Rookie Runners

of sorts? Uh, Matt Harrison, good to have you back. Get explosive output on Twitter. Um, it's uh, it's you know, it's not It's nice to get away and not have to prep for the show and you have to have some free time and all that. You know. Let's dive back in because the combine just got finished. You were there there at the combine and um got a chance to really get a lot of steam on a lot of guys, which is great. While I was there, they weren't. I was there for the first half of it where

they weren't running as many drills yet. But the important stuff isn't the drills. It's all the conversations and the side action and you know, all the all the all the people you talk to and which you glean that's the best I heard. There was a coaching staff that had t shirts made that said coaches spring Break. It feels that way because I hear the combines mostly about drinking. It is a lot of drinking, man. You you will see a lot of that. It's it's great. The combine

is We've we say it every year. The Combine is the best place to go for sort of your unfiltered access to everybody. It's just well because they're all drunk and they don't care exactly exactly the focus of this podcast is the rookie running backs, and Matt I asked you to come up with the top six rookie running backs. Next week, myself and Brian Johnson will do the next tier of running backs. You got, you got the you got the the great guys. Well, yeah, I purposely took

the easy part. I I want to talk about the guys I want to talk about. I don't blame it. It's a lot more exciting to talk about Jonathan Taylor. Example, he's my number one how about you? He's my number one guy with a by a fair margin. Now we're gonna do these top sixs. I asked you to do the top six, so this is will discuss them in your order. Jonathan Taylor from Wisconsin to me is is

by far the number one. Tell Us Tell listeners a little bit about Jonathan ts Well, the impressive part was his four point three ninety I didn't I did not expect that. No, it was number one among running backs and seventh overall at the combine. So he's a pretty quick guy. And if you saw the tape of his forty where he was running head on, you'll notice that his head did not move the entire way. Did not like but his head is laser focused the whole time.

UH did pretty well at a couple other drills as well. Seven point oh one cone, three cone, which was number four amongst running backs. That's good for the cuts. UH. Four point to four twenty yards shuttle that was number six for running backs. So that's the highlights there. Um. The dude average two thousand yards a season Wisconsin. He averaged seventy seven broken tackles a year. He's the big, strong, fast back in this draft and he should be a Day one bell cow. I mean, the knocks are that

he might not be a passing game stud. He dropped sixteen per cent of his catchable passes at Wisconsin, so that's not good. And the other Knaka guesses he had nine D twenty six carries in three years. That's legitimate. You know, over nine hundred touches in three years is a lot um. So he also fumbled eighteen times in three years, so funny. I saw the stat I read was was fifteen times. But either way, that's a lot of fun I think he lost fifteen um. The Wisconsin

offensive line was elite. They opened huge holes for him, and you saw it on tape, so he mostly was running down on hill. His highlight reel is mostly line opens up. He runs for sixty yards in a touchdown, almost untouched half the time. Uh, he's getting really good comps though, Nick Chubb, DeMarco Murray, who you'll remember had some great years. Darren McFadden I thought when I watched it a little bit of shades of Adrian Peterson, as he's big, he goes right up the middle and he's

deceptively quick. I always thought that about Adrian Peterson, that that next level speed you didn't quite expect it out of a and I think Jonathan Taylor is very similar to that. So, uh, he's probably my number one running back and and maybe my number one pick in a rookie draft. Right. I think there's no doubt he's the top pick in a a rookie draft. I mean, there are people who can make h make an argument for DeAndre Swift and we'll talk about him in just a second.

I think he had and all the key things with Jonathan Taylor, it's just for a guy as physical and and well built as he is, he should not be that fast, and he should not have the lateral movement that he's got. Um, and that's that that part makes him really special. He's um, he's not a pile mover and I but I just think he's He's just he

never had to move a pile, not often. It's I think I think there is I think you you raise a good point about the offensive line, which is legit, but he also he also made a lot of his own yards. Yeah, I'm I'm not ready to say he's just a product of that line. So the worry I have is what if he ends up in a place with a terrible offensive line, Like what if he's an early second round pick to one of those just terribly bad teams up at the front of the draft. That's

