Fantasy Football 2018 - The TRUTH About Fantasy RBs in 2017, Part 2

thus far as being kind of the guy for next year. They're waiting on Kenneth Dixon's return. I've tried to pick up Kenneth Dixon in a few leagues. I still think that they're going to give him every opportunity to be the back. You're still believe in him? I do. I believe in Kenneth Dixon. I think his talent is significantly above what Alex Collins is. And so I think they're going to give him the opportunity, one more opportunity to be that guy. Now he's had injury concerns and then he's had disciplinary concerns.

So those things are red flags, but I think Dixon will have an opportunity. Yeah, I mean, Collins passed the eye test to me this year. He really did look like a successful player. And I'm in agreement with you, Andy. I'm not convinced he'll be the back next year. It's a wait and see. But if he is, I'm fine putting more confidence in him. His consistency rating is one of those players where it's a little bit skewed because he wasn't on this team.

in training camp. You know, he was cut from Seattle, and it wasn't until week four. Whoops. Yeah, whoops. It wasn't until game five, so week, week five, that he was actually involved as, you know, as a running back getting, you know, at least 10 carries. From that point forward, he would have projected for about 250 carries over 1,000 yards, eight touchdowns. And my favorite part about Alex Collins, he's 23 years old.

I mean, they could have a young, good running back for this team already in place. So we'll have to wait and see what happens in the offseason. But, you know, he average over 14 points a game, you know, the second half of the year, which is really good for a running back. And this is, it's a wait and see for Alex Collins because if he is the guy for the Baltimore Ravens, if he ends up getting that starter job and.

keeps it away from Kenneth Dixon, then he will be valuable, and he'll be drafted. Top 15 type of back, potentially. You're talking to the third, fourth round running back. Check this stat out. Another one from our 25 stats article about the youth movement right now for running backs. The average age of the top 12 running backs, the whole RB1 group. Any guesses? Nope. Average age for the whole RB1 group is 24 years old.

That is correct. 24. Wow. Yeah. And that included LaShawn McCoy who was 29 and Carlos Hyde 27. Mark Ingram 28. Without those three guys, it's under 23. It's 22 point stuff. It's a young man's game. It is. Well, take the 24 double it and you get number 19 on the list. Frank Gore, 48 years old, consistency rank of 22. He was not your RB12. I know I disappointed the world. He also just missed a thousand yards again.

And never, much like Duke Johnson, never had a great gain, never a top five type of performance on average. Busted a quarter of the time was good 50% of the time. And I've seen a lot of articles already this off season. Talking up, you know, Marlon Mack as a big breakout type of guy for next year. Gore is very limited at this point in his career. Bad team, over the hill, only caught 29 passes.

still finished in the top 24. So I'm not saying he's not worth drafting, but I think you're talking about somebody whose touches are going to be limited here on now. And look, we all joke about it, but Fred Jackson hit a wall eventually and was cut. Frank Gore's going to hit that wall as well. Frank Gore could have zero carries. Frank Gore is not under contract with the Indianapolis Colts, and he has kind of come out and said himself, he's played both sides of the fences, but.

He doesn't want to come back unless Andrew Luck is healthy. So, but in just to. He's 34 by the way, not 48. Just to end to settle some people down. We were disappointed. He was not running back 12. However, he did have the 12th most rushing yards. Oh, in the NFL. So he's holding the down. Holden the down. Life finds away. Speaking of life finds away, Marshaun Lynch. Next up on the list, another old man still still alive.

He became a necessary part of this offense over the back half of the year because of the struggles of Derek Carr, because of the struggles of Amari Cooper, because of the struggles of the offensive line and the regression in the offense. The injuries and suspensions to Crabtree. Look, the offensive coordinator there struggled. And now you have a whole new system team. John Gruden coming in. And I.

