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The Next Bucky Irving Is Going Undrafted In Your League

STACKED extracted the fantasy-relevant player signal from this video and kept the full transcript here for context.

18 min
Duration
Estimated from transcript
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12
Player insights
12
Players mentioned
Topics
Braelon AllenChristian McCaffreyEmanuel WilsonIsaiah DavisJonathan TaylorKenneth Walker IIIMalik DavisMarShawn LloydNajee HarrisTyler AllgeierTyler GoodsonTyrone Tracy
Player analysis

Player insights

12

Braelon Allen

PositiveRole12:09

Braelon Allen is projected to serve as the Jets' goal-line back to protect Breece Hall, while also providing value as a large-bodied passing-down back. He is considered a strong handcuff with standalone value, and Rico Dael has been convinced he is a star running back since watching him at the University of Wisconsin.

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Christian McCaffrey

NegativeValue15:55

Rico Dael uses Christian McCaffrey as the primary benchmark for draft strategy, noting that if he is not selected, Dael pivots to targeting Kaylin Black.

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Emanuel Wilson

PositiveValue12:22

Rico Dael identifies Emanuel Wilson as a priority fantasy target, noting that he is prioritizing him alongside Malik Davis in his draft strategy.

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Isaiah Davis

NegativeInjury11:51

Isaiah Davis has been plagued by injuries throughout the offseason, making him a secondary option in the Jets' backfield. Rico Dael anticipates a timeshare between Davis and Braelon Allen if Breece Hall were to miss time.

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Jonathan Taylor

NegativeInjury16:37

Rico Dael highlights Jonathan Taylor's injury history, noting he has missed at least two games every year of his career until last season, which increases the value of his backup.

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Kenneth Walker III

NegativeUsage10:22

Rico Dael expresses concern regarding Kenneth Walker's injury history and potential lack of involvement in the passing game, suggesting this creates an opening for Emani Johnson to carve out a significant role in the Chiefs' offense.

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Malik Davis

PositiveSleeper5:11

Malik Davis is a high-priority, low-cost target for zero-RB strategies. Rico Dael projects a 15-18 touch per week role if he steps into the primary backfield, noting he benefits from a top-five Dallas offense and strong offensive line. Dael considers him a higher-ceiling asset than Najee Harris and prefers him over Tyler Allgeier.

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MarShawn Lloyd

NegativeRole2:03

MarShawn Lloyd is the primary back in Green Bay but carries durability concerns, having never topped 139 rushes since high school. Rico Dael is comfortable drafting him in the range of Jonathan Brooks and Tony Pollard.

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Najee Harris

NegativeRole12:12

Rico Dael is concerned about Najee Harris signing with the Giants, noting that the coaching staff's preference for veteran pass blockers could lead to Harris siphoning goal-line work and receptions from Cam Scataboo and Tyrone Tracy. Dael views Harris as an 'inconvenient truth' who could carve out a 10-touch-per-game role but lacks the ceiling of younger backs.

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Tyler Allgeier

NegativeValue6:49

Tyler Allgeier likely holds a larger standalone role than Malik Davis and could start Week 1 due to Jeremiah Love's ankle injury. However, Rico Dael prefers Davis for fantasy purposes due to the superior offensive environment in Dallas.

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Tyler Goodson

NegativeDepth Chart16:30

Rico Dael notes that the Colts are expected to add Tyler Goodson as their running back three, which will likely result in DJ Giddens being waived.

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Tyrone Tracy

NegativeBust13:32

Rico Dael is highly critical of Tyrone Tracy, stating that he 'stinks' and consistently bungles opportunities given to him by the coaching staff. Dael notes that the coaching staff views him as unreliable and the signing of Naji Harris further complicates his path to meaningful touches.