where I'm nervous. I would love to see him go at the tail end of the first round, where he's going to an established playoff team that already has the ability to block for people, and he can come in and be a Day one starter there. Yeah, I think you're not giving enough credit for for being UH, for being a productive back on his own. I I ranked him in my UH dynasty rankings. I have him as the seventh raded back in the league right now, so I it without landing spots, So I think he's he's

top ten for sure right now. UM potential bottom of the first round spots for him. UH. If Tennessee doesn't go with Derrick Henry, that they could go. They could go right to Jonathan Taylor. You know what, they probably should let Derrick Henry walk, have him spent that, save that money, and and then go ahead and get Jonathan Taylor. It would make it would make it would make some sense. How about Miami A twenty six, You know, we don't. It's not a great landing spot for him, but it's

a plausible one. It's a very plausible one because they pick early in the second round two and my Miami's got the three first round picks. Obviously they're probably going to take a quarterback in the draft. Yeah, they want a couple too many games. Um, I think two was gonna go number two overall. Really well, so that was that was some of the big buzz at the combine. They there's there's no competition for Taylor if he ends up in Miami though. That's that's the fantastic absolutely no.

Immediately he'll be a bell cower if he goes. I think, all right, let's go to your second ranked running back, DeAndre Swift. Tell tell listeners about him. Uh, Swift much smaller, five eight to twelve four four eight forty. That was good six among running backs. That was pretty good. Uh didn't do a lot of the other tests. He did the vert he did the broad jump. He he finished average in those. Um but Swift stole carries as a true freshman from the Sony Chub backfield in Georgia, says

a lot. That says something uh seven point six yards per carry, four point four yards after contact. And the thing that you gotta like about DeAndre Swift, especially if you're in a PPR league and increasingly more people are seventy three catches in college and only three drops in three years. That's none of them, so he should compete for three down work a lot. Um. He's not as big as some of the other backs in this class, but he's compact, he's muscular. He's probably the first running

back taken in the draft. I would say, you think in the actual draft, I think he'll probably get the Taylor head of Taylor. I wouldn't. That could be for if if people feel like schematically he's a better fit for what they want to do. I think, especially if there's a team that say, has another running back that they like and is gonna get touches. I think DeAndre Swift is a guy who probably in his first year will probably split carries a little bit more, maybe be

the sixty forty back. UM on tape, he looks so much quicker than Jonathan Taylor, but that's mostly due to his cuts. His shift nous is it's absolutely elite. Um. He looks like Dalvin Cook when he runs, like that's my comp forum and I've seen a couple other people say Dalvin Cook also Frank Dore and Piterre Thomas was was bandied about for DeAndre Swift. But he looks like Dalvin Cook right now, and I think that that's a that's a pretty elite guy to get near your offense.

Dalvin Cook is is elusive and he's got shifting nous. Uh. Swift is got some uh is that I think a whole other level that way, And I don't think he's the same kind of patient runner the Dalvin Cook is.

But um, just the the shattered ankles and that that he leaves behind these defenders, it's it's ridiculous, and I think, yeah, exactly, I think it's plenty of I think John DeAndre Swift has got enough size to be in every down back and a lot of times with these elusive guys, the shifty guys, they're smaller backs that don't maybe don't have don't have the ability to be twenty carry guys. Deandrey Swift does. Yeah, I think he does. I do too. Um. Now,

there are some knocks on him here. Past protection is not great. He's not a pile mover. That's just not his that's not his bit. If you know, if you get your arms on him. If you can get your arms on DeAndre Swift, He's probably gonna be tackled. It's tough to get your arms on that. That is the catch. And then he doesn't have the breakaway speed that Jonathan Taylor's got. I mean Jonathan Taylor with his four three

nine speed. If he gets into open if he gets an over space, he's you know, now, now you've got a real problem. Um I I think I think you're I think you're right about where where he will end up going as well. I think is going to be the end of the end of the first round, beginning of the second round, somewhere in there, somewhere in that in that range would probably make some sense. Washington at the top of round two is a possibility. With all

the running back woes they had. They got Darius guys who they say they still love, and they just let Adrian Peterson come back for another year. They guaranteed his contract for one more year. Why not for Ron Rivera, who really, for what he's worth, he kind of doesn't commit fully to one running back. He played a lot of two running backs in Carolina in the past. Christian McCaffrey obviously and that kind of forced his hand recently.

