All 32 NFL Backfields: Starters, Handcuffs & Sleepers | Fantasy Football

0:00Breaking down all 32 NFL backfields every single running back that fantasy football managers need to know heading into week one and a couple of players that we need to keep an eye on for maybe future waiver wire runs. I'm theo Greminger lead fantasy analyst right here at rotawire. You can go find all my content throughout the year over rotawire and we're offering a special rate use the code Theo 35 and get 35% off get access to all of our amazing tools over as well at rotawire but we're specifically looking at the running back position. And this has been sort of the year or the running back for drafters with multiple running backs being pushed up in ADP. A lot of running back running back starts in the first and second round. It's a very important position but we've always got to have those backup running backs on speed dial because injuries happen attrition happens and changes happen the NFL in the blink of an eye. We saw the fear throughout the industry and throughout fantasy drafts when ashton gentie got injured looks like it's going to be way less severe than maybe we initially thought then we sort of had this massive fallout from the Josh Jacobs news with the commissioner's exemplest the running back position.

1:12You need to be able to roll with the punches we need to be able to pivot and like rostering those handcuffs running backs that are not your own or your own handcuffs can be a very viable strategy. We also need to keep an eye on a couple of backs that might be third on the depth chart right now but could have a potential path to making a big impact this year in fantasy. So we're getting off right off the top we have a bunch of back fields with a ton of clarity and these are super super easy ones to break down. You got the Dallas Cowboys, Javante Williams in a very similar role to what we saw last year. We'll keep an eye on the receiving upside in that offense for him with multiple mouse to feed with CDLAM George Pickens, Jake Ferguson, Ryan Flornoi. But Javante has the benefit of being in one of the league's top offenses with a bell cow roll behind a very good offensive line. He should return value where he's going at drafts unless he gets injured. And if he gets injured the next man in would be Malik Davis the team moved off of Jaden Blue the team moved off of Phil Maffa.

2:16Both those players were waived and Malik Davis returns to the role that he had at the end of last season. So Malik Davis in a really strong spot right now. The team also picked up a Mari Di Mercato who was on the Kansas City Chiefs probably running as the number three back there. Keep an eye on Di Mercato only in super deep leagues. Philadelphia, Cut and Dry, Sequan Barclays, your bell cow. He's going at the beginning of the second round in late drafts and for a reason. Sequan's going to be completely locked in. Again, very good offense. We have positivity with Sean Mani in the offense, a coordinator. We have a very good offensive line and Sequan we saw what he's capable of in 2024. We saw him regress in 2025. Maybe he returns to a points per game average somewhere between the two seasons, which would be a really big win considering how dominant that 2024 season was. Behind him is Tank Bigsby and Tank Bigsby is one of the best handcuffs in football. The coaching staff has a ton of confidence in Tank Bigsby. We saw him have a really strong 700 plus yard rushing season in Jacksonville,

3:18where he outproduced Travis CTN back in 2024. So Bigsby is a priority handcuff if you're in a shallow format and you're looking for a lottery ticket to have on your bench, add Tank Bigsby. I have drafted him on a ton of teams this summer and not necessarily Sequan teams, just Tank Bigsby. On my dynasty rosters with Sequan Barclays, I have gone out and acquired Tank Bigsby wherever I could. So I am prioritizing Tank Bigsby elite handcuff. Kansas City Chiefs, you've got Kenneth Walker. Kenneth Walker locked in as a bell cow running back should have the best usage he's ever had at any point in his career. And behind him is Rookie Emmett Johnson. Emmett Johnson, if you were a college football fan last year, Emmett Johnson was amazing. I mean, he was the guy at Nebraska, where was a usage king, where he not only was a very, very productive runner, but he also was a very good pass catcher out of the backfield. Like he was completely the show for Nebraska.

4:20Felt to day three, but landed in an amazing spot in Kansas City, where if anything were to happen to Kenneth Walker, Emmett Johnson would be the next man in. And with his pass catching upside, he could see a three down roll there. Andy Reed has spoken highly about him. So two things are very true of Kansas City. Kenneth Walker looks poised for a huge fantasy season as the team's offensive focal point set in store for his best volume he's ever had as a pro. And Emmett Johnson is a high end handcuff. And certainly, he's haven't really caught up to how valuable Emmett Johnson's role may be, but we're seeing it in some of these higher stakes, really competitive FFPC main events and FFC prime times. We've seen one-off drafts where Emmett Johnson's gone in like the ninth, 10th, 11th round. Ninth round way too rich for me, but we get it. Managers understand what he is. He's an injury away from being super fantasy relevant. Keep an eye on Emmett Johnson. New York Jets, Cut and Dry. Breeze Hall in a huge role. Braylon Allen is the handcuff.

