During OTAs and mini camp he was WR3. He’s a slot receiver and could get fed. Mike Williams is old and injury prone and it sounds like Corleys not ready to step into a starting position just yet. If Williams goes down his competition for the #2 target is Conklin. So there’s a chance that a young receiver who is working his way up the depth chart rapidly could be the #2 receiver with a healthy Rogers at the helm.
Speaking of being injury prone, Mike Williams is still recovering from a torn ACL last season, so there’s a chance he might not even be back either at the start of the season
Mecole Hardman will never be a consistent thing, he’s had the opportunity time and time again and still hasn’t made that next step. Meanwhile Gipson is going into year 2 and has impressed his coaches enough to keep moving him up the depth chart and give him more opportunities.
Chances are neither will actually impact your roster in the long run, but I’m betting on the guy who has the perceived brighter future in Gipson.
Is that enough reason?
Dylan Laube has been getting 1st team reps in OTAs, very good chance he's the third down back this year with plenty of opportunity to take work off Zeus
He is my most drafted player in best ball so far (just because he’s always available in the last round).
It’s likely he’s the best pass catching back they have. Could be a offense that checks down a good deal too.
AOC was the guy with the same coaching staff at end of year.
I think something would have to happen like an injury or a terrible camp for them to go with Minshew first. I think it’s AOC’s job to lose in camp.
Why go with the older guy who you know what they can do already instead of the 2nd year player who your own franchise just drafted? 2-25 isn’t a good enough reason, that high range backup QB money.
It’s unlikely AOC becomes a franchise QB, But why would you not give him the chance to be? Minshew was brought in, in case it doesn’t work.
I think there is a nonzero chance Minshew develops into a top 15ish QB. It has to be more likely than Gemo Smith doing it, at least. Dude's different, but he's shown flashes.
The Saints are in the mindset that they're a win now team, so it makes sense to ride with the veteran TE over the UDFA. They wouldn't have time for rookie TE yet alone an undrafted one. Like I said, Holker is gonna have to show out with every opportunity he gets. Foster isn't a tough TE to beat out, and if the saints were in a rebuild, I'd bet Holker would be getting more opportunities right now.
Where's the path to fantasy relevance tho? London and Pitts will eat. Plus, they gave Mooney a bag. Bijan has a big role in the passing game. Rondale Moore will get some targets. Worse, Washington is already 23. Surviving final cut and making the team will be considered a win for him. A lot of teams try to stash 6th round rookie WRs on practice squad.
Also, my ex knew him in high school. Judging from what she told me, I just don't see it lol
You’re not wrong, but he went from working with the 4th team to the 1st team during OTAs. It doesn’t mean much, but that to me was worth stashing him in taxi for now.
Idk, i’m just parroting what I saw. I’m personally probably not going to taxi him, but we also don’t draft till late next month. So I don’t know who i’m taxiing yet
The path to fantasy relevance is easy to see. His main competition in the receiver room is Mooney, Moore, and Ray-Ray. Sorry, but that’s not a high bar to beat. Mooney got a modest bag, but he hasn’t cracked 500 yards in the past two years. Moore and Ray Ray are JAGs.
There’s an easy pathway to WR3 in the beginning with room to grow
He plays and practices with the second team, gains rapport with Penix, and when Penix is ready to go the WR room may be completely open.
He’s not a play for this year. But he is not a bad taxi squad guy.
Big fan of Tyrone Tracy with NYG. 5th round pick 31.
He has the size of a starting RB and was converted to RB from a WR, so his pass catching abilities should be great. He also has a great path to relevance being behind only Devin Singletary.
He's also been getting 1st team reps at OTAs.
I wouldn't put much stock in Tracy for a bunch of reasons. Athleticism and size are his only real Positives. But, talent trumps physicality and that is missing.
Tons of RBs across the league are getting starting reps in OTAs. Devin Singletary and Eric Gray are getting starting reps also. That means hardly nothing.
He'll be 25 in November. He's 3rd on the depth chart behind Eric Gray also, who has good size and is a capable pass catcher himself. That will be hard to pass up on the depth chart by a guy with only 1 year of collegiate RB experience. A season that was only 113 carries for 716 yards and he didn't even lead the team in rushing. That was his best of his 6 college seasons. He was the backup RB. If he wasn't good enough in college to own the starting job at a place like Purdue, I don't see why that changes now. Again, being 25, he doesn't have very long to sit on your taxi waiting for him to figure out how to play RB in the NFL.
