Fantasy Football 2017 - RB Rankings Pt. 2 + Sleepers

Not the MVP season, but a very, very high production fantasy offense. Let me ask you guys this question philosophically because I think it connects these two players. Let's say you have two really good pass catching running backs. They're the same age and it's redraft. They're both 26 in their prime.

One is on a team that passes to the running back a ton but does not have as high-powered an offense, won't score as many touchdowns. And the other is a team that will have the more high-powered offense but does not usually utilize that role. Just philosophically, which one would you prefer to have?

I would take the better offense. I would take the guy who's going to get the targets. Yeah, I think I leave that side too. I, you know. I feel like Kareem rises to the top argument is mine. You know, if you're hyper talented and your offense is in the red zone more often, give me that guy. Yeah, and I get, I love McCaffrey. I have him ranked the highest out of, out of all of us. I believe that he will be utilized. And Jason's thinly veiled philosophical.

debate there was McCaffrey where we know that the Panthers just have not utilized pass catching running backs in the past so that will be that'll be a transition for the team meanwhile Baltimore can't stop passing the ball and Danny Woodhead is is one of the best past casting running backs of his generation and two years ago when Danny Woodhead played a full season and was healthy running back one and half point PPR the you got to go back another two years ago a running back one

A running back one. He was injured the year before that, but then you go back again and he was a running back two. He's very, very good. His ceiling has now gone up with, he doesn't have to worry about Kenneth Dixon coming in and taking some of that work. It's Terrence West and Danny Woodhead. I'm not concerned that Buck Allen's going to take reps away from Danny Woodhead. So I really like both of these guys. Danny Woodhead, though, is just he's someone you can always get later.

and ADP. Both of those players have, you know, obviously extra value in half and full-point PPR league. Certainly. You're going to see a disparity in rankings when you look at them in standard versus PPR formats. Well, what's funny about that is when you look at their ADP and this is something to keep in mind, you know, if you're out there drafting. So Danny Woodhead in standard leagues is in the seventh round and he's in the fourth round in PPR. That makes sense. He still has value in standard league. Sure. But I'm just saying a three-round gap. Christian McCaffrey is in the...

three in standard he's the 308 in ppr oh my goodness he's the 308 so i think in standard leagues people need to at the 308 and a ppr sure but in a standard league that that's too high for me i agree i agree with that the third and fourth rounds are going to be you it's plant your flag yeah in those rounds just they're all highly questionable you just take the one that you will that you want on your team

All right. Let's talk 49er new and old here. 1819, Carlos Hyde and Frank Gore. Carlos Hyde and Frank Gore. Carlos Hyde is running back two. Welcome to the club. Mike, you haven't at the same spot as me. Jason, you have them even higher. Look.

Carlos Hyde, it's all about health last year. He was still an RB 1 or 2, 69% of the time. We talked about him on the show recently. The offensive line isn't great. His ability to stay healthy hasn't been great. But the pure talent, if the opportunity is there, it's going to produce fantasy points. It just has. He's always been one of the more elusive running backs when it comes to breaking tackles, yards after contact. That's why he's able to put up actual usable fantasy numbers.

on such poor teams. I don't know if there's a lot of evaluation you need to take on Carlos Hyde. He's an excellent running back who has never completed a full season. So will he be worth the draft price in the fourth round in the back of the fourth round? I think he's worth taking the gamble there. I really would. I'd love him as my two. And I would ensure him.

with some depth on my bench and make sure I'm in a position where I can benefit from his health and then have a contingency plan. If the draft fell to you in a certain way that you end up going wide receiver, wide receiver, wide receiver, because that's how the tiers work out. You can't bypass these high-level players. Would you take Carlos Hyde in the back of the fourth or would you be looking for a different option? Let's say, so you have Hyde at 23.

You have Thai Montgomery at 25. Yeah, I would take Hyde. Okay. Yeah, absolutely. Yeah, the last three legit drafts that I've been in, I've grabbed Carlos Hyde and all three of those, I think he's a great value right now. Kyle Shanahan, historically when he's got a clear leader at the running back position, he gives that guy over 60% of the carries, which is a great number. You can go back to certain teams he was on like the Browns where there was no...

clear winner. In fact, like, I think they started with Ben Tate and then he got injured. Oh, that was just, yeah. That was the muggles. I think Carlos Hyde will get the volume and he's got the talent. He's got a good offensive coordinator. He should be a nice three weeks. Yeah, he should be very good when he's on the field. It'll be like 10. Come on now. Broken up. Over under. Maybe he can do the every other game and just schedule it out. Take one off. You know what I mean? Yeah, seriously. Go game one. So we know. Go game three.

Take one off. I like it. Game five. And then he's there. He needs a two-week recovery time. That's no big deal. Now, in fairness. I'd probably need about a six-month recovery time from playing a one in the NFL game. I would need a lifetime to recover. I know he's never played 16 in his short three-year career. But he has, you know, 13 and 14 games in two of those seasons. So, you know, if you say he's going to play 13 games, I think he's going to be worth his draft spot. All right. I'm moving on. Time Montgomery at 20. Spencer Ware at 21 in our rankings.

Let's touch on what are the highlights here for those two players? Time Montgomery is one of the most difficult to ascertain. You talk about planting your flag. Right now he's a late third round pick. You have to plant your flag on Time Montgomery if you draft him there. And I can see both out. I can see him being such a kick hog in this offense. He's gained weight, right? We've talked about the fact that he's put on muscle. He was pretty incredible. Last year when he had the opportunity to actually run the ball.

