Fantasy Football - Top 10 RB Rankings + Trash Talkers - Podcast for 8/12

you know, 65 targets on the year. That fits the threshold. We all have them about or above double digit touchdowns. That fits the threshold. And we all have the opportunities pretty high. I just... Yeah, so the... Doesn't mean that I think he'll be number one. And just certain guys can do it. Certain guys can't. Yeah, the negative, the biggest negative is that he's on a...

Poor team that does not project to score a ton of points. And so that's, you know, are you going to get the double digit touchdowns that one that 94% of these top 10 backs get? It's a hard environment to see it happening. Now, as a reminder, he had 10 touchdowns last year. So he had five receiving, five rushing. He is a freak of nature talent-wise. I do think that this offense will be significantly better. The combination of the...

of Clint Kubiak and the offensive line upgrades. And the health of Brock Bowers. And Kirk Cousins coming in to start as far as like dumping off the ball. I mean, you saw when Bejohn was there with Kirk Cousins, he was thriving in the passing game. To me, I think I'm very in on Ashen Genty. Unfortunately, seems like everybody is. And so that's where the ADP is running back six. That's kind of, I mean, I've got him as my running back seven. So I think you're you're drafting him where.

he kind of belongs. I don't necessarily think it's an easy path for him to finish top three. He's talented enough. 73 targets last year, over 50 receptions. Yeah, I mean, he's certainly talented enough. I, you know, I agree with you. Who do they want to throw the ball to? Who else can you? It's Brock Bowers and Gentie. That's it. Mark, Bobbauer and Genti. I mean. So Mike has him a little bit lower. I think Mike has brought up with whether it's A. Chan, whether it's Gentie.

Like you don't want a running back on a losing team, but you know, certain ones can thrive. Those two players to me are the, like you, I went and I compared those two guys next to each other. And my interpretation was that I think that the Raiders offense will be improved versus last year. And the Dolphins offense will be worse than it was last year. Wow. And then when I look at the. That's bad. Yeah. Yeah. And then when I look at the, they were really bad. Yeah. The talent of.

both guys, both outrageously talented, I think Ashton Gentie is the better, more talented running back. Now, that's where the debate is. I haven't ranked the same. I probably disagree on those two points. I think A. Chan's the better back, better receiver. And I think the dolphins will be, you know, a pretty okay offense relative to Las Vegas. But we both know that Janty's going to get a workload. And it's hard to get guaranteed 300 plus opportunities. It is the...

You have the issue, too, Fernando Mendoza is just waiting to take over. Like, could he be better than Kirk Cousins? Yeah, that is a variable. But just historically, it's hard to make a transition to being a professional quarterback. They don't come in and put up a whole bunch of stats, especially, you know, when it comes to touchdowns. So there's a chance that halfway through the year, the offense gets worse as they're...

trying to acclimate Mendoza and look forward to 2027. The opening schedule. Cupcake, Miami, that's fantastic, but then it's the Chargers. Saints, okay, but Chiefs at Patriots at home against Buffalo. Like, this is an absolute, this is a horrifically bad opening schedule for the Raiders. And I guess, Jay, my question for you is, because I'm, Ashti Jets, he's a great player. But historically, you.

One of your philosophies is you want to know for sure your first rounder is going to work. Yeah, it's safe. And it's exactly, is safe. Because everyone in the first round has massive upside. They wouldn't be in the first round if they didn't. But Ashton Genty feels very unsafe to me compared to the other guys there. I would agree that he is a riskier pick at that point. Where I've taken Ashton Genti in drafts is.

oftentimes at the beginning of the second round. And so then it's totally fine. Yeah, so you don't think he's safe? I do not. I don't think the environment is safe at all. You're a big Kubiak fan, though, right? I am. Yeah, I like what they did with the line. I think he's a safe pick. You have to decide between a bunch of guys in this range. And that's the issue for me is... But I mean, I don't think Hampton feels safe. Hampton feels exciting. I feel safer in the environment of the Chargers being...

a top 10 scoring offense. Yeah. Yeah, like versus the Raiders feel like they'll probably be a bottom 10. It's funny because it's like we, Chase Brown feel safer. Yes, he does to me. But I guess what you're doing here when you draft Genty is you're taking your percentage chance at the running back one overall. That's what you're signing up for. You're getting a guy who can. I don't think Chase Brown would be the running back one overall. Genty has that kind of.

built-in talent where it was the rb12 last year and i don't know if i saw a worst a worst a worse situation for a running back in the league yeah in the league i mean the worst team in the league the worst quarterback in the league the worst coordinators the worst coordinator the worst the worst the worst offense of line coaches in the league all of it was terrible i just think the volume will outpace it but it's that's why the debate's fun yeah you're back okay um is this guy safe number seven don't care it's can bone walker

It's not safe. So funny because he's, you know, I think he's, I think he's very safe. Yes. I think he is. He's very safe, but I think his volume is way safer than people are really thinking. Oh, I thought you were going to say it in Gentie. I was like, that's crazy. No, no, no, no. But I'm saying like, I think he's going to be an incredibly high volume player. You could do, you can go to the health, which, I mean, the, in terms of games played.

he's really only had one year that was a major bummer. His rookie and sophomore year he played 15 games. If a running back, if misses two games, that's considered totally normal. 11 and 2024, okay, that's an injury problem. And then he plays the whole year last year. Obviously his, you know, it felt like the opportunities were being throttled with Zach Charbonnet coming in. But they gave him the cash. I have zero concerns about Kenneth Walker. They immediately went to go get him. And all reports.

coming out of training camp for what this team, the identity of this team, how much they're going to lean on Ken Walker and in the receiving game as well. Walker at 209 is theft. I mean, Andy Reid, Mahomes back, great offensive line, no threat in the red zone, no threat in the passing game. Maybe Burchard Smith takes some opportunities, whatever.