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Full transcript

Episode Transcript

169
0:00If you watch fantasy football content, you probably believe that zero running back is dead. However, I'm pretty sure that you're wrong. Over the last decade,
0:06on average, 2.2 running backs who were drafted outside the top 50 overall running backs have finished as top 24 running backs, meaning they were running
0:15back one or running back two. That was even true last year with Rico Dowdle and with Kenneth Gainwell, both of whom had
0:21awesome fantasy football seasons coming out of nowhere. Of course, we have got Kyren Williams in not that long ago memory. We have got Bucky Irving for the
0:29Tampa Bay Buccaneers. There's been a plethora of zero running back hits in fantasy football, and that is what we're going to do today. We're going to take a
0:35look at eight zero running back candidates who you can basically get in the last round of your fantasy football draft. I ran through this on the Flock
0:43Fantasy Consensus ADP. These guys are all going after pick 150. So, in a 12-team league, these are legitimate last round picks, and we are going to
0:50begin with Caleb Johnson. Honestly, a name I did not think I would ever talk about again in fantasy football. Caleb Johnson was traded from the Pittsburgh
0:58Steelers to the Green Bay Packers. As it stands now, the Green Bay Packers backfield is Marshawn Lloyd, Caleb Johnson, and Chris Brooks.
1:07Josh Jacobs is on the Commissioner's Exempt List right now. We don't know how long he is going to be suspended. I've
1:13heard a lot of different guesses on this. Could be six games. The Green Bay Packers could cut him. He could theoretically be back in week one, in
1:19which case you can draft Caleb Johnson and then just cut him immediately. But, when I look at this Green Bay backfield,
1:24I see Marshawn Lloyd is there, who has not topped 139 rushes since he was in high school. Marshawn Lloyd was not even
1:31able to be a workhorse running back when he was in college. Caleb Johnson was an extreme workhorse. His final season at
1:38Iowa, he had over 50% of his team's entire yards from scrimmage. It never happened for him in Pittsburgh. He fumbled on his very first NFL touch,
1:47which was a kick return, something that he was never asked to do at Iowa. I have heard people who are smarter than me
1:53about real football say that he's probably a a scheme fit in Green Bay than he ever would have been in the
1:58offenses that Aaron Rodgers was helming in Pittsburgh. And I basically think the truth of the matter is this, running back talent matters, but it doesn't
2:07matter that much. The thing that really matters at the running back position is opportunity and I don't really see a clearer path to opportunity honestly
2:14anywhere on this list than the Green Bay Packers backfield. Chris Brooks is one of the least explosive runners in the NFL. He has basically played like an
2:21H-back fullback role in his time in the NFL and I think that there's a non-zero chance that in week one Caleb Johnson is like the pretty
2:31clear running back two behind Marshawn Lloyd. And at this point Caleb Johnson becomes a bet against Marshawn Lloyd's ability to stay healthy. No, I'm not
2:38saying you can't take Lloyd. You know, in fact I'm very comfortable taking Marshawn Lloyd kind of in the Jonathan Brooks, Jaylen Warren, Tony Pollard
2:46range of fantasy drafts right now. But we have to acknowledge the truth, which is that Marshawn Lloyd just might not be
2:52up to it physically to be a starting running back in the NFL. And if you draft Caleb Johnson, you can simply cut
2:58him after week one if I'm wrong. I mean, he could very easily be a healthy inactive for some running back who's not
3:02even on the Green Bay Packers roster right now. But the upside and the path to playing time is so clear with Marshawn Lloyd. Let's move now to
3:10Malik Davis, who has now found himself the running back two for the Dallas Cowboys. It's just very funny. Malik Davis has been on the Dallas Cowboys
3:18since 2002. He has never had a significant role on this team until last season, where he ended up being the handcuff running back for the team, had
3:27a couple good fantasy games in there behind Javonte Williams. But the way that the Cowboys roster is shaking out, Malik Davis is one of the most valuable
3:35handcuffs in fantasy football in a way that's really surprising. The team let Phil Mafah and Jayden Blue go and they didn't even try and resign them back
3:43onto their practice squad. They claimed Demario waivers, but we know what DeMarco is, which is he's just a passing down back.
3:49He basically is no different than Hunter Luepke, who is also still on the roster.
3:53If anything happens to Javonte Williams, you are probably looking at a 15 to 18 touch per week role for Malik Davis.
4:01He's one of my biggest priorities right now in fantasy drafts, particularly because I just don't think he's that popular. Like if you compare him to some
4:08of the other handcuffs who were drafted, like wouldn't you honestly rather probably have Malik Davis than Tyler Allgeier? Tyler Allgeier probably has a
4:15larger standalone role, and Tyler Allgeier might get a start week one because Jeremiah Love has the bum ankle.
4:21But the Dallas Cowboys offense is going to be a top-five offensive unit. The Dallas Cowboys offensive line is very good. Basically, any running back in the
4:28Cowboys backfield can be productive.