He had 77 carries for 457 yards and three touchdowns, caught 44 passes. I think he's one of those players. You know he's going to get the ball. It's just a matter of does he get it enough to justify him being a late third round pick or as we have him right at that RB2, RB3 fringe? I'd feel so much more comfortable stealing him later in the draft, so I don't think Montgomery's on many of my team. Time Montgomery is the opposite of Lamar Miller.

This is you're going to get a far fewer touches, but the actual quality of that touch when it comes to fantasy points is much, much higher because you have a good offensive line in front of you. You have Aaron Rogers as your quarterback. You know that they're going to put up high 20s, low 30s nearly every single week, giving Montgomery a huge opportunity.

He's a converted wide receiver so you know that that's part of his game. You saw when he was thrust into the running back role and didn't really know how to play it, they just targeted him 10 times a game. And those targets did go away as he became more acclimated and that where he could take carries and everything. But my flag, I love Thai Montgomery. So you are planning. Yes. I think that he is going to be worth the price of admission. I think he'll be a strong running back too with massive weekly upside.

Yeah, the news on Aaron Jones is good in the sense that, you know, Ty Montgomery has the past catching role. We're not sure about those early down. He's at least going to take some of that. Yeah. My big worry with Ty Montgomery is I think he's going way too high in standard leagues. His value comes in a PPR league where, you know, his 40-50 receptions will count for points. I got a great question for you guys. It's a tough one. Maybe. You're in a league. You need a flex.

You've got to choose between time. I go biceps. A bicep flex? Yes. Yeah. I don't. You got to choose between Ty Montgomery and Devante Adams in your flex in a half point per reception league. Who do you want week to week in your flex in that league? I'll take Adams. I think I would go Adams as well. Higher touchdown opportunity, I believe.

All right. Spencer Ware at 21. Jason, you got him down at 28. Oh, Jason. I have him at 20. Mike, you got him at 17. Why are you burying the wear? Look, Kareemha's going to get work. He's going to get work. Work. I mean, yeah, his work is going to come at the expense of the Charzart. No, he's going to get work in place of the wear at some point in this season. Possibly. But so Jason's got him at 28. You.

You feel the least confident on a mute. So you are expressing just overall confidence. And Hunter, you're just saying it's going to be a quagmire. Well, I actually like Spencer Ware for where he's going. He's, you know, we've been talking about all these guys in the third round and now up in our ranking, huh? Where in the world is Spencer, San Diego? Nice. He's going to San Diego. It's how it's.

He inversed it. It was very creative, Mike. It's not one of your, look, it's not one of your jokes. If he had gone Spencer, Devin Bunchy's the Funches. If he had gone. Spencer, like Kansas City or something. I mean, you have to, you're using the song, but you got to go with his location. All right. Well.

I will write a formal apology and get it to you in a little bit. In the fifth round, you have a value here. In Spencer San Diego, you have a value because, you know, you don't have to pay that third round price, and he's going to be a volume back on a... Gum shoes? Team that has a head coach that has always produced quality running backs. But the problem I have with Spencer Ware is...

Kareem Hunt. I don't think Spencer Ware is going to be a 60% timeshare guy. I think they're going to be splitting this pretty even. And at the end of the year, both are going to be valuable. Both will probably be in the top 36 running backs. And he's just singing the song. I'm singing in my head. And I'm going to take the guy instead of taking Spencer Ware, I'm going to take Kareem Hunt several rounds later. Now, see, in my Atlas, and you know, because Carmen, San Diego had to.

came with that gigantic Atlas. I didn't care if you're looking in the United States, Europe, time, space. I still think Spencer Ware is the starter for the majority of the year. And if you're right, you steal a starting running back in the fifth round. That's the cool thing about him. And you want a little excitement in your life draft since Spencer Ware. I love Kareem Hunt. I think that he is a spectacular talent. I think that next year, Kareem Hunt is going to be a top three round pick.

What a pickle you're in with P. Ryan and Hunt, who you love. But you do give Kelly and where the credit. Yes. And that's where that's the side of the stand. All right. Let's do our cooking. I stand with the veterans. Let's do our cooking by the book here. Dalvin Cook. Dalvin Cook at 22. Mark Ingram 23 and Joe Mixen. Rounding out our top 24 running back rankings. Cook Ingram mixing. Can't be lazy. Welcome to.

Welcome to question mark city, especially when you get into Ingram and Mixin, because the payoff is huge. You talk about flag planning. You've got guys Ingram in the sixth round. In PPR leagues, as late as the alert, alert, alert, alert. Draft Mark Ingram at the eighth pick of the sixth round in a PPR league. Mark Ingram might be the third down guy all year long.

for New Orleans. The biggest question mark I have. And he's lower there than standard leagues, which is mind-blowing. The biggest question mark I have with Mark Ingram is always, how long can I wait? Because according to my rankings and my belief, I mean, he should be going in the third round, according to where I have him. But I'm never going to take him there because I don't need to. So it's one of those games where it's like, oh, man, in the fifth, I like him as a value.

but I might be able to get him in the seventh, so do I keep playing that game? And, I mean, every draft, that's the game I'm playing, is how late can I get Mark Ingraham? You have him, I believe, in mostly the same role he had last year. I think Adrian Peterson's going to come in to that role that Tim Hightower had. It'll be a larger role, more involved, but I still think it's going to be, you know, essentially that role. And Mark Ingram was, you know, he's a top 10 back for multiple years running.