0:00this idea tossed around. But what if
0:02everything that we think about fantasy
0:03football in 2026 is based off some
0:05faulty assumptions from 2024 and 2025?
0:09The degree to which running backs,
0:11particularly expensive running backs,
0:13have stayed healthy in 2024 and 2025 is
0:16basically like nothing we've ever seen.
0:18We have never consistently seen the top
0:2020 running backs not only not miss time
0:22at all, but not go on IR, not be
0:25suspended. I mean, think about it. the
0:26historical run of health for Christian
0:28McAffrey, for Derrick Henry, for Saquon
0:30Barkley, for Jir Gibbs, for Bejon
0:33Robinson, it's like nothing we've ever
0:35seen. The basis of zero running back was
0:38basically always running backs
0:40disproportionately get injured more than
0:42wide receivers. Now, I have heard some
0:44people say, "Hey, well, teams are
0:46running the ball differently now.
0:47Defenders are smaller. Wide receivers
0:49are being asked to run different routes.
0:50So, maybe it's a change in the game of
0:53football." I got to be honest, I don't
0:55really buy it. So, our mission for this
0:57video today is very simple, which is we
0:59are going to attempt to draft a little
1:01bit more like 2024. I'm not going to
1:04take just volume based running backs.
1:06You know, I'm I'm not going to take
1:07Derek I'm not going to take uh Derrick
1:09Henry or David Montgomery in this draft.
1:10We are drafting out of the turn slot in
1:13a baseball mania draft. And as it sits
1:15right now, I mean, it would be
1:17phenomenal to be able to start this
1:18draft with one of Justin Jefferson or CD
1:20Lamb. We'll see if we are able to do it.
1:22But I'm going to draft this draft like
1:24my 2024 hat is on. Doesn't mean that I'm
1:27going to do zero running back as we
1:28begin with CD Lamb and then we are going
1:31to take Saquon Barkley in this draft
1:33which I think is totally fine. I think a
1:362024 version of me, well frankly a 2024
1:39version of me did not love Saquon
1:41Barkley. I probably would have taken
1:42Amarian Hampton. So let's call it a
1:44marriage of 2024 drafting my 2024
1:48framework with what I've learned in
1:502026. beginning running back, wide
1:53receiver, and let's try and draft like
1:56we never experienced that 8% advance
1:58rate season in 2024. So, if you'll
2:01notice some of the big differences in
2:03fantasy football, the prices of running
2:05back twos are higher than ever. You
2:07know, back in my day, Lad Makanki, even
2:09coming off of a relatively disappointing
2:11sophomore season, well, actually, it's
2:14very funny. He's more expensive here
2:15than he normally would be, but Jeremiah
2:18Love would have been, honestly, Jeremiah
2:20Love probably would have been priced
2:21above Derrick Henry with our 2024
2:23brains. There's no way we would have let
2:25a running back, you know, Derrick Henry
2:27before his exploits in week 17 was not
2:30even a top 15 running back, even in half
2:32PPR, which is kind of insane to think
2:34about. Um, Z Flowers is one of the guys
2:37where I'm like, what lesson are we
2:38really learning there? I I can't make up
2:41my mind about Z Flowers. That might be
2:42totally different from our thought
2:44experiment. I'm thinking about what
2:47would the 2024 brain version of me do
2:50here, which is kind of funny because
2:52there actually are some real ADP values
2:54here. Like Bree Hall is a huge ADP
2:56value. I mean, certainly I would have
2:58taken T. Uh, I certainly would have
3:00taken Malik Neighbors. Neighbors would
3:02have been one of the guys like I
3:03wouldn't have been afraid of taking a
3:05guy coming off of this ACL. I would have
3:06been like, "Hey man, Malik Neighbors
3:08clear wide receiver one prospect." I
3:11mean, if Bree Hall is available at this
3:13pick, there's no question in my mind.
