Early Top 10 RB Rankings, McVay Cologne, Dinner Bells

coming out saying they need to lighten his workload. Did Norv say it? But that's, yeah, that's what I was going to bring up. I looked to see. Was Norve in the back shaking his head? I know. No, you wish. You wish, Ron. No, and that's the thing. All right. Your riverboat. Last season coming into the year, I was making the argument that Chris McCaffrey would be a workhorse because of Norv Turner. He only, he just doesn't like.

RB-2s. He's great for fantasies. I mean, like you said, they had C.J. Anderson, the perfect spell to give, you know, McCaffer some rest. And they said, go away. Like, you're in Christian's way, CJ. So here's the thing maybe to learn then, because this has been the story of Christian McCaffrey in the NFL so far is there's what the team wants to do. There's what Cam Newton's been good at. And then on the other side, there's Christian McCaffrey.

It's too good to get off the field. He's too good to get off the field. And when push comes to shove, you need to win the game. When push comes to shove, you've got to throw to a guy that can catch out of the backfield. Because two years ago, we were talking all about, well, Cam's no good at throwing to the running back. No, he just didn't have Christian McCaffrey. It changes the equation. So maybe that means that I'm underestimating him, and he deserves that all pro respect after 107 receptions. He just has special DNA.

Because you can go back to his college, 2015, 337 carries. 253 carries the next year. There's some guys. Did you see his Twitter post? No. Oh, is he showing off in the workroom? The alley-oop to himself windmill dunk on a 10-foot hoop. Some people just win the genetic lottery. So the answer then is you want Chris McCaffrey to get out of the car and help you with your tire. Oh, heck yeah.

Sorry, Andy. My vote has changed. All right. He'll lift the car up. Slap that tire right on. Yes. Yeah. He doesn't use any of the lug nuts. No, he just goes full Flintstones. It is like a Lego. He smashes his legs to the bottom of your car. Oh, and he runs. And he runs. Oh, yeah. Yeah, that's definitely. That's his off-season training. He just carries people from to and fro. You'll call an Uber or you'll call Christian? Yeah. Runs a petty cab service.

All right. Number four on our consensus rankings. By the way, there will be two early running back ranking shows. Today we're going to cover the top 10 and then we'll jump into 11 through however many we can. Melvin Gordon comes in at number four. Jason. Jason has him down at six. I've got him at three. I can say this honestly. The reason Melvin Gordon is.

down at six has nothing to do with Melvin Gordon. It has to do with the five guys that I have above Melvin Gordon. I think there's a handful of really, really good running backs this season, including Melvin Gordon. Yeah, Melvin Gordon only Todd Gurley has more touchdowns over the last three years than Melvin Gordon does. Melvin Gordon gets in the end zone 38 touchdowns in that span. Gurley has 46. He's been banged up. He was the third most consistent running back. His whole career.

missed week 7 and 8. He missed weeks 13, 14, and 15. There has been a situation where we've looked at him coming back from injury. And I remember last year when people were wondering, hey, if he's back on the field, do you have to worry about a workload problem? No. Generally, when he's come back from injury, they just give him the ball again. But does that, over time, is that a concern for you, Mike, seeing him miss two or three games each and every year?

Doesn't have the opportunity to get out. I mean, last year, 12 games, 885 yards, 10 touchdowns. It has to factor into your decision when you're going to go all in on Melvin Gordon. I still would take him in the first round. I would take him as the foundational running back for my team. I really appreciate. I had him last year. It was great. I didn't have him in my semis. But he apologized. He apologized to all the fantasy football people out there. So I'd take that into...

in my consideration. That make you feel better? It made me feel a little bit better, a little bit better because I know that he wants points too. And he thinks he wants to.

Share his points with me. That is comforting, right? As a fantasy owner to know how intimately aware he is of his fantasy total? Yes, I do appreciate that. I really do like. Screw you guys. I don't care. Right. No, he wants to be good for fantasy players. The whole reason here, like if every player. And for Mike personally. In this list. Yes. Well, I did interview him. Yeah. Yes, that's true. If every player in this list. Very important. Was guaranteed healthy for 16 solid games, Melvin Gordon would be way higher. You know, because.

On a per game basis, he's unbelievable. He's used as a true three-down back. And unlike Christian McCaffrey, who might be a better pass catching back, Melvin Gordon, between the tackles at the end zone, you know, is a big, you know, bruising back that can really get it done and have a high volume of rushing touchdowns. And so I love him, but when you're talking about the best guys, to me, it's always been risk mitigation.

It's just trying to say, okay, they're all great. Who's got the biggest chance of missing games or getting injured or, you know, things like that. And that's where history just says Melvin Gordon's probably not playing 16. When you're playing fantasy football, you're weighing a ton of different things. Injury, concern, history, or in this case, the way I look at it, the offense. I really...

Believe in and trust what Los Angeles is doing. Would you hear the beginning? I heard it. I heard the little snake slip out. You've never been to Los Angeles before? I've ordered it from KFC. But look, I have more confidence in the opportunities for Melvin Gordon to score on the ground. But, you know, when I look at the games missed and I look at the Iron Man that is Christian McCaffrey, it's narrow. It's real close.

I could see those guys flip-flopping this off-season in my rankings, depending on the blowing of the wind. Sure. So very tight, very close. We're not breaking news here to say both players are very good. I agree. But this next player, let's talk about it. I want to see why he's so low in your guys' rankings. Who are you talking about? I'm talking about Super Camaro, Alvin Camara, last year, preseason. I keep thinking I'm going to stop it, and I'm not. Let it go.

