Frankly Fantasy Football
The Fantasy Football Podcast. Frankie & Johnny bring you the info you need to win your fantasy football leagues with their in-depth news and hard hitting player analysis. The guys hope to put a smile on your face as well.
Frankly Fantasy Football
Fantasy Finish: Top 24 RBs of 2024 - A Year in Review
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This episode explores the highs and lows of the top 24 running backs from the 2024 fantasy football season, emphasizing standout performances and unexpected disappointments that shaped team outcomes. As we review each player’s performance, our hosts reflect on evolving strategies for the upcoming draft season and the importance of contextualizing player performance within their team's dynamics. May the fantasy gods smile upon you.
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All right, guys, today we're doing our continuing the 2024 year in review. Today we're going to do the top 24 running backs. Let's see where these guys ended up landing, let's see where we thought they were going to be in the draft, and we're going to talk a little bit about each and every guy. So, top 24 running backs, let's go All right, all right, all right. Welcome to the show. This is the Frankly Fantasy Football Podcast. We are your hosts, frankie and Johnny. Hi, frankie, it's the new year, baby, and we're doing our year in review episodes here. Today is the top 24 running backs. Are you excited about this one?
Speaker 2:Yeah, baby, Way better than them QBs.
Speaker 1:Let me tell you hey, this was the year of the running back, frankie, it really was, man. I mean, this year a lot of people went real heavy in the first couple of rounds with receivers and let me tell you something, we're going to go through them. But these running backs a lot of these guys were league winners and overperformed their projections. Man, a lot of new faces and new places, of guys we talked about early in the season and the beginning of the offseason and, man, three of them hit the top five this year. How that? How about that? Yeah, this whole, this whole episode we're doing today, is going to make you question doing hero rb and zero rb in next year's draft, because running backs were the heroes this year. So let's, let's get after it, frankie. Let's talk about it right now, let's go baby. All right, what we're going to do, guys, we're going to talk about the top 24 running backs. We're going to start with the number one, end on the 24. We'll give three guys in a row here. We'll talk about how many points they had, what they were projected at, where they were supposed to be drafted and how many points they were projected and how many points per game, points per game. And then we're going to give a little color to them as well. All right, number one, frankie, let's do this man Potentially your 101 next year in fantasy drafts right.
Speaker 1:It has to be in consideration, saquon Barkley man, when they talk about a generational talent. You put this guy on a good team. We were all curious of what was going to happen and, holy shit, all you got were posters. Baby, all you got were posters out of Saquon this year. I'm sorry, but that move that he had, oh my gosh. It's forever ingrained in my mind. I see it on every commercial that plays now for the NFL, because they're using that shit. What? Talk about great marketing, but that reverse hurdle. First of all, it was a spin move into a reverse hurdle, legs up in the air over a guy and kept going. It was awesome, it was awesome, John.
Speaker 2:I've never seen anything like it. We've seen insane hurdles. We've seen guys that have flipped over somebody. I've never seen a reverse hurdle over a grown man coming at you to rip your face off and you jump backwards over him. What the shit that was insane.
Speaker 1:Saquon with the reverse cowgirl man. I've never seen that from a running back before. Absolutely incredible. All right, let's talk about Saquon here. Man, 359 fantasy points All right, he is 40 points ahead of number two. So he was number one by two games. By his average here, he was projected to be the RB2, 21.2 points per game for Saquon. My God, when you can start a running back that is averaging you over 20 points per game, you're going to the playoffs. Dude, that's all there is to it. Talk to me a little bit about what Saquon did.
Speaker 2:Guys, it's incredible. First off I want to say it sucks that we're not going to be able to see him go for Dickerson's record right Single season record. They're shutting down Saquon for week 18 against his former team, the Giants.
Speaker 1:It would have been the right thing to do. I know it sucks, though.
Speaker 2:Fireworks that would have been. He's getting that all day. But John, saquon Barkley. Before we went into the year, I remember I told you this and we went back and forth on champions right, and I kept saying I want Saquon to be my champion, my big champion, and I didn't end up making him. I went a different route because it just seemed like a shoe in and I still wish I would have done it because of what he did. John seemed like a shoo-in and I still wish I would have done it because of what he did.
Speaker 2:John, he was so far above everybody else. He had over 2,000 yards rushing. I'm going to stop there for a second. 2,000 yards rushing. He had 2,005. He then also had 278 yards receiving. He had 13 rushing touchdowns, two receiving touchdowns and he had 33 receptions overall. John the dude was everywhere. The dude was incredible.
Speaker 2:He's solely in my personal reason why that the Philadelphia Eagles were as good as what they were. I think that they're a good team. I think, if they're a playoff team, regardless, I think that they have an opportunity to win the damn thing because of Saquon Barkley. I mean, look at what happened. He goes off the Giants. It was obvious, everybody knew it, but it just validated what everybody thought how piss poor that organization is. You let a generational talent walk to your competitor to basically set the season, the single season record. They're not giving him the opportunity because they're shutting him down. That's crazy as shit. Not enough can be said about Saquon, in my opinion. John. I think that moving forward in 2025, guys it truly is we talked about. Yeah, you can make a case for Lamar Sure. You can make a case for Josh Allen. For me, man, I think it's easy. There's two true guys that you're going to be choosing between. It's Jamar Chase and it's Saquon Barkley as one and two next year.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I mean Saquon just absolutely blew away any of his own stats. You just want to compare Saquon to Saquon. The most yards he's ever had in a season since 2018, when he came into the league, was 1300. He had 700 more yards than that. That was in 2022. 700 more this year.
Speaker 1:His attempts were 50 attempts more than his highest attempts in any season, rushing 13 touchdowns compared to six the year before, 10 the year before. That I mean just absolutely incredible 5.8 yards per attempt here. I mean just absolutely insane numbers this year. And his receiving is actually down from previous years of what he had. So there's opportunity. That's because, obviously, he's got AJ Brown and Devonta Smith, all of that going on. They actually have receivers where the Giants didn't and it was just Saquon. But for him to keep level around those numbers and still have some room to grow in the passing game.
Speaker 1:Yeah, dude, he's a top three going into next year, if not the 101 overall. I mean just absolutely incredible. Great to see a veteran, new face, new place come into a great team and just dominate, all right. Well, this is going to be a little theme in our top five here because, number two, we've got King Henry, derrick Henry, now with the Baltimore Ravens man. Another new face, new plays and sure as shit. These guys were one and two on the board 309 points, 40 points below, I'm sorry, 50 points below. Saquon, by the way, projected to be the running back one, was the running back two, 18.6 points per game. Talk to me about King Henry.
Speaker 2:King Henry, john, he ain't going away. He isn't going away. Guys, I'm going to say it and it might not be a hot take. It might be a hot take. You draft Derrick Henry in the first or second round next year. First round, and when I'm saying second, I the immediate snake Pick one or two right. I'm not taught like 13, 14 or 15, 16, depending on if you're in a 12-man or 16-man league, or 12-man or 14-man league, right, king Henry is incredible, john.
Speaker 2:We thought that there could be a small fall off right With Saquon. I didn't believe that. I thought that, you know, maybe Jalen Hurts would snake a couple of those touchdowns which we saw, but Saquon still had 13. But Derrick Henry, with Lamar, was a huge question mark and people were nervous to see how is this going to work out? Well, 1,783 rushing yards later, with 14 rushing touchdowns, two receiving touchdowns and 17 receptions, he dominated, he absolutely dominated, john. He went on a stretch I think it was 10 weeks or something along those lines, check me if I'm wrong of where he scored just about every week. It was something insane like that.
Speaker 2:And so when you have a guy who is 30 plus years old performing as if he's 26 years old when he has Lamar Jackson. That actually took away a lot of that brunt force that Derrick Henry would always try to be, that battering ram and everything like that. It gave him some breathing room and then to be on a team like the Baltimore Ravens to where they have so many other options. We mentioned Mark Andrews, we mentioned the emergence of Rashad Bateman and Zay Flowers. Derrick Henry never had that shit. The closest thing he had to that was AJ Brown and they shipped him away. And so for me, man and Tannehill, that was the Tannehill years. Now you bring him on a team that is this dominant, with a generational talent in Lamar Jackson. John, I'm calling it man you fire up Derrick Henry. You draft him with confidence next year in the back half of the third or first or early second, if he does fall that far.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I mean, if anybody still does do standard point leagues where there's no points for receptions at all, you can make the argument that Derrick Henry should be the 101.
Speaker 2:Great point.