But Man Washington would be a weird spot. Lions, what about Detroit to Channel they haven't been able to get a healthy production out of carry On Johnson. That might be a spot as well. And then back to Miami again. Amy could end up being another another team that's in play with I think the fifth pick of the second round um another interesting landing spot. I think the Chargers picked near the top of the second round as well. And let's top five, six, seven, Um, but Austin Ekeler

is so good. Austin Ekeler is good. But Austin Ekeler has been a part of a shared backfield. And if that philosophy doesn't change and Melvin Gordon is going to be shipped out, we got surprised me. If DeAndre Swift is the next guy, just the next man up there? Um, I think Justin Jackson's gonna be He's one of my favorite sleepers. I think he's gonna be the other man. Okay, let's go to your number three running back, cam Acres from Florida State. Tell people about cam so cam Acres

five ten to seven. Uh, notably Jonathan Taylor five ten twenty six. So cam acres another big back. Uh. He ran a four four seven, that's good number five amongst running backs. UM. So his tests combine, we're just pretty good overall. That really helped us stop. I think. And by the way, that's how we see cam Akers pretty good overall. To me, he's not on the plane of Taylor and Swift. I see a guy when I when I watched cam Akers who looks good at almost everything

and excellent at nothing. Um, that's kind of what I had. UM with him as well. Um, he has all the tools to be a three down back, but he's just kind of average with the hands, average with the elusiveness, a little bit above average with the speed. UM. But frankly, he played behind a pretty bad offensive line at Florida State. He's still topped a thousand yards and two of his three seasons had five point zero yards per carry. Last year, most of that was just him. He broke Dalvin's freshman

record for running backyards at Florida State. Um. He was a high school quarterback as well. He can throw. I saw a couple of plays that he was involved in that was pretty cool. When you see his physique, you don't ever think that guy was a quarterback. It's powerfully built. Um, his comps are his comps aren't great. Duke Johnson, Terence West, Chris Johnson, Chris Johnson was generous. In my mind, I don't see it at all. But uh, I mean I

feel the Duke Johnson. I don't see either of the Johnson's And how would those two ever even be in them? Let's let's say that cam Akers ends up in a good situation. Let's say he's an end of the second round or maybe the middle of the third round kind of guy, which he ends up in a good spot. Maybe he ends up Atlanta, Atlanta where he could be a bell cow right away, or or maybe maybe Kansas City is in the market for a running back and

they're not fully enthusiastic about Damian Williams. If he ends up in the right spot, I think that he can be a really big fantasy contributor right away. That's why I have him at number three. I think he's got all the tools to be good. It's just is it's gonna be very landing spot dependent with him for cam Akers. Uh, strong powerful back who welcomes contact. He might be the toughest the straight up toughest back in this in in this rookie class. And um, and for those kind of guys,

goal line work will never be a question. That's one of the things that I like about cam Akers is whatever team that he finishes on, um, he should be the goal line guy. Now, he did have some fumbling issues at school and and you know, God forbid he fumbles at the stripe or something. But UM, I still think, I still think he's gonna be a fantasy contributor because

of the power that he will bring. You know, he'll probably end up on the Patriots, let's hope not for you never want to be the first guy to fumble. Uh with the Patriots. That is a that that'll that'll be a season ender if you're not careful. All right, your number four back is J. K. Dobbins from Ohio State. Let's talk about him. Um. Yeah, Dobbins only did one test at the combine. That was the bench press, right he had the ankle injury. Um, he did on the

bench which was at UM. So he gets the comparisons to the strung backs like Eddie George and Ezekiel l It's who both went to Ohio State and by the way he outran them. He still season rushing records at the Ohio State. You know, that's pretty impressive when you outrun Eddie George and Ezekiel Elliott at school. He's a

