Early Top 10 RB Rankings + Kyle Juszczyk Joins the Show - Fantasy Football Podcast for 4/13

Christian McCaffrey living that life where McCaffrey's the entire running back team. Well, and not only that, Mike Davis is gone. So like Christian McCaffrey will go right back into that 90 plus percent of snaps roll. And had he missed the entire season, then we would have a lot of questions because we'd say we still haven't.

seeing how this team is, you know, and this coaching staff is going to use CMC, but he had three games. He was the running back two, the running back six, the running back two in the three games that he was on the field. In the other games, Mike Davis was fantasy relevant and he is not good. So, you know, I, you know, I mean, look, he's going to beat me in a 40. But.

He's not a great prospect here. Remember when he was... That's the only daft you're going to give. Well, he's a little bit faster than me, but that's where the differences stop. I'm not going to go to a push-up contest because that could be close, but like, you know, a straight line speed. I think that's, you know, that's fair. He'll win. But, I mean, I remember when he was back with David Montgomery and the Chicago Bears couldn't even get on the field and was... Well, he started.

Right, that's true. He started week one. But my point is with Mike Davis out of the way, with Curtis Samuel gone, the targets, the opportunities are there for him, he's going to be the number one running back on a per game basis. It will happen. At number two, Dalvin Cook of the Minnesota Vikings, it is unanimous across the board. All three of us have him as the number two guy. He is a true workhorse running back, which is pretty rare.

incredibly effective. He had the most goal line carries in 2020, except for that, oh, my goodness, the freaking championship weekend where they kept rope-a-doping and throwing touchdowns to Irv Smith. I'm just, sorry, I'm just having bad flashbacks. Yeah, you weren't happy during those moments. Oh, I was extremely tilted, but most goal-line carries, 66 red zone touches. That is the most in 2020. He's still incredibly elusive, the second most evaded tackles.

Davin Cook is great. We're not over thinking that. I will give a bit of context, and you can see if you agree with me here, Jason. Our Keeper League, which we've talked about before, we have some unique rules. There's three total keepers. You can select a franchise player, and that player is on your team no matter what. Then after that, you pick three players, and they go into a lottery, and you get two of them.

Here's the slight complication. The players in your lottery cannot match the position of the franchise players. So if you take Dalvin Cook and franchise him, you cannot also try to keep Ezekiel Elliott. Correct. You'd have to pick other players. I'd have to put him into the lottery and possibly lose them. So do you have a decision to make here? This is where I am right now. Okay. So Dalvin Cook is so important to fantasy football teams.

that right now I am franchising him instead of something I could do is risk it in the lottery with Dalvin Cook, Miles Sanders, and Antonio Gibson. So, like, theoretically, I could be starting in a Keeper League with Dalvin and Miles or Dalvin and Antonio Gibson, I would prefer. Who would your franchise player be in that situation? It would be Calvin Ridley. So I could risk it. But as of right now, the way I'm looking at it is,

I don't even want to risk losing Dalvin Cook even for the huge upside opportunity if I come out on the right side of the lottery. That's how important I view Dalvin Cook to a team. Yeah, I mean, I agree with you in the sense that he is valuable enough to do that. I would...

Probably take the risk. I would... Because you don't have the guys and you're not actually looking at the risk. It's like, yay, no risk, no biscuit. It's easy to say. It's 33% chance. Yeah, I mean, the only thing negative you can say on Dalvin Cook, Gary Kubiak is gone, you know, an offensive line and run scheme mastermind, but it's another Kubiak taking the place. So I expect that that will, you know, will hold up and the run scheme will be fine. The...

big flag on Dalvin Cook has always been injuries. The difference between like what we were talking about with James Conner's injuries is that they took a toll on him where you saw when he was on the field that he wasn't the same as he used to be. Every time Dalvin Cook's on the field, he's fantastic. So we're not going to, I'm not going to worry about running back injuries. When I look through my, especially if we're talking the top 10 guys, like I want the upside. I want the highest scoring player per game.

And that puts Dalvin Cook number two. Before we jump into the number three running back, Jason, and this is where our rankings actually start to differ already at the third running back, which I find to be pretty fascinating. Because, you know, usually there's a big three, big four, but we're already have a difference of opinion. I want to thank today's sponsor. Boom, boom, pow, Jason. It's Fight Camp. They are back. You've heard them sponsoring the fantasy footballers here. They are a...

It's a great product. It's a great way to stay fit because we're all trying to keep it tight, keep a bright, work on that fitness, get that cardio up. And why not beat the crap out of a boxing bag while you're at it? I don't think they call it a boxing bag. You just get to hit something. That's right. And look, get that aggression out while staying fit and they help you. They teach you. You ever wanted to learn how to box or kickbox from real fighters? Do you want your kids involved in a fitness journey with you while teaching them a valuable skill?

