Fantasy Football Podcast 2015 - Running Back Fallout from the NFL Draft, News, Questions

But by the end of the year, you're going to have an amazingly productive fantasy running back. If you have the courage to hold on to him, I think he's going to take the, he'll flip the timeshare into his favor. I think he will be, if you remember when it was Bush Bell, when Bush was the back. Yeah, Bush was the clear-cut leader. And he was dominant, and he was a great fantasy producer. That's what I see. Joyick Bell is a 3.9 guy.

That's what he rushes for. The last two years he had a 3.9 average. He just, and they owe him. Why I think he's gone is because they gave, when you give a guy money, you can't come out and put 3.9 down. You're going to get cut. And they took a guy who they like and Abdullah, who's, dude, I just, I'm telling you, Abdullah is the guy you want for the long time. So why do you like Abdullah more than Ellington or Geo? Because those situations have seemed.

Very similar to me. And he's the exact same size, skill set of those guys. Yeah, and as long as he can hold on to the football, I see Abdullah as a better talent than Gio Bernard. And I think the lions with snapback and just the way they are equipped and the way they play, I think Abdullah is primed to explode for the second half.

I agree with Mike in all of his takes. I think he actually does, though, even early in the year, I think he does affect Joyke Bell a little bit. I'm not pushed off of Joyke Bell. I don't think he's bad, but I think that they've basically drafted Reggie Bush. And if you think about last year, even coming into last year, who did you draft first?

You know, you drafted Reggie Bush ahead of Joyke Bell because he was the starter. He was the running back one. Joyke Bell went after him in the draft and for just cause, but it was an injury concern with an old aging running back. So I think Abdullah comes out. I think he is in a timeshare. I think he finishes the year strong. And so according to you, Mike, you'd say draft Trey Mason and Amir Abdullah so that you get a first half and together. I guess that's what I'm saying.

And also my man, Zach Zener is up there. The undrafted. He won't be. He will be. I bet he's gone. Oh, you think he doesn't make the team? I don't think he makes the team. I hope he doesn't. I didn't put him in my notes. And I hope he goes somewhere where he can play right away. I think it's just so tough when you're undrafted and you're coming into Theo Riddick, Abdullah, and Joach Bill. He's not theoretic. I don't know. I just, that's...

That's another reason why I think that Dwight Bell's gone next year. It's funny because I think drafting Reggie Bush, quote unquote, is an endorsement of their opinion. I mean, Bell is limited, right? Yes. He has a role. He has a specific role. He gets in the end zone. Yeah. The duel is not the goal line back there. And they're going to score plenty of points, and they are recommitting themselves to the running game. We know that from...

what they did last year and what he wants to do going forward this year. So I'm curious to see how it plays out. I still draft Bell well ahead of Amir Abdullah. I don't draft Bell, and I wait and I get Abdullah late for a very important date. All right, so some good takes there on the Detroit running back situation. Let's talk Tevin Coleman running back for the Falcons. He's a guy that I mentioned before the draft is really liking, and I've actually faded on him quite a bit. What?

What? I was waiting for your hot take here. You loved him before the draft, and he lands in a perfect position. Yeah, he was the ninth pick of the third round by the Falcons. He's a burner. He's a 439 type of guy, north-south guy. But, you know, listen to this quote from an NFC running vet coach on Coleman. There are two kinds of backs who are successful in this league. Runners who break tackles and runners who can create for themselves, and he's not either one.

And that's what I see in... Yeah, you're going to find a negative comment for anybody. Well, I'm sharing this one because this is aligned with my conviction on him, is that, you know, what does this mean for that backfield? So they have Stephen Jackson's gone? Mm-hmm. To Quiz Rogers is gone. They have Anton Smith, and they have Devante Freeman. And so it's kind of a mess to me. I know that Quinn and Shanahan like...