He's a pretty compact bruiser, good acceleration. He's really a one cut runner um, but a pretty reliable pass catcher, and it makes him a good third down option even if he ends up on a roster with an established running back. Doesn't have like an arsenal of really different stop start moves. He just kind of has the one cut and he goes um. But his cuts were always good, and his first cut, specifically behind the line on like counterplays,

was absolutely awesome. He he had people moving one way, He's showing up on the other side of the field all of a sudden. It looked like he's playing portal or something along those lines. Uh. Comps of muscle Hamster, Josh Jacobs and a pul Charchy and favorite Ryan math Oh. I like that Ryan Matthews in the rare moments of health. That's that's pretty good. I think he's he's the cutting is is amazing for him, and laterally, you know, if we can get him on a team that likes to

run zone blocking with stretch plays. Oh man, I really like Dobbins as a lateral runner. Waits, waits, and then makes that cut accelerated. Yeah, it's gonna be one cut, though, It's not like the super deeks like DeAndre Swift has where he'll he'll stop, start, make two or three cuts and then and then be out of there. He'll be I'm gonna set you up, I'm gonna cut you out of your jockstrap, and then and then I'm going um. I I think he's got a little more Dalvin cooked

to him than others. So for me, that was my comp and uh and mark Ingram as well. J K. Dobbins is uh is is somebody that I think in the Again, it depends a lot in the landing spot, where like Jonathan Taylor, I think you go anywhere and be productive. I want to see Dobbins running behind a zone blocking offense, so we'll se where he lands. You want to see him in Minnesota, Well, they got they got a really good runner. Maybe Denver for a while,

Dalvin Cook. We'll find Houston, Houston, Houston art like that. That would be great. Yeah, let's uh let's let's take a break. When we come back, I want to talk about the final couple of running backs that we want to touch on for our rookies, including Zack Moss and Clyde Edwards Hilaire coming up next. All right, welcome back, Paul Charge and Matt Harrison with you. We're talking rookie running backs, landing spots. What we like about these guys.

This is our top six we've already covered Jonathan Taylor, DeAndre Swift this is your number one, two or three guys so far, and cam Acres oh and j K. Dobbins. We got on our top four. We did our top four. By the way, at some point throughout Fantasy Football Weekly, I'm going to call Jonathan Taylor Jonathan Taylor Thomas from Home Improvements. It's going to happen. I'm just gonna refer to him as Thomas one time because I can't get it out of my brain, and now you've got it

in my brain. So what has he been doing? Nothing? It's absolutely nothing. If I'm gonna I'm gonna search him out. Taylor Dash, right, he was a dash, and I don't think he was a dash. Taylor Thomas, Jonathan Taylor. You're right there, don't know dash um. Let's see what he's been up to. He was, he was, you know, big, big and popular on on the team, beat magazines. When not nine The answer is not a lot. Now. He kind of quit. He think he did quit acting. He

did not act for ten years. His last acting role was two thousand six, and then nothing until fifteen when he was on Last Man Standing, the Other Tim Allen Show, the Other Tim Allen Show. So yeah, how about that. I wonder if you know a lot of kids, kids, they go through all the you know, the the kid, the child actor, and he did his get away. I wonder, I wonder what he's doing, where he's living. Where is

Jonathan Taylor Thomas today. Well he's not in the draft, that's for sure, because it's just Jonathan Taylor's I'm gonna call he's not. He's not the same guy, for sure. Did you know he was of Dutch and Portuguese ancestry. No, I bet you didn't. I mean, why would Taylor Thomas do? Sounds sound like it sounds very Portuguese to me. Let's talk about Clyde Edwards Hilaire Portuguese. It does. Actually it

sounds French to me. I assume that, you know, because he was from New Orleans, played at l s U that Laire is some Frenchy, you know, Cajun sort of name. But I I really I don't know. I'm just gonna end up calling him Clyde. How about Frenchie? Uh? Maybe maybe the raging Cajun. Maybe that maybe it's gonna be the case. Here the bed on Clyde Edwards Hilaire. He's five foot seven. He's a little. He's a little. He

is he's short. Two oh seven. Yeah, he is two oh seven, so he's got some meat on the bone. He's not he's not fragile. I My comp is Maurice Jones droop that what that one of them? I had a Ray Rice and DeVante Freeman for the others. Um He ran a four six forty that was seventeenth among running backs. A little probably got him moving down a lot of draft slots. But here's the deal. Thirty nine and a half inch vert. The dude can jump. His vert was number four among running backs. That dude can dunk.

