The Rookie Show! + Ballers Ultimate Draft Week - Fantasy Football Podcast

That's the answer. Tampa was the destination Kuiper had in his most recent mock draft before the show I mentioned. If that fumbling problem translates to the professional level, that would be a concern with Bruce Ariens. Yeah, that's a bad, that's a bad coach. 18 fumbles in college, lost 15 of them. The other, again, as the top tier prospect, the other mark against him for some would be durability concerns because he took.

so many, 926 carries in his college career could make him, you know, there could be a point in his favor because he's done it, or it could be a point against him because of the workload and durability concern. To me, it's important when you say durability that you bring up, he was healthy. Correct. He took that work, you know, what? Litterfornet should have had durability concerns, you know, constantly injured, even though he's a big bruising guy coming into the NFL. This guy's been healthy. Now, does he have a shorter career?

Maybe, you know what I mean? Maybe his second contract isn't quite as good. But in today's fantasy football world and the NFL world, it's all about the rookie contract for running backs. Use them, run them into the ground and replace them. Sorry, mothers don't let your children grow up to be running backs. All right, D'Andre Swift. Let's talk about D'Andre Swift out of Georgia. Kuiper has them to the chiefs. I've seen this is one of the, when you look at.

Tons and tons of mocks. There's a few situations where guys just keep ending up in the same location. Swift to the Chiefs at 32, I see it over and over again. When I look at these players and I'm grading them at the running back position, I had Swift slightly better than Taylor in a fantasy context. I think he's going to come into the NFL and he's going to be involved in the passing game immediately. That's not to say Taylor can't be.

It's expectation, and I expect it with D'Andre Swift. He's a dynamic player. He's an explosive player. I like him a little bit more as a fantasy prospect than Taylor, but you're splitting hairs, and ultimately it's going to come down on which team they land on. My favorite part about D'Andre Swift when I'm watching his tape is, so one, his edge speed is absolutely spectacular of hitting the edge. And he has this innate...

duking type ability where when I'm watching him he looks like a car that just for a split second goes into neutral so like you're you're going really fitter bug yeah you're going I mean you're going full speed and then you have just this slight hitch and then he slams the car back into gear and he's back at top speed immediately like his ability to change uh between these levels of speed is is unbelievable

And while he does that, you know, I wrote down on my notes, he's extremely shifty. But he has this great ability to do what you just described while staying north-south. Yes. Not going sideways, but actually just picking up more yards as he pauses, changes speeds, very shifty. I mean, what a great, what a great name.

That's what I was going to say. I mean, this is like, you know, we talk about Paul Perkins couldn't get it done because his name wasn't Smash Jackson. DeAndre Swift comes in with a leg up on the name competition. That's true. That's a good point. And that actually for this show, it matters quite a bit. Yeah. Some say it matters more than other things. I think we all loved DeAndre Swift. He's a really good prospect will probably be.

I mean, it's too early to know because the NFL draft hasn't happened. But I have been assuming that the first two picks in most rookie drafts will be Jonathan Taylor and DeAndre Swift. All right. Let's move on to J.K. Dobbins. I know that I stand a little bit more alone in not loving this player at the next level. But that's because his name is JK. And I figure he's just trick. He's just tricking us. Jokes.

He's just kidding. He's just kidding. No, I mean, Mike, you know, you pointed out to me, I think when you were showing the performance of JK Dobbins against what was it, LSU compared to every other running back that went up against LSU. Yeah, the stat you're referring to was just Dobbins yards per carry against top rush defenses, which was a spectacular yards per carry compared to every other running back against those teams, which they shut down the run. I love.

Dobbins he had like I fluctuate between Dobbins and DeAndre Swift as my second favorite running back in the class and that's not to say I'm choosing which one will be more fantasy relevant I need to see their team first but I think Dobbins is really really talented and he did it against top level competition and you saw him it's one game so small sample size but in the playoffs like you you saw him

just shine. You saw his his game speed is is absolutely top notch. If he gets going, like if he, if he gets into the secondary, he's probably gone. Like he's going to go score. He's, he can catch the ball. He could do everything. I just, he's, I think he is a very, very well-rounded, talented running back. Jason, did you want to speak to Dobbins? I really like it. He's just very well-rounded. I worry that his size, um,

might preclude him from having the workhorse role. He can handle it. He is a workhorse back. He's built for pretty much all situations. But if the NFL does not agree or the teams that have the ability to draft him, if he ends up at a place where I could see his issue being that he's a committee back. That's why I have him where I do. That's what I got him at five. Yeah, but I love the talent and I love the fact that when he played against the best,

he was better. He, not just better than himself. He was better than the competition. He just, he, he, you know, and I love that in a player. So I expect good things. Mike, are you going to wince profusely if he lands where Mel Kuyper has him, which is the Los Angeles Chargers? Ooh, I will wince a little bit because my man, Austin Echler, like that, Eckler is my, my guy. But for the Chargers, I mean,

Going forward with J.K. Dobbins and Austin Eckwood, that's a really strong combination. All right. My kind of, my favorite runner in terms of value to talent in this draft class of running back as Camakers out of Florida State. Everything that I saw in film was when you could overlook what the offensive line situation was. Watching film on Camakers. I mean, this is an experience.

explosive player, ran a 4-47, great instincts, great speed to the edge. I think he profiles as a three-down guy in the NFL, and, you know, Graham Barfield posted about, a lot has been said about Florida State's offensive line, which was atrocious. But I just want to illustrate it when you're looking at where Cam Acres production level wasn't in the level of the Jonathan Taylor's, which no one really is, but even Swift or Dobbins.