Speaker 1:He really could make that argument. And the reason why is the receiving was non-existent? Zero, great, great point, great, really could make that argument. And the reason why is the receiving was non-existent? Yeah, yeah, zero. I mean he had 170 yards receiving, with two touchdowns, 17 receptions, 17 receptions, yeah. So I mean, when you're looking at nearly 2000 yards total, uh, his was all rushing, you know, and you can't say that about anybody else, including Saquon Barkley. I mean it's just really, really incredible what he did actually on the ground. So, yeah, I mean I've been calling for the demise of Derrick Henry for the past it feels like four years saying no one can carry this kind of load and keep going. The guy's done it. I'm sorry, man, I mean he just has done it. Then he played 16 games, 16 fantasy games. There's another call out he's healthy guys, he's fucking tank.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, there's no reason to think that that's not going to happen. He played 17 the year before. Before that, he played 16 the year before that. So he's just been steady, he's been healthy, he's been consistent and, yeah, enjoyrick Henry next year, man, he's going to be a first round running back, no question. All right, let's get to number three. This one was absolutely beautiful. This is one of those league winners. If you were winning on him early in the first round which a lot of us did, frank, I know you and I both did we're talking about Sonic himself from the Detroit Lions 300 points, only nine points less than Derrick Henry. By the way, he was projected to be the running back 11, came in at the running back 3, with 18.3 points a game. Talk to me about Gibby.
Speaker 2:Guys, gibby is somebody in 2025, you're firing up, you're getting him where you can. Yes, I know Monty's there, but what this actually did for Jameer Gibbs, guys, this kept him fresh. We averaging 18.3 points a game. Sure, that went up a bit when Monty got hurt, but even before that, john, he was still floating around 15, 16 points a game. Guys, that puts him right at five overall.
Speaker 2:So, for me, man, in this type of offense, moving forward in the division that they're in, Jameer Gibbs is definitely a first-round draft pick. It isn't even freaking close, guys, and I think that you guys need to really get excited about him moving forward because of his youth, because we're only seeing, you know, really the tip of the iceberg at this point. There's so much more that we get to find out about Jameer Gibbs over the next course of the next few years. And so for me, man, again, looking at what he did, he attacked at both that receiving end as well as that rushing end. He almost had 1,300 yards rushing. He had 1,273.
Speaker 2:He ended up having 13 rushing touchdowns, which is tying that of Saquon Barkley. He had three receiving touchdowns, which is more than Saquon Barkley and more than Derek Henry. And here's the key call out 47 receptions for 486 receiving yards. Guys, that's going to go up after week 18, right, because they are in a serious ass playoff contention with that of the Vikings, so that's going to even increase. But for this fantasy season, guys, jameer Gibbs was nothing short other than gold. He was freaking gold man.
Speaker 1:He ended the last three games. I mean, this is what you want in your fantasy playoffs. Right here he was number three running back, number eight running back and number three running back. Amazing, yeah, that's called a league winner there, guys. And you took the running back 11. He ended up as the running back three. These are the guys who help you hoist your trophy up at the end of the season. Yeah, fantastic year. Definitely going to be targeting him next year very early and very often. All right, let's get to the next three groupings. Here We've got number four, five and six. All of these guys were absolute studs this year as well. Number four is B John Robinson. Number five Josh Jacobs. Number six Kyron Williams. All right, b John Robinson 284 points for the season.
Speaker 1:Projected to be the running back five, came in at the running back four, averaging 17.6 points per game. Frankie, it didn't feel like he was the running back four this year. It felt like you were a little bit disappointed, I felt. By drafting Bijan and Brees Hall in that running back four or five conversation, I felt like they were going to be the number one, the 101 for next year. I felt like Bijan had that. I know he came in at number four. I know he was very good, averaging over 17 points per game, but it just didn't feel like that. It didn't feel like you had a top three four guy, because he just never had those monster games, those huge blow up games. He was just very, very consistent. What do you think about that?
Speaker 2:I totally agree. And what's interesting too is it took Bijan a little bit longer than some of these other guys, and what I mean by that. If we look at the first five weeks guys, he scored one touchdown in five weeks and then he also only had two games over 95 yards rushing in the first five weeks. He also had two games in the first five weeks to where he had under 31 or less. That's a killer. And so when you start looking at, okay, how did it unfold? Well, we saw early on it was still a little bit of Tyler Algier Like. We saw that it was still a pretty, pretty solid split there. And then eventually, especially when Kirk Cousins, you know, really started tanking and nose diving and we saw Michael Pennix, they were like fuck it, we're going, we're, we're giving the rock to Bijan and that was the right move. For the Falcons, obviously, they're tied for number one in their division, looking to hoist a playoff opportunity here, which would be super exciting, especially for Michael Penix.
Speaker 2:But what's interesting, john, let's talk about next year, 2025. I'm looking at Bijon as the same exact way that I'm looking at him I did this year. He's going to be a top five guy. I only see him getting better, especially with Penix getting more comfortable. Kirk Cousins is gone, right, so the offense might change a tad, but the constant thing that won't is going to be Bijan and then John.
Speaker 2:When you mentioned how good, or when we were talking about Jameer Gibbs and his reception capability, this is where Bijan is going to take it to the next level. He had 59 receptions this past year. He ended up having 428 receiving yards on top of 1,286 rushing yards. John, with Michael Penix next year Having the entire year, I see Bijan potentially eclipsing almost 70 receptions. If that happens, he's going to be a top three guy. So if you can almost get a value yes, I'm saying value on Bijan If you can get him as the RB5 in a draft next year, I think you're getting serious value there. I think that that's somebody that's really exciting for your team and that means you're pushing him out to the end of the first round, right, and that's where I think you're going to continue to get good value for Bijan, as well as the ceiling plays that he can get with the upwards of RB1 status.
Speaker 1:You know, what's funny is I'm looking at the stats here and I've literally got Jameer Gibbs and Bijan pulled up and their stats, frankie, they're almost identical. Almost identical over 1200 yards rushing for both of them. No-transcript year. Who knows if Algier is going to be splitting as much time as he had. You know you're going to have a new quarterback in there. Probably more you know dump offs, that type of thing, so, yeah, more you know dump offs, that type of thing. So, yeah, I mean I I still feel very strongly about Bijan going into next year of being a top five running back. I just think this really, 1200 yards rushing, almost 500 yards receiving, I think that's really the floor. Yeah, but I think that's where he is, I think that's his floor, I think where you'll have the variables are going to be receiving touchdowns. He only had one. Certainly that could go up next year Rushing touchdowns, 14. I mean that was a 13. That's pretty damn good, you know. But yeah, man, I mean just a great season Again. He didn't have those monster weeks, the three, four touchdown weeks, like you see some of these top backs do, but he was very consistent, very solid for you.
Speaker 1:All right, let's talk about Josh Jacobs here. Man, here's a new face, new place on the Green Bay Packers 263 fantasy points. He started the year at running back 15, ended up as five. This is another guy. If you took this guy and took the chance on him, thinking he's going to be Josh Jacobs, still on a new team, guess what he was. And he's on a better team. He did well for you here, guys. He averaged 16.5 points per game.
Speaker 2:Talk to me about Joshie Poo. Joshie Poo was one of the guys that we actually clipped out and we got so much hate from that. Like you guys don't know what you're talking about. Josh Jacobs isn't going to perform that well. There's too many options, guys. We called it, we saw it, we knew it, we knew it, we felt it, we believed it. Josh Jacobs man. We talked about the tenacity this dude brings from the growing up and what he had to go through before he went to Alabama and sleeping in his car with his dad and everything like that to then now, right, what he's doing in the NFL and then being on this Packers team.
Speaker 2:John, without Josh Jacobs on the Packers, I don't think the Packers are what they are really don't. I think that Josh Jacobs totally elevated this entire offense because there's so many young people or people players on the team. Jordan loves super young Romeo Dubs Devon or Don Tavian Wicks, jaden Reed, tucker Craft go and look at what the ages are of these guys. They are very young and here comes old man river and josh jacobs, who really isn't that old, but to these guys he is and he is the foundational point. He's the guy that, if things are getting out of control. You hand the ball off and you know you have somebody back there that can get the job done.
Speaker 2:John, moving forward 2025 I'm drafting josh jacobs. I'm drafting josh jacobs as a second round running back. I think that's where he'll probably end up falling. Maybe he'll stick around in the end of the first round. I think maybe the first round is a little bit rich for my blood, even though it's showing like he is a first rounder for sure, based on points Out of question. But for me, I think that this was a very, very good season for Josh Jacobs. So I would be looking at targeting. If I am thinking of 2025 and I do really like Josh Jacobs I might be trying to get a receiver on that first round, trying to get one of those top tier guys and see if I can get Josh Jacobs on the back. If that's possible, phenomenal. If not, you might need to go for him. But again, he gives you a solid foundational piece for your fantasy team moving forward.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I mean Josh Jacobs had just he led the league in rushing in 2022. He had six 1,650 yards rushing that year and 400 yards receiving that year. This year wasn't that far off from that. He had almost 1,300 yards rushing, 14 touchdowns. He had two more rushing touchdowns than he had that year and 340 yards receiving with a touchdown. So it really was very, very similar to the year that he was the talk of the town.
