Fantasy Football 2017 - Top 10 Running Backs + ADP Price Check

29 receptions for 298 yards in one touchdown. And this is a guy who did not have the role. Second leading rusher in the league, despite not being started for the first few games. The main concern with Jordan Howard is just going to be, it's his job. The concern is going to be how good is this offense going to be? Is it going to put him in a position to, you know, be Carlos high? Is it going to be from last year where you just don't have a lot of goal and opportunities? The touchdown total is...

are very, very unlikely to get into the double-digit range for Jordan Howard. So maybe you lose that upper echelon ceiling week to week. Maybe not, though. I mean, he had a few weeks last year against Indianapolis. He was the number four fantasy back. He was the number one against Minnesota, number two against San Francisco, number eight against Green Bay. What that tells me is outside that Minnesota game, he exploited some of these bad...

rushing defenses to the tune of top 10 performances last year. 70% of the time was a RB 1 or 2. You know, this is, he's to me maybe, I love the role. I'm just curious about the offense. Different quarterback, different. I get the concerns about Jordan Howard. I don't want my top pick to be on a bad offense. This is why I was concerned with spending that 101.

Last year on Todd Gurley, they're just, it's sketchy because you're not going to get these, the burst games, those touchdown games. But Jordan Howard, even on a bad team, was dominant. His final nine games, he had 100 plus yards from scrimmage. This wasn't. When he was playing with Matt Barkley, wasn't he? For part of that, yes. I mean, he just, he is a really, really good running back. The offensive line of Chicago is good enough.

So it's up to their defense. Can they keep the game script manageable for Jordan Howard, who he's not the best pass catch back? No. No, he is not. In the world, he can catch a football, but it's not his specialty by when he catches it. Like when he actually secures it, after that good things have happened. Yeah. That's the funny thing about Howard is he was in that top five of yards per reception.

with David Johnson and with Zeke and Ware and Coleman. I don't remember the stat, but his percentage of drops on targets was comical. I mean, he is not. Like I said, it's not his strength. It wasn't his strength from college. No, it was. In three years in college, he had a grand total of 24 receptions. He had four.

9 and 11, his career high college year was 11 receptions. He's not a pass catcher. So there was some surprise when the ball was coming. He got him last year? They draft to Rick Cohen. So this is, to me, a first and second out back who is extremely talented with a good offensive line, but in a role that's going to be in bad game scripts and not score touchdowns. I think he's going to be your quintessential RB2.

You know, he's going to give you what Lamar Miller gave you last year, which is going to upset you if you draft them where you have now. If you look at his touchdowns last year, the big problem, oh, he only six touchdowns on the season. Yeah, three of those came in one game against the Niners. I mean, there were only, you know, four games on the season that he actually scored a touchdown. I actually watched the film on him running a route, and so he turns around, he starts waving his hands. Yeah, saying no. He's not saying I'm open. Oh, he's saying don't do it. He's saying, I'm open. Don't throw me the ball.

Yeah, I think you make a good argument, and that was false. Mike didn't actually see that in the film. Or did I? So, no, you make a good point. And look, people have told me if you had to pick somebody to bust from that upper echelon of running backs last year, Howard is a candidate for me. Because if it does get pulled into a first and second down role and the team struggles.

Let's say Jordan Howard ends up with four touchdowns on the year. That's going to be a disappointment from where you have to draft him. And they brought in Benny Cunningham. So they brought in Todd Gurley, his old pass-catching nemesis and Benny Cunningham, which Cunningham's a good pass-catching back. Todd Gurley rounds out our top 10. He is our number 10 running back. He certainly rounds things out. Andy is my name, and I have him at 11. Jason has him at 10. Mike has him at 13.

We've talked about Todd Gurley. I love him this year. Jason is Jason's favorite player is Todd Gurley. Don't you put that evil on me. On recent episodes. And his average job position right now, if you think he's going to return to form potentially, he's going at the back of the second round for a player who, despite having as bad of a season as you can with 278 carries.

You know, still finished inside that top RB1-2 range 56% of the time. I don't want to talk him into the ground. No. But the upside is there, especially with the commitment by Sean McVeigh to get him involved in the passing game. Camp reports have been good. In joint practices with the chargers, it was reported that Gurley was, you know, pretty much dominant on the field. So can he translate that? Can he be committed? Signs are good, but he needs to do it on the field. Now, you can take this stat.

Either way, you can say that, well, this is a good sign for him because there should be return to the mean or this is just a sign of how bad things were. So last year, seven running backs had 300 plus touches. The other six were running back ones. And I had to go back to 2012 to find a running back who had 300 plus touches who wasn't a running back one. And that was Chris Johnson in 2012. The top five running backs and total touches.