4:30It's why people were Honestly, it's why people wanted to draft DeWayne McBride was the offensive environment. I have no special opinions on how good or bad
4:37Malik Davis is as a rusher, but I feel relatively confident that he can do a facsimile of what Javonte Williams does,
4:44and he is totally free in fantasy football drafts right now. So, I am adding him with my 13th, 14th, 15th round picks left, right, and center. And
4:52if you use my rankings from Blocked Fantasy.com in your league, you are going to have him pop up if you get the
4:57season pass for 34 bucks and you have the draft assistant, you are going to see him popping up relatively early as a
5:03suggested target, particularly for teams that need a little bit of running back help. A guy I could not be more excited
5:10about. This is probably the biggest one on this list for me in terms of actually targeting, which is going to be my guy,
5:16Emmet Johnson, who is now the clear running back two for the Kansas City Chiefs. And I do think he has the
5:21potential to earn a larger role in the offense if the team's plan to use Kenneth Walker as a pass-catcher does not work.
5:29I quite liked Emmet Johnson as a prospect coming out of Nebraska. His receiving yards per team pass attempt put him in kind of an elite cadre, and
5:37before the draft capital got input to the model, Emmet Johnson was actually the running back two in this class for me ahead of Jadarian Price in the slot
5:45model. The FSC model does not like him as much because of the relatively low RAS, and he did way less than I thought
5:50he would. So, he only weighed 203 lb at the scouting combine in Indianapolis. I was hoping he was more like 210, 215,
5:58but he had over two yards per two receiving yards per team pass attempt.
6:03He generated 120 rushing yards per game in his final season, over 30 receiving yards per game, and had a pretty strong
6:09market share of the team rushes his final year at Nebraska. And he lands in a situation where the Chiefs have always
6:15used a passing down back. They felt good enough about what Emmit Johnson was able to do in the preseason to wave De'Mario.
6:21So, the Chiefs backfield is Kenneth Walker, who you guys, the YouTube commenters, are always telling me, "Oh, Kenneth Walker, he's always hurt. This
6:28guy stinks. I don't want to draft Kenneth Walker." So, if you're one of those people that think Kenneth Walker stinks, that he's not going to do
6:34anything in the passing game, honestly, if you think the Chiefs aren't going to be very good, Emmit Johnson is the way
6:38to play it because he is the most natural pass catcher in that backfield.
6:42He is top top priority to me. Any team that I do not take Kenneth Walker, I'm starting to think about Emmit Johnson as
6:49like my running back four, honestly.
6:51Like round 10, round 11. I I want Emmit Johnson. With De'Mario out of the way, and Brechard Smith is the only other
6:57running back in that backfield, I think there is kind of a Samaje Perine, Jerick McKinnon style role for Emmit Johnson sitting there. I Waving De'Mario was
7:06absolutely big for Emmit Johnson, and is a great way to play the Chiefs offense as a whole because I think he can get there either
7:13way. If the Chiefs return to some of their former glory, Emmit Johnson should be like a 35, 40 reception style player.
7:20And if the Chiefs are terrible, then Emmit Johnson is going to have a larger role inside that offense because they're going to need a passing down back. Next
7:27up, a guy I didn't think I would ever talk about in fantasy football ever again, but it is going to be one Mr.
7:33Najee Harris, who signed with the New York Giants. There's already been rumors that he is getting reps with the ones, which I think is
7:41You really can't understate how important that is because he signed with Greg Roman, he signed with Matt Nagy, and he signed with John Harbaugh, all
7:50guys who are predisposed to be in to what Najee Harris offers. He's a big, soft hands, he's good, you know, he's a
7:57good pass blocker. And the craziest thing is I and I find this so funny, which is that he had a 19, 32, and 13%
8:05snap share. The 13% snap share was the game where he injured his Achilles sharing a backfield with Amari Hampton.
8:11I don't like this. I would prefer the New York Giants backfield to just be Cam Scarbo and Tyron Tracy. I don't want
8:16Najee Harris impacting Cam Scarbo's average draft position. I don't want him impacting, you know, how effective Scarbo can be. I don't want him taking
8:25goal line rushes away. I don't want him taking receptions away. But I've been doing fantasy football analysis for long enough to know how these coaches think.
8:32And I know exactly what Harbaugh and Nagy and Greg Roman, the Giants offensive coaching staff, I know exactly what they're thinking, which is Cam
8:39Scarbo's kind of annoying. He's young.
8:41Tyron Tracy stinks. Every time we try and give Tyron Tracy an opportunity, he basically just bungles it immediately.
8:47Najee Harris is going to be a competent veteran who's going to get three and a half, four yards per carry. He's going
8:53to rumble and bumble his way. He's going to get to what is blocked. He's going to follow his assignments in the passing
8:59game.
9:00It's not fun and it's not ever going to be a start that you want to make, but I don't think it is out of the realm of
9:06possibility that this is like a 10 touch per game role for Najee Harris inside the Giants offense. I was thinking the