5:22Braylon Allen has been mentioned by Aaron Glenn as a guide that could end up with some goal line opportunities. Probably a little bit more of a better and best ball pick if you're looking for weekly viability from Allen. Hall is in a great spot. Look for Hall's reception totals to look a little bit more like 2024, as opposed to the low end we saw in 2025. Probably not going to get back to the 2023 season where Hall was like one of the best past catching backs in football. We had north of 70 receptions. But we should see Hall back over 50 this year, which would be a nice win for him. His role should be super strong behind a Jets offense that could be a lot better than we saw last season. That offensive line, some really positivity out of camp. Buffalo Bills. James Cook running as the running back one there. His ADP has corrected in a massive way this off season. If you have James Cook on your roster, you use the top 15 picked to get him. And most of you use the first round picked to get him.

6:24You know how highly I have him ranked over Roto Wire. Back up should be Ray Davis and Ray Davis is a very capable backup. This is a high end handcuff there. You've also got Frank Gore Jr on the on the roster. There's a little bit of a hive for Frank Gore Jr. Keep an eye on that one. But Ray Davis is the handcuff James Cook in store for another huge season. Miami Dolphins Devon H.Anne. Bit a little bit beat up in ADP. We've seen some late summer correction. People sort of coming to grips that it's Devon H.Anne. And I'm going to get him at 18th overall. 19th overall. Even with some of these analysts fading him. He's kind of being drafted towards a spot where he can't really get you in trouble. Because the usage should be outstanding. 1300 plus yards last year as a runner. 135 plus catches over the last two years combined. Can lead Miami in targets and catches this year out of the backfield. And then the backup running back situations. An interesting one. Olly Gordon has missed time recently. Been working off to the side.

7:25I believe this is a ribs injury. But not on the IR, but not not practicing. So Jalen Wright, if something happened to Devon H.Anne in week one. It would probably be Jalen Wright as the next man in. Keep an eye on Olly Gordon. If this situation became god forbid like a season long one, Gordon and Wright might be some sort of a split. We'd have to downgrade that Miami offense. Significantly, if H.Anne were to miss time. He's really the guy on that offense. Just a quick note. Roto wire is partnering this year with better. If you're watching football this week and you want a little more action on the games, check out better. Very cool stuff over there. You can make picks on your favorite players. More or less on their stats or jump into better social sports book for spreads, totals, money lines. Everything's right up there in one app. And right now, new users get a 200 no sweat entry. Pick any entry up to 200. And if it doesn't hit you, you get back 200 back and bonus funds. So whether you're a fantasy player or you're already rooting for and just want some action on the game, go check out better.

8:26Really good stuff there. Continuing our backfield breakdowns. Let's talk about Atlanta, Cut and Dry. Two Robinson's. Make sure you click on the right one if you're in a late draft. B. Jean Robinson is B. Jean Robinson. Second overall pick in most leagues behind only Jumir Gibbs. Brian Robinson comes over from the San Francisco 49ers. Backed up CMC last year. And before that was a lead back for multiple seasons in Washington. Moved off of the team when they got Jacori Kroski merit. The team moved off for Robinson. But a strong handcuff option. If you have B. Jean though, enjoy him. He's going to score a ton of points. San Francisco 49ers. This is an interesting one because Christian McCaffrey, Belkow, huge role. And I'm projecting Kaelin Black to be the running back you want to roster over Jordan James. A lot of discourse throughout the summer on this one. If CMC were to go down though, I think Kaelin Black would be the more valuable of the two. Multiple beat reporters have said that the team considers Kaelin Black to be a better

9:31receiver there. So keep an eye on Kaelin Black. Cincinnati Bengals, Chase Brown is Chase Brown. He's being drafted. The highest he's ever been. And then you've got Somajee P. Ryan, the veteran backing him up. And if P. Ryan had a one or two week spot start, he'd be valuable because he can catch passes in this offense. He's got the familiarity with Joe Burrow and the coaching staff ahead of year two back Taj Brooks. People, you know, for multiple years have wanted Taj Brooks to take that job. But it's been Somajee P. Ryan. He's the handcuff in Cincinnati. Cleveland, Quinshon Judkins, easy Belkow there for as long as he can hold up. I think they're going to lean into Quinshon Judkins. Could have a huge volume work role where he's going to get also some low end numbers as a receiver out of the backfield. I think Quinshon Judkins could be a three down back here in Cleveland. Bit of solid pick in round six. I've drafted a little bit of Quinshon Judkins. Then behind him is Dylan Samson, who if Judkins were to miss time,

10:33I think Samson would would be a very valuable pass catcher out of the back field. Was a really productive player at Tennessee. But keep an eye on Rahim Sanders. Rock Sanders is the number three back. If Quinshon Judkins missed time, I think that Sanders would mix in with Samson. It'll be a little bit more of a running back by committee. But Samson would be the more valuable fantasy player to have. Baltimore, we had some buzz on rookie Adam Randall out of Clemson. But he starts the year on the IR. So Derek Henry has a chance to be the highest scoring 32-year-old running back in NFL history. The bar is like 15 and a half points per game. Henry can get there this year. And he's going to get a workhorse role. Justice Hill has been there forever. He's going to be the back up to start the season. I took him in the 20th round in an NFFC draft just because I feel like he's a clear handcuff. But I think if anything were to happen to Henry, Randall would be in play later on the season. So if you want to stash Adam Randall in a very deep league or a league with an IR spot,