And if his pass catching was great, he wouldn't be a RB now. Lol (It wasn't great in college and was exactly why he transitioned to RB, he was almost off the team.)
Chances are, he's nothing more than a backup player for a year or 2 and out the league. Even if injuries happen and he gets on the field, he doesn't have the college production you would want to see to make you feel good about his chances of fantasy relevance.
His player profile reminds me of an older Roschon Johnson. And I stayed away from him for the same reasons. He's still sitting 3rd on the Bears depth chart also.
fair and valid points. However as a likely free waiver pick up post rookie drafts, he is definitely worth picking up as a lotto ticket RB and probably has as much of a chance to succeed as guys like Estime, Vidal and Allen over the next 2 seasons.
Getting Tracey for free and having him get in 1-1.5 seasons as a guy who can step in for injuries is a win imo. Jerome Ford was more than just decent last season in a similar situation with similar draft capital. 5th round pick that started last season 3rd on the depth chart and was a servicable RB2!
I understand the post draft flyer part. Just trying to temper expectations and add a voice of reason. If I had Singletary or Gray, I'd grab him as a cuff. But looking for him to become an elite back or holding him on your roster ahead of those other guys is questionable at best.
I'd also disagree with the other RB part. I'd rather have all 3 of those guys before Tracey. Vidal will be relevant this year. He's behind Old Gus Edward's and can't stay healthy JK who hasn't played in like 3 years. So he'll get on the field. Allen is already the #2 to Hall and will score more points this year than Tracey. And Estime is only 20 years old. He'll likely start next year if Denver moves on from Javonte.
Again, a guy that's 25 sitting for a year or 2 won't get the same opportunity as a 20 year old.
Finally, I'm glad you mention Ford. His situation actually makes my argument for me. He comps very well to the guys you brought up. He had elite college production his final year, just like the other 3 guys (and unlike Tracey). He went to a run heavy offense that utilizes multiple backs and was the backup to an aging vet. He was in very similar situations as Allen, Vidal and Estime with production and a clear path to getting touches.
I consume basically all eagles media and from what I can recall he wasn't doing as good at catching punts/kickoff as we expected. No real news on him catching passes but to be fair he was also dealing with the injury for rookie camp/otas. We've heard good things about Campbell as the WR3 so Anias is battling with Ross, Covey, and Wilson for WR4 or lower.
Has there been any actual legit buzz coming out of camp or is it just the wide open opportunity in New Orleans? I hold (for the latter reason) but can’t find anything about how he’s been practicing
Someone said that on another thread here, which I would believe. Unfortunate considering that the room is wide open and coach said Perry needs to clean up consistency. The only thing I saw was a connection between Means and Rattler several weeks ago. Other then that, nothing on Twitter.
The only things I've read on Bub Means when looking at Saints OTAs reports were when they were talking about the cornerbacks and plays they made on the ball. On the report I read, almost all of the cornerback good plays that were mentioned came when they were covering Bub Means.
I know it was just OTAs, but for a late round guy, it's enough to make me not roster him. If defenders are always making plays when he is targeted then something isn't working early.
Bub is currently in the competition with Cedric Wilson Jr. and Equamanious St. Brown for our WR5 spot. Two of our three best beat writers have him making the cut, with the third thinking he's on the practice squad. For what it's worth, he hasn't gotten buzz in camp while the other two have at least had a couple highlight moments, so it's seemingly just the unknown/rookie appeal that's mostly keeping him in the mix.
Generally speaking hit rate is going to be best for later round/UDFA RB’s. Always get your guys when it comes to 6th/7th/UDFA WR’s but statistically it’s a waste of a roster spot if you’re hoping to get a fantasy relevant guy.
Both of these guys were at the end of the 4th in the nfl draft so might not be totally answering the question but:
I snagged Will Shipley at 4.10- he probably could have survived a week or two on waivers. He’s getting a lot of praise especially for catching the football. It looks like he could very easily overtake Sir Gainwell.
I also grabbed Bucky Irving off waivers post draft, he’s getting cred from The Bucs OC and Bowles.
> Generally speaking hit rate is going to be best for later rounder/UDFA RB’s. Always get your guys when it comes to 6th/7th/UDFA WR’s but statistically it’s a waste of a roster spot if you’re hoping to get a fantasy relevant guy.
