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00:00 (upbeat music)
00:02 - Early 2024 running back rankings.
00:10 When I get a laugh from Joe, I know I'm on the right track.
00:13 Early rankings, no surprise at the top,
00:15 but for me, my eyes kind of went at number two.
00:18 Joe, Christian McCaffrey's at the top,
00:21 Reese Hall at number two, with a healthy Aaron Rodgers.
00:24 Do you really, I could see this happening.
00:26 Thoughts?
00:28 - I was Googling all the Sun Tzu quotes
00:30 that were like, right?
00:32 Or, you know, like I think he says that a lot at the end.
00:35 - Yeah, he's definitely.
00:37 - Yeah, know thyself, know thy enemy, right?
00:40 Yeah, it's a big deal, right?
00:41 - This is a funny bit.
00:42 I like this, Sun Tzu grew up in Loda.
00:45 - I do read "The Art of War."
00:46 It's a good read, everybody should read "The Art of War."
00:48 It's a good read, yeah.
00:50 A little Sun Tzu, a little Machiavelli.
00:52 It's Sunday morning, folks.
00:53 Come on, kids.
00:54 All right, let's get to the running backs here.
00:56 These are the expert consensus rankings
00:57 over at fantasybros.com.
00:59 Christian McCaffrey, no doubt, obviously,
01:02 at the top of these rankings.
01:03 But again, he'd come to another season here
01:06 where he was absolutely spectacular.
01:07 He was the RB1, he had 21 touchdowns,
01:10 1,400 rushing yards, 500 plus receiving yards.
01:13 I mean, there's no place that isn't gonna have
01:15 Christian McCaffrey one, and he's earned that rank.
01:18 He's still a running back.
01:19 There's still volatility there.
01:20 There's still injury quotient.
01:21 He's another year older.
01:22 He still has all these playoffs and a Super Bowl.
01:24 So there's extra mileage on the season too.
01:27 It's not gonna change the rank.
01:28 He's gonna be the consensus number one.
01:30 What's interesting here is the consensus number two,
01:32 and it's Brees Hall.
01:33 Now, Brees Hall had nine rushing touchdowns this year,
01:35 which is pretty much what the Jets had,
01:38 I mean, at some point in terms of their touchdowns.
01:40 It's about 50% of all the touchdowns
01:42 that team had as a whole.
01:43 And everyone is thinking, hey, Aaron Rodgers healthy,
01:46 Aaron Rodgers back, much better situation.
01:49 The only caution here that I have
01:52 when it comes to this situation
01:54 is that he does run a,
01:57 Aaron Rodgers isn't known for his pace of play.
02:01 Let's put it that way.
02:02 It's very slow.
02:03 It's very methodical.
02:04 Sometimes that does kind of stun
02:06 some of the offensive potential,
02:08 but that probably works well with the Jets
02:11 because you wanna play defense or on the football.
02:13 Yeah, it's the dynamic that's going to lead this team
02:15 to success is what they wanted to do last year
02:17 and couldn't because Aaron Rodgers couldn't get through
02:19 the first series of the season.
02:21 But Brees Hall being number two,
02:23 oops, did I say that?
02:24 I go, oops, sorry.
02:25 Brees Hall number two makes sense.
02:30 It is a little bullish for my taste.
02:32 You'll see my boy Bijon at number three.
02:34 I think with Arthur Smith gone,
02:35 we're all thinking good things
02:36 for Bijon Robinson this year.
02:38 And Bijon Robinson, people say,
02:40 oh, it was disappointing.
02:42 It was, but I don't think he was disappointing.
02:44 I think Arthur Smith was disappointing.
02:46 Like if you watch Bijon Robinson,
02:49 Bijon Robinson was spectacular last year
02:51 when he was given the opportunities.
02:52 The problem is giving him the opportunities.
02:54 He still had 487 yards receiving.
02:56 He still had 976 rushing yards and eight touchdowns.
03:00 He was RB 12 in half PPR in full PPR.
03:05 He was also RB 12.
03:06 But if you look at the game log too,
03:08 they gave him 20 carries one time all year, just once.
03:14 Like I don't understand,
03:15 like maybe we should get this guy
03:16 the football more than 20 times.
03:18 Like I'm just saying maybe just a little bit
03:20 in terms of target volume.
03:22 It was sporadic.
03:23 There were games where he actually,
03:26 over a four game span last year,
03:28 heading up to the bye,
03:30 he had just three targets over four games.
