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

you wouldn't have cared about before. Yeah, I think that's why a lot of us connect with it is you have like, you know, Monday night football games between maybe teams with bad records and everybody in your league is glued to the screen to see what happens and how it shakes out in your league. Were you playing a lot more in your early Baltimore high reception total days? Was that, did that play a part? I was definitely on my own roster more back in those days.

You know, there are... Now it's funny. Go ahead. Go ahead. Well, I was just going to say there aren't a lot of fullbacks that can be drafted for fantasy, and you've been in that category before, where you've been run out there and started, and that is an impressive feat. Yeah, you know, it's... Now I'm to the point where only in extreme emergency situations will I plug myself into a roster. But...

It's funny so often I'll get people, you know, they'll ask me for, you know, fantasy advice. They'll DM me and be like, hey, like I drafted you in my fantasy league. And I said, good luck, because I don't think your season's going to look too good. If you had to use the traffic on me, I know fantasy well enough that I'm not your number one option in that running back slot. Fantasy football and real football are just a little bit different. I know. I was actually talking to the producers before you hopped on.

just about all of those like intangible factors in the real game where, you know, I think it's easy for fantasy players to say, oh, you know, this guy's not, his yards per carry is a little lower than this guy. Why are they putting him out on the field? And like there are so many pieces to the game where you don't, you know, they don't show up in the stat sheet, you know, if a, if a player like Chase Edmonds out here, one of our running backs in Arizona, he's a really high IQ guy on the field. And, and you don't have a stat for.

being in the right place at the right time or like, you know, when Kyler's under pressure, you end up, you know, available to him. And those are things that that's always going to be a disconnect, I think, between the world of stats and fantasy and analytics and then how a coach makes a real decision. Most definitely. I think it's hard to find a stat column to give you points for your pass blocking protection or, you know, being.

You know, if an offense alignment in front of you makes a mistake and you cover up that mistake, you know, it's just hard to reward points in those categories. Yeah, for sure. So let's talk about Kyle Shanahan. Let's talk about being a part of this offense. You know, fantasy players, they look at Kyle and what he does in San Francisco, putting players in a position to do what they do best, whether it's yourself, you know, for fantasy players, Debo, Kittle, Ayuk.

Moster last year. What makes him special as a play caller? And you talked about that being a big factor in coming back to San Francisco and being in that offense. What sets him apart? I think kind of like what you said, he puts guys in positions to succeed. He has such a knack for that and really accentuating your strengths. And, you know, I'll give you an example for like Debo Samuel. The guys, you know, he's.

I think somebody this offseason said he's Marshaun Lynch and a wide receiver's body. And so Kyle will take advantage of that. And every game plan, we have two or three carries built him there for Debo, where he's going to take some kind of handoff, whether it's from the backfield or taking a reverse. But that's a strength of his. And he knows that he just needs to get the ball in Debo's hands, however it is, whether it's a screen, a handoff, a quick hitch.

because he knows that he can take advantage with yards after catch from there. But, you know, same thing, you know, with Debo, with Ayuk, with George, myself, Rahim. He just knows what our strengths are. He does such a good job of putting us in positions that we can take advantage of that. Yeah, and, you know, fantasy players.

love knowing that he's going to do that when players go to San Francisco. That predictability aspect is huge for fantasy. Is there a player on this team right now that fantasy players are maybe not aware of or are underestimating coming into the new year? I know we dealt with, you guys dealt with a lot of injuries last year. And so the running back core, for example, you saw different people out there every week.

but is there somebody that comes to mind that you've played with that you're saying you're expecting big things from? Yeah, you know, you talk about predictability and fantasy football, and I know that's kind of, I feel like Kyle plays both sides of that because we, you know, we'll use so many different running backs in the season or we spread the ball out so much. Sometimes our offense is pretty hard to predict who's going to get the ball. But you know what? I think that

Rahim Moster is really going to surprise people. And I know it's been a few years since we've, the Niners have had, you know, one of those top fantasy guys that, you know, that you're going to take in your first, you know, one, two or three rounds. Like, you could argue, Kittles definitely been up there. But outside of that, you know, we really haven't had a wide receiver, a running back that you really talk about up there in the top of the draft. And, um,

I think Rahim Moser's going to be a guy that at the end of the season, you might have wished that you had gone up there and spent a little more draft capital to get him. Because I can tell you firsthand what big plans we have for him. And at the end of last season, when he came back and was healthy, we genuinely thought that with like six games left, that we could still get him to a thousand yards just based on what he had done earlier in the season.

what we had seen on the practice field. This guy is just absolutely insane in the open field. Extremely explosive. Nobody can catch him. It's, yeah, it's ridiculous. Like, the angles these safeties try to take on him, and he still will leave him in the dust. I think there's still a lot in front of Rahim, and I think a big year is coming for him.