I'm interested in seeing what happens with Marshawn Lynch. He signed a contract. I was going to say that... He had a base salary of $9 million over two years, a chance to earn $16.5 million if he reaches the incentives. That was the deal he signed with Oakland. So he's still under contract with Oakland if he wants to play. And I imagine he does. He will cost them $6 million for this upcoming season. So I'm not sure that Marston's going to be back. It's...

Are you going to pay a 31-year-old? I know he's Marshawn, took some time off, whatever, but 31-year-old running back. We just talked about the average age of really highly productive running backs. It's 24. You're going to pay a 31-year-old $6 million when you can cut him for zero dead cap. No, it's a fair question. I like Jay and then Richard still as a sleeper for next year. Lynch never had a top five type of performance. He was good 53% of the time, busted 27% of the time.

Only caught 20 balls. We know what Lynch is. He's a, you know, first and second down guy. I would still think he's going to be back. That's my opinion. We all know how it worked out when I made a proclamation about Marsan Lynch returning to the NFL. So I will recuse myself from this discussion. Hey, we need a judge then. If you're recusing yourself, Judge DiMai. The judge should make a ruling on what he thinks. Is Lynch back next year?

He's gone. Oh, okay. Jason, do you agree with the judge? I think there is a good chance he's gone. He signed with a different coach. You know, I remember when he signed going in there. That's also a good point. Jack Del Rio is gone. Jack Del Rio was jacked me. I remember that video. Tweeting out videos of him lumbering all around. It was unbelievable. And so, you know, now it's a whole change. I won't be surprised either way. If he's back, he's going to be a little.

should be drafted very late. He won't be used enough. We saw the stretches of Marshall Lynch where he was not the volume back. And when he wasn't, he wasn't worth starting. Tavin Coleman. Taven Coleman. Almost. 21st running back off the board. I'm sorry, not off the board. Dissence in your musical abilities. The 21st in terms of rank.

Consistency of 18, he's a tough player to own, to draft, to start, to play, because he's not the number one on his own franchise. So 156 carries 27 receptions. I'd be disappointed in that reception number after a pretty good year last year. Especially knowing what he can do with receptions. He was good. Both backs. That's just the change of scheme. Yeah. He was good. 60% of the time, busted 27% and was a little bit behind the eight ball against top defenses.

minus 3.4. That factors in his performance against top D's, but also, you know, the team's not going to be utilizing that position as much. He's in an interesting boat because you got Jerich McKinnon up next, who's also not the guy. But in Jerich McKinnon's a free agent, Tevin Coleman will be back with the Falcons for sure. I like Coleman coming into next year. He's in, he's a... You like him more or less than Duke Johnson.

More. Much more. I like him more than Duke Johnson. We know he has the built-in RB1 in him if something happens to Devante Freeman. We saw it. When Freeman was out, Coleman was a must start and he came through. But 60% good games. The problem with Kevin Coleman this last season was he was coming off a great season. So he was being overdrafted as the running back two in his committee. So if he's going to fall,

to that sixth round, back of the fifth, sixth round, then I will gladly be taking Kevin Coleman on my teams. He is a think-ahead candidate for dynasty owners. He is 24 years old. He's under contract next year. I think one more year? 2018. Then he's an unrestricted free agent in 2019. That's going to be his payday. That's going to be his Michael Turner leaves San Diego time. And he is an explosive player. He's a capable player. He was a third round draft pick in 2015.

and they're not going to pay two guys big time money in Atlanta. So Tavin Coleman's got one more year in the Sarkisan experiment, and then he's going to be a free agent. So this would be the time where, look, Mike's saying you can play him anyways, but maybe you play him and then you'd look to cash in big time in a Dynasty League, Keeper League format in two years. It's going to be tough. It's going to be tough to try and pry him away if that's your goal in Dynasty because the other player hopefully is smart enough to know that he has one more year left.