Speaker 1:You know, you just had you had Saquon, you had Derek Henry, you had some guys ahead of him this year, but still very, very solid again on a good team. It's a veteran guy who has led the league in rushing and gets put on a good young team with a good team. It's a veteran guy who has led the league in rushing and gets put on a good young team with a good quarterback. All right, other than Bijan, everyone we've talked about so far is surrounded by good teams with good quarterbacks. So I mean just really interesting to look at that stuff when you're looking at free agent running backs going into next year. Keep that in mind. This could be one of those years where you go oh shit, these guys do have value. Don't be scared off by these guys because they could be absolutely excellent for you.
Speaker 1:All right, let's go to number six. Here We've got Kyron Williams of the Los Angeles Rams 254 total points for the year. Drafted at 254 total points for the year. Uh, drafted at running back 10. Projected at running back 10. Came in at running back six. This is one of those guys, man. It just felt like he was going to score every goddamn week, anytime touchdown. Kyron williams every week on draft kings I was good to. He was almost always in my parlays, averaging 15.9 points per game. He was the shining light on this Rams offense. He was the guy that really was the most consistent. He was the only guy I could say yeah, you got to start him every week. Even Puka scared the shit out of me, cooper Cup dropped completely off the cliff and we said Matthew Stafford is off our board for next year. So what are we feeling about Kyron Williams?
Speaker 2:John. This is interesting and just as I'm talking about how we were so right on Josh Jacobs and so right on many others, I personally was very wrong on Kyron Williams. I didn't think Kyron Williams would live up to what he did the previous year. I thought that there could be a drop off, so on and so forth. I was wrong.
Speaker 2:Here's where there's an interesting delta point that people need to be thinking about moving into 2025. Is that if Matthew Stafford is not on the Rams anymore, does that change your opinion on Kyron Williams? If Cooper Cup is not on the Rams anymore, does that change your opinion of Kyron Williams? I don't know these answers. I'm just giving people things to be thinking about because these are real life scenarios that could come to fruition. Matt Stafford's getting old, cooper Cup's getting old. These guys could try to trade them. These guys, being the Rams, could try to trade these players to get actual draft capital to continue to keep their team young, vibrant and moving forward in the right direction. Sometimes, even though the talent is there with Stafford and Cooper Cup, sometimes the contracts are tough and then, on top of it, they might be losing a step here and there. So those are the things we need to be thinking about heading into 2025.
Speaker 2:With that being said, everything stays status quo. I'm absolutely drafting Kyron Williams next year. He's not even somebody that I'm even doubting. One of the biggest things that I was nervous about was that the Rams spent serious capital to get Blake Corum. What was interesting is we never saw Blake Corum. Kyron Williams boxed that dude out of getting an opportunity because he was so efficient on the ground. So for me, man, that Rams team is partly in the playoffs due I would say partly I would say mostly due to Kyron Williams and that defensive play towards the end of the year. So I love Kyron Williams moving forward, but again, just a small asterisk there be thinking about is he going to be the same guy without a Stafford and another outside option? That's taking away a lot of the I guess audience or a lot of the defensive players that would be keying in on Kyron.
Speaker 1:Well, we've got a little bit of an answer to that, frank, as I'm looking through some of these stats. I mean we saw a ton of injuries this year with the Rams. I mean we saw Puka, nakua and Cooper Cup out for extended periods of time. Now Kyron Williams played four more games this year than he did last year, but his stats are very similar. He only had about 150 more yards than he had the year before, but he did it in four more games to had two more touchdowns. So it's interesting. I mean that this is probably where he'll end up, but it's just something to keep into consideration that you know you throw four more games on last year and he's going to have way more stats than he has. So I think he is a little bit dependent on the guys around him and the team that's around him. So that is something we're going to have to watch. I don't think it's a blanket statement to say he's going to be a top five running back next year, no matter who's on the team. I don't believe that. I really don't.
Speaker 1:All right, let's keep rolling here, man, let. We've got James Cook at no 7. We've got Devon A Chan at no 8. And Alvin Kamara at no 9. Man, you just can't get rid of that guy out of the top 10 every year, can you Every year? All right, let's start with James Cook. Man, this is one of those guys Projected to be running back 16. Came in at no 7. I love seeing that. Great job. James Cook Led running Running backs in total touchdowns this year. Great job there. That was a surprising stat to me. Came in at 253.1 point below Kyron Williams and averaged 16.1 points per game, a little bit more than Kyron Williams this year. Talk to me about Jimmy Cook.
Speaker 2:I think this guy we're seeing the evolution of a superstar. I think that we are truly seeing a guy that Josh Allen and the Bills can rely on for years to come. I'm actually going to compare him to his brother, dalvin Cook. Guys, we are seeing a very similar guy in that of James Cook as Dalvin. You know, dalvin was a little bit more, maybe, brute, but he still was able to move laterally very well. James Cook is the speed guy that can knock your ass out a little bit. We saw that. But what was incredible is the efficiency that James Cook had. When you talk about those big boner weeks, when you talk about that Bijan, you know he was really good and consistent, but you know what he missed out on was those 30-point weeks. Well, with James Cook leading all running backs with the most touchdowns guys, that's a guy that's going to be that boom player that might have a little bit lower of a floor here and there compared to Bijan, but he's going to give you those massive weeks. So be thinking of that when you're drafting, because if you end up going a receiver man or somebody like that and you know you need a super high potential running back, that also gives you a real sexy floor. The first guy that comes to my mind is James Cook and John, I think. With him not even hitting 1,000 yards, he's like 980-some or whatever it may be 17 total touchdowns. I only see the opportunity getting bigger for him.
Speaker 2:Moving forward, I think they're going to try to lessen Josh Allen being hero ball, knowing that he's been playing with a broken hand since week two. Moving in, they're paying him a lot of money. Josh Allen's going to have another big contract coming With. That being said, they're going to have to say, hey, josh, we get it. We're not trying to take away what makes you Josh, but also we need you to stop running as much. We're going to give that to James Cook or Ray Davis, et cetera. So for me, man, I'm a huge fan of James Cook, I think, moving forward, he's in a perfect team, a perfect division, and I think that we're going to start seeing him eclipse some of the things that we haven't even yet.
Speaker 1:And again, I talked about it in the last episode with the quarterbacks. But with these running backs, I don't want to hear and I don't want you to buy the talk next year in the draft and people are trying to rank everybody and where are you going to take them? No, I don't want James Cook, because Josh Allen scores all the touchdowns. James Cook had the most touchdowns of all running backs 15 rushing touchdowns. Josh Allen had a ton of rushing touchdown. Look at Saquon Barkley, who ended up as the number one. You know Jalen Hurts Every Saquon Barkley who ended up as the number one. You know Jalen Hurts. Every year he scores 14 touchdowns. I mean, that's just what he does. Same thing with Josh Allen and James Cook. Same thing with Derrick Henry with Lamar Jackson. So I don't want to hear, don't listen to these guys saying oh man, all the touchdowns are going to get vultured. No, they're not. No, they're not. We've got the proof of this. They both can coexist and both score double-digit touchdowns. It's crazy. All right, matt, let's keep going here. Devon Achan comes in at number eight 246 points. The running back eight is where he was projected. Came in at the running back eight. Okay, so he ended up salvaging a little bit here.
Speaker 1:Weird year for the Dolphins. Super, super weird. Had you known some of this stuff was going to happen, I would never have touched A-Chan. But still averaging 15.2 points a game Now in this situation we did have Tua. That was out for four games. I think is what he missed with that concussion that obviously devastated the team. Really weird usage out of the backfield. I think A-Chan's going to be very difficult for me next year to really analyze. Moster nonexistent. He was the RB2 last year didn't exist. I barely saw the guy on the field, let alone cutting into A-Chan. They used Jeff Wilson a little bit. They used different guys in different areas Jalen.
Speaker 1:Wright, jalen Wright. Yeah, yeah, rookie came in. I don't know what I'm going to do with Devon A Chan next year. He's super talented, but the team itself and the usage scares the shit out of me. What are you thinking about? It should?