11:33I think he's an interesting one. Indianapolis Colts. This one is sort of a summer surprise. Day three pick, not really that much of a surprise. But day three pick Seth McGowan overtook DJ Giddens. Clearly Seth McGowan is the number two back in Indianapolis. Jonathan Taylor is a bell cow. Taylor is a threat to lead the NFL in total touches at the running back position. In carries, in rushing yards, in rushing touchdowns. Taylor is going to have an awesome role. But if he were to miss time, Seth McGowan would be the next man in. Get to Houston. And this is one where David Montgomery is going to be the lead back. And he should also have the touchdown equity. Goal line works should go to Montgomery. How valuable Montgomery will be? Sort of depends on how much the team is going to mix in Woody Marx. Woody Marx can catch the ball. We know like if you were following my content heading into the 2025 NFL draft, we talked about just how productive Marx was as a receiver. Among all those backs in the 2025 class,

12:35Woody Marx had more receptions than any of them during his career. He was in college a long time. He caught a ton of passes there, including one year at Mississippi State, where he played for the late great Mike Leach RIP. And caught a ton of passes there. So Woody Marx, really a good pass catcher. Now how many passes does Woody Marx catch? He's a really highly used pass catcher. That it certainly caps the upside and the ceiling for Montgomery. I personally think when the game start, the team is going to lean into David Montgomery. Now do we see Woody Marx mixed in in certain packages? Do we see Woody Marx gain value if the Texans are trailing? We'll figure those things out when we get to the season. But there's a non zero percent chance that David Montgomery in 2026, his stats end up looking like Joe Mixon in 2024. Could be like a really good run out for David Montgomery. He's still got a lot of juice, 29 years old, but the guy can still play. Tennessee Titans concerns about the offensive line.

13:39Tony Pollard the lead back. But I'm very interested in Taijay Spears. This feels like it could be a little bit of a split, but Spears on an offense with a bad offensive line. Spears can end up catching a number of passes out of the back field. Pollard's fine because he's falling so much in drafts, but very much a capped upside type guy this year. And then if you have room for a stash, Nick Singleton very athletic back out of Penn State, very productive at Penn State, sort of fell apart a little bit in 2025 versus the like the steam he had heading into the season. The 2024 season was really good for Singleton. But if you look at his counting stats from Penn State, just awesome. And he can catch the football. He's got size and athleticism. So if the wheels fall off a Tennessee or if one of these other running backs ahead of him gets an injury, Singleton would be a thing. But right now it's Pollard. Spears has some value and then Nick Singleton as a stash. Norland Saints, you've got Travis CTN and his role looks way better than it did a couple months ago,

14:44because Alvin Camara is on the IR to start the season. Kendra Miller who's been really a player that struggled to stay on the NFL field during his early part of his career. He is locked in as the handcuff running back. And the vibes are really good. You had a recent throwaway quote, Travis CTN talking about how the team really loves Kendra as his back up. And he compared Kendra Miller to Levy Unbell, which is a little bit over the top. But Kendra Miller is still in a very good spot. I think if we're in week one, we have a Travis CTN injury. Kendra Miller would be a huge waiver wire ad. We like this Saints offense. It's the best Saints offense of line in years. And Kellyn Moore is a very good play collar. He also has the mobility of Tyler Schuck and the accuracy of Tyler Schuck. So this is an offense that I think is going to move the ball very well. Do they score a ton of points? I think they probably have a much more improved scoring numbers. But I think in terms of getting into the red zone for opportunities, you're going to see them get there. So this is a backfield where Kendra Miller is free.

15:44And you can add him quite easily. And he's a direct handcuff. We love these sort of handcuffs that are cheap. And they have a direct path. Detroit Lions. This is sort of the shocking one. Isaiah Pacheco starts the year on the IR. And you get Jacob sailors taking over as sort of the handcuff back. And last year, he was a very productive player on special teams. But you have to go back to the UFL to find his stats here. So like when we look at what sailors was able to do in the UFL, very effective runner there. He had back-to-back years with five touchdowns in that format. And really good statistics for him. And he also caught some passes there. So we've heard Dan Campbell talking up sailors. Jacob sailors, I think if you're in a 20 man league, or 20 roster spot league, he's definitely a viable player to roster. You also hear people just throwing out that if anything happened to Gibbs,

16:46the team could go out and sign like a street free agent, like a Kareem Hunt. But I think a lot of that speculation, we really don't know if Detroit likes sailors. We don't know with Cione Vocky how much they trust him. Really until push came to shove. And let's hope that never happens because Jameer Gibbs looks like a player who could break fantasy this year, average 20 to 25 points a game and go absolutely nuts. We're going to see early on two early look games this year. We've got Seattle against New England. And then of course, we have Los Angeles versus San Francisco. But you've got the Seattle game where we're going to see Jadarian price, I think, in a very strong role. And I think this is going to be one where it's going to be clear that George Hullani is the backup. Now there's been some late reports that Hullani is going to see high value touches. But I think when it comes down to it, Jadarian price is going to be in the Kenneth Walker role. And Hullani is going to be in a role that's way less than we saw from Zach Charbonne. Hullani, they like is a pass blocker.