But maybe they're not, Mike. Oh, yeah. Oh, trust me. Maybe. I mean, we, we've talked about things, you know, our rule of drop it like it's hot where everyone thinks, no. People do dumb things. That could never happen in my league. And then they check. Yeah. And it happened. And then you keep, and then people are getting. They tweet us and go, thank you. People are getting Zach Ertz and Ezekiel Elliott off the waiver wire. That's exactly right. You just got to be thinking ahead. Yes. You got to, it only takes one. Yeah.

That's the Andy Holloway special. See, what Andy does is he thinks, oh, you know, maybe Tevin Coleman would be good. And then, you know what he does? He doesn't just sit there. He just goes and makes it off. And nine out of ten times, the other person goes, no, Tevin Coleman's going to be great. But then that one time, you know, he just shotgun approaches. And it's like every player that should be valued, he goes and makes a little cheap trade for. And then one guy is like,

Yeah, I don't like him. That used to work a lot better before I had a fantasy football podcast. And you shared all your opinions, yeah. Because not only do they know what I say on the show, but there's this back of the mind, well, what do you know that I don't know that comes along with being the host of the fantasy footballers podcast? So Jerich McKinnon, DeMarco Murray, Latavius Murray, round out the top 24 at running back. You have McKinnon and Latavius there at 2224. These guys were compliments all year long ever since.

Dalvin Cook went down. And so from a consistency standpoint, they finished really low. Now, part of that is because they didn't have established roles in the beginning of the year, but we're still active. And part of that is because they just weren't that consistent. I mean, Jerich McKinnon, there were weeks you were like, this is the guy. You get the past catching. You got some goal line to start out after Dalvin Cook left. But that was also before Latavius Murray's health.

came back to form, and they trusted him in those situations. Murray had eight touchdowns on the ground. McKinnon only had three. McKinnon had 51 receptions, but he's a free agent now. And what can we really expect him to do? I mean, get a role just like this somewhere else? He should go somewhere else. Isn't he as talented as a Duke Johnson out of the backfield? Yes. I think he is. Sure. And Latavius Murray.

finishing the year with 216 carries when he had 14 total carries weeks 1 through 4 is pretty impressive. The unfortunate thing for him is Dalvin Cook is the superior running back. So assuming that Dalvin is back to full health, he should come right back into his monstrous role. Dalvin Cook will be the guy. These are the first four weeks for McKinnon and Murray McKinnon. First four weeks, 5.5, 4.3, 1.6, negative.

1.8 and Latavius Murray started the year with negative 0.2, 0.9, 0.7, and 4.6. They were irrelevant when Dalvin Cook was there. And I imagine they will be again. The Latavius Murray, where it was, he finally got in the game. And didn't he fumble in his first carry? Something like that. Yeah. Yeah. Good times. Dalvin Cook was the eighth most consistent running back. Now he only played four games.

But he was great, guys. He was incredible, 74 for 354 and 2. So just keep that in mind when you're thinking about the role that Murray is going to have next year. Speaking of Murray, DeMarco at 23, overall, a disappointing year, you have to just take your lumps here. I thought it would turn around because they were, you know, malarkey was undyingly loyal to DeMarco Murray. And so I kept waiting.

for that to translate into Murray's production like it did last year. I was with you. Murray was not good. He was great last year. Correct. You and I were in agreement. One of the most consistent running backs in football last year. Yeah. And Mike stood opposed and stands correct. Minus seven against top defenses busted 40% of the time. Played better at home. Couldn't travel. Only one great game on the season. And that was the result of pretty much that big old long broken play touchdown. And he's come out and said he thinks he's the same.

Guy, he's still a great player. 29 years old, but a lot of wear and tear on that body. Yeah. Where does he end up? Oh, hey. I just, since we're talking about, oh, this is Latavis Murray. No, we're talking about tomorrow. We were just talking about, I want to give a shout out. Happy birthday Latavius. Oh. That's it. Okay. Okay. All right. How did you figure that out? Did you get a text? Yeah. You have NFL birthday alerts on your? My calendar update. I've got all the players in there. You write them a little letter? Mm-hmm. By hand.