Speaker 2:It should scare the shit out of you, guys. And here's why, when you look at what A Chan did, let's say, in the first five weeks, very first five weeks, right, he had one week in the first one week over 30 yards rushing, but you know, what was interesting is that out of those five weeks, he had three of the weeks five or more targets, and he had, out of three of those weeks, he ended up having two of them being seven receptions or more. And so he is absolutely what he reminds me of. John is actually the guy we're going to talk about next. He's a poor man's Camara, and I don't say that in a term of like a knock against a Chan, but it's just we've seen Kamara, at such a high level, do the things that he was a poor man's Christian McCaffrey, right, that doesn't mean he's not still a top 10 guy, it just means he's not as good yet, as it, from a production standpoint, is what these other guys have been and have consistently have done. And so for me, I agree with you. I think him and I'm going to lump in Kamara because we're talking about him next who got number nine? John?
Speaker 2:I think that these are going to be the two most difficult to evaluate. I think Kamara I would actually draft over A-Chan. I would still draft Kamara over A-Chan next year because we have seen the offense for the Saints be terrible and he was still the producer there and he gets hurt and he's banged up and Derek Carr's out and everything and he's still producing, and so they obviously just signed him to a two-year extension, which means that they are ready to rock and roll with Kamara once more. Kendrick Miller didn't perform well. We saw Williams be borderline nothing, he didn't do anything. And so for me, man, I agree I think A-Chan is going to be one of the most difficult running backs moving into next year, because he could be a top five running back. He totally has the capability. But is Tua going to be healthy? Is that offense going to be okay? Look at what A-Chan did.
Speaker 2:John and we talked about early on. But when we talk about later in the year, guys, starting from week 12, 32 rushing yards, week 13, 14 rushing yards, week 15, 24 rushing yards, week 16, 21, or week 15, excuse me 41 rushing yards, week 16, 120, but then week 17, 25 rushing yards, guys, as a pure running back, he's not great. He's not good, and so he's also a little bit injury prone. So these are things that when you're drafting, especially if you're in a high roller league right, I have a couple of buddies that are doing 250 buck buy-in. If you're are you willing to put up your team to take him as your number one running back Shit? It could pan out great.
Speaker 2:But, man, he also has the capability of putting up a 20-yard floor rushing week and maybe three receptions for 34 yards, and so, man, it's really going to be interesting how Devon Achant kind of plays out. And are we going to see Jalen Wright? Are we going to see them be a little bit more of a tandem, knowing that they put draft capital to get Jalen Wright from Tennessee? So, yeah, a lot of question marks for me going around with A-chan, but even with that being said, he still significantly outperformed his projection 246 points to 214 and end up 15.2 points a game.
Speaker 1:Damn, that's pretty solid that's pretty solid it is. But I'm nervous, man, because I just don't know what to expect. I need to see what the team's going to do. Is Mostert going to stay there? Is he going to split time? Do they bring in another running back? That could really throw a wrench in things that would throw everything off.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and here's the other problem I have is that I don't think you can use this year as a predictor for next year as far as stats go with A-chan, and the main reason is because of the receiving. I mean, he had 50 more targets this year than he did last year, 400 more passing yards than he had the year before, six touchdowns rather than three, but that's not because they planned having him do that.
Speaker 1:You mean receiving yards, not passing yards, I'm sorry, receiving yards, yes, but the reason why it was situational. You had backup quarterbacks in there. You got zero production out of Tyreek Hill and from Jalen Waddle, so they had to throw the ball to HN. What if they don't have to throw the ball to HN? That could be cut in half and that takes him probably closer to running back 20 without that receiving boost that he had this year. So it's just going to be very difficult to plan for that for next year. All right, let's get right into Kamara. Then Alvin Kamara at number nine just a fixture in that top 10 at running backs he's still doing it 235 points, 10 points less than A-chan. He was projected to be the running back nine came in there at the running back nine 16 and a half points per game. What else do you have to say about Kamara?
Speaker 2:I'm drafting him next year, guys. That's what you need to be thinking about. I think that he is so much further above Kendrick Miller, so much further above Williams. He is truly the guy for the Saints. Saints have nobody.
Speaker 2:From a receiver perspective, you looked at Rashid Shaheed. He got hurt, and outside of Rashid Shaheed they had Chris Olave and he was on IR all year long. Could you imagine if Derek Carr was healthy? They had Rashid Shaheed taking the top off like he was. He was dominant. Let's not forget Rashid Shaheed and how good he was, guys. And then Chris Olave being able to be that medium route runner with the burner as well.
Speaker 2:Now that's opening up and it's elongating the field for Kamara. I actually see Kamara benefiting more because of that. And so now that they signed the extension, man, I'm telling you guys, lock him in. He might end up being, you know, uh, projected as the running back 11, right, because maybe they have Nixon over him and maybe they have chase Brown or Jonathan Taylor, right Again, and things like that. I'm still going Kamara.
Speaker 2:I just think Kamara has a much higher upside and I think he has a much higher floor, and I think that because we've seen it, with Derek Carr being hurt with no other options. They're basically saying, hey, we're going to stop Kamara because we know that you're offense. And they still couldn't to a certain degree. I love Kamara. He's steady. Eddie, don't think of him as a boom play. Think of him as a, not a bust play. And if that's how you want to be able to develop your team next year from a strategy, I think if you go receiver heavy in the beginning and you're able to anchor with Kamara, as in that third round or fourth round, guys, sky's the limit for your team.
Speaker 1:Fun fact here, frank. Since Kamara came into the league in 2017, 2024, he had his most rushing yards in his career in the NFL 950.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1:It's the most he's ever had. Back in 2020, he did 932, but he hasn't eclipsed 900 yards in any season other than this past year and in 2022 or 2020.
Speaker 2:With missing time.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, 14 games is all they had in there. So yeah, I mean, he's proving he's what you want a Chan to develop into. But right now Camara is a fixture in the top 10. I don't see any reason why it wouldn't be the same next year. It was he was on an absolute shit team this year that got destroyed by injuries. Yeah, all right, let's go to the next tier. Here of guys, we've got number 10, 11, and 12. Really interesting guys here James Conner at number 10 for the Cardinals, joe Mixon for the Texans at number 11. And Chase Brown for the Bengals coming in at 12. Okay, james Conner, number 10, projected the year to be at running back 25. I think that was super disrespectful and low.
Speaker 1:Came in at number 10, 14.4 points per game. You and I were on the James Conner bandwagon, knowing that if he stays healthy, which he did for the majority of the year, then he's going to be a top 10 running back. And sure shit, he was Talk to me about Conner.
Speaker 2:John. The biggest thing with James Conner for me, guys, when we look back in hindsight, is how much they used him in the passing game. I was expecting Trey Benson to come in third down, shake it up a bit, right? Because of how electric Trey Benson was at Florida State Guys, James Conner ended up having 47 receptions this year. 47? Correct me if I'm wrong, but that is more than James Cook, that's more than Kyron Williams, that's more than Josh Jacobs, that's tied with Jameer Gibbs, right, and that's shocking, guys. And so for me, knowing that James Conner was that foundational piece, man, I mean he was rock solid. Over 1,000 yards, almost 1,100 yards. He finished with 1094, 414 receiving yards, eight rushing touchdowns, one receiving touchdown, 114 receiving yards, eight rushing touchdowns, one receiving touchdown.
Speaker 2:When Johnny and I talk about value and when Johnny and I are looking prior to your guys' drafts and we're seeing a running back 25 being listed to James Conner, there's a reason we're really circling that and saying you should probably be targeting him for your drafts. It's because of where you can get him and the upside he's going to provide. Sure, James Conner hasn't been a pillar of health, we all know that. But again, if you took a chance on him, with not a lot of risk involved, at running back 25, and he's outputting a top 10 performance and half PPR. Everything we're saying is in half PPR, right. So think of it, even more so in a PPR setting with a guy who's getting 47 receptions. Guys, James Conner's a freaking stud. And so for me, man averaging 14.4 a game, how do I look at this? Next year I'm going to be targeting James Conner.
Speaker 2:I think that there is some risk. I think that Trey Benson, year two, could certainly eat into some of this. James Conner. We know he's on IR right now. He could certainly get hurt again next year right now. He could certainly get hurt again or next year. But where the value is going to be for him, you're he's not going to be an RB 10, John coming in, or an RB 11. I think he's going to be mid teens again into that. You know, low 20 range. I think if that's the case, you take him and you enjoy it.