17:46I think if you want to draft George Hullani, I mean, really one of two things is in play here. Either sixth round Jadarian price is completely mispriced. And he should be in the round five discussion or early round five because he's literally in the Kenneth Walker role. Or George Hullani was one of the most mispriced running backs in fantasy this summer. One of those things is true. I think that we'll know when the game starts. My bet is on Jadarian price returning value for the managers who took him in like the sixth round. I have some Jadarian price exposure in both redraft and dynasty. And I'm hoping for him to cash. Anybody who followed my dynasty content last off season knows I was a big price guy. I talked about him as a prospect. Who was going to go very highly got in some arguments with people who pushed back on that one. And then they had to kind of walk it back when he went in the first round. So speaking of dynasty, my dynasty rankings, huge update coming out over at RotoWires. If you enjoyed my dynasty content at fantasy points or player profiler, I know a lot of people have been following that for years.

18:47My dynasty content is going to be locked in. If you play dynasty, no better place to be than over at RotoWires. I'm going to be updating those ranks every single week. And if you're in FFPC leagues right now, we've got Cut Day on Sunday. I'm up against it trying to make a couple of big trades. I'm sure some of you guys are as well. Talking about some players who we have to upgrade a little bit at the running back position. DeAndre Swift. DeAndre Swift, we had a scare where there was a beat reporter talking about how he left the field with an injury and discomfort. I included him in a podcast this week where I talked about a potential injury. It turned out to be nonsense. It was a cramp. But we live in the information age and you get this news dump and stuff happens right away. And you find out about it. And we sort of have to talk about it because it's relevant. But at the end of the day, I sort of wish they would have done a little bit of due diligence before we all freaked out about DeAndre Swift. But DeAndre Swift is locked and loaded. He's been going in fourth rounds and late drafts for a reason. You have multiple beat reporters talking up about how he was one of the most productive and impressive players at training camp.

19:48He looks like he's in store for a strong role. And he was running back 15 last year. Ben Johnson offense looks like it's going to be unbelievably good this year potentially. Johnson talking openly about how he wants to set the record for the most points for game in NFL history. He's an absolute madman. And Ben Johnson's the kind of coach that is going to keep the foot on the gas and try to get 40, try to get 50 if he can. Whenever they're in a situation where it's an opponent that sort of can't stop him, he's not the kind of coach that just wants to take the air out of the football and get to the next game. So we love that attitude when we're chasing big scoring lines. Swift is locked in and he goes ahead of some backs with some question marks. I think Swift's role is very strong. Kyle Menongai had hyper extended his knee. He'll be back. He's running off on the side. But he might not be back for week one, which makes Rochon Johnson sort of the next man in Chicago. And Rochon will probably see some touches in week one because we know the Ben Johnson offense

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21:50Remondrae Stevenson. Uh, again, guys, you'd ever been knows I like trape on Henderson a lot. But I have to be realistic about how the season's going to start. And Remondra is going to be in a very strong role, especially as a pass catcher out of the backfield. Looks like he's got the number one back job sort of locked in with Travion mixing in. Will the usage be as much of a of a gap as we saw in like the Super Bowl? Probably not. It's probably a split. But Mondrae, if he's getting that pass catching roll out of the back field, then it opens us up to having touch, rushing touchdowns and catches sort of those high value touches. Now Travion Henderson can still get there on big playability. But one note is Travion Henderson has missed some time recently. So if Henderson enters the season banged up, which it appears it could be, or he misses some time, Mondrae would get a huge, huge upgrade. That opening game against Seattle, a tough one. But Mondrae did score a touchdown last time these two teams played in the Super Bowl.

22:50So keep an eye on that one. Another player that we want to upgrade is Mike Washington. So Ash and Gentie fallen into the second round with some ankle injuries. He's going to be fine though. This is a low ankle injury, not a high ankle injury. They talked about that openly. Gentie could potentially though miss week one. And even if he doesn't miss week one, I think we're going to see a lot of Mike Washington and week one. Obviously, Gentie would have a huge role in the pass catching role. But Mike Washington is going to be a thing this year. And the Raiders are three and a half point favorites in some sports books against the Miami Dolphin. So Washington could get off to a fast start. Now, these guys could both coexist week one because Gentie might catch 70 passes this year. And the Clint Kubiak scheme looks really good for him. Look back at like 2024 Alvin Camara. That's sort of a run out that Gentie could have as a pass catcher. And we know multiple beat reporters in Vegas have talked about how Gentie's role as a pass catcher is going to grow. But then we also look at the tendencies from Clint Kubiak. Or last year we saw, I mean, hey, if you experienced Kenneth Walker,

23:54or on the flip side if you took Zach Sharbonne late, you were hating things if you were a Walker manager. And you were loving things a lot of weeks if you were Zach Sharbonne manager, just based on the draft capital you spent on them. So could that be a situation where Washington mixes in? We also look at the lack of weapons outside of Brock Bauer's where part of the weekly game plan could be very running back centric this year for the Vegas Raiders. Continuing with upgrades, James Conner starts the season on the IR. So we are going to upgrade Tyler Alger. Tyler Alger has spot start viability and super deep formats where you have multiple flexes. Then Tyler Alger, I think, is a potential spot start in week one. It's a tough matchup. But Jeremiah Love is definitely the guy there. But he could be potentially a little bit slow out the gate in terms of volume. Because he's also dealing with an ankle injury. Love, I think, is going to be perfectly fine. And I think where Love has fallen in drafts late, he's going to return a lot of value. But Tyler Alger, a very effective back, the team signed him as a free agent.

