Latest news with #RookieRunningBack
Yahoo
05-08-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Will rookie Ashton Jeanty live up to first-round ADP?
Yahoo Fantasy analysts Matt Harmon and Scott Pianowski dig into the Raiders offense and explain why the rookie's role in the passing game could be the key to his fantasy success. Hear the full conversation on the 'Yahoo Fantasy Forecast' podcast - and subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you listen. View more Video Transcript Last pick in the first round here is Ashton Gentry, 12th overall, Raiders running back. He's a rookie. Um, Justin Boone and I did contrarian corner about the rookie running backs and how they could, you know, how that class can disappoint. And we took, we took the harpoon, we hit the big fish right away at Ashton Gentry, and I mean, I, I'll lay out my case because I have him as a second round pick, not a first round pick. You and Boone are have are 12th overall with him. Um, what if this Raiders team is not that good? There's a lot of excitement about the Raiders, OK? Um, and I get it. I think there's some pretty cool stuff that that's going on in Las Vegas right now, but it's a really tough division. I would say it's an offensive line that is at best average, like it's a mid-offensive line at best. Um, how many points is this Raiders offense going to score? And more importantly, Scott, look, I have repeated the stat about Chip Kelly where he was fifth, fourth, seventh, and eleventh in rush attempts when he was an offensive play caller in the NFL. But the defense for the Raiders is going to be bad this year, unless Pete Carroll is just like Dumbledore, a freaking wizard or whatever, like a puppet master. That's a bad secondary. Outside of Max Crosby, it's not a good defense. Again, like how good typically the, it's sometimes fantasy football can be simple, good players, good teams that are gonna score points. How good are the Raiders gonna be, Scott, and how many points are they gonna score? All valid concerns, and, you know, we've seen good Chip Kelly and bad Chip Kelly during his NFL career. Offensive line play is more important to the running game than the passing game. Obviously, Gentry's main level of production is going to come from the running. I don't really know what to expect from him as a receiver. He was dynamic as a receiver his second year at Boise State. Last year, his yards per reception. I realize that that's a stat with a lot of noise in it, but he goes from 13.2 yards per catch his second year to last year, he loses 20 receptions. And his yards per catch goes down to 6.0. I, I don't know if you charted Gentry as a receiver, but I, I'd like to know what is a good explanation. No, granted, he ran for 2,600 yards. People say, What's the big concern? But to me, it's the efficiency. If they didn't want to call the plays as much, that's fine. But why was he all of a sudden a much less efficient receiver? Because he's going to need that bag in his, his club in his bag if he's going to survive on a Raider team. As you mentioned, tough division, defense is going to be substandard. If he pays off his ADP, he's going to have to catch 50 passes. There was a time where I would take him, and I will have some of him in my profile just to not sit it out, but I'm not really drafting him proactively either. I'm kind of on the fence on Gentry. I think this is a too big to fail thing with him, but I'm not expecting him to have, like, the Saquon Barkley rookie year either. Close
Yahoo
05-08-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
How Bears RB Kyle Monangai is playing his way to fantasy relevance
Yahoo Fantasy analyst Matt Harmon and contributor Ray Garvin highlight Chicago's rookie running back who is creating buzz in a backfield that includes D'Andre Swift and Roschon Johnson. Hear the full conversation on the 'Yahoo Fantasy Forecast' podcast - and subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you listen. View more Video Transcript This guy's ranked higher than Woody Marks, and I'm talking about Kyle Mungai of the Chicago Bears. Now, outside of the Dallas Cowboys and the Shadoor Sanders training camp reports, there's probably not more chatter on social media than what's happening in Chicago and this Ben Johnson led offense. A lot of hype and enthusiasm for Caleb Williams and the pass catchers, but not a lot of talk about the running game. You all do know that Ben Johnson had DeAndre Swift in the past, right? We do know that DeAndre Swift wasn't overly efficient in 2024. He's a good player. I like DeAndre Swift, but there is opportunity for another running back to assume some role and some carries in this offense, and all indications are this rookie running back from Rutgers is making the most of his opportunity. You know, sometimes, Matt, what I'm looking for out of some of these reports from these beat reporters or people close to these teams is not necessarily how much they are saying about a player, but what they're not saying about another player. And I have not heard a lot of enthusiasm for Roshawn Johnson. I was a Roshawn Johnson fan coming out of Texas, but I just have not heard a lot of the positive buzz, whether it's coach or beat reporter talk, fan talk, I have not heard a lot of buzz about Roshawn Johnson, but the buzz that we're hearing from Ben Johnson himself, from players on the Chicago Bears, and from their first public scrimmage that was open to people in Chicago, they got to the goal line with the first team offense and you could say, oh, it's veteran, they put DJ Moore in at running back. Then they put Kyle Mungai in at running back to operate at the goal line. So you're talking about an offense that I don't think Ben Johnson's gonna let Caleb run hog wild and do what he wants to do on offense. You're gonna play on schedule, or we're gonna attempt to have you play on schedule. We're gonna run the ball and it's not gonna be just DeAndre Swift. It's not his game. That's probably not where Chicago wants to maximize his skill set. There's going to be another rusher or two in this offense that gets opportunity, and Kyle Munga is that running back. Everything has been glowing. He was an incredible running back out of Rutgers, drafted a lot later. The running backs, I don't care when they get drafted. Yes, if you get drafted where Ashton Gente is, that matters, but is there going to be opportunity right now? He's projected to be that 2nd or 3rd running back. So we're talking about a sleeper, a deep sleeper, but if this offense is gonna take a step forward. And DeAndre Swift is not the bell cow that we look at when we think of a Derrick Henry, when we think of a Saquon Barkley, better believe Kaman N'God better be on your radar. Close