Devante Freeman. And so if I had to pick between those two guys, I think Freeman is more productive. And that's where I thought we might have a water bet today because of that. I don't know how much Quinn really likes Devante Freeman. I mean, when you come in as a brand new coach, you're going to talk up the players. You're trying to gain the players trust. You don't know who you're going to be drafting it. You're going to come in and say that everybody on your team is great. I mean, you're going to come in and if that's the only guy you got, you're going to come in and say, I think he can be a three down back. I really like him.

But then you watch what he does and he goes out and drafts Tevin Coleman. To me, that says that I think Tevin Coleman's going to be at the very least a time split. But I think Tevin Coleman has the path to the starting job here. I've never been a huge Devante Freeman fan. He's too small. He's definitely not the Marshaun Lynch type. Kevin Coleman isn't? Well, Kevin Coleman's teeny tiny. Breaking news. Devante Freeman is not Marshaun Lynch.

Oh, I didn't hit the button because I was... No, I'm just giving you hot takes. Here's the thing, too, Tevin Coleman is not... He doesn't fit the running scheme that Chanahan runs. Yeah, so that's the big piece for me. The... Tevin Coleman, to me, reminds me of, you know, when you have those toy cars and you wind it up on your hand, right? And you get the wheels going, and then you put it down, and it's immediately going 5,000 miles an hour. That's Tevin Coleman. It is. It is.

Because you give him the ball. Everything's a sprint. Thousand miles an hour. So that can be a problem for Kyle Shanahan, Kshy, runs his zone block scheme where you have to have patience. I think he can learn that patience with proper NFL coaching. He's a talented guy. I'm not saying he's not talented. What our job here is not just to...

say what we think about the players, right? It's to take a fantasy perspective of what is this backfield going to look like? What is the upside of Kevin Coleman and what is the impact on Devante Freeman? And for me, I still draft Devante Freeman. That's just my own gut feeling from what I think the backfield would look like. I mean, I don't know how much they're going to involve Smith. For some reason, they just don't want to hand the ball to Smith all the time because he... Seriously. That's one of those tough situations. What did he average? 80 to carry last year, you know? I think he averaged 80 yards of carry. I don't see how you can talk up.

Freeman. It's a three downback. We believe in him. It's the third round. We're going to take a running back right here. And the situation, I don't draft Freeman at all. And I wasn't going to draft him regardless of this. And I would take, I'll take the shot on Coleman learning. He's got a great cut. So if he can just learn some patience, then he's good to go in that system.

Yeah, I mean, people say he's not a fit for the system. That's a really big worry if you're not a fit for the system you're going into. But his skills can translate to that system. He just hasn't been in it. And he is a bigger back. I mean, he's not one of those six two guys, but he's 5-11, you know, 200 pounds versus, you know, Devante Freeman. What is Devonthe Freeman? He's like, I think he's Freeman is bigger. Yeah. Yeah, I thought Devon is free. No, he's not. Well, he's not 5-3. No, he's 2-10.

When he's standing on his tiptoes, he looks up to mugsby-bos. He's not 210 feet tall. He's 5'9, 210 pounds. Devonte Freeman's a thick guy. Yeah, he is. I just, I don't think Freeman... I think you draft the running back because you lost Stephen Jackson and you lost... Yeah, I agree. They were going to add someone, but to me, I'm not on Freeman at all. Let's simplify this because, you know, it's moot to just speculate. Do you draft Tevin Coleman or do you draft DeBonte Freeman, Jason? I absolutely draft Tevin Coleman over Devonter Freeman. Mike?

Okay, and I go the other direction. I'm going to go Freeman. So let's talk about Duke Johnson or the man that I, he's better known as the guy who just muddies the already muddy water in Cleveland. He's duking in the brown water. Third round pick. Yeah, that's a mess. That is messy. Well done, Mike. He's duking in the water. You can count on me for the poop jokes, everybody. Yes, yes. They don't call him Chipotle Joe for nothing.