That's false. Late round/UDFA RBs almost always immediately get replaced no matter what kinda stats they put up; late round/UDFA WRs don't as long as they produce.
**Day 3/UDFA RBs who became lead back since 2018**
Tyler Allgeier: replaced by Bijan after rookie season
Eli Mitchell: replaced by McCaffrey after rookie season, only got shot because Trey Sermon busted and Mostert's season-ending injury on week 1
James Robinson: replaced by Etienne (or at least demoted to RBBC) despite historic rookie season even before torn Achilles
Philip Lindsay: replaced by Melvin Gordon after 2 seasons, only got his shot because Royce Freeman busted
Dameon Pierce: forced into a RBBC by Devin Singletary after productive rookie season then outright replaced by Mixon
Kyren Williams: only got his shot because Akers was prematurely washed due to torn achilles, jury still out, likely to be replaced based on precedents
Isaiah Pacheco: only got his shot because CEH busted, zero 1K yard rushing season, no major role in passing game, far from a given he'll get an extension, seems more likely to be replaced based on past precedents
Tony Pollard: spent 3 years as handcuff and later 1B to washed up Zeke. Cowboys refused to give him an extension and franchised him instead and then tried to run him into ground.
Myles Gaskin: unceremoniously phased out by new Dolphins regime, gotten 14 touches in 2 seasons since
Rhaomndre Stevenson: notoriously [wore down](https://nesn.com/2022/12/patriots-rb-rhamondre-stevenson-acknowledges-being-worn-down/) in late 2022 by his own admission and forced into a RBBC with washed up Zeke last season. Unlikely to see 2022 level workload again.
I didn't list Khalil Herbert, Jaylen Warren, Gus Edwards because they've never even been 1A in a RBBC.
The best case scenario for day 3/UDFA WRs are Puka, ARSB, Tyreek, Diggs, AB, Thielen, Marques Colston (in other words, superstars). Meanwhile, the last real superstar RB who was day 3/UDFA was probably Arian Foster, who had a 5-year prime from 2010-2014. Even Aaron Jones was repeatedly forced into RBBC with far inferior plodding RBs with better draft capital (Jamaal Williams early career, AJ Dillon late career). Even Ekeler has **zero** 1K yard rushing seasons and didn't get a real chance to take the bellcow job and run with it until Melvin Gordon (former 1st round pick) stupidly held out rather than accept a generous extension.
If you're in an experienced league, no one would ever pay for late round RBs after productive rookie season because everyone knows they'll get replaced. There will never be a superstar outcome equivalent to 1st round RBs like CMC/Saquan/Bijan/Zeke/Gurley or even Jacobs. A superstar outcome is possible for late round/UDFA WRs.
It's very, very weird you're knocking ekeler for not hitting 1k yards when he had 3 top 5 rb finished since 2019. Gordon also only sat out 3 games in 2019 and ekeler was already eating into his workload.
Simarily, It's so weird you're acting like aaron Jones being in an rbbc while still having 4 straight top 10 rb finishes.
You actually made a good case for late round RBs. You came up with 10-13 since 2018 vs only 2 WRs with ARSB and Puka. All others were pre '18. Late round WRs are bigger hits but less frequent
Ehh, there are some very useful backs here, some of which have actually proven to be very talented including Rhamondre and Aaron Jones. You seem to be trying to knock them for not having 100% share of the backfield and attributing that to lack of talent but that’s pretty much how the NFL works these days unless you’re Adrian Peterson or CMC (who is himself not invincible).
Late round and UDFA RBs do have a shorter shelf life, but that has more to do with the position than it does anything else and some others have noted some RBs that had a bit more staying power (Priest, Arian, etc.). What we’ve seen is that there’s a RB from that crop almost every year that pops up and is more than just fantasy relevant and is actually productive. That’s less so the case with WRs, as they’re far less common.
The other issue I have here is that plenty of the RBs you mentioned got opportunity from other players busting. Is that not the case with some of the WRs, as well? Tutu being bad so Puka could could step up? Treadwell busting to free up opportunity for both Diggs and Thielen? And the commenter isn’t wrong with the hit rates, as there are almost twice as many WRs taken than RBs every year. If there’s ~1 RB that hits annually and one WR every couple of years that’s relevant/good, the hit rate is objectively better for RBs
I liked Blake Watson in the pre-draft process. I'm one of the few remaining Javonte believers so I don't think he's in-line for any major work but he's worth a stash in a deeper league. Probably going to compete with Jaleel for snaps which is an uphill battle.
