Intro [Music] welcome in folks my name is Pete Nova from the faceoff Sports Network I am joined by my co-host William Stevenson and today we're going to talk about three running back breakouts for the 2024 fantasy football season our first Jonathan Brooks player we're going to talk about today is Jonathan Brooks now Jonathan Brooks right now he is currently on the pup list and he is not practicing uh he did have the ACL injury um in the off season uh in college he suffered that uh coming out but he was a highly touted running back Prospect and uh many thought without the injury had a had a good chance to go first round in this NFL draft now he could take a slow start to get going but currently his ADP is running back 28 and his ADP is 84 so you know when you're when you're drafting Jonathan Brooks depending if you're going zero build uh zero RB build or you're going for a hero RB build or you just like to take two highly talented running backs at the top of the draft Brooks looks like a guy that could be solid to take as like your your fourth running back given where he's going in drafts and then you you know back him up with some other players that might see some time uh rather quickly like an Ezekiel Elliott who may fall off later on in the year or you know maybe even like a a Devin single ter who should see some good volume to start the year now Jonathan Brooks joins a team with a new head coach and Dave Canales uh you know Rashad white is a perfect example of how Canales likes to use running backs in his system Rashad White had 70 targets uh in this backfield last last year and uh you know he he you know he he was running back in the top five for running backs I think he had somewhere in the 60s for receptions and so if Jonathan Brooks who showed he can be a pass catcher as well um could be used uh in that way once he gets back on the field he could provide pretty sneaky value in fantasy this season uh will what about you well you me mentioned his pass catching um that's one of the things that I would compare him to to two guys that you really we all really love in fantasy with saquon Barkley and Christian MCCA uh coming out of college you know Brooks had an 86% reception percentage as as per PFF um I mean that's higher than CMC at 82 and Barkley at 81% uh his rushing his PFF rushing grade uh was 92 that's higher than cmc's 80.4 and Barkley's 83 and not to mention that then once he gets the ball and he's moving his elusiveness score is a 140 that almost doubles cmc's and it clearly doubles Barkley this is the last year of college coming out right sure um and then you bring up the value you can get them down you know around round seven and if You' like to take you know these later these later running backs you could pair them then a couple rounds later if you want to reach in round 11 you know but Chupa hub's going around 12 and you lock up that back field you talking about someone who's going to get early early work well if Brooks is going to be out until halfway through the season I don't see anyone other than tra hover being the one to get the work there so lock up that back field and you're good to go yeah yeah and and you bring up a good point I mean my sanders is there we talked about him possibly being a casualty cut due to cap space Penny Rashad Penny just retired um actually they do have a another younger back but um I think this is Brooks and chuba's backfield once they come back and this is team that their defense probably won't be very good um so they may be Zamir White playing from behind which could lend um some more opportunities in the pass game so we're GNA move on to our next running back here it's gonna be zamir white uh he's going off the board at pick 66 he's running back 23 so he's a little bit more expensive than Jonathan Brooks but you know the thing about zamir White is you know this Raiders offensive line has been pretty bad over the years but last season they were actually one of the better run blocking offensive line units in the NFL um I think you know with with Pierce Antonio Pierce at the helm I believe this team is going to be a ground and pound and lean on the defense to set up the pass the team just announced Gardner mchu was going to be the starting quarterback which I think does lend uh a little more help to zamir white because I think adid no Connell teens will probably stack the box on a lot more so you know zamir white let's talk about it I mean last year he averaged 4.7 yards per carry on 84 Touches for 397 yards in the four games as the starter with Josh Jacobs out in 2023 now that's a you know that's a guy that got a really significant workload the team really liked what they saw and I think it was kind of like a tryy out for them to see hey is this a guy that we can go into next year and lean on to be our starting running back this team didn't really bring in much competition they bring in Dylan luab uh in college they drafted him um who probably will serve as you know possibly a pass catching back but he's still gonna have to you know prove it he's still a younger guy and then they bring in Alexander Madison from the Vikings who kind of fell flat on his face last season um and and didn't really you know he had every opportunity to be the starting running back for