But here's what he was dealing with. And this is from Graham Barfield, as I said, he tweeted this out. How bad was the FSU line? 0.57 yards blocked per attempt. That is the worst in the history of his yards created stat. And that's since 2016. He was contacted at or behind the line of scrimmage on 30% of rushes, which is absolutely insane. Still put up over 1,100 yards.

he's an elite player to me and the one that I kind of, you know, everybody in these draft classes, they pick this, you know, their favorite kind of darling. And Cam Acres is my running back darling for fantasy. Because I think if he ends up in the right position, he may take over that job quicker than others. Yeah, I love them. And it's funny. I see, you know, on Twitter, a lot of people, whenever Cam Acres is brought up, they're like, oh, let's see how many times they mention the O line. It's like, go watch. You have to. It's.

It was the hardest tape I've ever had to watch. I loved when I got to see what Cam Acres could do, but I hated watching his film and struggling through. And that poor quarterback, oh my goodness. Yeah. Yeah, I mean, I loved a lot of his qualities. I'm right there with you, Andy. He looked like if he gets the right opportunity, he could be in the tier of the other guys we're talking about. And I think I believe.

And some people believe that the NFL draft will follow, will not follow mocks more now than ever with the situation where there's a little bit less group think happening. Teams aren't connected to one another as much. And there's the potential to see some surprises. I would not be surprised personally to see Acres go before Dobbin. So that'll be my little surprising call here. Clyde Edwards-Alair. Let's talk about...

Great pass catching back out of LSU. Joe Burroughs been very friendly with his recommendation of Clyde Edwards Alair said he's the most talented player he's ever played with. But he goes to the next level after putting up a 55 in the reception total. And so what were your takeaways with Clyde Edwards Alair? Because this is another guy that, you know, he reminded me of Mark Ingram, somebody that I think could tote the, you know, the rock on all three downs.

What do you like? What don't you like? What jumped out to me is immediately he looks like a, this is an Andy Reid running back. And I had, this was a couple months ago, I had tweeted, what happens to rankings? Because everyone rightly so loves Jonathan Taylor. We love DeAndre Swift. What happens if Kansas City spends a day two pick on Clyde Edwards O'Leary? What happens to your running back rankings? And the answer is your rankings get thrown in the shredder.

And you start over from scratch because he is a great running back. All the running backs we're talking about right now deserve to be in the NFL, deserve their shot. But 55 receptions, over 1,400 yards on the ground. According to PFF, in 2019, he broke 70 tackles on 214 carries, only two fumbles. He is a great running back. Got to play on a very prolific team also.

in the SEC also against top-knopch competition. So I'm very excited to see where he ends up. I was definitely the coolest on. Yes, you were. On Clyde Edwards-A-Layer. You did not want to want a bite of that delicious Edwards E-Clair. E-Clair. Well, I always want a bite of an E-Clair, Mike. How dare you? But, yeah, I mean, so when I first watched him and, you know,

Sometimes you need to take a break, go back, scout someone again. Because when I'm scouting these guys, oftentimes I'm going in order. So most of these people we had already talked about, I'm watching their tape, and then I put on Clyde Edwards-A-Layer. He looks a little bit slower, a little bit smaller. You know, this is a guy that to me, he's got that MJD build, that type of game, but he doesn't have MJD's crazy speed.

Well, nobody has the thighs. Maybe Saquan, but that crazy speed that MJD had, when I watch him play, he is a good back. He's well-rounded. He's got great balance. But I just wonder if, you know, he played with power. He initiated contact and was like a bowling ball out there. But at 207 pounds, I don't know that that's going to work in the NFL. And he's not going to be playing with the LSU Tigers and the best offense and have.

Joe Burrow opening things up. So to me, I'm not as excited about him as I am about other people. The one thing that you can't discount, though, is when you get 55 receptions and he had a nice little route running on the short slants. You know, that that will help for fantasy. And it'll keep his... What do you think about the Rams? That's where Kuiper had him landing. How would that make you feel with... You've got like a three-headed monster there.

I'll probably stick with my pre-draft ranking and be lower on him than most. That's where, you know, just bringing up that hypothetical destination, that's where the film work and the review of the player, that's where you have to like buy in to the idea of a player winning a job. Because if you don't like what you see on tape.

then you don't believe he's going to come into Los Angeles and have a shot, but, you know, with Daryl Henderson or, you know, Marlon Brown. Well, and it's so funny because it's not enough to say he goes to the Rams, right? Does he go to the Rams in the first or second? Or does he go to the Rams in the fourth or fifth? Because, you know, then it's a matter of how much is the team invested in, you know, in their future in this player? Before we move to wide receivers, is there any other running backs? Obviously, there are many others that will be drafted? Is there any others that you want to bring up?

that you think will have fantasy relevance potentially this year. I know Zach Moss is a name. Jason, did you, you wrote up a profile on Kashan Vaughn. Yes. I like Vaughn a lot. Yeah, Jason and I are in on Vaughn. He, for better or worse, reminded me a lot of carrying on Johnson. So, you know, take it or leave it. And I wasn't that big a fan of Zach Moss. I know there's some people out there that absolutely love him. It's 223 pounds and can catch the ball. That's great.