Fantasy Football 2018 - Early RB Rankings Part 1

updated all offseason. This bad boy will launch on June 1st. That's when you can get in and you can see the 100 plus video profiles, all of our projections for every fantasy relevant player, you know, the regular lists like the sleepers, the breakouts, busts, all of that stuff is available. But I want to emphasize, we don't sleep on it. We don't hit publish and then it's done. News happens. We're scrambling.

We're screaming. I'm waking Andy up at 3 in the morning. Dude, we got to change the projections. That's why it's called ultimate. Yes. It's the ultimate draft. It's not the unnecessary draft kit. It's not the ultimate. Oh, I like it. It's the ultimate. So check it out, ultimate draft kit.com. How do we not own udK.com? It's very. UDK. You got to get your UDK.K.

Yes, let's check. That's Unreal Engine. Oh, yeah. We know why. Because Epic. I like how you bring that up just publicly on the show. Because Epic Games owns that. Yeah. I don't think they're selling. That's the answer. All right. Number five. Why don't we own gears of war? Have we thought of this? It's a good question, Mike. I used to say that about Facebook. Now I'm not so sure. Kareem Hunt is the number five on our list.

Ironically, all of us have him at six, but he just falls in as our consensus number five because of where we have other players lined up. So Kareem Hunt, number five. Jason, you said it kind of felt like a tier break. Yeah, I think the top four, right, David Johnson, Zeke, Lev Bell, Todd Gurley, those feel really safe, really sure. Those are comfortable. And now you get to the next tier where you've got an old couch. Absolutely great options at running. Running back this year.

is far deeper when it comes to stud running backs than it was last year and the year prior going into draft season. But while there are still great options on the board like the next four or five will name, there's a lot more questions. Now with Kareem Hunt, okay, Spencer Ware coming back. How does that affect him? Alex Smith, the quarterback, changing. Does the offense get worse? There's just a lot more murkiness here. And you'll find with a lot of these players.

especially dealing with last year's rookies that were so great. You just don't have a large enough sample size to have, you know, surety. Levy on Bell, you've got the year after year after year progress where you can bank on. Todd Gurley, you thought you had it after year one, then he had a lous year two. So this is what we're dealing with here. That's why Cream Hunt feels like a tear break to me and is my sixth best player. Broke 48 tackles last year, the most in the NFL. I believe he was also the rushing leader.

He was. Kind of a feather in the cap for a running back to lead the league in rushing. Todd Gurley would have been the leader had he played the final week, but yes. But you had kind of a, I don't know if I want to call it a roller coaster. I mean, it was like you were gobbling up fantasy points in the beginning of the year with Cream Hunt, the value, where you got him, league winning type guy. Then your stomach got a little sick for a little while there. Yeah.

Thanks to mostly we blame Andy Reid for that under utilization, but that is built in that is baked into the risk with Kareem Hunt. And then he finished the air very strong and he still caught 53 passes. So he checks that box when you want an elite running back. You want him to be involved in the passing game. And look, 53 catches on 63 targets. That's great. And we do have at least the narrative street hype train. Andy Reid has already said he wants Kareem Hunt further involved in the passing game. So if he can go up.

From 50-plus receptions, that's huge. He was number one in yards after contact, more than Lev, more than Todd Gurley. But can he catch fireballs from Pat Mahomes? Does he wear a certain, do you have to wear a certain, like, heat-protecting glove when you... It's called oven mitts. Yeah. Ovenmits for a cream hunt, and then he will be fine. That's what... I think that'll make it a little difficult to catch. Eric Ebrons had those on for years and has not helped. There was... All oven mitts. There is a...

Old open missed the column. There is a direct correlation with running backs getting touches and running backs being awesome for fantasy football. And Cream Hunt was one of only six running backs that had more than 300 touches. So I feel very confident in the volume for Cream Hunt. So if you had to give him a risk overall. A risk rating. Okay. I would give them a... What's the risk on Cream Hunt versus those first four? Oh, the first four? Yeah.