3:16Okay, well got saved from taking Bree
3:18Hall there. So, I'm probably going to
3:21double tap wide receivers here. I'm
3:23thinking it'll probably be T. Higgins
3:25and Malik Neighbors. I definitely would
3:27not have been in to taking Kairen
3:29Williams. Josh Jacobs is a pretty good
3:31analog for Derrick Henry that season.
3:35Like Josh Jacobs just a total boring
3:37veteran guy. So we are going to select
3:40Malik Neighbors with this pick. And then
3:42we will take Emecha Igbuka. Obviously
3:44would have been very into Igbuka. Would
3:47have been very into any secondyear wide
3:49receiver who had a spike week of
3:51efficiency which is exactly what Ibuka
3:53was. Started off the season so hot. got
3:55injured and then saw a huge decline in
3:58efficiency after that. And then just
4:00bringing back to like the context of the
4:02team. It's kind of kind of weird to
4:04think through, but when you have Malik
4:07Neighbors, you actually should probably
4:09be adding in at least one more wide
4:11receiver in the top 60 picks because you
4:13might not have his production for the
4:15first couple weeks of the season. What
4:17you were drafting Malik Neighbors for is
4:19basically kind of as like a rookie wide
4:20receiver, kind of as a Marvin Harrison
4:22Jr. or what we're going to do with
4:24Jeremiah Smith next year where we expect
4:26his production to be sort of low to
4:28begin the year, but we expect him to
4:29clearly be a top 10 wide receiver uh in
4:32the back half of the fantasy football
4:33season. So, Lamb Barkley, Neighbors, and
4:36Ibuka. This is probably the area of the
4:38draft where I'm going to be tested the
4:39most because the best available picks
4:41here are likely to be running backs.
4:43Trevion Henderson, Bucky Irving, and
4:44Judkins are still on the board. I'm
4:47trying to remember like would in 2024
4:49would I have been in on Jadarian Price?
4:51He's kind of a sketchy prospect, but a
4:54first round pick for a team that we
4:56project to run the ball a ton. I don't I
4:58don't really remember an obvious analogy
5:00there. I mean, I did really like Rashad
5:03Penny when he was a rookie running back
5:05on the Seattle Seahawks. Very analogous
5:07scenario. The wide receivers are
5:09actually going early here. Carnell Tate
5:11goes ahead of ADP. Jordan Tyson goes
5:13ahead of ADP. I tell you what, Bucky
5:15Irving would have been a guy in 2024 I
5:17would have been pretty into. So, I guess
5:21Judkins, a second round pick on a bad
5:24team, early down running back. Honestly,
5:27I probably would have been more pro
5:30Jaren Price. Um, at that time,
5:33definitely Brian Thomas Jr., zero zero
5:36fears of Brian Thomas Jr.,
5:39what I'm gonna do. I am gonna I am gonna
5:42take Judkins and I'm going to give
5:43myself I'm going to give myself this
5:45excuse because in 2024 I would have just
5:48I would have just gone for the youngest
5:49guy. Like when I first started
5:51streaming, which was that year, I would
5:54have just basically gone for like the
5:55most amount of curb appeal, you know? I
5:58I wanted the best screenshot team. And
6:01Judkins is way better on a screenshot
6:03than Jarian Price because people don't
6:04like Jadarian Price. They think he is
6:06not going to get a real workload. They
6:08think I mean there guys there are George
6:10Helani bros out there. I I mean I hope
6:12you don't know who they are, but they're
6:14out there. Judkins makes for the better
6:16screenshot. I do think Judkins I mean
6:18Judkins is a mortal lock to get more
6:21touches than Jadarian Price. I would be
6:23stunned if Price out touched him if he
6:25was healthy. And it just gives us like a
6:27more cohesive comprehensive team, right?
6:29getting your running back to being
6:31Judkins instead of I mean who is it
6:34going to be at the next pick? It's going
6:35to be someone bad. It's not even going
6:36to be Pard. It would be like RJ Harvey
6:38or Rico Dowel. And we are set up now
6:41where we've got Dak to be our
6:42quarterback. We've got Dart to be our
6:44quarterback. We've got Baker. We've got
6:45Lawrence. So, we are set up, I think,
6:47quite nicely to construct a 2024 style
6:51team with our 2026 brains. So, thinking
6:53through some of our options here, we did
6:56lose all of the potential quarterbacks.