Speaker 1:And you, you really love having Connor on your team. So that's where I stand with him, I'm with him. That's been extremely consistent on this Cardinals team, even with adding Marvin Harrison Jr. Even with the breakout of Trey McBride, he got more receiving, his second most receiving and receptions in his career, taken all the way back to his second year in Pittsburgh. So you add that that's how you crack the top 10. It's the only way to crack the top 10, is to be involved in the passing game like he is. If he can stay like that which he has over the past three years, there's no reason to believe that's going to change, other than health. But the guy played 16 games this year, so he played 13 the previous two years. So you can't tell me he's not the pillar of health all the time. He'll give me 13 to 15 games out of James Connor. He can still be a top 15 running back and you're going to be very happy with it.
Speaker 1:Yep, all right, let's go to Joe Mixon. Frankie, I know you got some things to say about Joe Mixon here. Joe Mixon, new face and new place, almost cracked the top 10. And, guys, let me tell you he would have uh, joe, did miss a few games here. Did shit the bed for you.
Speaker 2:Frankie, miss a few games here Did shit the bed for you, Frankie, in the final Shit the bed.
Speaker 1:Was that your Super Bowl, that he got you five, six points?
Speaker 2:Yep. So, guys, he went your playoffs starting week 15 and down. He ended up getting you, and I'll tell you right now to be exact, it was 8.1 points in week 15. It was 7.9 points for your Superbowl and, boy oh boy, was it a tale of two tales, for that of Joe Mixon, yeah.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I mean he's. He dominated all season. First of all, I know he left a bad tasting. He was not a league winner, he was actually a league loser. That's unfortunate, which is weird. It is weird, yeah. But again, that was that Texans team this year too. But Joe Mixon all year super, super solid man, Absolutely incredible. I mean he's one of those guys again new face, new place, veteran stud running back, goes to a new team and just eats, just like Saquon, just like Derrick Henry, I mean just absolutely gorgeous. Joe Mixon was that guy. Talk to me a little bit about him, though, other than how he left shit in your mouth at the end of the year and lost to the super bowl guys, but tell me about how he got you to the super bowl, frank totally.
Speaker 2:I mean, guys, when you look at his production, I mean it was pretty damn incredible man. I mean from the standpoint of 993 rushing yards, 304 receiving yards, 11 rushing touchdownss, one receiving touchdown, 35 receptions. I mean, john, we called it, we said in the beginning of the year Joe Mixon is going to change the style of this offense from what we saw last year to this year. It's exactly what happened. Think about it. Even with those shit games, even with how he really did a poor job the last three weeks, he still averaged 16.9, right. Where did the 16.9 land? That actually puts him at fifth. He would have been RB fifth based on points per game. So for me, next year, guys, he's a hundred percent somebody you need to be targeting in the second round. He's not going to be a first round draft pick. You're going to be able to get a couple more different types of players in that realm. But that second mid-second round target Joe Mixon, right.
Speaker 2:Stefan Diggs, ir Tank Dell out for the year. Nico Collins, we saw, was banged up. This year CJ Stroud had a down year. So what did they do? They relied on Mixon. Mixon is one of the safest running backs from a floor perspective you could get with the upside of Boone, which we saw, averaging 16.9 points a game. So for me, john, and again this is in half PPR. For me, man, I love Mixon. This is a guy you guys need to be drafting next year and watch the greatness continue to unfold.
Speaker 1:He absolutely will be drafted as a top 10 running back, potentially a top five running back. I mean, I'm drafting him. The guys finished that ahead of him we just talked about. I'm drafting Mixon over Connor. I'm drafting him over Kamara. I'm drafting him over a Chan. Definitely It'll be a really tough one for me to look at James Cook or Mixon.
Speaker 1:It'll be really tough for me. I think actually I'll take Mixon over Kyron Williams at this point, just because of the uncertainty with the health and the age of that team. Um, Josh Jacobs, Joe Mixon I think that's where it's tough and it was actually tough this year. It was. Those were two guys we looked at that were drafted right around the same area. They were both stud veterans, Both of them have been top five guys before and that was a really difficult call and they came out. They actually washed out very similarly If you take Joe Mixon's 13 games with Josh Jacobs' full season. Very, very similar stats. So that would be fun next year, man, but I'm absolutely targeting him. That offense ran through Joe Mixon, just like the Packers' offense ran through Josh Jacobs. Yeah, so very similar and I feel great about both of those guys next year.
Speaker 1:All right, let's keep going here. We got Chase Brown now coming in at 12. This is shocker, man. This is not a guy you drafted to. Yeah, I mean, it's not a guy you drafted to be your one, you know, or your two, for that matter. Yeah, Zach Moss was the one, and Chase Brown just absolutely stole this job and ran with it here. Came in here number 12, 228 points drafted as a running back 33, ended up at 12, 14.3 points a game. Talk to me about Chase Brown, man.
Speaker 2:Guys Chase Brown didn't take, didn't have over a 50% snap share, really, or let me rephrase that, over a 62% snap share until week nine, right? So what that means is he's splitting guys outside of literally two games 62%, 58%. He had less than 50% snap share until week nine. After that skyrocket, think about that. So for me, man, I'm all on board with Chase Brown. Here is the caveat, though If the Bengals draft a running back, I am no longer on board with Chase Brown. If the Bengals stay with Chase Brown and they're like hey, zach Moss, we're going to assign you to another one-year deal, we're going to bring you on board one-year deal, we're going to bring you on board, right, and you're going to end up being the backup. I'm all on board.
Speaker 2:Fire up the chase brown height train, because I'm hopping on right, because what we saw from him, man, was a huge differentiator out of the backfield 54 receptions. 54 receptions to a guy that played less than 50 pretty much until week nine, john, that's crazy sauce, guys. And then, on top of that, he had seven rushing touchdowns, four receiving touchdowns. He had 990 rushing yards playing basically half of a season. Dude this dude is so twitchy is the best way to put it. He is that quick twitch in his step and his acceleration is phenomenal. Now it's just a matter of do they actually believe in him or not? And so for me, man, I think the Bengals do, just because they're going to have to be thinking about bringing out the Brinks trucks for that of Jamar Chase, then Tee Higgins, they're going to need a cheap running back on a cheap deal, which is exactly who Chase Brown is right now. So for me, man, I'm firing him up, I'm drafting him on all, on all occasions, as long as he is the RB one heading into the season.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I'm with you on that. I mean he's he's got the stats and the the archetype of a top 10 running back, nearly a thousand yards rushing and over 50 receptions. I mean that's what you do need to get into and to break into that top 10. And he was damn near there, really, really close. So, yeah, I mean, as long as he's in that backfield alone, next year he should be drafted in the top 12. No question about it. All right, let's go to 13, 14 and 15 here.
Speaker 1:Really interesting guys in this category Number 13, jonathan Taylor with the Colts. Number 14, chuba Hubbard with the Panthers. And number 15, bucky Irving of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Okay, let's start with Jonathan Taylor. Jonathan Taylor, number 13. He was projected to be the running back six. So bit of a down year for Jonathan Taylor, for sure, but 222 points for fantasy. His average points per game was 16.2. Awesome, yeah, now that 16.2, that puts you right about six right behind or, I'm sorry, right about five or six right behind Josh Jacobs as far as points per game average. Talk to me about the difference there. And why did he end up at 13?
Speaker 2:Guys, Jonathan Taylor missed three weeks. He missed three weeks early on in the season and after those three weeks he went crazy. He went absolutely crazy. I mean, he ended up ending with 1,254 rushing yards, 133 receiving yards which honestly is still shocking because of how terrible the passing game was and then he had 10 rushing touchdowns, one receiving touchdown and 17 receptions.
Speaker 2:Guys, here's what you need to know about Jonathan Taylor. He is a top seven running back and it's not close. He is next year. Whether it is Anthony Richardson at the helm, whether they make a trade, whether it's Flacco at the helm, it doesn't matter for me, because look at what they did with Anthony Richardson. Most of the year was with him and they, or the defense has stacked the box because Anthony Richardson couldn't throw the ball and Jonathan Taylor still performed the way he did. So for me, man, I think we saw the floor outside of an injury. I think we saw the floor. I think, really, what could happen from this point is he gets into that top seven mark and you're really excited. So if he shows up and he is a RB7, RB8, RB9 projection, salivate, because that is a pure upside that he could obtain, knowing that he's averaging 16.2 points a game on a terrible offense with no quarterback production whatsoever.
Speaker 1:They're going to have to scheme these games around him. They're going to have to. You can't do that with your quarterback and you don't have an absolute alpha. Alpha receiver, michael Pittman, yeah, but he's not really an alpha, he's Michael Pittman's kind of an AJ Brown light, you know? Yeah, yeah, yeah. So they're going to have to tailor this team around Jonathan Taylor. I like how that worked. Yeah, tailored around Taylor.