Because, I mean, those first four, except David Johnson, I said, would give him a little bit of a higher risk rating as well. But I agree that Hunt is, the chance of Hunt being a one-year wonder is far higher than David Johnson. But also because David Johnson's been in the league longer. Yeah. But Kareem Hunt is a fantastic running back. He will get the volume, but you do have to deal with the Andy Reed shenanigans of.

There's going to be a few weeks here and there where Cream Hunt just doesn't get the ball. All right. It's time for Jason's number five running back. My seven, Mike's eight, and our consensus, number six. Should be five. Just to count them up. Lev Bell, Todd Gurley, David Johnson, Ezekiel, L.A., Cream Hunt. And now, Melvin Gordon. Melvin Gordon coming in at number six. Well, Jason, you have to be the man to make the case here with him at number five.

And I actually think it's a pretty easy case to make. Last year he finished the year, what, five? The year before was seven. So five seems. I believe this last season he was, he was the seventh rank. No, last year he was five. Yeah, last year he was five. And then in 2016, he was the seventh ranked. So consistency-wise, he's been in that top ten. But you believe he stays around five. Yeah, I mean, the reality is he's missed some games.

We forget how on fire he was two years ago. Did he miss any games last year? I'm saying in this career. I'm saying when you look back at the sample, when he had his sophomore campaign where he broke out and was dominant. I mean, he was so good. What did you say? He finished fifth? Seventh. He was fantasy dominant. Yes, he was fantasy dominant. I know you're going to bring up the efficiency, you know, and that's why you don't like him. But this is where I see a team.

trending in the right direction. They have their workhorse. There's no reason on planet Earth why the San Diego Chargers, why the Los Angeles Chargers would not want to utilize him when he's been so successful for their team for real NFL football. And the reality is, I think the Chargers are taking a step forward. They've improved their offensive line. I think their offense looks great. Their defense looks great. I have them projected to the playoffs. And if they as a team are...

Taking that next step up and they're great the way that I believe they're going to be, Melvin Gordon is going to be a huge part of that. And at the end of the year, he's going to be a top five running back. Or maybe he's six or seven, but I see a lot fewer reasons to say he could drop out of the top 12. Barring injury, there's just no way. Whereas some of these other question marks, you know, Kareem Hunt, Alvin Kamara, maybe their roles change. We haven't seen that established. That's where I love Melvin Gordon.

Interesting fact for Gordon and make of it what you will. He broke 40 tackles, which was the second most in the NFL. He was also stuffed 68 times, the second most in the NFL. So he was put in a position. Bad offensive line play. Yeah, I was going to say that does seem to lean itself to bad offensive line play. The volume was there, so he made it work. And 58 receptions goes a long way towards that. Mike, you have them the lowest at eight, obviously still a top 10 back. We're splitting hairs here in the first.

10 running backs, but why is Melvin not as high as he is for you as he is for Jason? It's just liking other players more than Melvin Gordon. No. It's because you hate Melvin Gordon and you always have. Admit the truth, Mike. I've admitted the truth many, many times that I'm not fully convinced that Melvin Gordon is a great running back. I think he's fine. And like I said, the correlation of touches, Melvin Gordon gets touches. So I've...

I've admitted defeat that Melvin Gordon will be fine for fantasy football. And I even brought up a, or I wrote a note for Jason's defense of a lot of people. Okay, Austin Echler, what's going on with that? The passing roll, Eckler, I saw him in there. Some of them catching passes. The games where Austin Echler got his most targets of the year, Jacksonville. Austin Echler got five targets. Melvin Gordon got eight. He still got targeted. That's delicious. Against Denver. Austin Echler got four targets.

So did Melvin Gordon. So the games where Eckler was being heavy or had heavier utilization in the passing game. So did Melvin Gordon. The touches are going to be there. He's just, he's a good. He's not as exciting to own is what it seems like. You didn't have a lot of monstrous plays. You just had production.