6:57I mean, Mai Lemon, I think, would be a
6:59jam. Lawrence, Lawrence was really
7:02expensive by 2024 ADP, if I remember
7:05correctly, because he was coming off of
7:06that really good year and then he ended
7:07up being inexpensive. Mayfield I think
7:10is quite nice. All right, Lemon goes
7:13group of wide receivers that I mean, is
7:15this is this anyone's favorite click?
7:17Metaf Pier Sutton that is just like that
7:20is the worst part of the draft. when I
7:22get to that part of the draft and I need
7:23a wide receiver, I'm just like, "Oh,
7:25this is absolutely brutal." So,
7:28certainly Lawrence is who I'm hoping to
7:30pick here. Looking at the Flock Fantasy
7:32Tool, looks like we're going to end up
7:34going a 3573 to get our best historical
7:37advance rate. So, probably want to come
7:40away with a running back here. I mean,
7:4243. Oh. Oh, losing Lawrence is brutal. I
7:47mean, you know what? I I got Come on.
7:492024
7:51Mahomes
7:53worthy. That that's the easiest easiest
7:55decision I've ever made. Mahomes and
7:57worthy there. Uh I famously did not
7:59advance very many teams in 2024 because
8:02I only drafted Patrick Mahomes and
8:04Xavier Worthy and now I just got them at
8:06a much much cheaper price. I I don't
8:08know what I was thinking pretending like
8:09I was going to draft a running back
8:11there. I might get to six running backs
8:13on this team, but this is a little bit
8:14of like a a biodal hero running back
8:18team.
8:19just like Pat Karine drafted when he won
8:22Basketball Mania. But, uh, basically
8:24totally no-brainer. They're adding in
8:25the Mahomes and Worthy stack. We are
8:28going to have to get lucky at running
8:29back here. I mean, Rashad White is
8:32probably going to be it's probably going
8:34to be very, very important. And you know
8:35what? Not in 2024, but there was a time
8:38not that long ago that Rashad White was
8:40actually a slappy player because he was
8:42the rare running back prospect who was
8:44big and who caught passes. I'll happily
8:47take Rashad White at this pick. The
8:49issue that I'm gonna run into is that
8:51I'm really gonna have to hope that Baker
8:53Mayfield makes it to the next turn. I
8:56mean, is it maybe worth taking Aaron
8:57Jones here or do I take a tight end? I
9:00mean, Kyle Pitts is Kyle Kyle Pittz is
9:03the most slappy uh you know, Davis Madak
9:062024 coded player on the board. Fannon
9:09obviously we love because of the insane
9:11production. We are we do already have a
9:14Cleveland Brown. So I think my plan here
9:16is probably Rashad White and Fannon or
9:19Rashad White and Pitts. Pitts goes. So
9:22yeah, I guess I guess we will just take
9:23Rashad White. That's fine by me. Um
9:26we'll do Rashad White and then I mean I
9:30guess do I do I push it or do I just
9:34take Baker Mayfield now? Because what
9:36would my backup plan be at quarterback?
9:39I don't I don't really have one. You
9:42know what? I'm going to take Fannon. I'm
9:43gonna take Fannon for the bit. Fannon
9:46the most productive college football
9:48tight end ever his final season at
9:50Bowling Green State University and then
9:53the most productive rookie. I mean, if
9:56you adjust for the situation that he was
9:58in, Harold Fannon's rookie year for the
10:00Cleveland Browns just dealing with that
10:02smelling foulness all around him.