24:56And with Conner on the IR, I think both of these guys are going to get weekly touches and be easy to rely on. Sort of the nightmare scenario would have been if James Conner was there. And the team found a way to get all three backs touches, especially considering we have the looming threat of potentially Carson Beck. And we've got a tough matchup in week one against the L.A. Chargers. So Jeremiah Love locked in Tyler Alger locked in. But Tyler Alger would see a bump if Jeremiah Love is unable to have a high volume role in week one. And there's a chance that the game flow would support extra catches for these Cardinals running backs out of the backfield. So keep an eye on Tyler Alger. But if Jeremiah Love has a full week here and the team looks confident in him for week one, I think he's going to return some value. Talking about the Green Bay Packers, this has just been a soap opera where you have obviously all the off field issues with Josh Jacobs, which culminated in a commissioners exemplist very recently. We saw a rise of March on Lloyd. We also saw Caleb Johnson being traded from the Pittsburgh

25:59Steelers over to Green Bay. Caleb Johnson, mega producer at Iowa, failed with two coaching staffs in Pittsburgh though. So like there's a lot of stuff coming out on social media. Caleb Johnson looks big and strong. The player obviously gets a new lease on life where we've seen this before where sometimes it's a bad fit and a guy does produce better on a new team. But going into the season, it's March on Lloyd. And then we have the potential return of Josh Jacobs. Brian Guterkundz came out and said he expects Jacobs to play this year. Now if you look at commissioners exemplist stuff, it's usually been between five and 15 games. And then of course, guys get death sentences where they don't come back. I don't want to speculate here. I did the other day. I speculated, but I speculated on a live stream here when we knew that the hearing was in November. The most recent announcement here is the hearing has been moved up to early September. So what does that mean? I don't know if you're a lawyer put your ideas in the chat,

27:00but I think even lawyers are speculating at this point. So for me, if you want to play this super safe, March on Lloyd and Josh Jacobs together is a viable double running back strategy here where I took in an NFFC league recently, I took March on felt to me at 7-11 and I took Josh Jacobs at 9-11. So end of the ninth, end of the seventh, and I have what I think is the Green Bay Packers Backfield. Now a chaos situation certainly for me would be if Caleb Johnson can earn something. And then you've also got the threat of Chris Brooks. Chris Brooks to me, it's kind of like the George Hullani situation where Brooks, the coaching staff likes, but we haven't seen it from him in his career. Is he a capped upside player? And I get it, people are going to say, yo, Theo, we haven't seen anything for March on Lloyd in his career as well, but March on Lloyd, the team selected in round three. He's got high pedigree. I think March on Lloyd's going to get a real opportunity with this coaching staff. The vibes are great with him. Brooks though, we'll keep an eye on week one usage. We'll keep an

28:00eye on this one. How do they use him in week one? I think he'll see some touches. Caleb Johnson, I think is also worthwhile. So this is a really, really weird backfield situation where legitimately, if you're looking at a lottery ticket heading into week one, rostering Caleb Johnson and roster in Chris Brooks, one of those two is a good fine, fine bet to make. If you're looking at a season long lottery ticket, trading very low for Josh Jacobs to see if he beats expectations and actually comes back after a certain short number of games, that's also viable. So for me, I like the double tap. March on Lloyd and Josh Jacobs, and you're going to get access to potentially Lloyd managers who thought that they had a complete clarity on the situation. Maybe they want a little bit of a cash out because they're worried a little bit about this hearing getting moved up. And guys, with this one, by the time this pot of airs, it could be more news. So I'm going to move off the green bay backfield. I've talked, I feel like I'm talking in circles about them, but it's such a important one because Matt LaFoura offenses have produced a top 12 running back score in points

29:06per game average, not accounting stats points per game average is way more indicative of what it can do for us points per game average in six out of the last seven years. Matt LaFoura offenses have printed when it comes to running back production. He's never talked about as a running back whisperer, but he kind of is Aaron Jones and Josh Jacobs, both really benefited from being in this situation. Talk about some split backfields. And to what degree is there a split? We don't know, but it does seem like Blake Korum is going to enter the year as a potential dart throw flex as early as week one against the 49ers. Kyron Williams has been awesome for three straight years, double digit touchdowns for three straight years. Sean McVase guy for three straight years and anybody who's faded Kyron Williams as regretted it because even though he's a smaller back, he handles volume better than almost every back with that sort of size. Kyron has been just an absolute dog. The guy handles volume, he scores touchdowns and he plays in shot