He's thick, compact, he's more quick than fast. His cuts are elite, very very elusive. Has to be one of the smaller backs in the draft. UH forced eighty four miss tackles in his final year at l s U gained seven d eighty two yards after contact according to Pro Football Focus, UH true three down back with above average pass catching ability, good ball security. Um on tape. He's not the elite burner that will break off long runs.

He's gonna get caught in the open field by some fast corners, but he's tough to catch and he'll turn four yards into ten or eleven. I think that's kind of his game. Uh. And and we said what the comps were, and I think that those are the kind of runners that that did that kind of thing in their career. And by the way, fantasy productive guys, all of them fantasy productive. And he can be too. I don't know at five ft seven that Clyde Edwards Hilaire is going to be a workhorse back now. Marie Jones

Drew was, Demant Freeman was. It can happen. It's gonna be a landing spot. Depending is like and where his draft stock is probably now, I'm guessing he's probably maybe an early third day pick or very late second day pick. Um so Man he could really end up on on any team in the NFL. And if he ends up on the wrong one, uh, that would be scary. If he ends up in a great situation, maybe he's the guy who ends up in Miami with all of their picks. Could be and and that would be a pretty nice spot.

What I like about Clyde Edwards Hilaire, And there are a lot of things alike. Um, the tackle breaking you mentioned, the yards after contact. He's he is because he's small and compact. It's it's hard to get a good shot on that guy. Easy to hide him because well, I think that there's something that he said about that he's running behind lineman that are a foot taller than him. Um. And I just I just the balance you met. He's got good cutting ability. What you meant to spend the footwork.

The footwork to me is the defining ability of Clyde Edwards Hilaire. He is um. He is able to get He's got the short, choppy steps that allows him to turn quickly. He's really good in crowded environments. And then he's chop chop, chopped, and now he's out and he's he's got daylight and the guy's good. Um. Now he can catch a little bit. He was a kick returner in L s U. He's so, he's super versatile. He's gonna be fascinating to watch. I think the the forty time,

I'm the four six forty time. I suspect he'll improve upon in his pro day a little bit and maybe that maybe get him get him back to uh an earlier draft spot. But I on the tape, I saw a couple of breakaway runs where you know, a really fast running back gets away and scores the touchdown. But he was caught a handful of times in the in these runs, and and and that's the that's the only real knock I have on him. Is not very big, and he's not the Bernieest of Burners, berniest. He's not

the Berniest of burners. He's not like Barry Sanders where Bernie Sanders whatever. Garth. Yeah, I hope he's I hope he doesn't have Bernie Sanders speed. Catch him from behind. Joe Biden is catching him from behind right now. Wow. Topical coming for the Fantasy Football Weekly, Stay for the political commentary. Here you go, the final running back. We're gonna break down in this episode. Zack Moss from Utah. He's five foot nine, two three pounds. He is a bigger,

beefier straight ahead runner. Talked to me about Zack Moss, so we talked about a couple of bigger, beefier straight ahead runners, as in Jonathan Taylor and Cam Acres, who were both pretty similar sized to Moss. They ran good forties. Zack Moss did not four point six five UM. His his other stuff, his other tests at the combine weren't

particularly elite as well average at best UM. However, per Pro Football Focus, his yards after contact per attempt increased from three point five eighteen to four point four in nineteen. So he's grown, he's gotten better. UM. I saw a quote on Twitter that Moss's quads would impress se Kwon Barkley. UM. His speed obviously not top end, but he runs aggressively. He tosses the side runners. So but he's been so

aggressive that he needed meniscus surgery in eighteen. I honestly didn't think most of his highlight real tape was that imp said, it seems like he was able to overpower some lesser competition for Utah. UM, but he has comps of Marshawn Lynch, Marion Barber and Kareem Hunt. What that's a terrible I don't know if that I don't know

if I agree with the Kareem Hunt thing. Hunted much faster? Um, can I give you my Complttavius Murray straight ahead north south runner, absolutely, because Zack Moss has no lateral speed whatsoever and he needs to run run, needs to run north south, Um. And that's I think Latavius Murray's the guy that I'm watched him going that I've seen that guy. You know what, I'm gonna add one in le Roy Horde. You want one, I'll get you three. You want five,