10:04It's unbelievable how productive he was
10:07in that circumstance. And so Rashad
10:08White as our running back, three Fannon
10:11as our tight end, one and we are going
10:13to I mean Jaden Blue will probably be
10:15involved here. Probably do I I guess
10:18maybe I'm disbarred from doing three
10:19quarterbacks since I drafted very few
10:21three quarterback teams in 2024, but uh
10:24let's let's see what waits for us at the
10:26next turn. Very difficult part of the
10:27board here as I try and figure out is it
10:29worth it to take Tyrone Tracy? Is it
10:31worth it to take I mean Conpsion is sort
10:34of interesting. I did miss out on all of
10:36the fun quarterbacks for my stacks, but
10:39there certainly is an incredibly 2024
10:42coded quarterback available here, who is
10:44of course Malik Willis before we
10:46experience the true downfall of Trey
10:49Lance and Anthony Richardson and all the
10:50rest of those guys. We would have had I
10:53think we would have had Malik Willis as
10:54a seventh round pick in the same
10:56situation two years ago. So, we're going
10:58to add him in there and then we are just
11:01going to toss in Tyrone Tracy here. In
11:04fact, you know what? You we can go and
11:05check the tape. I know that I really
11:08liked Tyrone Tracy back then. We talked
11:10about him multiple times on ADP Chasing.
11:12There's one thing you guys got to know
11:13about me, which is that I absolutely
11:15love a changed positional convert. So,
11:18any guy who was a running back turns to
11:20a wide receiver. Any guy who was a wide
11:22receiver turns to running back, tight
11:24end to wide receiver, wide receiver to
11:25tight end, I'm I'm basically guaranteed
11:27to find a way to make that a positive
11:29experience for all of those guys. So
11:32very actually happy. Famously, Tyron
11:34Tracy was not in the big board in 2024
11:38when he came into football. Had to be
11:39added for baseball mania. So I I know
11:42for a fact I would have been in to
11:44Tyrone Tracy in this situation two years
11:46ago. So positionally, I need to start
11:48thinking about how I'm going to close
11:50out this running back room. Three
11:52quarterbacks does give me a little bit
11:54of an edge. Looks like five or six
11:58running backs is actually right about
12:00fine. Barkley, Judkins, Rashad White,
12:02Tracy does look like I mean I definitely
12:04need to get to at least seven wide
12:06receivers and three tight ends I've
12:08actually always kind of liked just
12:10because tight ends can hit your flex
12:12super easily on underdog compared to
12:14like full PPR platforms because tight
12:17ends are sort of like the running backs
12:18of pass catchers. That doesn't really
12:20make that much sense, but it makes sense
12:21in my head in the in the sense of their
12:24production is entirely driven by
12:26touchdowns. And it's not really that
12:27hard for them to score touchdowns. So,
12:32uh, I'm probably going to be passing on
12:34Gadston here. Probably passing on
12:37Spears. I mean, is there This is just a
12:40very annoying part of the draft. So, I'm
12:42going to do Debo. I was always on Debo's
12:45side in the Debo versus I wars. None of
12:49these running backs are really all that
12:51interesting to me. So, I suppose I could
12:54drift towards I mean, I could do I could
12:58do a Gadston, I suppose.
13:01Um,
13:03yeah, we'll do we'll do a Gadston. I I I
13:06mean, maybe Spears would have made a
13:07little bit more sense. I I quite like
13:09Aronda Gadston and would have always
13:12been predisposed to a Gadston to have
13:14basically a tight end in name only. I
13:16know we do a lot of talking about
13:18Charlie Kolar and David and Joko. I mean
13:20David and Jooko is basically a zero
13:22signed to absolutely no money. So that
13:25now brings our 2024 themed team to
13:28Patrick Mahomes, Malik Willis, Saquon
13:30Barkley, Quinn Sean Judkins, Rashad
13:32White, Tyrone Tracy, CD Lamb, Malik
13:35Neighbors, Echa Igbuka, Brian Thomas
13:37Jr., Xavier Worthy, Dwell Samuel, Harold
13:40Fannon Jr. at pick 109 and Aronda
13:43Gadston. Uh, a very I mean for me, maybe
13:46not for you, but definitely a high curb
13:48appeal team there. A lot of guys that I
13:50like, some of my favorite players. And
13:53Brian Thomas Jr., man, 2024 Brian Thomas
13:57Jr. things things were different then in
13:59a good way. One more running back
14:01probably at this turn. There's actually
14:03a very funny tight end to go here
14:04because if you have been following my
14:06stuff for a while or you've been
14:07listening to ship chasing for a while,
14:09you know that one of the players that I
14:10got into an all-time massive
14:13disagreement about was in fact Greg
14:15Doolsich, now of the Miami Dolphins,
14:17formerly of the New York Giants,
14:18formerly of the Denver Broncos. There
14:20was an entire off season of debate
14:23between myself and Pat Karine about Greg
14:25Doolsich versus uh Alberto Kuib Bunham.
