Welcome to Fantasy Football Weekly, a production of iHeartRadio.
Time now for Fantasy Football Weekly from iHeartRadio, your weekly source for the nation's best fantasy football advice, speculation, and whatever stupid stuff they decide to drop into the show. Now, here's your host, Paul Chargian.
It's Fantasy Football Weekly Micro edition. Paul Charging with you my co host. As is the normally the case for Fantasy Football Weekly Micro, Tyler Cannabily.
Hey Tyler, here we go one?
Want to go another one?
Down?
This one? Who we talking about?
Chicago Bears running back Khalil Herbert.
Yes, I like this a lot.
This is this The Bears backfield situation is muddy, which makes it fascinating to discuss. Herbert has had stretches of real success and stretches are hasn't performed. I think this is a fantastic case study. And these are the kinds of picks like if you get Herbert right or wrong, really helps your team if you and I'm excited to talk this through. There's a lot to dissect here. Let me mention this before we get into Khalil Herbert. Guillotine
Leagues dot com open for business. Baby the twenty twenty three season is here. You can be drafting your first Guillotine League of the year. We've got a lot of different public contests you can join at whatever prize level you want, and maybe you want to play in a private league with your friends between eight and eighteen people.
And here's a sneaky thing. If you play with.
Groups of eight or nine, you can double stack the season. You can get a winner in the first half of the season champion, then restart it in November and December.
For the second half of the season and play again.
I think that'd be good. Like I was in a friendly last year. We actually filled it up with eighteen people, which is a lot of fun and a lot of those guys that never played before, right, And it was just like one of those things where it's fun to see like people who just have no idea what fancy football is just try and play a format like that, Like they're dropping five hundred dollars on Derrick Henry week one.
Yes, that happens all the time.
Yeah, it's a lot of fun. It's like a new format that like most people haven't played, and it's just like it's I would think it's a little bit more like fantasy football is a lot of luck, but this is a little bit more strategic in my opinion, because there's so like you can kind of dictate the way your team is built, where like in other scenarios you can.
So yeah, this is because you can always bid.
There's always great players on the waiverwear always and you just have to decide when you're gonna put your cash in and and how much. Tons of strategy in the Guillotine League, and it's so much fun when you do play with a bunch of new people. The way their mind is blown after like week one and here's a whole roster of good players, Like what is.
Happening Christian McCaffrey's on the waiver wire. My brain is exploding right now.
Yeah.
Last year we had a guy a fantasy expert, ye like a guy who does it for a living. I won't say his name, and in person, I like, by the way, who is in the Guillotine League for the first time? And Week one Christian McCaffrey gets got put in all thousand dollars.
Hello you last not long?
That's right, Yeah, it's but it's just so mind blowing right to have that opportunity that's a.
Guy who believes in the team he drafted you better.
And by the way, when you're drafting as one of eighteen teams, your teammate good coming out.
Of the draft. Yeah, And so it's it's such a different like kind of thing. And where in most fancy football like especially like like a like a former like underdog, you're drafting for upside in giets and you're almost just drafting for sate the exactly safety Like you don't want justin fields as your quarterback in that format.
Correct, yeah, correct, All right, let's break down speen of Bears.
Let's break down Khalil Herbert. Last year.
We've seen, we've seen stretches. He's been a very good runner.
Let's just talk.
Let's dissect the running game for Khalil Herbert a little bit.
Yeah, so in the ground game, he was like just fantastic last year. He had the most rushing yards over expected per attempt last season and the second most rushing yards after contact attempts per attempt stat. Because he missed some games, it's just an easier way to kind of filter through his actual running stats. We had their great stats on the ground. The Bears were also second in rushing attempts and then first in rushing yards last season, which makes them.
Well okay, but their quarterbacks skews that.
I mean, it's just like how the Eagles are always like first and second rushing attempts and rushing yards.
But but they finished like top five again this year, maybe not like two or one, but I feel like, I mean, they have DJ morbid. Outside of that, they still don't have that many weapons. I feel like this team is I mean, they ran the ball good last year, they were terrible teams, so maybe they want to be more balanced. But we'll see the problem with Herbert though, is he's just not a receiving back correct at all at all. He had nine catches on twelve targets last season, which is not good.
Yes, but neither is the other running backs. They don't have a pass catching running back, so Roachan Johnson had thirteen receptions per year at Texas so effectively won a game and almost all screen passes. By the way, for Roschan Johnson and Donta Foreman is no pass catcher either, So it makes you wonder if maybe Herbert can catch a little bit better than what we've seen, So maybe does get a little bit more, or maybe nobody does and they're just gonna throw more to col cometters.