Do you ever feel like you want to punch something? This is what fight camp. It's all about the, so you can get the gear, you get the app, and it's made for beginners to experience boxers who want to box from home with the new content being released weekly from easy to advanced. It comes with all the gear you need to box at home. You get a freestanding punching bag, boxing gloves, quick hand wraps, and their unique punch tracking sensors that show you in real time and progress, your progress and your stats on any iOS.

device. Like I said, it's great for kids as well. Check out the app with over 600 workouts and tutorials. And right now, you can pay for your fight camp over 24 months for less than the cost of a boxing gym and get it right away. Plus, fight camp offers free shipping with a 30-day money-back guarantee. Just go to join fightcamp.com slash footballers. To get free shipping on fight camp, go to join fightcamp.com slash footballers. That's join fight camp.

dot com slash footballers work on your fitness and punch something boom boom pal and we also want to thank manly bands i remember when i was getting engaged and getting married and the amount of work that i put into finding my wife's ring you know the yes the clarity yes color the everything it just mattered so much and then i went to get the five seas that's right and then i went to get my band and was like so what who cares i don't know that one

That one's fine. Just throw it in, and that's not fair. I don't think that. And they just like flick it at you. Right. Like, here you go. Yeah, we'll throw this one in, you know, for a couple hundred dollars and you don't even care because you, I didn't care about myself.

You know what I mean? But like manly bands, if you... Because the ring option sucked. Well, that's true. They all were stupid. Manly bands are actually awesome bands. They have dinosaur bone bands. They have meteorite bands. And honestly, all of their normal, like, non-outer space crazy bands are awesome. My personal favorite, the one that I decided to get, is called the baller. Oh, that's our brand. You're a baller.

I mean, you got to check them out. They ship free worldwide, 30-day exchange policy. To order Manly Bands to get 21% off plus a free silicone ring, go to manlybans.com slash footballers. That's manlybans.com slash footballers. Code footballers for 21% off. Manly bands, the best rings, period. All right, Jay, I've got him number three. You have him number three. Oh, sounds like we're smart. But Andy has him number five.

Andy has thrown Camara into a body bag and said enough of you, you're too super. He's got two players in front of Alvin Camara. Jason, talk to me why you are still in on Alvin Camara being an elite option. And let me throw in answer this question too. Yes, he's number three. You know, you would take Dalvin Cook above him. But do you still consider Alvin Camara in that tier up there with...

Dalvin Cook and Christian McCaffrey. No, I would say that Dalvin Cook and Christian McCaffrey stand alone in the top tier. Alvin Camara has been awesome. But there are some worries that you have to, you know, you can't just blindly say, well, he's always been great, so he's going to be great. Sean Payton's offense has been un-

fathomably good for the running back position as a whole. The 10 years of running back domination for them, you know, they were first in 2012, third and 13. You're talking total points to the running back. Total fantasy points to the running back position. They literally, here, I'll just read from 2012. First, third, second, second, second, first, first, 11th, first. That's unbelievable. Now, that is a Drew Brees. Sean Payton led Saints. So there's a big question. And

What I saw last year in the four games with Taysam Hill led me to believe that Alvin Camero will be fine. And you might say, well, why? He was much worse than those four games. He was, but there was a progression to it. Those first few games, if you remember, like Alvin Camer, I think in the first game that Taysam Hill played, he didn't get a target. A target. This is the guy who's like averaging...

you know, seven targets a game, like a wide receiver, and he didn't get a single target. And then the next week it was like one target, two targets. But that fourth week with Taysam, he got 10 targets and he was a valuable piece of the office. I expect that they're going to get a weapon like Alvin Camara, the ball, the way he needs to, and continue on. I saw nothing on film to say that he would take a step back. And if anything, they need him more than ever. So I really believe in Alvin Camara. He's just too efficient.

And when you're too efficient, sometimes you go, well, you're going to regress. But he's done his entire, every single year. At some point, you have to say, this is just who he is. Do you have any concerns, whether it's Tasum or Jamis, or is it simply?

Camara is your number three guy. You believe in the team that they'll figure out how to get in the ball. It's that one. I don't sit there and say, well, James will get the ball to the running back better than Taysam will or Taysam will more than James will. The truth is, I think that they are going to make the best decision for their team and put the better quarterback out that's going to put them in position to score more. And in the end, that's going to be the best case scenario for Alvin Camara. I do, again, think he's a step down from that top tier.

Um, he would be, you know, my tier two. At number four, it's time for Jason to be the hater. Number four, Derek Henry the Yeti, who transforms each and every year and carries people to fantasy championships. Andy has him at number three. So Andy has prefers Derek Henry to Alvin Camara. I have Henry at number four. Jason. Yes. Six? What are you doing? It doesn't. What are you doing? It doesn't feel good.

But I, you know, I looked at it today in preparation for this show to make sure that's where I wanted him. And it is. Look, he's back to back top three running back. So you go, well, why is he your running back six? He gets the ball a ton and yada yada. Over the last two seasons, 340 carries, almost 1,800 rushing yards.

This is what he's averaging. Yeah, no, he's unbelievable. And this isn't a knock against Derek Henry. This isn't me saying I don't think Derek Henry is good. This is me saying I think there are six great running backs this year. Sequin Barclay coming back and some of these other running backs that, you know, I think catch the ball more and have, you know, the ability to not be game scripted out. And I also have a little bit of worry with the Tennessee offense. It's very.

shallow. Sure. And it's one of those things where they've been exceptionally healthy. Derek Henry, we just talked about, right? Like, Derek Henry was one of the two running backs in the top 20 who didn't miss a single game last year. Wait, what? And he has... Is that... No, Derek Henry missed a game, right? I do not believe so. Or my stat is wrong. Oh, no, you are... You are correct. In fact, if you go back to his, you know, rookie year, I think he missed...