9:11Giants are going to absolutely run the air out of the ball. Now, does Najee Harris have the ceiling that Malik Davis
9:17or Emari Hampton or any of these other guys have? I don't because I don't think he can score fantasy points over
9:23expectation. I mean, he's going to score fantasy points under expectation, right?
9:27The only way he really eeks out a startable role is if he is super involved in the passing game, like, you
9:34know, playing every passing down and getting some of the goal line stuff, which is not out of the realm of possibility, but I I've been calling
9:40Najee Harris the inconvenient truth, and that is absolutely what he is in this situation. He is the most inconvenient truth of the zero running back list, but
9:49I am starting to take him with a lot of my final round picks. Like I I do prefer Najee Harris to some of the more sexy or
9:56or more appealing names at the end of fantasy football drafts. A guy who has done nothing but break fantasy football managers' hearts. We have got Braelon
10:04Allen here. Through in the two years of his career has honestly done a whole lot of nothing. However, couple reports out
10:11of New York have said, "Well, the team wants to use Braelon Allen as the goal line back because they don't want Breece
10:17Hall getting crumpled up or piled on down in there." And the kind of the funny thing about Braelon Allen is he's
10:23also been used and useful as a passing down back because he's huge.
10:29Which is kind of an understated thing. A lot of the times the way we think about passing down backs in the NFL is, "Okay,
10:35you want the smaller, shiftier guy who's going to be able to create space, who's going to be able to check who's going to
10:40be able to catch the the check down and then move up the field." But if you look at the way a lot of teams are deploying
10:46passing down backs, they're actually totally going the other way. Passing down backs have gotten bigger, they've gotten slower. They are guys who, you
10:53know, should be able to block a defensive end. And, you know, another really interesting thing and it's it's almost become kind of gauche to say
10:59this, but Braelon Allen is only 22 years old. I mean, there are guys on this list that we're about to talk about who are
11:05legitimately rookies in the NFL who are two years older than Braelon Allen. You know, he graduated, he was drafted at 20
11:12years old. Braelon Allen has his entire life ahead of him in terms of being a football player. And I think Braelon
11:18Allen is also a pretty interesting way to play the New York Jets actually being a competent passing offense or just a
11:24competent team overall. And there's been some green shoots of competency, but the The interesting thing I guess is just that every time Aaron Glenn or someone
11:33on the New York Jets coaching staff is asked about Breece Hall, it's very rare for them to say, "Oh, we want to we want
11:39to feed him till he pukes, right? We want to give this guy the ball all over the place." It's In fact, it's been the
11:44opposite. I mean, every time Aaron Glenn is asked, they're like, "Yeah, we want to manage him. We want to keep him
11:48fresh." Which then means that Braelon Allen does have a little bit of stand-alone value. And then, obviously, has some of the best handcuff value in
11:56fantasy football because Isaiah Davis has been injury-plagued in this offseason. And Isaiah Davis was kind of an interesting prospect. And if if Breece Hall were to
12:05miss time, I would anticipate probably a time share in some degree between Braelon Allen and between Isaiah Davis.
12:11But I have just Ever since I watched Braelon Allen for the first time at the University of Wisconsin, I've just been
12:16pretty convinced there is a star running back in there. I just really like his ability on the football field. I'm not
12:23targeting him as heavily as I'm targeting Malik Davis or Emari Johnson.
12:26But there's a chance that one of your Jabroni league-mates watches my videos, and they know to draft Malik Davis. They know to draft Emari Johnson. And I'm
12:34trying to give you guys as many options as possible. A true last-round dart throw here is going to be my guy Zonovan
12:41Knight, who is the fastest player in last year's edition of EA Sports NCAA Football, made the team over Xavier Scott. And immediately, him making the
12:50team over Xavier Scott had me doing my wind sprints because Xavier Scott was trusted in pass protection last year. He was trusted, honestly, in a way that I
12:58did not anticipate. And the team is doing the same thing that we as fantasy managers are doing, which is they are
13:03searching for ceiling. They know that Aaron Jones and Jordan Mason is probably a below-average running back tandem in the NFL right now. Zonovan Knight is a
13:11smaller prospect. You believe he only weighed 187 lb coming out of Wake Forest at the combine. He was an all-world kick
13:19returner. And one of the things that we've learned the last couple years, actually about the last decade, is that being a plus-plus kick and punt returner
13:27generally leads to better than you would think results at the NFL level because it just to me it's really simple.
13:33Actually, it just shows that a guy has good vision and it shows that a guy is shifty and agile and has the ability to
13:39break tackles as well. He was not an overly productive player at Wake Forest and his receiving yards per team pass attempt and his receiving yards per game