That's what I'm talking about. The number one... Get out of here with that. Chapolet, that's my territory. My turf. I mean, Duke Johnson, he's Geo. He's Geo Bernard in a backfield that you don't even know who they like the most anyway. We've been kind of of the... Mike and I have been Terrence West. I think you've been Croix. I don't even know. Yeah, I'm more Crowell. Is this just a wait and see with the... Because they're going to run the ball. They have a good O line. Mack will be back. Jack? That's good. No, right.

See, to me... Alex Mack will not be a puddle this year. This is such a weird, stupid signing. Barely. Who's the better pass catcher? Duke Johnson. Well, of course Duke Johnson. I'm asking between Croel and Terrence West. Duke West by far. Yeah, exactly. So to me, I know this seems a little strange, but I think that this is really... You say it could inflate Corwell. Proportionally, though? I think that you go Crowell as now the very clear cut.

first and second down back, and you bring a Duke Johnson for the past catching role. And, you know, there's some people that have said that they're kind of sour on Terrence West. And so maybe this is an indication that it's going to be a, yeah, every other week, yeah, every other week someone else in the Browns is dead to the Browns and then gets out of the dog house. I love that take. Dog pound. I appreciate that take, even though we've disagreed on everything else. I think that makes it maybe a little easier to draft Coel. Now, that doesn't mean I'm drafting a Browns running back super high.

But that means maybe I can make my decision a little better. Would you take Crowell in the fifth round? Not right now. Me either. I think I would because he'd be my RB3. I'd probably go to six. I'd take an RB3 shot on Crowell. Again, we want to see Camp. We want to see what they're doing with these guys. But you do, you bring in a pass catcher who is absolutely not a workhorse. I mean, Duke Johnson is not a workhorse back.

I don't know. I think he might be. I mean, he's the leading rusher in Miami history. Did you know that? Yes, I did know that. I mean, that's an insane stat when you talk about all the running backs who have come out of there. And Duke Johnson is the guy who has the, he has the trophy. So you're taking Crowell, then West or then Johnson? Or are you flipping? Are you staying on West?

Man, it's hard to stay on West after this draft, but it's so weird how they, how are they, they take turns being mad at people. Yeah, no. Like, this week, Terence West, I'm mad at you. Well, you mix that in with Matt going out and not knowing what they really have in those guys because you have a deformed offensive line. Yeah. So I'm going to take a shot on Crowell and Duke.

Yeah, I'm going to avoid the Browns backfield probably for where they go, but I'm going to put a value to them. If a guy steps up, they're going to be good. I'm going to put a value to them. And if Crowell drops where I feel like he's a good enough value, you know, to me, like in the sixth, I'll grab him there and have some high upside. Let me read you a stat line when we talk about our next guy. Oh, my heart. 201 carries for 660 yards and three touchdowns. Whose stat line is that? Wait, wait.

201 yards? 201 carries for 660 yards and three touchdowns. That's not good. So whose stat is that? Who stat line? That is Andre Ellington. That is Andre Ellington stat line. So we're talking David Johnson, the 22nd pick of the third round by the Arizona Cardinals. Be still my heart. You're far too in love. I feel like I have to be the like... I was shouting some David Johnson love on here.

Last week, he was my guy that we didn't talk about, but I brought him to the table as he was the guy I would talk about if we were going a little deeper because, man, I love him. As a juco guy, you want a guy that beats up on the competition. And if you want a fun time, go watch David Johnson's highlight reels.

beating up these juco guys because it's just a blast uh and so maybe or david johnson david johnson and uh david johnson yeah i i his his uh everything is off the charge his you know didn't he lead like almost every single category in in yeah pretty close so i all hold let's get the tempered expectations before i start gushing yeah all right fair enough

First thing that's you... You're queuing me. Yeah. That's you, sour puss. Oh, no, no, no, no, no. I'm pretty high on Johnson, but I... Ellington's going to have a huge role. I mean, one... It makes Ellington better. Yeah, well, but they're very... They're similar because they're both past catchers, okay? They've both been past catchers, and they have similar skill sets in that. There's a lot of people that thought Arizona was going to go out and get a big old bruiser. You know, somebody...