1092: A Weak Running Back Class

**JJ Zachariason** (0:02)
This is The Late-Round Podcast with your host, JJ Zachariason.
What's up, everyone, it's JJ Zachariason, and this is episode 1092 of The Late-Round Fantasy Football Podcast. Thanks for tuning in. Last week, I chatted with Alfredo Brown about this year's quarterback class. Today, we're digging into running backs. If you've been reading about the draft, you probably know this isn't the best running back class in the world, but we're still bound to get some usability from it. To help me dissect this class, I chatted with my friend Jeff Bell of Footballguys. We discussed Jeremiyah Love's elite ability, some potential RB2 candidates in the class, later round darts, and so much more. Now, before we get into that interview, I just need to send another reminder. Check out the Late-Round Prospect Guide. It's 170 pages of analytical information about this class, and it includes info on second year players as well. All for $19.99. If you purchase now, you'll also get the post draft version of the guide emailed to you just hours after the NFL draft is over. Check it all out over on lateraound.com. Now, here's my interview with Mr. Jeff Bell. All right, Jeff, talk to me about your general process for prospect evaluation. Like, how do you mix in film work? I know you look at at least a little bit of analytics and stuff too, and you've done a lot of work with prospect in general. But what is your evaluation process like so that while we dig into this running mat class, people kind of have that background?

**Jeff Bell** (1:36)
Yeah, I think that when looking overall, and I know your audience leans a little bit more on the analytical side, I think that's really looking for disqualifiers, probably on the analytical side, and as opposed to qualifiers is where I would come down on that side. But I'm a film watcher. I'm a film watcher at heart.
My uncle was a wide receiver coach. I did all the wide receivers for the guide, the Footballguys rookie guide this year, and I did about 57 wide receivers, and so really just stacking it up, watching everything that I can find and working through, and when it comes to wide receiver evaluation, and some level at running back evaluation as well, just looking at what role they will fill and do they move like an NFL player? Do they high level explosion? Do they have those things that are qualifiers? And when I'm going through the process, I'm trying to look hard for what can a player do? How can they profile into it? That's what it comes down to a lot of it. I'm in the middle of the Scouting Academy right now, and so going through that curriculum to sharpen that film watcher view of it, but that is really where I lie. I'm a CPA, and so numbers are my life, and so scouting, when it comes down to it, I like the tape side of it a little bit more. I exercise a different part of my brain than what I run into quite a lot through the day-to-day.

**JJ Zachariason** (2:56)
Yeah, I was going to say, it seems like... Do you think that you're doing that on purpose in a way, almost subconsciously, of a way of just doing something different than what your day-to-day generally is with you just looking at numbers all day long?

**Jeff Bell** (3:11)
I think that might be part of it, certainly that might be part of it. I do think at some level, we're all just trying to figure out what is most comfortable for us, but also fill in what's least comfortable for us. Somebody that's very, very high, strong on the analytical side, they don't feel as comfortable on the tape watching side, and so they're using the proxy to try to fill it in. I know that's the view on... I mean, I hate to bring them up, they're in the news right now, but the PFF grades coming through and using that as a proxy for film watching, I think that that's when it comes down to where we lean on our strengths and we try to fill in our gaps where we could get stronger. And it is probably part of my brain when it comes down to it, of wanting to have the more creative side that watches and kind of exercise that relative to looking at numbers quite a bit as a CPA.

**JJ Zachariason** (4:04)
Yeah, yeah. I mean, it's good to be well-rounded and have that background, so it's awesome. All right, let's talk about this running back class. Jeremiyah Love right now is the consensus RB1.