After a terrific 2019 season, @SI_Fantasy high stakes analyst @Shawn__Childs predicts this early round player to be his 2020 "Bust of the Year."
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00:00 The hype and fantasy football drafts for Austin Eckler is getting out of control and hey,
00:06 it might die down a bit after we hear what Sean Childs has to say about the Chargers
00:12 running back here with me now is SI fantasy analyst, Sean Childs and Charger report editor,
00:17 Fernando Ramirez.
00:18 Sean, I'm going to go to you first.
00:20 Cause I think this might shock the world of fantasy football.
00:23 You are calling Austin Eckler your 2020 bust.
00:28 Tell me why.
00:29 Well, in general, you know, the bus is at one of the hotter players to pick in fantasy
00:34 football because most of the time it's a result of an injury.
00:36 So, you know, last year Eckler benefit from Melvin Gordon, Gordon missed in the start
00:40 of the year was great over the first three or four weeks.
00:43 And then his role in the running game, you know, drifted backwards.
00:46 And then when Gordon got back, he was, you know, had a real step back and, you know,
00:49 early down action, but he's, he was a great pass catcher.
00:52 Phillip River was one of the best quarterbacks in the league thrown to the running back position.
00:55 He had 148 cat 147, 48 receptions to the running back position on 182 targets.
01:02 The changing quarterback, no matter who starts is going to drop down significantly, significantly
01:06 there in that area.
01:07 I don't expect as many touchdown passes in the receiving game for the running backs.
01:12 And with the two other running backs on the roster, you know, he's going to step back
01:15 on early downs and have more competition for touches.
01:17 I don't really, I'm not a big fan of the offensive line on the Chargers, but I do really, really
01:22 like their defense.
01:23 I think they are going to play a ball control offense, but when Taylor's on the field, he
01:27 is going to run the ball himself a little bit, which is also going to peel away in some
01:30 of the running back touches overall in the run game.
01:33 So overall Eckler is going to be productive.
01:35 I just don't think he's going to match last year's success.
01:37 And I predict that it probably dropped about 70, 80 points behind last year's 310, 311
01:43 fancy points in PPR leagues.
01:44 Yeah, that would be a big decline based on last year's numbers, especially when you consider
01:50 his early second round ADP for 2020 drafts.
01:53 Fernando, let me go over to you.
01:55 Is Sean crazy calling Eckler a boss?
01:59 I mean, when I heard that he wasn't a big fan of the offensive line, they actually fixed
02:03 the offensive line, not the left side completely yet, but the right side, Brian Belaga, who's
02:07 a Superbowl champion.
02:09 He's been a pro bowler.
02:10 Then you get Trey Turner, you get Mike Pouncey back from injury possibly.
02:14 So I mean, that offensive line is going to be a lot better.
02:17 Now Austin was really good last year.
02:19 The thing is, like you said, Melvin Gordon came back.
02:22 Yes, I do believe he's going to do as good if not better just because he's the guy now.
02:27 He's the bell cow.
02:28 He's been working his tail off this whole offseason.
02:31 You've seen those one arm push, one arm pull ups.
02:34 I can't do them, so I'm not even going to try.
02:36 But he's been doing a lot of those videos.
02:38 Honestly, I think Austin's going to have a breakout year as the, not the solo act because
02:43 the Chargers, given Anthony Lynn's history as a running backs coach, he's a running backs
02:50 by committee, but I feel like Austin's going to be featured and he's going to be featured
02:53 off often in this offense.
02:57 You mentioned the running back by committee in Los Angeles, Justin Jackson could be in
03:01 the mix as well as rookie Joshua Kelly.
03:04 You can find out where we have all three of those running backs ranked by visiting our
03:07 custom cheat sheets on si.com/fantasy.
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