the Vikings with dvin cook leaving and he really just couldn't show that so um it's going to be interesting to see how this running back backfield shapes up Madison and as of right now zamir white did get the starting touches in preseason but Alexander Madison did uh did slot in for some work as well with the starters so um we'll see how this backfield is utilized but I think right now if I if I had to put a uh put you know my projection for zamir white I think he's a solid running back three uh with potential rb2 upside um as somebody who you know likes to kind of Kick the running back can down the road this season and draft heavy at wide receiver um you compare zamir white up with even like we said like a Jonathan Brooks and chuba hubard and maybe even you know draft one of these other really cheaper backs and and you get like a niji Harris in that round too if you want a double dip at the running back position or like a br Rob or Javonte Williams who are two guys I think see 250 plus touches this year this a big opportunity for zamir White L him coming out of college um and I think he has a chance to break out this season he'll be given every opportunity and uh you know if this Raiders offense can be even slightly average uh with this good defense that they are going to trot out this season uh zamir White's going to be given a solid opportunity uh to be the starting running back this year and going forward um and provides solid upside and uh a potential to break out in 2024 yeah I agree um and to you know be upfront and honest I am a longstanding card member of the zamir white Fantasy Football truthers Club I drafted him in multiple Dynasty leagues when he came out as a rookie uh and for some reason every time I'd get in my roster I go H It's Time to Say Goodbye I couldn't pull the trigger and now I'm really glad that I never did cut him from any of those rosters you know when he started those four weeks um last last year I think it started in week 14 um he he got uh he was ranked third in total rushing yards right um that's rb3 in total rushing yards uh that's definitely not going to go anywhere I think it's only going to go up um when you look at what you were saying you the Vegas Raiders really aren't that great of a team they're not going to be a good team no one expects anything it's going to be you know hot hot potato with who whoever the quarterback's be from week to week um but the one steady you're going to have is going to be zamir white and he's going to Pound That Rock and he's going to keep pounding and they're going to continue to trust him when you have you know a team around you that's kind of untrustworthy at least you got one thing they're going to use it um and when you think about it you know they're going to play a defensive game like you said they're gonna let the defense you know set up the pass you know what's the key there you want to try and get up early and use one to run the clock out right so that's that's got to be part of their game plan is get get up early if we can as or as close as we can and then when they do just run it out and run the clock out you know it might be some low-scoring kind of boring games but that's GNA be good for zamir white and your fantasy team yeah I think white will provide a pretty good floor and uh and if looking at it even from a dynasty lens you know this Raiders team probably goes and drafts a quarterback or requires one next off season um and if white can stick with this roster and and continue to give a good imp ression um he could be set up to be in a pretty good offense next year and for what it's worth you know that Josh Jacobs faced a lot of loaded boxes on this offense last year and they were daring them to throw Gardner mchu is definitely a step up I'm not in love with Gardner mchu but he did you know he he did his job when he was tasked to do so with the Colts um and and that they got that offense moving and they now they bring in Brock Bowers they have Michael Meers they have jacobe Myers they have Devonte Adams like those are guys that like should be enough to stress the defense out where they can't completely cheat and uh and stuff the box so um I definitely think Samir White's you know a decent value here um Isaiah Pacheco yeah and then so moving on to our last guy here it's Isaiah Pacho um he is running back 10 you know he's going running back 10 right now in some drafts depending on where you're drafting he goes around 12 as well but his ADP is 20 right now in redraft um some might think it's a a little expensive uh others like myself and will actually happen to it really like his cost I mean you know if you're a guy that's Drafting and you're a later pick in the first round and uh you go wide receiver you know running back it's kind of murky the the rest of the guys after that by the time it comes back to you at pick 20 or if you're in that range and peo for what it's worth had a really good year last year I think this is the best running back that this Chiefs offenses had since Jamal Charles you know Clyde Edwards hair they drafted him in the first round and he was kind of you know just wasn't the guy uh they had a chance to get Jonathan Taylor that year and they passed for Clyde um I'm sure they wish they could have done that back