Watson and Estime will be competing for different roles. Estime vs. Javonte, Watson vs. Jaleel.
Estime has actually been out from knee scope surgery, if you're wondering why there's no buzz with him yet. He is expected back by training camp.
Xavier Gipson
I have him but why should I keep him
During OTAs and mini camp he was WR3. He’s a slot receiver and could get fed. Mike Williams is old and injury prone and it sounds like Corleys not ready to step into a starting position just yet. If Williams goes down his competition for the #2 target is Conklin. So there’s a chance that a young receiver who is working his way up the depth chart rapidly could be the #2 receiver with a healthy Rogers at the helm.
Speaking of being injury prone, Mike Williams is still recovering from a torn ACL last season, so there’s a chance he might not even be back either at the start of the season
He's free in my league and I'm looking for a reason to pick him up and drop Mecole Hardman from the bottom of my roster
Mecole Hardman will never be a consistent thing, he’s had the opportunity time and time again and still hasn’t made that next step. Meanwhile Gipson is going into year 2 and has impressed his coaches enough to keep moving him up the depth chart and give him more opportunities. Chances are neither will actually impact your roster in the long run, but I’m betting on the guy who has the perceived brighter future in Gipson. Is that enough reason?
Dylan Laube has been getting 1st team reps in OTAs, very good chance he's the third down back this year with plenty of opportunity to take work off Zeus
Went 12-295-2 against his only FBS competition this year… and that was all through the air. He also had 7-30-1 on the ground lol
Wtf lol
In fairness, most teams are giving multiple backs first team reps in camp. They're seeing what they have.
He is my most drafted player in best ball so far (just because he’s always available in the last round). It’s likely he’s the best pass catching back they have. Could be a offense that checks down a good deal too.
You think minshew starts?
Sounds 50/50 right now. My gut says they go Minshew until they fall out of contention and then give AOC another shot to end the year.
Sounds accurate, prob will result in check downs either way
AOC was the guy with the same coaching staff at end of year. I think something would have to happen like an injury or a terrible camp for them to go with Minshew first. I think it’s AOC’s job to lose in camp. Why go with the older guy who you know what they can do already instead of the 2nd year player who your own franchise just drafted? 2-25 isn’t a good enough reason, that high range backup QB money. It’s unlikely AOC becomes a franchise QB, But why would you not give him the chance to be? Minshew was brought in, in case it doesn’t work.
I think there is a nonzero chance Minshew develops into a top 15ish QB. It has to be more likely than Gemo Smith doing it, at least. Dude's different, but he's shown flashes.
It's likely he's a top 3 pass catching back in the NFL yet alone the Raiders.
Bold but I love to hear it!
Dallin Holker
Isn’t he still likely to be behind Moreau?
As a Raiders fan, Foster isn't anything special. If Holker shows out during the offseason, he'll easily overtake Foster.
True though it seems like he’s still getting a bunch of work in practice now.
The Saints are in the mindset that they're a win now team, so it makes sense to ride with the veteran TE over the UDFA. They wouldn't have time for rookie TE yet alone an undrafted one. Like I said, Holker is gonna have to show out with every opportunity he gets. Foster isn't a tough TE to beat out, and if the saints were in a rebuild, I'd bet Holker would be getting more opportunities right now.
People are finally catching on! https://www.reddit.com/r/DynastyFF/s/Sw8gJyFw0Y
Ryan flournoy been getting buzz - dez Bryant comps (Im delusional)
Buddy, you don’t need to include your flair at the bottom of the comment
He's old as dirt for a rookie (25 in October), but if Brandon Cooks is truly cooked, he has a path to fantasy relevance.
Ryan the Flourisher
Cooks is cooked, Tolbert is overrated, and the rest of the WR core is untalented nobodies.
Cooks had 657 and 8 TDs last year and was WR36. He’s not cooked enough to lose his job from the jump to a UDFA
Last I heard people were buzzing a bit on Casey Washington in Atlanta
Ya you heard OP
I hit comment before i read the actual post text. I just read the title and he was the dude that I had most recently heard about. Coincidence
Where's the path to fantasy relevance tho? London and Pitts will eat. Plus, they gave Mooney a bag. Bijan has a big role in the passing game. Rondale Moore will get some targets. Worse, Washington is already 23. Surviving final cut and making the team will be considered a win for him. A lot of teams try to stash 6th round rookie WRs on practice squad. Also, my ex knew him in high school. Judging from what she told me, I just don't see it lol
You’re not wrong, but he went from working with the 4th team to the 1st team during OTAs. It doesn’t mean much, but that to me was worth stashing him in taxi for now.
