The Fantasy MVP Episode w/Expert Picks

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$5. Go to fandual.com slash footballers or download the Fandul app and see why Fandul is way more than just fantasy sports. That's Fandual.com slash footballers. You guys ready? Oh, I'm ready. Let's do it. Who's your fantasy MVP? All right. We'll get right to it. We're going to start with Jamie Eisenberg from CBS Sports. This is Jamie Eisenberg from CBS Sports, my fantasy MVP, at least for the first half of the season.

is Brown's running back, Nick Chubb. I love the setup for him without Duke Johnson there and with Kareem Hunt suspended for the first eight games. I think Chub's going to be the best running back, maybe the best fantasy player non-quarterback for the first eight games of the season. You figure out the rest once Green Hunt comes back, but you want a guy that's going to get you off to a great start. And we saw what Chub was able to do last year.

Once he took over for Carlo's side as the featured running back for the Browns. From week seven on, he averaged 17.8 PPR points. And I think you're going to see him have the opportunity to do even better than that because I think he'll be more involved in the passing game. Keep in mind, then over his final nine games, he had four games of at least three receptions. And this is going to be a much better offense with Odell Beckham on the field. You can get Chub maybe at the end of round one, beginning of round two, but I think you could take him as a top five running back based on his potential. So we know what the top four running backs are. Barkley, Camara, McCaffrey, Elliott.

I think Chubb is next in line. Again, you take him that spot, you get off to the hot start, you worry about what happens when Hunt comes back, but I think you enjoy what Chub will give you as the first half fantasy MVP and maybe the league MVP for your fantasy leagues in 2019. All right, Jamie bringing the Nick Chub fire. I think the most interesting question for fantasy owners with Nick Chub, who I've seen go as high as four in drafts in place of Ezekiel Elliott, is simply the fact that...

Are you happy if you have a top five running back for 10 weeks? And that's it. Are you content? Would that feel like you made the right pick? It's the inverse Zeke Gordon, right? I mean, not that he's going to disappear. And that's the debate of its own, right? What happens to Nick Chubb? Is he a top 12 back instead of a top five back when Kareem Hunt returns? But are you happy if that's what you get? If you get the league MVP for eight weeks? If I got him for eight weeks, I personally would be happy.

You don't win at the draft, but if you can have an MVP type player at the running back position, then that would be huge for you. Get off to a six and two start. I mean, if you're looking at six and two, and you're still adding players in the meantime. You're not just staying stagnant. I think what Jamie brings up about the past catching, that is the difference. What do you believe about Nick Chubb in the receiving game?

He is capable. The one reception he had for a touchdown where he caught it behind the guy's back. That was a sensational play that a lot of running backs cannot make. Will he be used with Duke Johnson gone or will Hillier just kind of slide right into that Duke Johnson role? Those are things that we don't know. And that's what you've got to ask yourself when you're drafting Nick Chub either as high as what he's talking about, either four or five or if you wait for his ADP.

Well, and it's narrative street, too, but you wonder if this team looks like they can or believes that they can stretch Chubb from a workload perspective because of the return of Hunt later in the season or not. And this offseason has been filled with these speculative pass catching running back upgrade situations where Carson and Michelle and Chubb can they catch passes because the target is worth so much. So.

Nick Chubb, the fantasy MVP pick from Jamie Eisenberg. Let's go to Brad Evans. I know this will be very entertaining. Hey, Fulc, Klan. Brad Evans here from Yahoo Sports and, shh, you hear that? Something's rummaging through the beer cooler outside my tent. I'm going to go check it out. It's, it's David Montgomery.

Elusive, ferocious, and omnivorous, the bear's rookie running back is set to consume would-be tacklers in year one. He's the only collegiate back in the PFF era to top 100 missed tackles in a season. And he did it twice. He boasts a three-down skill set, top 10 O-line, and an elite defense, which means positive game scripts galore. Don't fret over Taree Cohen or Mike Davis.

Out of the gate, Monty rolls Green Bay for 100 combined yards and a score on 17 plus touches. 1,400 total yards with double-digit TDs is entirely doable. All bears poop in the woods. But Monty won't crap on your fantasy roster. Get up. It's David Montgomery. First of all, I enjoyed it. Second of all, um...

I'm not buying the fact that you don't keep your beer cooler in your tent. Sure. So David Montgomery, if you've followed Brad at all over the last since he was drafted, David Montgomery's been his guy. We'll get to see him on Thursday, make his debut against Green Bay. And my League of Record team would love nothing more than Brad Evans to be incredibly correct.