Speaker 2:But yeah.
Speaker 1:I agree. I mean he should be drafted as a top 10 running back and he should end up finishing that way as well. All right, let's move on here. Go to the next guy, chuba Hubbard. Big shocker on this one as well. Yeah, projected to be the running back, 24. Ended up as a running back 14, 220 fantasy points, 14.7 points per game. Ah well, all right, chuba. We had a wasted draft pick with Jonathan Brooks. Wasted draft pick with Jonathan Brooks Never ended up materializing, never really saw much of the field. Chuba took full advantage of this, and anybody. I'm sorry, I was off Chuba Hubbard in my fantasy drafts last year and I regret that completely, because what a shocker, what a surprise. If you did go zero RB or hero RB and you waited for Chuba and Bucky to be your twos man, you were in the playoffs. I guarantee that. Talk to me a little bit about our boy, chuba.
Speaker 2:I mean, there's a reason that they gave him a three-year extension. Chuba Hubbard looks damn good. He did not want that job to be taken from him and he showed it. I mean, john, he literally didn't let Jonathan Brooks. When Jonathan Brooks started to get going and there was rumors of him coming back and he finally is hitting the field, chuba Hubbard didn't care. He there's rumors of him coming back and he finally is hitting the field. Chuba Hubbard didn't care. He's still running the ball like a madman and it was so impressive to watch.
Speaker 2:I was off the train of Chuba Hubbard last year, or heading into the draft last year. But now, look, it's crazy, john. He ended up finishing with almost 1,200 yards rushing. He was five away from that 1,200. He ended up having 171 yards, receiving 10 touchdowns, one receiving touchdown, 43 receiving yards. Here's what's interesting when you look at those stats, they're almost identical to Jonathan Taylor. They're almost identical to Jonathan Taylor. So now it's like okay, 2025 draft rolls around.
Speaker 2:What do you do? What do you do with Chuba Hubbard knowing that? Is Jonathan Brooks going to be back? Is he not going to be back? I'm going to err on the side if he's not. That was a gruesome injury that he had again, and I think that with them giving a three-year extension to Chuba Hubbard, I think we can officially say bye-bye to Sanders. I think that that's going to free up some cap space and I think we're going to see Chuba take the helm here, and I think also, with the evolution of what we're starting to it was here and then Valley deep-dived and then it started climbing quite drastically after that I think that they get better with each other. This is a young core, look out. I think Chuba Hubbard is somebody that could be drafted next year and do very well for your fantasy team.
Speaker 1:All right, let's go to one of the surprise picks here and another league winner as well, by the way. And DFS winners Guy won me a little bit of money this year, man the way. And uh, dfs winners guy won me a little bit of money this year. Man bucky, irving for the tampa bay buccaneers 210 points this year. Uh, projected to be running back 45, came in at 15. Yeah, 12.8 points a game. Talk to me about bucky and talk to me about some expectation for next year. He's going to be difficult next year, that's's for sure.
Speaker 2:Guys, bucky was a surprise. Bucky was a gorgeous, gorgeous surprise. He's a rookie from Oregon, guys, this is somebody that Rashad White's job and, all of a sudden, bucky Irving kept getting into there, getting into there, and really it was his job, john. He ended up having over 1,000 yards rushing as a rookie, seven rushing touchdowns. He had 397 yards receiving and 45 receptions. He was not a one-dimensional back. They tried to make him just a rusher, but he was too good for it and I know that sounds crazy, but he was very effective out of the backfield and so, moving forward, this is going to be tough. Because I say that? Because, john, in 2025, they're going to have a two-headed monster. It's going to be Rashad White and it's going to be Bucky.
Speaker 2:On top of it, this offense has been insanely great this year because of Baker's play. Can Baker continue this level of play? That's going to affect the play of Bucky Irving and Rashad White? In addition to this, I'm looking at this kind of as a light Sonic and Knuckles right, knuckles being that of Bucky, sonic being that of Rashad White much more on the lighter side, obviously, but who is really going to take the reins? Could it be more of a 50-50 next year. Could we really see Rashad White take that third down roll and not it be kind of a possession by possession type of thing. Is what they did this year. So for me, man, enjoy what Bucky did this year, but also he's not a guy I am going to be reaching for is the best way to put it for next year. I need Bucky Irving to drop into my lap at the perfect placement. That way I feel really comfortable in case he doesn't perform to what he did, because maybe the Buccaneers offense isn't the same.
Speaker 1:But I loved Bucky this year. Well, the other thing to be nervous about as well is is he going to get as many targets as he did last year or this year? You know, I mean you lost Chris Godwin and there was a period of time where Mike Evans and Godwin were gone for a stretch of games, you know so those receptions had to go somewhere. They had the two running backs in there and but he pretty much ran 30% to 60% of you know snap share the entire year. He was never the workhorse, he was always sharing. His highest snap percentage was in the sixties, you know so he's always been sharing the backfield. But yeah, I mean it's going to be a difficult guy to draft. I loved him this year, it was fantastic. But what is it going to look like next year?
Speaker 2:It's going to be interesting.
Speaker 1:We got all summer to think about it. Man, we're going to be tearing through and looking through everything for it. All right, let's keep going here. I love that one. Let's go 16, 17, and 18 here. Okay, interesting, right here We've got David Montgomery coming in at number 16, aaron Jones at number 17, and Brees Hall the bane of my existence in my leagues this year Brees Hall at number 18. All right, let's start with Monty. Let's start with Knuckles here. 205 points he was going to be the running back. 20 projected Came in at 16. 14.6 points a game. He clearly would have finished more than that.
Speaker 2:Way better, Guys, way better. Monty is somebody. If you're going for a zero RB strat, guys, you can confidently pick up Monty for next year. This is somebody. You can draft him late, you know the production you're going to get. Jameer Gibbs, of course, is the 1A in my opinion, but Monty is the guy that sets the tone for the offense. He's so important that actually in the real NFL playoff, they're wanting him to come back and not just sit on the sideline and get a surgery or take the time off to heal. They need him back. That's how important Monty actually is to this team. And so for me, guys, if you're in a position to where you're like, oh shit, I'm going to be able to get Jamar Chase or Justin Jefferson or one of these super top tier receivers, and then you just go receiver receiver, quarterback, tight end, and you're looking at Monty as your RB1. Enjoy that shit. That has been proven now for the last two years with Monty and I think it's only going to continue. So for me, man, I love Montgomery even next year.
Speaker 1:Yeah, absolutely, and he missed two and a half games this year to finish the season. So I mean he would have been. He's right up in that range with a head of Chase Brown, close to James Conner as far as his average points per game as well, so he would have been up in the top 12 or so. All right, Aaron Jones. Aaron Jones, another new face in a new place. Man, he's cracking the top 24. You got to love that. 204 points, just like Monty Running back 22 as his projection came in at 17. 12.9 points per game. How did Aaron Jones make you feel?
Speaker 2:I thought he was great. I thought, if you had Aaron Jones, guys, you were so happy for the most part. Sure, there were a few weeks early on to where you know, some of the backups started coming in and it was just like shit. This is kind of a little bit stressful, but he was able to fend them off and he was able to really regain that running back one mentality. And also, guys, here's what he did. He had almost 1100 yards, he had 1093 yards rushing, he had 378 yards receiving, five rushing touchdowns to receiving and he had 46 receptions.
Speaker 2:Here's what's hard to predict about Aaron Jones. Number one is we don't know where he's going to be right, we don't know if he's going to be a Minnesota Viking next year. Number two is, if Minnesota doesn't have Darnold and now you have a quote-unquote rookie because JG McCarthy didn't get his rookie year does that change? Does that actually propel Aaron Jones even further into a better position? Or does that retract him maybe to maybe a 20, 22, 23 RB? Because, right, they're stacking the box against him. So for me, man, it's going to be very interesting. This is a guy that you absolutely need to make sure that where he's going to end up fits a viable fantasy option. So again, this year was special. I think if you drafted Aaron Jones, you were very happy with it. But I think next year you really got to pay attention to see how the Vikings look. What happens with Aaron Jones, does he stay there, does he leave? What happens next? But right now you were really happy with Aaron Jones.
Speaker 1:Yeah, he's looking through everything. He's very consistent, regardless of the team he's on, if he plays 14 to 16 games he's over a thousand yards rushing. It's almost. It's almost identical every single year that he does that. And the receiving work that he's gotten over the past five years it's all been very consistent. He's right around that. You know 40 to 50 reception range. You know with around you know three to 400 yards receiving. So very, very consistent.