03:32 So I don't know what the hell we're doing here,
03:34 why we drafted top 10 pick on Bijon Robinson
03:39 and not utilize him, whatever.
03:41 Hopefully that'll change this season going forward.
03:44 Kyron Williams at four, what a great season.
03:47 Kyron Williams in a phenomenal spot there.
03:49 I do worry about the durability of Kyron Williams.
03:51 He's one of the guys you can circle and say,
03:53 perhaps we're chasing last year's value.
03:55 But at the same time,
03:57 you can't ignore how good he was, how explosive he was.
04:00 And so much of this ties into
04:02 the health of Matthew Stafford.
04:03 And then as long as he is healthy and upright,
04:05 this offense works.
04:06 When he is not, this offense is not going to work.
04:08 So we'll see how that fares in 24.
04:10 Jameer Gibbs at five, Jonathan Taylor at six.
04:12 There's some really good value here.
04:14 Both of these guys I think will go
04:15 in the late first, early second round.
04:19 Feels about right to me of where they belong.
04:21 Jonathan Taylor is a bit of a leap forward.
04:23 You could see that value fluctuate,
04:25 I think as draft season goes on next year,
04:28 into late August, early September.
04:30 If Taylor looks good in preseason games,
04:33 that draft stock will go up.
04:34 And I think Shane Steichen is positioned
04:36 with Anthony Richardson to have a Colts team.
04:37 Remember, this is the team I'm gonna talk about all year,
04:42 going into the NFL season is the Colts.
04:44 Because I do believe with that offensive line
04:45 and that quarterback,
04:46 they could make some really interesting things happen.
04:48 I can't wait to see what they do with the draft.
04:50 But Steichen is a coach that I have
04:51 really high expectations for.
04:52 I think he's terrific.
04:54 Travis Etienne at number seven.
04:55 The up and down season for him, but overall solid.
04:58 Then you have question marks at eight.
04:59 Saquon Barkley, you have Rashad White,
05:01 who is a volume king at nine.
05:04 Devon Achan, cracking the top 10,
05:06 which is very exciting, but it tells you
05:08 that people don't see Raheem Mostert
05:09 as being the guy anymore in this backfield moving forward.
05:12 Isaiah Pacheco has really stepped up
05:15 in the second half here for the Chiefs and become the guy.
05:17 But again, he has been a dude that runs really hard,
05:20 does not avoid contact, therefore the injuries
05:23 have kind of mounted up on him from time to time.
05:25 And then Ken Walker at 12,
05:27 hanging on by a thread at this spot.
05:28 So as you can see, until we start factoring in
05:32 some of these rookies and where they land,
05:35 RB1 is a little dicey.
05:36 This is why I wanna come back to
05:38 early wide receivers yet again.
05:40 If you wanna take McCaffrey at the top,
05:42 I get it, that's cool.
05:43 But after McCaffrey, De'Jawn Robinson,
05:46 you can make the argument, Brees Hall, okay.
05:48 Those three guys I think are capable
05:50 of being first round talents.
05:53 The rest of this group, I don't see.
05:55 I don't see a first round guy from four to 12.
05:58 I don't see it anymore.
05:59 I know Jonathan Taylor's done it.
06:01 I know Saquon Barkley's done it,
06:03 but that's living in the past.
06:05 And I'm not chasing the past here,
06:06 I'm trying to look to the future.
06:08 And I don't see a situation where those guys
06:11 are a good first round investment.
06:13 In the second round, we could have that conversation,
06:15 but Matt, I wanna have that conversation with you
06:17 because these are big names.
06:19 These are names that have been drafted in the first round,
06:21 that people have built fantasy teams on,
06:23 that have won fantasy championships on the backs of,
06:26 but this is 2024 now.
06:28 Do you see these names being first round caliber worthy picks?
06:32 - It's a great question.
06:34 You make a great point.
06:36 I grew up listening to Eric B and Rakim.
06:39 It ain't where you're from, it's where you're at.
06:40 So I'm with you on the whole look forward, not back.
06:43 But I could see someone taking Jonathan Taylor
06:46 in the first round.
06:47 I could see someone that's really high on Jacksonville
06:50 taking Etienne, but after that, no, no, I'm with you.
06:53 It's a hard, hard sell,
06:55 especially with the way the league is going,
06:58 the way play is going,
06:59 and the conversations you and I have had
07:01 to really move away from this RB centric mindset
07:04 when we're drafting.
07:05 (upbeat music)
07:08 (bells chiming)