They were all top five fantasy running backs except for Todd Gurley. Yeah, so you can take it as he really stinks. Or he should be a top 12 running back. And if you remember Scott Barrett's work, you know, this is Jeff Fisher Day. National Jeff Fisher Day. He found, what a perfect thing. Yeah, this is a perfect end to today's show. He found out that, you know, when he went back and looked at those most inefficient high volume running backs who didn't get the job done, it was like three of the top five played.

for Jeff Fisher. And Jeff Fisher is gone. I think that that's going to change. I look at Todd Gurley at the back of the second. You get him at the two-three turn versus the one-two turn with Jordan Howard. Todd Gurley's probably getting 40-plus receptions versus, you know, 20-something for Howard. This is why it's because of where he's going in the draft and the baseline, not because I believe Todd Gurley is going to be a top five back by any stretch. I don't think it's going to happen. But I think he's a safe pick and his floor is high and he has room to

to grow based on, you know, everything you're just saying there. If he does get 300 touches, which I think he will, it's going to be, he is going to have to suck to not be top 12 next year. Yeah, he's probably going to be. Maybe he does. Probably going to be over 300 touches because, I mean, 270-something carries last year and, you know, you talk about 40 receptions. It's going to be up at that 310, 320 range.

All right, number one, David Johnson, two, Lev Bell, three, LaShaul McCoy, four, Ezekiel Elliott, five, Devonta Freeman, six, DeMarco Murray, seven, Melvin Gordon, eight, J. Ajai, nine, Jordan Howard, ten, Todd Gurley. And tomorrow we shall bring you running back. We will bring you more running back. You know, honestly, we're bringing you the more important running backs because everybody knows.

You know, everybody knows the top guys. Everyone focuses on the first and second round. But it's when you get into rounds four, five, six, seven. Where are you drafting the gyms that are going to help you get to the playoffs? Yeah, and we'll throw a couple running back sleepers in the tail end of the show tomorrow as well on top of the 11 through however far we get. So it's going to be a great show. Thank you very much for supporting us. And a reminder, hey, subscribe on iTunes. Now's the time. If you got...

If you enjoy the show, you enjoy the content. You're over on YouTube or you're on iTunes or you're on Google Play on your Android device, wherever you're at. We always appreciate a good review if you like the show. And we invite you to come hang out with us and join the Foot.com. Yeah, we always tell you you don't win the championship at your draft. So make sure you subscribe, stick with us through the season. Maybe you'll even be in the listener league with us. Maybe. Submissions closed soon. What's the email address? Yeah, if you want to submit an entry for the listener league, you email us Listener League at.

Fantasyfootballers.com. Send your entry over there. We've received many hundreds of entries. Thank you guys. We close it on Friday. Yep. Correct? So you got to the end of the week. And finally, just want to remind people about the Secret to Victory podcast. New podcast from Gatorade and Gimlet Creative about how the best athletes in the world use defeat to fuel a win this week.

You'll hear from Serena Williams about being on the wrong side of the biggest upset in the sport, how it drove her to come back stronger than ever. So visit gatorade.com slash podcast and listen now or subscribe wherever you get your podcasts. Sounds pretty good. Things are getting fun, guys. Oh, man. This season is so great. It's, I mean, I feel the football fever. Ooh. And you don't want no. It's like the Beasles. You don't want no prescription for that. Oh, no.

You want that to infect. I need to spread everywhere. You let it burn. You let it burn. You just let it burn. You just let it burn. You just let it. You know, like the chicken pox parties that you used to have. They need that with the football fever. You get your friends together and you spread it. Yeah. You spread it like. However they do those parties to build up. Malaria. To build up immunity. And I don't want immunity. No, we want. I want the vaccine. I want no immunity. I want someone to inject me with it.

Once a year. This is getting really weird, fellas. Hey, check out Playdraft.com slash ballers. If you want to play some best ball with us, get a free entry. I'm going to do a game today. So watch our Twitter for a link if you want to join in with me. And don't forget, the fantasy footballers live. BallersLive.com tickets on sale this Friday. Goodbye. Thank you for listening to another episode of the Fantasy Footballers podcast. Join our fantasy football community on join the foot.com.

and follow us on Twitter at the FFBallers. The perpetual pen tapper, the arbitrary fridge reorganizer, the holiday party planner that starts in May. Principal knows your star employees have their work quirks. Principal also knows how much these employees mean to your business. You need them. They need benefits. Work with principals so they can help you help your team with a retirement and benefits plan that's right for them.

Principal life insurance company, Des Moines, Iowa. Football season is back. And whether you're tracking your lineups or cheering on your favorite team, DirecTV makes it easy to catch all your pro and college football action in one place. With DirecTV, you don't have to bounce between apps and channels to find the action. And when game day gets busy, Multivue lets you watch up to four games at once. And whether you're keeping an eye on one team or several sports central.

makes it easy to stay up to date with the latest stats and scores, while game time notifications help ensure you never miss kickoff or a big play. Plus, with the DirecTV app, you can stream on the go, and eligible packages include the ESPN Unlimited Plan. Sign up now. Games not included with DirecTV requires separate paid app subscriptions. Service renews monthly unless canceled. Local channels vary by market, blackouts, and other terms apply.