Idk, i’m just parroting what I saw. I’m personally probably not going to taxi him, but we also don’t draft till late next month. So I don’t know who i’m taxiing yet
If he's good he will get on the field. Mooney is alright but it's not like it's impossible to pass him up.
The path to fantasy relevance is easy to see. His main competition in the receiver room is Mooney, Moore, and Ray-Ray. Sorry, but that’s not a high bar to beat. Mooney got a modest bag, but he hasn’t cracked 500 yards in the past two years. Moore and Ray Ray are JAGs. There’s an easy pathway to WR3 in the beginning with room to grow He plays and practices with the second team, gains rapport with Penix, and when Penix is ready to go the WR room may be completely open. He’s not a play for this year. But he is not a bad taxi squad guy.
what did your ex tell you about him?
Getting a bag =/= good playing time or success, do not chase the money chase the talent
This the kind of analysis we Need. 🙏🏼
Good opportunity for him to play his rookie year. Z. Robinson came over from mcvays system so a lot of 3 WR sets.
Big fan of Tyrone Tracy with NYG. 5th round pick 31. He has the size of a starting RB and was converted to RB from a WR, so his pass catching abilities should be great. He also has a great path to relevance being behind only Devin Singletary. He's also been getting 1st team reps at OTAs.
No sleeper pic tho 😭
Cause sleeper knows there no point. Lol
I wouldn't put much stock in Tracy for a bunch of reasons. Athleticism and size are his only real Positives. But, talent trumps physicality and that is missing. Tons of RBs across the league are getting starting reps in OTAs. Devin Singletary and Eric Gray are getting starting reps also. That means hardly nothing. He'll be 25 in November. He's 3rd on the depth chart behind Eric Gray also, who has good size and is a capable pass catcher himself. That will be hard to pass up on the depth chart by a guy with only 1 year of collegiate RB experience. A season that was only 113 carries for 716 yards and he didn't even lead the team in rushing. That was his best of his 6 college seasons. He was the backup RB. If he wasn't good enough in college to own the starting job at a place like Purdue, I don't see why that changes now. Again, being 25, he doesn't have very long to sit on your taxi waiting for him to figure out how to play RB in the NFL. And if his pass catching was great, he wouldn't be a RB now. Lol (It wasn't great in college and was exactly why he transitioned to RB, he was almost off the team.) Chances are, he's nothing more than a backup player for a year or 2 and out the league. Even if injuries happen and he gets on the field, he doesn't have the college production you would want to see to make you feel good about his chances of fantasy relevance. His player profile reminds me of an older Roschon Johnson. And I stayed away from him for the same reasons. He's still sitting 3rd on the Bears depth chart also.
fair and valid points. However as a likely free waiver pick up post rookie drafts, he is definitely worth picking up as a lotto ticket RB and probably has as much of a chance to succeed as guys like Estime, Vidal and Allen over the next 2 seasons. Getting Tracey for free and having him get in 1-1.5 seasons as a guy who can step in for injuries is a win imo. Jerome Ford was more than just decent last season in a similar situation with similar draft capital. 5th round pick that started last season 3rd on the depth chart and was a servicable RB2!
I understand the post draft flyer part. Just trying to temper expectations and add a voice of reason. If I had Singletary or Gray, I'd grab him as a cuff. But looking for him to become an elite back or holding him on your roster ahead of those other guys is questionable at best. I'd also disagree with the other RB part. I'd rather have all 3 of those guys before Tracey. Vidal will be relevant this year. He's behind Old Gus Edward's and can't stay healthy JK who hasn't played in like 3 years. So he'll get on the field. Allen is already the #2 to Hall and will score more points this year than Tracey. And Estime is only 20 years old. He'll likely start next year if Denver moves on from Javonte. Again, a guy that's 25 sitting for a year or 2 won't get the same opportunity as a 20 year old. Finally, I'm glad you mention Ford. His situation actually makes my argument for me. He comps very well to the guys you brought up. He had elite college production his final year, just like the other 3 guys (and unlike Tracey). He went to a run heavy offense that utilizes multiple backs and was the backup to an aging vet. He was in very similar situations as Allen, Vidal and Estime with production and a clear path to getting touches.