30:08for Sean McVase one of the elite play callers of the last 25 years. So Sean McVase running back, it prints, but all off season long, we've heard drum beats about Blake Korum getting a higher volume role and maybe what we saw from Blake Korum in the second half of last season is going to start from game one. You've also got this factor that LA has an absolute unit on defense this year with multiple additions, including the return of Aaron Donald, including the pickup of Miles Garrett. I mean, ridiculous, ridiculous talent on the other defense side of ball and LA. So do you get into situations where LA is just using Blake Korum all throughout the second half and Blake Korum ends up with like 10 12 carries to end games with a chance of punching it in as well. Maybe you could. Blake Korum, I think has double digit touchdown potential even with Kyron Williams being pretty good again this year. So it's a weird backfield, but I do think the drafters taking Blake Korum early, they've got a chance not only at a massive contingent upside bet, but they've also got potential to

31:13be used in weekly viability. So if you're in like a hero or B start, zero or B start, I think those Blake Korum for those sort of teams makes a ton of sense. I'm in an industry league where I loaded up on wide out some super flex league quarterbacks, I took a Tyler Warren and I ended up with Blake Korum as like one of my running back two options for a high powered team. I think that's fine. LA that offense is going to be really good Kyron Williams and Blake Korum both viable picks at cost. And if you're looking to go make a trade, if people in your league are sort of underestimating what Korum could be, he makes for a really fun trade target. And on the flip side, Kyron Williams, if people don't are not are trying to fade that situation, also a player you could trade for. So we want access to this LA Rams offense. One other thing to consider, Devonte Adams was a little bit slow down the stretch. So if Adams role as like this touchdown monster regresses a little bit from last year and probably has to regress a little bit, he was on a on a historically good pace,

32:14then maybe the touchdown equity goes to the running backs. It's just law of averages. Maybe they have more rushing scores this year and slightly fewer passing touchdowns. I know the touchdown rate for Matt Stafford also threw the roof if you want to go analytical Jacksonville Jaguars. Basial Tutan is my preferred running back in Jacksonville, but Chris Rodriguez is going to have a weekly a weekly role in week one. Just how big is Tutan's role? You also have a lot of mouse to feed on offense when it comes to pass catchers. You've got multiple wide receivers, including Parker Washington, Brian Thomas Jr. Jacobi Myers who came back to practice, Travis Hunter, who some games is going to have spike weeks because he's really talented. We just can't predict them because a lot of times he's just going to be on defense. And then you got Brenton Strange who we saw multiple weeks last year getting catches. So does Basial Tutan see enough catches this year? If Chris Rodriguez is mixing in, we don't know yet. Tutan I think is still the best bet. I'm okay taking

33:15Tutan at cost and late drafts. And I think Tutan has that upside as a year to bet. And Tutan should get the catches out of the backfield to start the season. But one other sort of wrinkle is LaQuint Allen starts the year banged up. But if LaQuint Allen comes back, then LaQuint Allen could end up catching some passes as well. So take shots on this Jacksonville backfield. Tutan even though he's most expensive is still my most favorite way to play it. But Chris Rodriguez going super late in some of these drafts worth a shot on your roster. If you're in a shallow league, it's worth rostering Chris Rodriguez starting the year. And then just on a waiver wire watch list, if you want to just have a list of guys, if anything happened to Tutan or Rodriguez, LaQuint Allen would have viability later in the season. Minnesota Vikings Jordan Mason is the dude this year. He's going to end up leading this team in touches and fantasy points. I feel very strong about that. Aaron Jones 32 years old. And I think Aaron Jones is a player that regressing for sure. Still is going to have some viability. But Jordan Mason is my pick back to back years 700 plus rushing yards. I think Mason

34:20shown us on a short sample size that he can score fantasy points. We saw that with the 49ers two years ago. Mason is the back you want in Minnesota. Aaron Jones viable. But then you've got demand clayborn. Demand clayborn is the really fun player to stash. We talked about like Nick Singleton earlier. Clayborn is one that if you have room on your roster, it will take an injury to one of these guys or one of these guys underperforming. But it's an offense that I think we will like in Minnesota. I think they're going to move the ball this year. Clayborn an electric rookie. So he's a third back, but he's worth taking a lot look at Washington commanders. Jekory Kroski merit appears to be the guy, but he's been banged up. Rashad White has the pass catching role locked down. He dealt with some injuries. A train of camp feels like he's fine. I think taking shots on both of these guys is viable. It's an offense where hopefully one of them wins the job and it's not a 50 50 split. And if one of them runs away with the the better usage, they could be very good. For