They do have Travis Homer too though, as the third down.
Yeah he can catch, Yeah, he can catch yep. So there's that a little bit as well. Here's the other thing about Herbert. He's not a power back, and you know, there's a real question about whether or not he gets goal line duty. And I think the answer here is probably not. Over Khalil Herbert's three year career, he's been given eleven carries from inside the five yard line, which he converted into just three touchdowns on eleven carries, and his most recent touchdown from inside the five was way
back in Week three of last year. So you know, just this team just didn't want to go with Herbert. You know, they know they know what Herbert's all about. They didn't want to use him as a power back. So I you know, who is a power back? Roseean Johnson's a power back?
Yeah, dude's can't he is.
So I just don't.
Think Khalil Herbert is going to catch much and he's not gonna score touchdowns. And that's taking two of the three primary ways we need our running backs to score fantasy points off the table.
And that's the problem because he could you'll probably get like I could see him being a double digit carry a game kind of guy. But those carries are all gonna come in between the twenties. They're not gonna he's he's not gonna catch any passes. So it's just gonna be a thing where what do you do with him? Like he might have like a good amount of attempts, but he's not gonna get those high quality touches that you're looking for.
Give me an average Khalil Herbert stat line, just average stat.
Line from any game this year. All right, well let me no, no, no, off your head projecting.
Okay, I gotcha.
What do you think it's gonna be.
It's gonna be twelve carries for sixty five yards and zero touchdowns in half a catch a game.
Yeah, I think so too.
And that's you know, that's six point five fantasy points. That's not gonna get it done exactly no matter what format. Like he and he might we saw him like break off a couple like long runs last.
Season, and he's probably gonna do that again the season. He might have like a couple you know, forty yard touchdowns are like a sixty yard game, but he might just he's gonna get getting a guess they're gonna throw rochan ort Deonta Foreman in the game and inside the five yard line and right they're gonna get the touchdowns and he's not. I'd be I would be shocked if he finished with the most touchdowns among this backfield.
How much of a factor is Rocheon Johnson. It's this is a player that is polarizing.
For sure.
We had to throw Nice Tramant right after the draft. Loves Rochean Johnson and he was like, Khalul Herbert's career is over. But I I look at Roshan Johnson and I he got very little use to Texas caause he's playing behind John Robinson. So I get that, but he's when I when I watched him, I was like, Eh, I don't know, He's got.
Decent wiggle for a big guy.
He's certainly got power, But I wasn't blown away at what Rocheon Johnson was able to do. And I see this as a muddy split backfield where I think two and a half guys are gonna get a lot of work every game.
Yeah, I think I agree with you. I mean, it kind of depends on who you talk to about Roshan Johnson. Like some people are like, if he wasn't at Texas, he he would have been drafted higher, would you right? It's kind of a good thing that, I mean, he got drafted. I think was the fourth round, maybe that very end of the third I can't remember off the top of my head. But he to go in the third round play behind Beishon Robinson is actually that's incredible.
That's actually crazy. So I like Rochean. I think he's going to be used in the in the passing game a little bit more. I mean, I feel like I've seen some stuff out of camp suggesting that he will. Mean it's ota, so I don't want to pipe too much smoke on that, but I don't know. I I think Rochean could be a guy who at the end of the season, it's just like, oh, we should have saw this coming. He's gonna come on the later half
of the year. He's going to be I don't know if like, if he becomes their power back, that's that's like probably best case scenario for Roshan and he gets a couple of receptions here and there, a game.
They put a first round pick the Bears did into their right tackle Darnell. Right, I like that they've got stability at right guard now finally, which is uh guard's been an ongoing problem for the Bears. So there's some reasons to think that an offensive line that got better last year can get incrementally a little better this year as well, assuming Darnell writes the kind of player requisite of the first round pick, and so there's reason to think this.
You know, this running game can be okay.
And we're not saying I'm not saying Khlil Herbert's not rosterble, but I do think the low receptions and the low touchdowns makes.
It pretty uncompelling. He feels like a flex starter at best.
He's being drafted as the number one guy in this backfield right now, which is why we're talking about him. So it's kind of one of those things where it's just like, we just don't know what this is going to shape out to. Now. If there's a lot of volume in this running attack like there was last year, there might be a case to be made for Khalil Herbert. And he's a guy who was drafted like a lot before the draft, but then they draft ro Seawan and it's like it feels like there's three of four guys.