Yeah, I mean, he finally broke 1,000 yards. 1100, didn't he? Dude, that's so not fair to him. What was he? 997 yards in 13 games. It is certainly not fair. And yet, a fact. All right, number seven. Number seven on our consensus top 10 running back ranks. The way too early running back ranks, but not really too early. Right time. Linder for net. Linder for net number seven. I have him at eight. Jason seven. Mike, you got them up at five. I do.

That's interesting. I didn't realize you had him so high. Last year, 268 carries over 1,000 yards, nine touchdowns, caught 36 passes for 302 yards. So do you think people are freaking out right now as we keep naming names? And they're going, where's Alvin Camara? No. No, I think some people are. Good. Well. Anyways, back to Leonard Fournette. Leonard Fournett, 13 games last year. So he had the injury bug a little bit.

Average 20.6 carries per game. Third highest in the league. That's why he's five for me. Yeah, and that's fair. To me, he is a step down from Zeke, but they're in the same category together where I'm not going, maybe they can surpass 35 receptions, but I'm not banking on either player having more than 30, 35 receptions. It's just the touches, but speaking of... But they're going to be a good team. Yes, they will be a great team. But speaking of risk...

factors, Leonard Furnett's has to be very high. So many leg injuries. This is not a fluke, lacerated kidney. This is a, things repeatedly happening to his lower body, which gives me great concern. But if he plays 16 games, Leonard Furnett is going to be an absolute monster. You gave the line of 268 carries. That wasn't 13 games. That's ridiculous. He's going to be over 300 carries.

And he's going to get goal line and he'll have rushing touchdowns. So he's five for me right now. All right. Anything you want to add on Fournett, Jason? Just his consistency. I mean, Leonard Fournett genuinely is one of the most consistent backs this last year. I mean, you bring up the 13 games and how good he was in those games. There was very rarely did he ever, you know, poop your team. Wow. If he was playing. Because.

of the volume. So I really like Leonard Park. They also picked up Andrew Norwell. Yeah, that doesn't hurt. They stole a very, very good guard from the market from Carolina. So Andrew Norwell arrives in Jacksonville. You, Leonard Fournett doesn't get enough credit for the turnaround in Jacksonville, in my opinion. I know, Mike. See, I completely disagree with this. I know, I know, but you have to just watch. I have to watch the games. And there are before when they had ivory or they had Yeldon or somebody else,

You need somebody who falls forward. You need somebody who moves the pile. And there's few guys in the league that when you hand them the ball and they run into a giant pile, they always gain a couple yards. Lynch used to do that all the time. He is there, Marshaun Lynch, the way that Seattle drove their offense through Marchon. That's how Jacksonville wants to do it. Take the pressure off of Bortles and just run the ball. It really is true. And to combine that with what I was saying, consistency-wise, if you look over the last two years,

The consistency percentage percentage for making sure you finish as an RB2 or better, RB 1 or 2 so that you're having a good week. Last year, the data was David Johnson was 100% because he only played the one game. Then it went Levi-on-Bell, Todd Gurley, Zeke, Leonard Fournett. I mean, if he's playing, he's a win for your fantasy roster. Oh, yeah, absolutely. But we disagree that Fournett's impact on the actual NFL team. Yeah, we do.

I side with Andy on this one. Okay. All right. You might not on this one. Number eight on our consensus rankings is Alvin Kamara, Super Camario. Hey! He's my number five, guys. I don't blame you. I read a really good... You know what convinced me is I read this really good article? I mean, I don't agree with you. I read this article on a website, the fancy footballers.com, written by an expert in the industry. And...

It made the case for Alvin Kamara this year, and I think that there is room to grow. Last year, this super, incredible, unstoppable, unbelievable year for Alvin Kamara, 120 carries. At 81 receptions, 826 yards, obviously did all of his damage through the air, but I still think there is room to grow for Alvin Kamara, and I do not, look, this is a hand-picked choice by Peyton. This is a team that was on, it was on Diggs.