I'll get you three. Right. Um, yeah, maybe that's more Zack Moss right there is. I'm I didn't love him. I think he's got to be on a team that has a powerful offensive line, straight, straight ahead, bulldozing offensive line that's gonna open up holes for him to get through. And then I think he's got a little he's got a little bit of wiggle. He can he welcomes contact,

he can break some tackles at the second level. I think I think he needs to be he needs to have just the right fit or I'm not interested in Zack moss It would be interesting to see Moss. I think he's a split backfield kind of runner um where he's going to end up in a spot with a

guy who can be the pass catcher and the elusive back. Uh. Maybe he's somewhere like Cincinnati or something like that where they have Joe Mixon and and Zack Mosses is the second running back to come in and spell him and and just give a little bit of different flavor to that offense. I wouldn't be surprised if Zack Moss is it finds himself not as a bell cow but in some kind of a time shire. And I'm almost sure

that he's in a time share. And frankly, there's not a lot of running backs in the rest of this draft. I mean, I really like those top five. When I when I got to six and I was ranking him, I was like, who's next, And I think Moss is the best of them. I see him ranked in the top fifty and some overall prospect list. I'm not seeing it either, And I think he's destined to be a split backfield, time share kind of a back. So if if you didn't if you think this draft is five

guys deep, Matt, that means you're really jammed up. Brian Johnson and I for next week. Sorry, we have to We're going to do the next six guys. But you know what Brian is great at. Brian is great at uncovering these diamonds in the rough. He always finds two or three guys that really are way off my radar and he goes, no, check this dude out. This guy

is really good, and he's absolutely great at that. You know, at this time three four I got four years ago, Kareem Hunt was not in anybody's top five or six, and you know, but eventually we got around to looking at Toledo tape and we're like, wow, you know, by the time the draft rolls around and you got a whole different opinion. Philip Lindsay is a guy like that too. Where he wasn't he wasn't on anybody's radar at all,

not undrafted. We we went into the season not even talking about him, and then Week one boom, Hey, Philip Lindsay, I want to be a fantasy A couple of fantasy leagues after Week one, the best Week one pickups in in recent memory. All right, thanks for thanks for introducing a lot of our listeners to the top six rookie running backs. And frankly, I don't have a problem with the order you've got him. I expected to do battle with you on the but I think I think you

got the order right. Jonathan Taylor is just if the wear and tear isn't too much for him. The nine hundred touches in three years, man, he's going to be special. The question I think for Dynasty and Empire owners is going to be, are you going to get four good years out of him? Five six? I don't mean I don't win. Do the when? Do all the carry when? When the contract runs out? That's when I'm starting to shop guys. Yeah at four years. Yeah, that's really it. Um,

I was gonna ask you charge. Let's we're in a Empire league together where we draft rookies and it's a super flex league. In a super flex league right now, if you had the first overall pick, and if you have the first overall pick, obviously your team has some needs, probably running back, wide receiver, and quarterback. Who are you taking number one? I'm still taking probably Taylor, maybe Swift. I'm not going even in super flex. I'm not going

Joe Burrow yet. Um, I think I think you can still find quarterback help later and so for me, I wouldn't. I wouldn't take Joe Burrow in the top two for sure at this point. I think it's going to be one of the deepest wide receiver classes and years too. And both Jerry Judy and Ceedee Lamb I think I am better. I do too. I think both of those guys are going to be in the conversation as the number one overall rookie pick as well. Um, it's a great year to be in a dynasty or Empire rookie draft.

It's a great year to to have be in the middle of the first round. Absolutely, we're gonna get better guys in the middle of the first round than we got at the beginning of the first round last year. I don't mind trading some of the draft picks that you have next year to get into the first round this year either. That could that could be the values only going up. The value is only going up. I

tend to agree with you on that. Um, we'll do We'll do more Empire dynasty strategy talk throughout throughout the course of the prefets it the other day. Yeah, we're Scott Fish as a frequent co host of mine as well. Here's the listeners. No, great job, Thanks Matt. We'll talk to everybody. Next week. We'll have we'll have more rookie running back Chatter with Brian Johnson. Talk to you then, bye bye. Fantasy Football Weekly is a production of I

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