35:23me, I like Rashad White because he's cheaper and he started to fall a little bit. But Jekory Kroski merit could make me look foolish on that. Everybody knows if you consume my content last off season, I was Mr. Jekory Kroski merit. Talking about how he's the guy you need in every dynasty rookie draft, talked about him as an 18th round underdog pick. He rose up and was end up being a really good click in those ranges. And he does have the explosiveness to beat his ADP this year. But I think we're shot white good enough pass catcher that he caps the upside of Kroski merit. Want access to both of these guys just because they're so cheap and then keep an eye on K-Tron Allen as the running back three Pittsburgh fun situation and we expect both backs to touch the ball every single week and both backs are sort of viable at cost. Pittsburgh is an interesting team because everybody's cheap. Michael Pittman DK Meccaff cheap Pat Fryermith cheap and then you've got Jalen Warren the most expensive one but he's still going in like the sixth round seventh round in most formats. I drafted Warren like the seventh round the other day. You've got Rico Doudal who's had thousand rushing

36:27yards back to back years. He's also in play so we want shots on this backfield. If one of these guys were to go down with an injury it would be massive. The contention upside for this backfield is huge. We know that Caleb Johnson was moved on. So Eli Heidenreich seventh round pick out a Navy potentially viable if there was an injury here. Keep an eye on him in very deep formats. The NFL season is right around the corner and it's time for survivor contests. Roto wire is partnering with splash sports for two survivor contests. There's the hundred thousand dollar NFL survivor. That's a fifteen dollar entry. Pick one NFL team to win straight up each week. No spread, no repeats. Then you've got a very cool one. The fifty thousand dollar touchdown survivor. This one's player-based. Pick someone to score a touchdown. Passing touchdowns don't count. It's got to be rushing, receiving or returns only. That's a twenty five dollar entry gets you fifty thousand. Ian Harted and I are both competing in this one. So you can play against me. You can play against Ian.

37:29Can you outlast us in this contest? We're going to use the code Roto wire and you are going to get a fifty percent deposit match. That's a fifty percent deposit match using the code Roto wire. Go to splash sports.com slash Roto wire and I'll see you in the contest. We talk about Tampa Bay Buccaneer is talking about a potential split. Bucky Irving. The vibes are pretty good. They were really bad at the beginning of the summer, but Irving the vibes are pretty good heading into the year. He could have the touchdown equity in this offense, but he's was never utilized on the goal line. So keep an eye on that one with Irving. We also know that Irving's role as a pass catcher is a little bit cap this year because Kenneth Gaywell had seventy plus last year and Gainwell is going to be a thing every single week for Tampa Bay. So really like the value of Gainwell and drafts, but I've come around on mixing in a little bit of Bucky Irving. If the team does decide to utilize him around the goal line, he'll have a very valuable role. We never saw that though. Sean Tucker though the team

38:30almost cut, but then they renegotiated. He's back on the team, but it appears like Tucker is a distant third heading into the year with Irving and Gainwell both being viable. The good thing about this offense though, I listed Washington, Pittsburgh with Washington, the offensive lines of mess with Pittsburgh, I capped upside. I mean Aaron Rogers is not exactly leading the greatest show on turf this year at his age, but with Tampa Bay, it's an offense that could really exceed expectations. Elite offensive line play. We like Baker Mayfield. We like the talent of the pass catchers there. So Irving and Gainwell could both coexist on an offense that could print fantasy points. So I like taking both of these guys in drafts, probably not on the same team, but if you're able to acquire Irving or Gainwell for cheap as a throw-in deal in a late trade before the season, love getting access to those guys. I have a lot of exposure to Gainwell in Bestball and in Dynasty rosters, and also a couple of read draft teams. Bucky I did take in a late NFFC draft, and I liked the value

39:32I got him was like late sixth round. Another team that is an exciting split. Denver led the NFL in, no, they were top five in the in pass attempts last year as an offense. They have probably the best offensive line in football. We've seen multiple backs produce under Sean Payton over the years. You've got three of them in Denver that are viable here. JK Dobbins should open up the season with a really strong role. RJ Harvey should also open up the season. I know there's a lot of Harvey hatred out there, but his role should be very solid as a pass catcher. But there is a threat to both of them in rookie running back Jonah Coleman. If there's any sort of regression with Dobbins or Harvey underperformance or potentially an untimely fumble, it's going to open up the door for this fourth round running back in Jonah Coleman. If you had a 2024 Bucky Irving, a 2025 Cam Skataboo, and you're looking for the next fourth round pick to hit at the running back position that's a rookie. It's probably Jonah Coleman in this class. So Jonah Coleman's worth rostering for sure. But JK Dobbins

40:38RJ Harvey both are going to have strong roles early on. This is a backfield much like Tampa Bay that I want to have access to because this team is going to score a lot of points this year in Denver. Love the vibes coming out of Denver. Bonics, Jalen Waddle. There's a lot to like there on that Denver Broncos offense. So I think if you want to break it down, if I'm searching for a lottery ticket, it's Jonah Coleman. If I'm searching for early season production, it's JK Dobbins. And if I'm searching for a player that's become cool to hate on, it's RJ Harvey because RJ Harvey is going to catch a lot of passes this year. I just think that's the way it's going to go is Harvey's past catching role is going to be strong enough that even if he regresses and he certainly will probably regress in terms of rushing touchdowns. But Harvey was a second round pick last year and they like him as a pass catcher. So Denver is legitimately a backfield that I want access to multiple players on. And I think you can look at trying to pick up at Denver Broncos running back in a trade or maybe if you're in a very shallow format, Coleman's not rostered. But all three of them very,