14:28A true no winners situation. And I'm
14:32thinking that I'm probably just going to
14:34go ahead and click Doulich here for the
14:36stack. Uh I would have been very happy
14:38to see Greg Doulich starting NFL
14:41football games back in the day. So we're
14:43going to take him as our third. Then we
14:46are going to I mean come on Jaden Blue.
14:48Jaden Blue a 4-3 running back that plays
14:50in any given situation. Honestly, this
14:54team definitely has some holes compared
14:56to how I generally build teams now. like
14:58we are going to be a little bit thin at
15:00running back. A lot of weight is going
15:02to be on Quinn Sean Judkins and Rashad
15:04White, but given the premise of this
15:08drafting video, I I'm I'm actually
15:10pretty pleased with how it's coming
15:11together. Obviously, a lot of ways that
15:12I could wrap this team up. Probably the
15:152026 version of it would be taking one
15:17of Deshun Watson or Shadur Sanders to to
15:19eek out those extra advance rate points.
15:21I'll tell you what, I mean, I didn't
15:23care very much about advancing. I was
15:25like I I was not a you gotta get there
15:28bro in 2024 at all. So I'm not going to
15:31be doing that. I'm not going to take
15:33Deshawn Watson or Shadur.
15:35Honestly, I would assume that the way
15:38most people built teams then including
15:41myself. Would it be to take another
15:43running back in this situation and
15:46another wide receiver? Do I think my
15:47wide receiver room is good enough with
15:50Lamb Neighbors Igbuka, BTJ, Xavier
15:53Worthy, and Debo and uh yes, assuming he
15:56did not get taken, Taekwon Thornton. Um
15:59so, okay, we can take Taekquin. So, do I
16:02want to take Katron Allen, double up on
16:06the Washington backfield, or some like
16:08Dean Clay? Oh, you know what? Kamani
16:10Videll is a bring back I don't hate. So,
16:13it' be Videl
16:15or like Oh, I mean, come on, Davis. No,
16:18I I know. I know who I gotta take. I
16:20gotta take Dantavian Wix. Come on. We
16:23set the min pick the minimum pick on
16:26Dantavian Wix in the FFPC main event. Of
16:28course, it's got to be Dantavian Wix.
16:31So, here's our 2024 theme team. A 2583.
16:36Patrick Mahomes, Malik Willis, Saquon
16:38Barkley, Quinn Sean Judkins, Rashad
16:40White, Tyrone Tracy, Jaden Blue, CD
16:43Lamb, Malik Neighbors, Echa Igbuka,
16:45Brian Thomas Jr., Xavier Worthy, Debo
16:47Samuel, Taekwon Thornton, Dantabian Wix,
16:50Harold Fannon, Arande Gadston, Greg
16:52Doulich. Honestly, that was a true blast
16:54from the past. I hope that you guys
16:56enjoyed drafting that team as much as I
16:59did. Uh, comment down below if you want
17:02to see me try and draft more of these
17:032024 style teams. Make sure you like the
17:06video and if you want the tool that I
17:08used in this video, this Flock Fantasy
17:10overlay or just any of my content
17:12rankings, whatever, you can head on over
17:14to flockfantasy.com. Link to that is in
17:16the description or in the comments. Use
17:18promo code Davis to get yourself a
17:20discount over there. And uh I'll be back
17:22with you guys very