This show affords the opportunity for some victory laps later on if you can pick it correctly. Yeah. Yeah, I mean, we call him David Mopportunity for a reason. His opportunity, as laid out there by Brad Evans, is great. He's got a vacated role that Jordan Howard left with over 250 carries on a good team that should be in positive game scripts. If he shows that he can play in the NFL, which...

So far, everything from camp from the very little bit we've seen in the preseason says it looks like he can. He should be able to dominate. And he's not alone in picking him as a fantasy MVP. That's true because Adam Rank weighed in. Adam Rank from the NFL. It would be so on brand for me, Adam Rank to come in here and stump for David Montgomery. So that's exactly what I'm going to do.

David Montgomery is the running back that Matt Nagy has been waiting for. And let's give Maggie credit last season. He tried to make it work with Jordan Howard. He gave him the ball 250 times, and he didn't get a lot out of it. And you know what? This year, he is going to give David Montgomery just as many attempts, and he's going to use him.

as a receiver out of the backfield. David Montgomery was the most elusive running back in college football last year. NFL defenders are not going to be able to keep up. You will be thanking me after week one. All right. We'll be thanking you and Brad. Very passionate about David Montgomery. Yeah, he's a Bears fan too. But I'll say this.

At Iowa State, David Montgomery lined up in the slot frequently. We've seen him at least against second team, third team defenses show incredible balance, tackle breaking ability, versatility. He has a point with the amount of work that Jordan Howard had in the offense. So if you want your cream hunt fit for this team, it's certainly David Montgomery.

And like he said, he's being drafted at RB19, so he's a really nice pick for upside. Sure. And like Rank said, Matt Nagy tried with Jordan Howard. Never forget those first three weeks, especially week one when they came out and they gave Jordan Howard. They gave Jordan Howard five targets. And wasn't it four targets week two? Yes. And to be fair to Jordan Howard, he caught all five of them.

Granted those five receptions turned into 25 yards, which is terrible. It's pretty amazing for a running back to be that unproductive. But they tried. It really seems like that's what Matt and Aggie wants. You don't need to look at the bear's backfield and feel like you have to pick and choose with Cohen and Montgomery the same way you would with another backfield. Because Cohen, even last year, lined up over 30% of the time, not in the backfield at all, in the slot at wide receiver.

He's a weapon that Matt Nagy will use because Matt Nagy is not a moron. He's a smart offensive mind. But there will be plenty of snaps with both players on the field. If you believe in the talent of Montgomery, then he represents a potential, you know, RB 18 that ends up in the top 12. And I don't know what Montgomery would have to do to be the MVP. Does he have to finish in the top six? Probably not. If he's a top team running back, I think he's an MVP. Yeah, I think if he's an RB1, top 12.

then where you're drafting him right now as the 19th, you're going to be loaded. And the truth is having David Montgomery finished lower than the running back 19 is going to be very difficult because he has a three-down skill set and has the starting role. And this was the first year for Mitch Trubisky in that offense. Alan Robinson's first year there off the ACL. Anthony Miller was a rookie. We've seen...

Quarterbacks and offenses level up after another year in this system. We have. And they were still, from what I can recall, the 12th best offense in football last year in points scored. It could be yardage. It's one of the other. It was a top half offense in one of those metrics in their first year. There's no reason to believe that the Chicago defense couldn't put Montgomery on the goal line more often this year just as a chain-moving offense. So I think it'll be interesting. We're going to move on J.J. Zacharison.

Great friend of the show. Editor-in-chief at Fandual Numberfire, bring in his fantasy MVP pick. What's up, fellas? It's your boy, JJ, here. And my MVP for the fantasy football season is none other than my go-to late-round quarterback this year, Lamar Jackson. Now, of course, we need him to improve as a passer to really be a difference maker in fantasy football. But that could happen with Greg Roman running this offense.

Roman was able to help both Colin Kaepernick and Tyrod Taylor hit their highest marks in passing efficiency when he coached them. And as we know, both of those players are dual threat quarterbacks just like Lamar Jackson. If he gets better as a passer, then we know the potential is there. Jackson hit just under 700 rushing yards last year and basically half the season. I think it's safe to say that a healthy Lamar Jackson can hit that mark again. Well, since the turn of the century, we've had eight instances where a quarterback has rushed for 700 or more yards on the ground.

Of those eight instances, seven of them finishes top five quarterbacks in fantasy football that season. Lamar Jackson is a cheat code, and you should be everyone's favorite late round quarterback target. I endorse this message. I fully support it. I was feeling it while he, once the name was uttered. You looked like a macaw. It was like I was on a Lamar Jackson IV drip. I mean, it would, it felt good, man. I love Lamar Jackson. And that's.