Speaker 1:I don't see any reason, as long as he's on this team, I don't see any reason for this not to continue. He's done it regardless of the quarterback and now we've seen him do it regardless of the team. So I think Aaron Jones will be one of those very safe RB twos assuming he's still on the Vikings next year. All right, this one hurts my soul, man. I need to take a break. I can't look him in the eyes yet. I'm not done. I'm not done being upset with him. So I need you to take this one Coming in at the number 18 running back on the year Brees Hall. He was projected to be the running back three. Frankie, he was my keeper in one of the leagues. I swear I thought Brees Hall was going to end up being the 101 going into 2025. I was fucking wrong, man. 13 points per game. Talk to me about Brees. What went on there?
Speaker 2:Just as bad as CJ Stroud was for the quarterbacks was equally or worse as bad for that of Brees Hall and the running backs. It was pathetic, it was putrid. The thing is he wasn't hurt. Yeah, he was a little bit banged up here and there, but he wasn't hurt. Right it was. The offense was piss poor. You're walking in and you're thinking, oh my gosh, aaron Rodgers, top tier QB, oh you got Garrett Wilson, then you bring on Devontae Adams. This should surely open up the door for that at Brees Hall. Guys, it was terrible. Brees Hall didn't even eclipse 900 yards rushing. Actually, he didn't even eclipse over 820 yards rushing. He ended up having 819. He had 468 yards receiving five rushing touchdowns, two receiving touchdowns, 54 receiving yards or 54 receptions, excuse me, and it was bullshit. He was terrible. The guy behind him and we'll talk about him here in a second is DeAndre Swift at number 19 with 182 fantasy points. Brees Hall had 193 fantasy points. Based on where you draft Brees Hall, you look like an idiot If you're picking Brees Hall in round one versus DeAndre Swift in round six. That's how bad Brees Hall was.
Speaker 2:And John moving forward and I'll be honest, right Cause I traded for Brees Hall. He was your keeper. You were really high on him. That was one of your guys I said I believed in him as well.
Speaker 2:John, I don't think Brees Hall's on my board next year. That could be right, that could be wrong. Probably I'm erring on the side of it's probably going to be wrong, but I am never willing to do what I did again for a guy that should have been was a gold standard. You know you were picking between him and Bijan and things like that and it was miserable all year long. So for me, man, on this turmoil of a team, is Aaron Rodgers going to be on it or not? If he is, apparently Garrett Wilson's going to be requesting a trade. If Aaron Rodgers isn't on it, devontae doesn't want to play there. So now you're still having a QB toss up. It is a shit show and the offensive line sucks yeah, the offensive line sucks. So for me, man, I'm so upset with the play of Brees Hall. He was an absolute travesty, arguably the biggest bust in all of fantasy football this year, and so I am not willing to draft him next year.
Speaker 1:It's impossible to even talk about Brees for next year until we know what the fuck is going on with the Jets, and we may not know anything until august yeah, seriously, yeah, yeah it's all right.
Speaker 1:So stay tuned for some uh, deep dives into breeze hall for next year. We'll figure out what the hell's going on. Let's get to 1920 and 21. Deandre swift at 19, tony pollard at 20 and naji harris at DeAndre Swift 182 points, again just below Brees Hall. Drafted or projected to be the running back. 14, came in at 19, averaged 11.3 points per game. Deandre Swift was a guy Frankie every week doing starts and sits. I had no idea what to do with DeAndre Swift. I just had no idea which Bears team was going to show up. I didn't know how they were going to utilize DeAndre Swift. Once in a while they'd run the tits off of him. Next time he'd see him he barely carried the ball maybe four or five times, so it was very unusual what they were doing with him. What? Give me something on DeAndre Swift man, I don't even know what to say about the guy Guys from weeks four to weeks to week.
Speaker 2:Let's just say from weeks four to week 11, he was very good, you were very happy. From weeks one to four you hated him, and from weeks 12 on you hated him. It was a miserable year with DeAndre Swift. But here's what I'm thinking Rookie QB right, keenan Allen most likely won't be on the team. Apparently. Word is that he would like to be a charger once more. That would be really exciting for Herbert. But Rome steps into number two. I think this opens up more comfortability with DeAndre Swift. I think that with a new head coach, there's going to be a new OC. There's going to be new life in that of Chicago.
Speaker 2:I'm not willing to actually give up on DeAndre Swift. I think there were moments to where you were like holy shit, this guy's really good. And then there were moments to where the offensive line just couldn't get it done. They were keying in on Caleb Williams and it was a rookie thing for Caleb Williams. So for me, man, I love seeing DeAndre Swift actually end up at 19, because I didn't draft him, because I think that's going to position him to be a round 20, 21, 22 projection for next year, and I love that because I see him being in the top 15 next year. So for me, man, I liked DeAndre Swift. I think it's actually a benefit to those who didn't draft him, because that's where he's going to be slated for next year. I think that you can get a good amount of value on DeAndre Swift and not lose a lot by drafting him.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I mean he's, he's really right there. He's, he's on the brink. It's just a matter of consistency, I think, because he he came close to 900 yards rushing. So like we talked about a thousand yards rushing and 50 receptions, that's what you need. Obviously, you're going to have to score some touchdowns in there to get you in the top 10, but that's the kind of archetype you need to get there. He's right on the edge of that man. I mean it's really really close 42 catches for 386 yards, zero touchdowns. You know receiving, but I mean he's right there. So I agree.
Speaker 1:Obviously they're going to need to improve that offensive line we talked about. You know, caleb Williams getting sacked 67 times Crazy. So you know DeAndre Swift was running for his life back there as well. So, yeah, it's right there. Let's see what they end up doing with it. But yeah, the talents, there is just inconsistency with the team. I want to see what else they're going to do as far as coaching scheme. They may not like DeAndre Swift. They may bring in a guy who wants to have a completely different running back or a completely different type of running game. So we're just going to have to see how that bears out. All right, let's keep moving on here. Let's go to Tony Pollard. Tony Pollard came in at number 20. We thought he was going to be projected around 17,. Right about where everybody thought he was going to be. I think. 11.6 points per game.
Speaker 2:Talk to me about Tony Pollardard I think that this is exactly where most people saw him. I don't think this is much of a surprise. If anything, I it might be slightly disappointing, and I think that that was strictly because he was banged up. The the offense with will levis was terrible. Mason rudolph was way better with that offense than he was, because at least he gave other fantasy players life. That that's what I mean by that.
Speaker 2:And then, obviously, the emergence of Tajay Spears. Tajay Spears was in and out with injuries. When he was in shit he was doing pretty damn good from the receiving perspective. So Tony Pollard lost quite a bit from the receiving end to Tajay Spears. But here's what I can say Look at Tajay Spears.
Speaker 2:Very similar and we're going to talk about him next with Najee, to that of, or, excuse me, tony Pollard to Najee, is Tajay Spears to Jalen Warren. That is where you see this group of players. And so again, if you have an opportunity to draft a Tony Pollard, just know it's a solid option, but there's never going to be a boom. Very rarely is there going to be a boom and there's certainly a decent floor there. But just know who you're drafting and it actually might get worse. John, as weird as that sounds, because with how well Tajay Spears played towards the end there, I could see him getting them, or getting him more incorporated into the normal game script instead of just passing. So for me, man, I think it's going to be interesting to see. However, I think Tony Pollard ended up pretty close to where everybody kind of imagined he would be. However, I think Tony Pollard ended up pretty close to where everybody kind of imagined he would be.
Speaker 1:Yeah, but you know I'm looking at exactly what we talked about. Tajay Spears did miss four or five games this past year and you know not having him in there when Tajay Spears plays. Tajay Spears does get the ball. You know Tony Pollard's on the field for 40 to 60 percent of the time when Tajay Spears plays. When he doesn't play, it's 80 to 90%, yeah, yeah. So that's a big difference. If you've got a healthy Tajay Spears all year long, then you're looking at Tony Pollard outside the top 24, I believe Definitely. Yeah, yeah. Which might actually be the case with the next guy, with Najee Harris as well. We did have Jalen Warren miss some weeks too. Najee Harris came in at 21, 176 fantasy points. Thought they was going to be the running back 21. He came in at 21, 10.8 points per game. Talk about Najee. Is it really the same scenario of what you just said with Tony Pollard?
Speaker 2:No.
Speaker 2:And here's why Najee Harris will not be a Steeler. Najee Harris will not be a Steeler next year unless they decide to actually sign him to an extension. You have to remember Steelers declined his fifth-year option. Najee Harris is an unrestricted free agent, right. And so now talking about the Bears perfect example.
