. That's where you might want to care. You know, that's where it's like, okay. He's just trying to drop in Redskins to see if he can get back up the list. Totally, totally. Still in third, but moving up. Yeah, no, that makes sense. Don't waste your middle picks caring about that. All right. Thank you for the question. Appreciate it. Thank you. Jason? Next question.

Howdy Ballers? This is Dave from New York. Hey, Dave. Nice to meet you guys. So my question is, we all have people that are on our do-do list because they burn us in the past and we just won't drop them. Why did you look at Jason right when you said that? It's weird. I worry about him with the word do-do sometimes up there. Do you guys have any players that you inexplicably just love because they came up big for you in years past this year? We...