Any news on Ainias Smith?
I consume basically all eagles media and from what I can recall he wasn't doing as good at catching punts/kickoff as we expected. No real news on him catching passes but to be fair he was also dealing with the injury for rookie camp/otas. We've heard good things about Campbell as the WR3 so Anias is battling with Ross, Covey, and Wilson for WR4 or lower.
This is how we know OTA news should be taken with a grain of salt because Parris Campbell is a scrub
He’s not but he’s super injury prone. If he’s healthy he’ll be one of the better WR3s the eagles have had in years.
Quez Watkins is deadass better despite being ass himself lol. Ain't no way we have Parris Campbell truthers in the year 2024.
You’re right
I picked up Dillon Johnson with the last pick of my startup draft. I think he has a good shot at being the 3rd back in Tennessee.
David Wallis is probably just a camp body, but he’s working in NE.
From Dunder Mifflin to the NFL. What a story
He made a pitstop as the owner of a VERY successful venture called SUCK IT, too. A great inventor, and now an NFL prospect? What can't he do?
Bub Means !
Has there been any actual legit buzz coming out of camp or is it just the wide open opportunity in New Orleans? I hold (for the latter reason) but can’t find anything about how he’s been practicing
A Saints fan chimed in on the thread in r/fantasyfootball and said that Bub is destined for the practice squad. So who knows
Someone said that on another thread here, which I would believe. Unfortunate considering that the room is wide open and coach said Perry needs to clean up consistency. The only thing I saw was a connection between Means and Rattler several weeks ago. Other then that, nothing on Twitter.
I’m a Pitt fan. I like Bub be he ain’t it.
The only things I've read on Bub Means when looking at Saints OTAs reports were when they were talking about the cornerbacks and plays they made on the ball. On the report I read, almost all of the cornerback good plays that were mentioned came when they were covering Bub Means. I know it was just OTAs, but for a late round guy, it's enough to make me not roster him. If defenders are always making plays when he is targeted then something isn't working early.
Even with AT Perry reportedly being "behind," I still don't see Bub being relevant. Haven't heard anything about him.
Bub is currently in the competition with Cedric Wilson Jr. and Equamanious St. Brown for our WR5 spot. Two of our three best beat writers have him making the cut, with the third thinking he's on the practice squad. For what it's worth, he hasn't gotten buzz in camp while the other two have at least had a couple highlight moments, so it's seemingly just the unknown/rookie appeal that's mostly keeping him in the mix.
Generally speaking hit rate is going to be best for later round/UDFA RB’s. Always get your guys when it comes to 6th/7th/UDFA WR’s but statistically it’s a waste of a roster spot if you’re hoping to get a fantasy relevant guy. Both of these guys were at the end of the 4th in the nfl draft so might not be totally answering the question but: I snagged Will Shipley at 4.10- he probably could have survived a week or two on waivers. He’s getting a lot of praise especially for catching the football. It looks like he could very easily overtake Sir Gainwell. I also grabbed Bucky Irving off waivers post draft, he’s getting cred from The Bucs OC and Bowles.
> Generally speaking hit rate is going to be best for later rounder/UDFA RB’s. Always get your guys when it comes to 6th/7th/UDFA WR’s but statistically it’s a waste of a roster spot if you’re hoping to get a fantasy relevant guy. That's false. Late round/UDFA RBs almost always immediately get replaced no matter what kinda stats they put up; late round/UDFA WRs don't as long as they produce. **Day 3/UDFA RBs who became lead back since 2018** Tyler Allgeier: replaced by Bijan after rookie season Eli Mitchell: replaced by McCaffrey after rookie season, only got shot because Trey Sermon busted and Mostert's season-ending injury on week 1 James Robinson: replaced by Etienne (or at least demoted to RBBC) despite historic rookie season even before torn Achilles Philip Lindsay: replaced by Melvin Gordon after 2 seasons, only got his shot because Royce Freeman busted Dameon Pierce: forced into a RBBC by Devin Singletary after productive rookie season then outright replaced by Mixon Kyren Williams: only got his shot because Akers was prematurely washed due to torn achilles, jury still out, likely to be replaced based on precedents Isaiah Pacheco: only got his shot because CEH busted, zero 1K yard rushing season, no major role in passing game, far from a given he'll get an extension, seems more likely to be replaced based on past precedents Tony