Last year preseason, I started over. Last year preseason, I, you know, I wasn't fully on board. The amount of carries he had rookie year and looking on a per game basis, you know, he was good, but I saw major areas for regression to happen. And I remember, week one, watching, it was just quarter one of the first game,

drive one of the Saints. And I'm just like, oh, he's so, he's just so much better than the defenders out there. Every time he touches the ball, he gets the edge, he skirts a tackle. He's fantastic. And now, unlike going into last year where you thought, okay, his carries could come down, Latavius, going from Mark Ingram to Latavius Murray, and, you know, they'll probably bring in another rookie. I feel like...

Camara has solidified himself in the role where on this great offense, he's the dominant one now. I worried about, well, what about his stats when Mark Ingram was back? Well, Mark Ingraham's gone. So I think Camara is on talent alone, one of the top three or four backs in the NFL. And now the opportunity should go up, not down from last year. Is that true and doesn't matter? I think it goes lateral. Yeah, I worry about that. I feel like maybe the shine is off of Camara.

and we saw what he did without any Ingram in existence in the first four games. He had two absolutely crazy games. But then they were an incredibly successful team for the rest of the season, limiting his workload, limiting the opportunities for him. Latavius Murray is kind of built to, whether you like it or not, take the ball around inside the 10-yard line. I'm just, I don't know why I'm concerned.

But I feel like they won him around 200 carries max. Weeks 7 through 16. So, you know, this is Mark Ingram is now back from his suspension. Camara is still great, but on a per points basis, running back 8. So still great can give you elite week winning performances. But that's the reason I have him down just a little bit. He doesn't quite fit the same mold that the guys that I have ranked ahead of him do.

where they feel like they are majority owners of the backfield. Camara feels like... Right. They could vote and take over the company. Yeah. Camara feels like he is the most important piece and the most talented piece of the backfield. But one that the game play, almost the way that we've felt about some players in New England over the past few years, there are going to be times. They're going to be games week five last year, 12, 13, 14.

Well, week five was the, that was when Ingram came back and Camara was a bit banged up. Yeah. Over usage. Well, what I'm saying is there are going to be games. I think you're going to be disappointed on accident with Alvin Camarra just because of the way that Sean Payton calls the game or the people that are on the field. I don't know. Again, we're splitting hairs at the top. We love these guys. Yep. That's why they're there. But that's why I have them at six. Sure. I mean, it really is the tale of.

how many carries is going to get? Because if he gets what, you know, if his workload goes down like it did when Ingram was back and he's, you know, a top eight back, like you said, Mike, then you're going to be disappointed at where I have him ranked. I believe his volume will not be where it was the first four weeks when he was so far and away the number one back in fantasy, but it will be up from what you had that last part. So I see him as a top five back. All right. I'm more excited to talk about number six on our list. Todd Gurley.

He's had a very busy offseason by way of speculation, rumor, injury concerns, the Super Bowl, the odd usage, the C.J. Anderson resurfacing at the end of the last season. The arthritis. The arthritis. Look, from weeks, you know, one through 10, he was Todd Gurley per usual. Best running back in football, bar none. Scoring touchdowns. Had 17 last year. Hey. Absolute monster.

What is the real worst case scenario for him? Could they draft somebody? Is Malcolm Brown really the next guy up? What do we expect? I've got him at five. Jason has him at four. Mike. You have him at six. I think we're all just hedging. Yeah, the worst case scenario for him is that the utilization comes way down and he turns into a Camara style usage back and they bring someone else in to make, hey, here's the reality though.

The Los Angeles Rams are extremely cash strapped right now. They are not in a position to go out and sign someone big. I mean, there's really nobody else left to sign that's a big name. And I don't believe that they'll spend high draft capital at the running back position. So if that's the case, let's say they go in to 2019, which as I expect them to do with the roster of Todd Gurley, Malcolm Brown, and John Kelly. If that is their roster going in, I don't think they have the ability.

to real Todd Gurley back too much. That's, that scenario is flaps up. I mean, we, if, if they think that they can go into next year, take their chances with the knee and I guess they'd be flaps down, wouldn't it? I was just looking at out because I think flaps up slows you down. I don't fly. I don't fly. It's a matter of aerodynamics, but the flaps down. If you're creating more drag, if your planes on the side of the road, don't call me. I'm not coming.

That's fine. I won't tell you what to do. Here's my point. If they go into the season with the mindset that Todd Gurley's our guy and we can just figure it out later. We're going to go in and we're going to assume he's healthy and then we'll just sign a player like C.J. Anderson-esque later in the season if we need to, then that's your best case scenario for Todd Gurley. I mean, you're gambling with a little bit of risk, but maybe not a lot. I think...

That the team actually is showing us that they have massive amounts of confidence in Malcolm Brown. To have C.J. Anderson come in and play great for them for half a year. Maybe they think, okay, C.J. Anderson couldn't possibly do this again next year. It was lightning in a bottle. Malcolm Brown got an offer sheet from another team. And the Rams said, like you said, they're cash trapped. They're trying to figure things out.

But Malcolm Brown was important enough for them to go match the offer and bring him back. I think the team believes Malcolm Brown. He was a very good college player. And he's capable. I mean, he has the same careful with what I'm not saying. He has the same type of skill set as girly where he can be the three down type of a player if he needs to be. He's not as good as girly, but. We all kind of rolled our eyes when he went out last year. And Sean McVeigh came out and he was like, this is a massive blow to our team. Yes.