13:47was a little bit lower than I generally like.
13:50But when I look at the Minnesota Vikings, I say, "Okay, I'm generally buying on this offense. I'm definitely buying on KOC. I'm buying on Justin
13:57Jefferson. I'm buying on Kyler Murray.
13:59How can this offense take the next level?" The first way would be Aaron Jones, you know, turns the clock back and plays like a 27-year-old, which I
14:06don't think. It would be Jordan Mason for the first time in his career, including his collegiate career, is able to contribute on passing downs. I don't
14:13think that's going to happen at this stage of his career. Or it's De'Von Achane who is an electric athlete ends up earning a larger share of the
14:21offense, which I think is very possible.
14:22So, I feel good about adding De'Von Achane in at the end of drafts. A guy who I would love to add in at the end of
14:28drafts is going to be my guy Khalen Laborn. I just don't think it's possible. I think people are pretty hip to Khalen Laborn right now. He's up to,
14:35I believe, 160. I I said it was all guys after 150. So, Khalen Laborn technically counts. But Khalen Laborn, according to
14:43San Francisco 49ers beat writers, is going to be the running back two behind Christian McCaffrey. Is there any more valuable player
14:51after the 10th round in fantasy football drafts than Christian McCaffrey's handcuff? You know, we saw Brian Robinson Jr. hold that job last year.
14:57Christian McCaffrey never got hurt, so you never started Brian Robinson Jr.
15:01Christian McCaffrey heading into his age 30 season, last year was the worst rushing efficiency of Christian McCaffrey's career. He's had to
15:08transition a ton of his fantasy football work to receiving. Obviously, CMC has always done that.
15:14Khalen Laborn was drafted in the third round of the 2026 NFL draft.
15:19Do I I Khalen Laborn is that good coming out of Indiana and James Madison.
15:23Honestly, I don't. I mean, he's he's going to turn 25 this year. I thought it was a huge reach from the San Francisco
15:2949ers to take him in round three. Like, he was a guy I honestly maybe thought was going to be an undrafted free agent,
15:35which is funny because his collegiate teammate, Roman Hemby, did in fact end up being an undrafted free agent. And you could have said that Hemby was
15:42actually the better prospect than Kaelin Black. But again, none of that stuff matters. You know, if you're a wide receiver, I tend to apply more
15:49skepticism there because wide receiver targets have to be earned. But running back fantasy points are given, and they are definitely given in the 49ers
15:57offense. I mean, we have seen so many mediocre, below average running backs succeed in Shanahan ask schemes. I mean, think about Shanahan's dad. So, think
16:07about obviously, we've seen some totally random running backs be huge hits in Kyle Shanahan offenses. But think about some of the absolute jabronis who were
16:14good in Kyle Shanahan's dad's offenses.
16:17Like, that guy could take the a 42-year-old janitor and turn him into a 14 fantasy points per game guy. So, Kaelin Black is one of my most rostered
16:24players. Like, if I do not take Christian McCaffrey in a draft, there's a high, high, high degree of certainty that I will be selecting Kaelin Black in
16:33that given draft. And then we are going to end with Seth Magaowan, who is 24 years old, literally did have to spend
16:39time in jail. Uh he committed, I believe I believe there was like some kind of robbery thing that happened with Seth
16:45Magaowan. He was, you know, not a particularly great prospect. Did have a really strong RAS, 9.34 RAS. His overall production metrics are relatively low,
16:55but everything folded his direction in the Indianapolis Colts backfield. Seems like D.J. Giddens might get waived once the team finds a way to add Tyler
17:03Goodson in as their running back three.
17:06Jonathan Taylor has missed at least two games every year of his career until last season. The Indianapolis Colts have a very strong offensive line. The
17:15Indianapolis Colts project to actually have a top half of the league offense and it's just kind of funny the way that
17:22handcuffs go is once they get a little bit of name recognition, they get very expensive. But if there's no name recognition at all, they basically don't
17:29get drafted. I mean, I bet if you go into your home league and you guys just say, "Hey, who is the running back two behind
17:36Jonathan Taylor?" Probably half your league mates won't even know, but Seth McGowan is that guy and he probably needs to be rostered in 100% of fantasy
17:44football leagues cuz my guess is that D.J. Giddens ends up getting waived. So, my zero running back list guys I am
17:50targeting in every single fantasy football draft this year, Malik Davis, Emmit Johnson, Najee Harris, Breylon Allen, De'Mon Clayborn, Cailin Black, Caleb Johnson, and Seth McGowan. If you
18:00want more fantasy football insights, if you want rankings, if you want me to help you with your fantasy football draft, head on over to flockfantasy.com.
18:07The season pass is $34. You can sign up with that using code Davis. Make sure you like this video. Make sure you are
18:13subscribed to the Maddex Fantasy Football Channel for daily fantasy football videos to help you win your league and I will see you guys back
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