The identity of the team is built around Kenneth Walker now if he can just, you know. When Andy Reed has a true stud. Stay healthy. He's going to be a monster. When Andy Reed has a stud at the running back position, their workhorse. Yeah. Like that's what he does. He hasn't had a stud for years. They're going to give him absolutely everything. Yeah, he's a very safe. He is. So here's my view of Walker. Absolute.

monster. I agree with you, Mike, steal of a draft at the back of the second, the back of the second for a guy who's going to get all the work for a team that's going to win a ton of games who is very talented with a great offensive mind, line, everything. He is, like a top 10 offensive line. He is every single checkmark perfect across the board. And I'm just waiting to see how it doesn't work.

that's how it feels because somehow some way every year whether it's injuries people are agreeing with that he played the entire season last year for the super bowl champs he's the running back 22 it's somehow some way i feel like he's just built to disappoint but how i i don't know how i don't know how it's going to happen i honestly think it's just going to be fine i think it'll be something that we look back at the beginning of ken walker's career with all those question marks and i've gotten to the point where i'm like

I can't find the pathway where it doesn't work out other than injury, which is everybody's pathway to not work out. He's going to be awesome. Agreed. Number six. All right. This guy ends up ahead of him because of me, I think. Yes. This is one of the flagplants that my numbers bore out. Mike, what are you doing over there? I just, I hate. You hit your ranking?

I hate everything about this situation. It's Devon A-chan. Because A-chan is awesome. Devon A-chan, I have them at four. I got him as my running back four. You guys at 10 and 9 being drafted at 8. Obviously, I can't escape the talent and the volume that I think we're going to see. I like Malik Willis. I think the offense will get some stuff done. There was a really funny clip, I think two days ago with his head coach saying he's going to give him 40 to 45.

opportunities a game that he will literally not let him tap his head to come off the field that he will carry him back to the sideline after 40 carries a game like you can't you can't dream as a fantasy football manager for any coach to say anything better because there was no sarcasm not joke I mean obviously it was hyperbolic but he's literally telling us the truth which is he gets everything he's the center of the offense

Yeah, this is a situation where I'm just, everybody has to pick their players that they're in on. And you can always create storylines of why you believe or don't believe. This is one where I believe the fantasy community is making a horrible mistake in doubting the production of Devon A-chan by carving out a bunch of reasons why it might not work for Miami. 100% of his games last year on a horrible team, he was above 10.5 fantasy points. That is the best, most consistent running back that you had in football.

The identity of this team, the talent of this player is just one where I'm like, I think we're going to screw up over analyzing what can go wrong and not recognizing how many opportunities this player is going to have over the course of the year. Yeah, I have him lower in my... And he can score at any minute. He can't. I mean, he is a Gibbs level. He's a Gibbs level talent to me. Yeah, he's awesome. I would love to have A. Chan on my roster where I still like where I have him ranked at 10.

which is obviously well behind you. I won't end up with a lot of him simply because I think when I'm push comes to shove and I'm deciding between these running backs we're talking about, all of these guys, the Gentie or HN, the Walker H&, the Chase Brown or HN. I'm going to end up with those other guys over H& and I could be making that terrible mistake like a lot of people are making that you're predicting Andy. My rationale for that is.

You know, the last two years, no one has thrown the ball to the running back more than Tua. You lose Tua. You then replace him with a quarterback who can scramble and have mobility. They're still going to throw the ball a lot to A-Champ, but I would expect he gets fewer targets in the passing game than he had with McDaniel and Tua. So if that comes down a little bit, and like I just said a minute ago, I think their offense is worse this year than it was last year losing Waddle.

obviously you've got McDaniel. Just noise, man. Just noise. Just noise, sure. And my estimation. Remember when Cam Newton couldn't throw out of running backs? Right. No, that's what I said. He's going to get a lot of targets. But do you, are you saying you think Malik Willis will, without Mike McDaniel, Malik Willis will target H& more this year? I think he'll get the same amount of targets. I mean, we weren't talking about 105 Echler targets. We're talking about 85 targets. Yeah, I think he'll get 85 targets. You don't, you said they don't have Waddle?

Where does, where do targets go? Vacated targets from wide receivers often go to running back. So I, I am just saying, like, to me, it's noise. I'm not saying what you're saying is invalid at all. I'm saying to me, these are things that I think will get me a discount on him. For you, it won't be a discount because you won't have him. It's just a flag plant for me on the town. Where is, where is he going ADP-wise? Is he ahead of early, early second? Okay, so just as far as running backs go. It's right, for me, the hard bar is right next to Chase Brown.

Hampton, Chase Brown Walker. And I prefer Chase Brown. Yeah, Hampton and Chase Brown Walker going behind him. That'll be tough. I mean, yeah, obviously incredible talent. Where did he finish last year? Six. Okay. With his best points per game of his career. He had 12 touchdowns. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, the nice thing about him, he's exactly like Gibbs where on any play, even if they're upper, I mean, he had so many late fourth quarter games.

put out of reach, goes and scores from 65 yards. To me, he got paid. The other thing, I mean, nobody talks about this, the commitment to him, he's their face of the franchise. And then you go listen to the coach talk. I hate that I can't argue. Yeah, like anything you're saying, like, yeah, no, those are all on the, those are all true things. On the plus and the negative side, everything is true. The one maybe tiebreaker when I'm looking at this is,

If he does get like 30 touches a game, which would be outrageous. He's 191 pounds. I mean, he's probably heavier now. But my point is like there's also he's undersized to be a, you know, carry an entire team for two seasons in a row. So. All right. Moving on. Number five. James Cook just keeps getting better. 12.4 fantasy points per game up to 15, up to 16.8 last year.