41:40very viable Carolina Panthers. We've had like a swing of events here where Jonathan Brooks had a ton of steam a couple weeks ago was moving up to the sixth round. Chuba Hubbard falling like a rock missed some time in in preseason and in training camp. Then you have Chuba Hubbard returning to practice on September 1st. And at the time he returned to practice, you have Jonathan Brooks now dealing with some soreness and he's missed a little time. My bet is still on Jonathan Brooks in this backfield. Jonathan Brooks, I think can catch the ball. But Chuba Hubbard, we know he's had high volume roles under Dave Canalis in years past. And if anything happens with Brooks, Chuba would be very valuable on the flip side. If Chuba misses time, Brooks role should be very valuable. I think it's really just a Jonathan Brooks PTSD for fantasy managers recently where the guy misses a couple of days with soreness and people are saying, oh my gosh, it's happening all over again with Jonathan Brooks. Not so sure about that one. So this is a backfield where Dave

42:41Canalis has been a low key running back whisperer. Just shoot your shot here. Jonathan Brooks, Chuba Hubbard, pick one, roll into the season with him. And if it's super cheap for you to have both, that's probably viable. The nightmare scenario in that situation would be is if it's a real split. Speaking of backfields, we want exposure to. Omarian Hampton is the back you want in L.A. But he goes top 15, top 18 and every draft. And he's super expensive to trade for. He's super expensive in dynasty. Every format. Omarian Hampton steamed up. You've had Kamani Vidal, who was great last year and is a gym harbohel favorite. Then you have Keaton Mitchell, who's a Mike McDaniel favorite. Now you've had Keaton Mitchell's that price go down because he missed some time in the preseason and in training camp. And then you've had Kamani Vidal's price go up. This is a situation where even if you don't have Omarian Hampton, I want to have access to Keaton Mitchell and I want to have access to Kamani Vidal. If if Omarian Hampton went down with like a season ending injury,

43:42Vidal would be a massive waiver wire ad. Keaton Mitchell though feels like he could be have weekly viability any week he's in play. So Keaton Mitchell, really fun high value touch guy, Mike McDaniel with a back that's fast out in space. We've seen this story before with Devon Hian. We've seen this story before with the speed of where he most and we know he loves Keaton Mitchell. Then you've got Keaton Mitchell also the vibes in camp were great past catching and I'm running wheel routes deep shots down the field with Mitchell. So like I think they have a plan for Keaton Mitchell, but Kamani Vidal affordable and has contingent upside just like last year. We saw how effective he was for fantasy managers, even with the offensive line being a mess in LA. And even without Mike McDaniel, Kamani Vidal was very productive. Now you've got the offensive lines solidified in many ways. Joe Altback, he's elite and then you've got Mike McDaniel, the running back whisperer calling shots. So keep an eye on this Denver, excuse me, LA chargers backfield. Final team to talk about final couple of teams to talk about. I think the last one actually,

44:42if I missed one, let me know in the comments. I think we hide it hit all 32. New York Giants, where camscataboo enters the year. And I think he's going to have a really, really strong role. But the number two back looks like it's going to be Najee Harris. Najee Harris, of course, coming off of a catastrophic injury the costume last year. But reunites with Greg Roman. And then reunites with a harboh where we know how much Jim harboh wanted Najee Harris to come to Michigan when he went to Alabama. Now you've got the connection with Najee Harris back with Greg Roman, who's an assistant under John harboh in New York here. And also you have with Tyrone Tracey sort of struggling this preseason. It seems like this coaching staff. It's not Brian Dable Tyrone Tracey had his success in New York under Dable. So it looks like to me it's Najee Harris. Now maybe Tyrone Tracey proves us wrong. And certainly with camscataboo and Najee Harris, it's two guys that both missed a ton of time last year. And Tyrone Tracey had a thousand plus yards and back to back years. So

45:45Tracey's not a zero. Just feels like the coaching staff is not like huge on him. And Najee Harris feels like the next guy in. But I think it's viable in deep formats to still roster Tracey. I even have one league where I have like 20 roster spots. And I use like a very late pick on Harris and then a late pick on Tracey sort of the haste camscataboo. I want you to succeed for me. But if you miss some time, I have both of them kind of deal because it's a little bit of question marks here. But I think it's Najee Harris as the two. And I think that's going to become apparent right when the season starts. We are right at the start of football. Drop in shows like this to help you win in fantasy every single day on this channel. Make sure you hit that subscribe button if you are watching on YouTube, hit the like button. And if you're listening on the podcast on on Spotify on Apple, really appreciate five star reviews and write us a review if it's helping you with this entire off season. We're going to crush it this year at Runawayer and so are you. Let's go win some fantasy leagues. I'll see you soon.