I mean, Deonta Foreman is no joke. Last year he was good. I think the only problem for him was it's like a one year, two million dollars deal. He's cuttable that easily. Yeah, he could be. He could be cut and he could even be a guy like a healthy scratch. If he's not better than if he's not as good as a power back than Roshan, or he's not he's obviously not receiving back better received back than anyone.
So it's just who's gonna be the odd guy out in this in this backfield because right now it's kind of up for grabs. This could be an interesting training camp. It's gonna be like interesting preseason week one where all the touches come from and everyone's gonna break that down. It's like, oh, Roshan had five carries, Deonta Foreman had one, Clelil Herbert had five.
So let's uh, let's look at the ADP for Khalil Herbert going off the board is running back forty right now, who's going around him?
Rashad Penny RB thirty seven.
I think I'd go Herbert.
I mean with Penny, you know, we know, no Eagles back is gonna get a lot of work consistently. That's just not how Nick Sirianni runs his offense. So it's it's not happening. So I'm out. I'm out on Penny.
Do you think Penny could be like the Miles Sanders of last season? Though?
Yeah, I think he could.
Yeah, that's that's possible if but then again, I need him to play seventeen games.
Rashaan. Penny's another guy who's cuttable too, Like he only got like a million dollars in free agency, so he could be cut as well.
If he gets hurt, he probably will get cut, which.
He might get hurt so and it can't stay healthy, you know with Herbert, and Herbert's been dinged up too, but not like Penny. I mean, Penny has the season enders every year, right, Yeah, so yeah, I would. I would take Khalil Herbert over shot Penny, all right.
Damien Harris RB thirty eight.
See, I like Harris, and I think you know you and I have talked. We've talked bills before we broke down, do we not do Cook? I think James we did James Cook, and we talked a lot about Harris and why we're worried about Harris eating into Cook's time. I think I'd rather go Damian Harris, who was a legitimately good back.
Yeah, I think hot take of the Summer verst one, I think Damian Harris outscores James Cook and fantasy points. Well, I like it, Yeah, I like it.
So I'm taking Damian Harris, all right, Who's next?
Antonio Gibson RB thirty nine, a guy who's got a lot of buzz the past couple of weeks. It feels like why because Eric the enemy was Like everyone just they think that Antonio Gibson is the new Jerck McKinnon. Okay, maybe, and I think it gains might be a better player than Jerck McKinnon honestly.
Okay, but let's remember Jerck McKinnon.
If you'd have said that at any point in Jerick McKinnon's six year career before last December, nobody would have cared. Yeah, you know, that would have been an insult to say you're the next Jerck McKinnon. Now then he blows up in December in the playoffs, and now apparently being Jack McKinnon is a good thing.
Yeah, I'm not listening.
I'll take Khalil Herbert over Antonio.
I think I'll roll with Gibson, all right, uh, Elijah Mitchell RB forty one. It's a tough one because the upside, the upside play is definitely Mitchell. I see anything.
Happens with Christian McCaffrey, which it has in two of the last three.
Years, and he got some good He got some good runs even when McCaffrey was like playing.
So yeah, I'll take Mitchell.
Yeah, and then Jamal Williams RB forty two.
Three man backfield.
I don't like it.
I don't like that.
I don't like the Saints. I don't like I don't like well, I don't like the Saints. I don't like that three person backfield, I think, and Jamal Jamal Williams, Okay, he's not gonna have seventeen touchdowns again, obviously. Yeah, I would take cool and the safety of Khalil Herbert.
I think, And then bonus one Roshan Johnson RB forty three. Who would you rather have? Three picks? Later? Who would you rather have?
I'm taking roche On Johnson because I know I can get touchdowns. I think I can get touchdowns out of Rochon Johnson that I'm not.
Going to get with Herbert. And if it turns out that.
Rochon Johnson is just a better runner, I don't think he is. I think Herbert's a pretty good running back, then I'm in a better spot with I'm in a better spot with Roshan Johnson. I think i'd go for the touchdown upside.
How about you, I'm with you, Roshan Johnson, especially. You can get him a couple Boks later too. Maybe maybe you can even get him like a full round later. That'd be nice, all right.
So yeah, let's do tomorrow's Fantasy Football Weekly Micro.
Let's do another.
Lead running back with a lot of question marks on the team and players around him and everything else on tomorrow's FFW micro.
How's that sound.
Let's do it, all right?
Stay tuned, everybody. Thanks,