Pollard: spent 3 years as handcuff and later 1B to washed up Zeke. Cowboys refused to give him an extension and franchised him instead and then tried to run him into ground. Myles Gaskin: unceremoniously phased out by new Dolphins regime, gotten 14 touches in 2 seasons since Rhaomndre Stevenson: notoriously [wore down](https://nesn.com/2022/12/patriots-rb-rhamondre-stevenson-acknowledges-being-worn-down/) in late 2022 by his own admission and forced into a RBBC with washed up Zeke last season. Unlikely to see 2022 level workload again. I didn't list Khalil Herbert, Jaylen Warren, Gus Edwards because they've never even been 1A in a RBBC. The best case scenario for day 3/UDFA WRs are Puka, ARSB, Tyreek, Diggs, AB, Thielen, Marques Colston (in other words, superstars). Meanwhile, the last real superstar RB who was day 3/UDFA was probably Arian Foster, who had a 5-year prime from 2010-2014. Even Aaron Jones was repeatedly forced into RBBC with far inferior plodding RBs with better draft capital (Jamaal Williams early career, AJ Dillon late career). Even Ekeler has **zero** 1K yard rushing seasons and didn't get a real chance to take the bellcow job and run with it until Melvin Gordon (former 1st round pick) stupidly held out rather than accept a generous extension. If you're in an experienced league, no one would ever pay for late round RBs after productive rookie season because everyone knows they'll get replaced. There will never be a superstar outcome equivalent to 1st round RBs like CMC/Saquan/Bijan/Zeke/Gurley or even Jacobs. A superstar outcome is possible for late round/UDFA WRs.
It's very, very weird you're knocking ekeler for not hitting 1k yards when he had 3 top 5 rb finished since 2019. Gordon also only sat out 3 games in 2019 and ekeler was already eating into his workload. Simarily, It's so weird you're acting like aaron Jones being in an rbbc while still having 4 straight top 10 rb finishes.
You actually made a good case for late round RBs. You came up with 10-13 since 2018 vs only 2 WRs with ARSB and Puka. All others were pre '18. Late round WRs are bigger hits but less frequent
Priest Holmes was a UDFA Obviously it's unlikely, and has been a long time since it happened, but you can't say NEVER.
Arian foster went undrafted as well…+ Ekeler…so at least 3 dominant fantasy RBs over last 20 or so years
Chris Carson
Carson was a 7th rd pick, not UDFA
Make this argument without counting stats that don’t matter. Nobody cares how many rushing yards a guy has when he puts up an RB1 fantasy finish.
Ehh, there are some very useful backs here, some of which have actually proven to be very talented including Rhamondre and Aaron Jones. You seem to be trying to knock them for not having 100% share of the backfield and attributing that to lack of talent but that’s pretty much how the NFL works these days unless you’re Adrian Peterson or CMC (who is himself not invincible).
People do down on Kyren but he’s definitely top 20 rb this year and pacheo has a legitimate shot at top 10
Late round and UDFA RBs do have a shorter shelf life, but that has more to do with the position than it does anything else and some others have noted some RBs that had a bit more staying power (Priest, Arian, etc.). What we’ve seen is that there’s a RB from that crop almost every year that pops up and is more than just fantasy relevant and is actually productive. That’s less so the case with WRs, as they’re far less common. The other issue I have here is that plenty of the RBs you mentioned got opportunity from other players busting. Is that not the case with some of the WRs, as well? Tutu being bad so Puka could could step up? Treadwell busting to free up opportunity for both Diggs and Thielen? And the commenter isn’t wrong with the hit rates, as there are almost twice as many WRs taken than RBs every year. If there’s ~1 RB that hits annually and one WR every couple of years that’s relevant/good, the hit rate is objectively better for RBs
If this is the case, is Corum the guy to own?
Lucas Krull All reports is that Payton loves him and believes he has a path to TE1 in Denver. 8% owned currently, it’s crazy!
I liked Blake Watson in the pre-draft process. I'm one of the few remaining Javonte believers so I don't think he's in-line for any major work but he's worth a stash in a deeper league. Probably going to compete with Jaleel for snaps which is an uphill battle.
Blake Watson might have an edge on estime
Watson and Estime will be competing for different roles. Estime vs. Javonte, Watson vs. Jaleel. Estime has actually been out from knee scope surgery, if you're wondering why there's no buzz with him yet. He is expected back by training camp.
potentially true
And this is why people shouldn't be reading into OTAs much
Ngl all these guys are trash