Speaker 2:If the new head coach comes in and is like hey, I need a little bit more of a brute that can catch out of the backfield, like we saw his rookie year was phenomenal with Big Ben then maybe Najee makes a lot of sense. Maybe Najee ends up going to XYZ other team Maybe it's Minnesota, and Aaron Jones is no longer there. So Najee Harris, for me, man, is a guy that we really need to keep tabs on, because that's going to shake up quite a bit in regards to some of these other guys and how it works. Shit Dallas could even be something of interest, right, assuming they don't go with Ashton Gianni or that rookie running back who will be a rookie running back out of Boise State, something along those lines. Man, najee could be the guy. So we could see Najee actually crack top 15 or we could see Najee be out of the top 25. We'll have to stay tuned on that.
Speaker 1:There's a lot of places we're going to see new faces, new places. I'm sure we're going to be talking about Najee Harris in there. All right, let's get to the last three guys here in the top 24. 22, jk Dobbins, 23, rashad White and 24, rico Dowdle. All right, talking to me about 22 here. Jk Dobbins is a guy both of us were very high on, very happy about, projected to be the running back 30, came in at the running back 22, 13.9 points per game for JK.
Speaker 2:Jk is fantastic, guys. This was a guy leading in. We were like you need to draft JK because of what if he actually is healthy? What if he actually is the running back one for a Jim Harbaugh type of team? It happened, we saw it. He was dominant. Guys, jk Dobbins was dominant. When he got the chance, he averaged almost 14 points a game. He was just banged up and got hurt again, but he eventually came back and what did he do? We said to start him. He had over 70 yards and another touchdown.
Speaker 2:Guys, jk Dobbins is a true, bona fide number one running back. If you get the opportunity to draft him with value and let's say he's projected in that 17, 18, 16 spot, you should be salivating, you should be targeting him and you should be drafting him. And you might need a little bit of a insurance policy right from another team because of JK. We know his risk of injuries. But man, jk was so impressive and here's what he did and you got to give the dude credit right. We all know what happened to him. He came back 842 yards rushing, 141 yards, receiving nine rushing touchdowns and 29 receptions. Nine rushing touchdowns Welcome, fucking back JK Dobbins. Target him in your drafts next year.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I agree. I mean, he only played 12 games and he was sniffing 1,000 yards.
Speaker 2:Easy.
Speaker 1:Yeah, 842 yards in 12 games. And one thing he did this year that she's never done before is catch a ball. In 12 games he had 30 catches. The most he ever had before was his rookie year, with 18 catches, because he just never typically caught the ball before. If that can continue with Justin Herbert and they continue giving him the rock like they did, yeah, jk Dobbins could be very, very interesting. There's not a lot of tread on these tires, guys. He hasn't had a full workload since 2020. I mean, just think about that. For me, you know. So, really, really interesting. All right, let's move on here. Jk Dobbins loving it, Rashad White Both of these running backs for this Tampa Bay Buccaneers landed and finished in the top 24.
Speaker 1:Really interesting man. Not a guy you loved having on your team. Not a guy you loved having on your team. Not a guy that you, you know, scared your opponent when they saw oh shit, you've got Rashad White in your flex. Oh no, but the guy was very solid. He's one of those foundational players for your teams that doesn't kill you but doesn't win you a week, but gives you that 11.6 points per game. That just gives you that solid floor as an RB2 every week. Talk about Rashad White a little bit.
Speaker 2:John Rashad White. This year was supposed to be a poor man's Travis Etienne, Travis Etienne. We have not mentioned him. We have not mentioned Tank Bigsby, that's because he's a poor man.
Speaker 1:Travis Etienne is a poor man's Travis Etienne this year.
Speaker 2:That's right, and he's a poor man's Rashad White this year right. And that's what's interesting, because Tank Bigsby with Travis Etienne is a very similar backfield to Bucky Irving and Rashad White.
Speaker 1:It really is it really is, guys.
Speaker 2:And then you start thinking about it. Where did Etienne really thrive? Was the receiving end? Rashad White 57 targets, 51 receptions. Right, he ended up having six receiving touchdowns and he had almost 400 yards receiving on top of 613 rushing yards, and he also had three rushing touchdowns.
Speaker 2:Guys, rashad White quietly was a good fantasy running back. He really was. He didn't give you a super low floor because of his high receiving capability. He didn't give you a super high ceiling because he didn't get the workload, because he's splitting time with Irving, but he made up for it due to those vulturing touchdowns from the receiving end. I just said he had nine total touchdowns. Six of them were receiving. So, guys, when looking at how this is going to make up, I actually really like Rashad White next year. I do. I think that he provides a really nice floor very low risk, good value and an awesome potential package together. Package him for a trade perspective to somebody that has a running back injury. There's not a lot of flaws that I see in drafting Rashad White for next season, other than that the offense probably won't be this caliber. It would take Baker to continue to do what he's doing in order to make the Buccaneers offense what it is, but for me, man, I am targeting Rashad White deep in my drafts for next year.
Speaker 1:All right, let's talk about the last guy here Coming in at 24, Rico Dowdell. It's very fitting, Frankie. Can you say his name for us one more time for old time's sake. We're dowdling for dwindling of that of Dowdle's. Uh yeah, frankie butchered his name early in the season and, uh, that clip went viral as well, because sometimes, frankie, you're a brilliant man, frankie, but sometimes you're a fucking.
Speaker 2:Amen to that.
Speaker 1:I love your brother. I, rico Dowdle. Everybody thought he was going to be the running back 41. He came in at the running back 24,. 10 Running back 41. He came in at the running back 24. 10.9 points a game. What are we thinking about, rico Dowdle?
Speaker 2:Guys, over 1,000 yards. Tip of the cap. Rico Dowdle, you were very, very solid from that standpoint. One rushing touchdown, three receiving touchdowns, 37 receptions, 237 receiving yards, All good. I'm not buying Rico Dowdle next year.
Speaker 2:Here's why Dallas Cowboys and mark my word, it would take something crazy to happen, but Dallas Cowboys should and probably will be targeting Ashton Giante, and you will hear me say this name very often. He's a generational running back that is perfect fit for Dallas because he's from Texas. He grew up right next to Jerry World. This is who he wants to play for. Guys, they are in a market for a game-changing running back, and I haven't seen one to this level since that of Saquon Barkley. That's how good this guy is. So for me, man, let's just say they do draft him. It completely depletes Rico Dowdle. Let's say they don't draft him. Let's say they maybe just continue with Rico Dowdle, but they're going to add another piece. They're not resigning Zeke, they already cut him right, he's gone. And so for me, man, they're going to bring in another piece. So it's really going to be dependent if that piece is like we just mentioned it, like a Bucky.
Speaker 2:Irving, yeah, or like a Najee Harris that could be interesting, right, something like that to where there still might be a little bit of value for Rico because of what we've seen for Najee and Jalen Warren. But it's really dependent, guys. This is one you're going to have to stay updated with the off season. We will keep you plugged in here, but definitely want to temper expectations on Rico Dowdle, especially if you're in a dynasty league or you're in a keeper league.
Speaker 1:This is another one of those teams other than CD lamb that really difficult looking at next year, because this year was just kind of a wash you just kind of have to erase it, just riddled with injuries, very strange year. It's not a year you can use to predict the following year. And again we said they're going to address this backfield in there and rico dowd is very unlikely to be, uh, the starting running back for the dust cup boys next year. Yeah, all right, frankie, that is the top 24 running backs for 2024 and year in review. I know that's a lot of 24s in there.
Speaker 2:It's a lot of 24s.
Speaker 1:I know numbers make me confused, man. Yeah, all right, thank you so much for joining us everybody. I hope that gave you a little bit of information. Wanted to give you some ideas as you're working out or at the gym or going for walks. How did everybody end up? Who were the top 24 running backs? Oh yeah, I did have some of those guys. That guy won me my league. I want to hear that stuff. Send us comments, guys. We want to know who your champions were. Who won you your leagues? Who pissed you off? Did you guys have Brees Hall like I did? Did it absolutely tank your season like it did mine? Yeah, I know, let us know guys. Look us up everywhere on social media, at Frankly Fantasy Football. Frankie, we've done quarterbacks top 24. We've done running backs top 24. What do we have coming up next, man?
Speaker 2:Baby, we're going to be giving you some of them heavy hitter receiver review and then we're diving into the tight ends. And don't forget, we will be wrapping up our season with an overview of the Rookie Review Review in a couple weeks. Stay tuned. We got you guys covered and we're looking forward to one hell of a fun offseason getting you guys ready for your draft for 2025.
Speaker 1:All right, let's do it. May the fantasy gods smile upon you. Bye, bye, bye. We'll see you next time.