Well, that's exciting to hear. And if you want to just text me the game plan before each week, that will help fantasy players a lot. About 15 weeks out of the year, I can do that for you. Those other two. Oh, I see. I'll let you know. Yeah, you know we'll find our way to the locker room here in Arizona. All right. I've got a couple more questions for you. One is just navigating this whole, you know.

San Francisco made big news with the trade to the number three spot. And I'm going to try not to put you in any weird position here. But look, this was a huge move. We know that you're drafting a quarterback at three. We know Jimmy Garoppolo is on the roster and he's been your quarterback for years. Was that a surprise to you? And like how do you kind of approach that piece? I mean, you know, the quarterback's the most important position in all of sports.

and you know that there's going to be some variables there this year. Like, how did you take that news? Yeah, it definitely was a little bit of a surprise, and it came with a little bit of excitement, but also a little bit of, you know, unsuredness, just because it's so hard to predict what rookies are going to be able to do and how their game translates. And, you know, you definitely get the excitement of...

you know, the number three pick, you're getting a top tier talent, man. You're getting somebody that is coveted around the league, somebody special, especially in this year's quarterback draft class. There's some really special talent there. So excited about that, but, you know, like I said, you never know how it's going to translate. And also just, you know, from the personal side, you know, Jimmy has, you know, been a great friend, great teammate. And when he's healthy, he's been a great player for us. So, you know, you feel...

different ways about that. But at the end of the day, as a player, you just have to put all your faith into Kyle and Lynch and that they're making their best decision for the team. And, you know, as it stands now, Jimmy's still on the roster. So I anticipate that he most likely is going to, you know, start the season off for us. You know, don't know if that necessarily is the case or not, but that's kind of what I'm envisioning.

Maybe like, you know, the Alex Smith to Patrick Mahomes transition, I could see that being feasible. But, you know, I don't know. We're just going to have to take it in stride. And I'm going to support whoever's under center, whether it's Jimmy or our rookie quarterback. So I think either way, we're going to be successful. Yeah, it's one of the many big questions to be answered with the draft coming up here at the end of the month.

I know fantasy players and NFL fans are really, really excited to see what happens. We get to speculate now and then find out a lot more very soon. I do want to close out with a question from one of our staff writers, a fullback fan extraordinaire, Jeff Greenwood, who dapps you, Patrick Ricard, many of the fullbacks up on socials all the time. And so I'm going to throw this question to him. Hey, juice, big fan.

You're one of my favorite players on and off the field. And I really respect what you're doing for fullbacks along with some other guys in the league. I mean, you're a selfless leader, and you don't see that much. So I appreciate you. And I think a lot of people can learn from what you do in the field. I've got a question. I've been, you know, waiting a long time to ask you. And I'm just going to go ahead and do it. What's your favorite juice?

Hard-hitting question there. I hate to put you in the awkward position, but favorite juice, juice. Welch's white grape juice. Oh, you had that answer ready. You've been asked that before. Hell yeah. I've been asked before, and that's an easy one for me. That wasn't a staple as a kid. Well, that's going to let fantasy managers know a whole lot heading into the new season. I'm glad I could help.

Yeah, well, look, we really appreciate you coming on the show. Glad you've been a listener for years. That's been really fun on social media and wish you the very best. If you want to take a couple games off a year, I can show you which two to take off. But we really appreciate you coming on, man. Have a great one. Yeah, it's been great talking with you, man. All right. Kyle Use Check of the San Francisco 49ers. Now, Kyle knows the show.

And he knows us and he knows fantasy. And he's getting me, he's getting me a little hyped up for Rahim. There you go. The verbiage of going with talking about the plan for Rahim, that's a difference. Kevin Coleman's gone. Causes heavy breathing. And I love me some Jeff Wilson. But I also love Rahim Moster. So it will be fascinating to see what San Francisco does with the running mix. And a pick number three.

Who do you got? Pick number three. Who is it in? I'm still going to stick with who it should be and go with Justin Fields. Yes, I'm going to stick with Justin Fields as well. Seems like it's going to be Mike Jones. Don't. Don't turn on me now. All right. We'll see. Before we close out, I want to thank Pristine Auction, the best sports memorabilia site of all time. That's pristineauction.com right now.

Right now there's an Alvin Camara signed Saints full-size authentic on-field speed helmet with a current bid price of 20 bucks. Or there is a Sequin Barclay signed Giants jersey inscribed. He wrote 2018 NFL rookie of the year going for just over $53. Remember, you only pay for what you bid. Pristine auction, I have personally used their site probably hundreds of times now.

And remember, if you sign up with the code, Ballers, you're going to get a $10 credit. That's pristineauction.com. And the code is Ballers. Jason, that is going to do it for the show. For me, Mike, the Fantasy Hitman Wright, my best friend, Jason Moore, and the Cardboard Bear, Extraordinaire. Goodbye. We'll see you with the running back rankings, part two on Thursday. Thank you for listening. Goodbye. Thank you for listening to another episode of the Fantasy Footballers podcast.

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