00:00So let's get to what's really important to Matt this time of the year. Baseball in the fantasy world and football in the fantasy world. Matt, here we go. The month of August, we're going to turn the corner. Everyone's going to be drafting. And, you know, it's funny. This day and age, we're going to talk about some potential sleepers in the backfield, running backs.
00:15Matt, you know, everybody knows everybody at this point. So it's kind of hard to identify what a sleeper actually is. But to me, the way I identify it is somebody who I'm looking at, like you, liking somebody more than somebody else does. So let's get into a couple of names here going into the season.
00:31All right. So you're 100% right about how do we define sleeper? How do we define bust? How do we define value? Well, let's use the ADP, where these players are being drafted, to use that as our barometer. So when we're talking sleepers, I like guys that are going outside of the ADP that everyone is focused on. So let's go to the Los Angeles Chargers. Their offensive line is in the top 10. Offensive coordinator Greg Roman loves to run the football. Enter Najee Harris.
00:58Granted, he lit a firework into his eye. That's why he has the O tag on him when you look. But Najee Harris has rushed for at least 1,000 yards in each of his last four seasons.
01:07He has a contract where incentives will kick in at 1,050 yards for the season. So he has motivation. I understand the Chargers brought in Omarion Hampton, but Harris' passing down ability makes him really intriguing to me.
01:21And, Craig, I think that offensive line is going to give a boost to everyone, including guys like Trey Harris and Najee Harris.
01:28I think that Harris is interesting because his ADP is dropping, Matt, during fantasy football draft season because of the issue that he had on July 4th.
01:37We haven't necessarily seen him, but Omarion Hampton is there as well. They also have Hassan Haskins as their third string running back. And then they have a young player by the name of Kimani Vidal, who was at the top of everybody's sleepers list last year.
01:52But nobody wants to admit that he was a zero and they were all wrong. Anyway, now let's get to the New York Giants and their running back situation. I mean, it's true, right?
02:00Now let's get to the running back situation on the New York Giants. And certainly, no stranger, if you played fantasy football, to see Tyrone Tracy bust out of nowhere last year, jump ahead of Devin Singletary, who, you know, I suppose is kind of on the cut line here for the Giants.
02:14If their young running back that they drafted, who was so amazing down the stretch, Cam Scadaboo, gets a real good look for the Giants.
02:22Do you feel that that is the case? Because if he takes over as the RB2, we could see the end of Singletary in New York.
02:28So Joe Pizzoppia and I talked about this, I believe it was two Sundays ago, and I'm sure we'll be talking about it quite a bit.
02:35There is a chance that a guy like Cam Scadaboo, who's very powerful, can bowl over a linebacker in week four and all of Giants stadium erupts with boo, boo.
02:47That can transcend football in a stadium like that for a team like the Giants, who, look, their offensive line and their schedule doesn't do them any favors at all.
02:57But Scadaboo is also a passing down back. You mentioned Tracy. Tracy had five fumbles and a few eyebrow-raising drops last year.
03:04It wouldn't surprise me if Cam Scadaboo becomes the darling right around week five or six.
03:10He was fantastic in college football at the end of last year. I mean, unstoppable in the bowl game, too.
03:16Okay, so ADP three this season over at Fantasy Pros is Saquon Barkley, coming off one of the greatest seasons at running back you'll ever see.
03:26And so, Matt, I'll ask you about him, and then I know you have another player on Miami that you're saying to be a little bit wary of this year. Tell us why.
03:34So I want to be careful with busts. I like to interact a lot with our fans on social media, at SportsGrid, at SportsGridTV.
03:42And I might get some pushback on this, but I think Saquon Barkley's mileage last year burdens the ADP.
03:50The offensive line of Philadelphia is elite, but Saquon Barkley carried the ball over 340 times last year.
03:56And history does not bode well for those guys next season.
04:00Again, I defer to Joe Pizipia, the author of the Fantasy Black Book.
04:04He has a great video out there. You can look it up where he parodies this.
04:08I think he uses the Incredibles and AI. He does great things.
04:11But overall, it's that Barkley is in line for a regression based off of what he did last year.
04:17So for me, that qualifies as a bust.
04:20My phone's lighting up already, folks. I love you guys.
04:24Yeah, I wouldn't worry about that because I think that some people feel the same way on both of those players.
04:30So how about bounce-back candidates, Matt, for the upcoming season?
04:33And you have a player, of course, certainly in Jonathan Taylor, who people forget just a couple of years ago, was the number one overall pick in fantasy football.
04:41And you like a tight end as well.
04:43Yep, we'll start with Jonathan Taylor. He rushes behind a top 10 offensive line.
04:48In case you're sending a trend here, offensive lines matter. Guys need protection.
04:52Even after being decimated, the Colts offensive line still ranked fourth in run-block-win rate last year.
05:00Also, Taylor missed time last year, but still managed 1,400 yards and 11 touchdowns.
05:05Craig, this is a guy that I think is primed for a bounce-back.
05:09I've been giving you a lot of running backs, but if we have time, I can talk about a different position if you'd like.
05:14Let me ask you one question just conceptually.
05:17There may be people who are watching that are getting ready to set their league up, Matt, for the season, whether it's a dynasty league.
05:26When do you think the appropriate time to draft is?
05:29You hear so many people in our industry say, do it early and get ahead.
05:33Some people say, do it later and wait. Just make sure you have no injuries.
05:36That's usually the way that I do it.
05:37What do you subscribe to?
05:39So it depends in, A, how many leagues in which you play, and B, what is the prize in these leagues?
05:45Are these just leagues for fun, or are these leagues that really matter?
05:48I'm with you, Craig.
05:49I like to draft with the most information possible.
05:52We live in a time and age where information is power, and if you neglect information, you're choosing ignorance.
05:58We have a choice now.
05:59So, yes, as close to day one as possible for the NFL season is when I like to draft, when I have all the information,
06:06after I'm done watching every single program on this network.
06:08Yeah, me too, Matt.
06:11Appreciate you coming on.
06:13Have a great show this Sunday, and we'll see you again soon.