but you know Pacho last year ninth in Red Zone targets for running backs eighth in rushing attempts in the Red Zone that's pretty good for a guy who's got Travis Kelce and Rashi rice who Kelce was second in interceptions in the Red Zone last season and Rashi rice was top 10 in Red Zone targets um so those guys were definitely looked and called upon and Peko was still able to make hay uh and get a lot of looks down at the at the goal line and this is an offense that we expect to be down in the Red Zone probably top five this year unless they're hitting a bunch of you know extremely long passes and long touchdowns uh that they score from outside the 20 the last note I'll put I'll note I will make here is you know he's going to be a three down back you know there's not really much competition behind him and he's gonna be given every opportunity to be the guy the only worry I have is this guy runs hard um and he's a guy that like runs with Reckless abandonment and you know that can be a little bit dangerous um he's not really one to avoid contact and try to uh evade a tackle he's one that's going to put his face mask uh into your face mask and try to run right through you um but he does provide a lot of burst and a lot of quickness and he is a solid pass catching back for what it's worth so I like Isaiah Pacho this year I think we may be looking back next year and this guy may be being drafted even higher uh than the rb10 um and I think he's a really solid pick and has a really high floor for Fantasy this season in an awesome awesome offense yeah absolutely um like you said I think he will be being drafted much higher than he is this this year I think we are drafting him at his floor which anytime you can draft an rb1 at their floor yeah you're gonna it could be a winning a season winning you know pick uh I'm getting him as my you know some some rounds you know some some leagues in the second round some third or fourth depending on where you're drafting who you're drafting with but that allows me then to get a stud wide receiver if you want to go two stud running backs so you know if I can get a stud wide receiver and then and then an RB you know one a highend or mid to highend rb1 possibly and Isaiah PCO sign me up all day I'm golden I mean I'll draft whoever I want the rest of the way um and you were saying something about the way you runs and that's you know while it's really funny you know some of the the quotes you get out of there he runs like like the ground owes him money right yeah he runs like he's he's running away from a uh from a bunch of bees right uh but you know that's that's I love see it that that's just one of those things that he is he's gonna get in there he loves seeing he wants to be on the field he's just got you know he's foaming at the mouth you know trying to get to that get to the end zone it's fantastic to see um we had mentioned before uh before the show started we were talking about uh being the Chiefs being high in in screen passes and and you know what did they do last year they had to you know maybe someone was was injury but I think a lot of it was being smart and keeping Travis Kelce somewhat in a box because they know they know they're not playing for weeks one through seven that that that's they're they know where they're going to be they know it's super bowl or bust they know they know if they want to win that Super Bowl they need to have a healthy Travis Kelce uh so if they're going to be dumping the ball off a lot why not why wouldn't go to Isaiah pko I think that where we're drafting him right now we're going to be very happy to have you know a stud running back in in round two yeah I I I agree and and to your point you know again I mean most of the people listening to this show are drafting in home leagues right and so like you have a lot of guys that'll start drafting quarterbacks late in the second round and pushes guys like Pacho into the third mid third and and I I've been in drafts already this season where I've seen it happen so um I definitely think peo is a really nice pick this season especially if you're going for kind of it's not a zero RB build but if you even you have a chance to double up at receiver in the first year rounds and possibly get him especially if you're drafting in the first few picks in the first round even you get a guy like Tyreek Hill Jamar Chase in the one uh in the 103 104 spot you have a chance to to double up on receiver in the second round and then come back in the third early third and get P which could turn out to be a really nice value uh to your point even in sorry and even in quarterback or or super Flex leagues you know what are you usually sacrificing there in the first round you're going to either sacrifice the stud quarterback or the stud running back there's plenty of wide receivers that typically fall so Isaiah pcho allows you to go ahead and and feel comfortable drafting that top five quarterback in the first round and coming back around and scooping up Isaiah yeah no I completely agree um but yeah great great show here um appreciate you guys for listening thanks will for hopping on first one for him uh we will continue to provide more content for you guys going forward uh but tune in and uh we'll see you next time [Music]