Scott Barrett Goes HEAD TO HEAD with National Champion Debater - 2026 Fantasy Football HEATED TOPICS
70m 26s
The transcript features a fantasy football debate series hosted by Scott, who claims to be the best debater in the space, against Brian Rubai, a national champion debate coach and new Fantasy Points staffer. Judge Trey Camberling moderates. In the first debate, Brian argues Devon Hiann will be a top-five running back in 2026, citing his consistent RB5-6 finishes, historic yards per carry, and elite receiving production. Scott counters that Hiann lacks red-zone touchdowns, faces a target decline with Malik Willis replacing Tua, and loses offensive efficiency under new coaching. Trey rules for Brian, noting Hiann’s talent and volume, and Scott concedes, citing projections that still place Hiann at RB5 despite offensive struggles. In the second debate, Brian champions Colston Loveland over Luther Burden, highlighting Loveland’s late-season production, red-zone target advantage, and strong chemistry with Caleb Williams. Scott argues against Loveland, emphasizing the opportunity cost of drafting a tight end early, his limited route share in healthy games, and the fluky nature of his stats driven by negative game script. The transcript ends mid-debate, with Scott continuing his case and Trey’s ruling not yet delivered. The discussion underscores key fantasy strategy concepts like volume, efficiency, and situational context, with both debaters using historical data and projections to support their cases.
Fantasy football debates. People say I'm the best fantasy football debater in the space. I'm really tough to argue against. They call me the master debater. And so I really wanted to put myself to the test. I brought in the newest member of the fantasy points team Brian Rubai, who I said it when we first hired Ryan Heath. This guy's a superstar. I'm saying it today. Brian Rubai is a superstar in the space and he has a really unique background. He was a national champion debate coach. And so I'm going to be arguing against him today. I let Brian pick out the players and topics he wanted to argue against me with. We brought in the honorable motion man judge Trey Canberling here to decide on the winners and losers. And Brian, yeah, thank you for making your first ever appearance on the fantasy points YouTube channel in school of Scott. How are you doing today, Brian? Doing great. Scott, it's an honor to be here. I really enjoyed. I'm one of many people who love the draft guide. Love getting to see this series. Exodia picks really excited to talk about some of those guys here with you this morning and with you and Trey. Thank you guys so much for having me. Let's get to it. Yeah, yeah. And if you enjoy today's episode, make sure you check out Brian's debut article for itself on the site. It's fantastic. One of the best debut pieces in the fantasy football space of all time. My draft guide also dropped. So make sure you check that out for all my exodia plays. But really quick, Brian, why don't you just kind of introduce yourself talk about your debate background and maybe share a few lessons learned or debate tips that you used to give your students because I might need that help as we enter in this debate here today. Yeah, Scott, you're very humbled to say that. I've seen you in these debates online. I think you're a little like Floyd Mayweather. I don't know that you've been defeated. You got a belt in a lot of classes, but excited to put on a good fight today. I was a debater and the big coach for a very long time was really lucky to win a national title at the University of Iowa. And the biggest things I always told my students are just really think deeply about both sides of a case. You know, if you end up kind of siding one way, it makes sense if it's different than somebody else. But make sure you've really thought through all the possibilities. And so that's why I'm so excited to jump in today. Whenever I've worked with you and Ryan, I've told you guys this, it's been like getting a second master's degree because the level of depth you guys go into in the edits and thinking through every word that goes up on fantasy points is incredible. So as those things were going on, I always thought it would be a dream to get to debates got and to do these things live. I'm really excited to get to do that here today. I think the debates that we're tackling are probably some of the hardest decisions for managers to make right now and really excited to give them some good information and hopefully help them make some great decisions and win their leagues. Me too, I'm not a national champion debater like yourself, but I did win a few awards in varsity debate in high school. So I'm really happy and eager to brush off those skills today in a, you know, perfectly in my wheelhouse here with fantasy football. Let's start us off, Brian. What is your first topic of debate in which side are you taking? I'll have to reflexively take the opposite stance whether or not I agree with it. Great question. So we're going to talk about Devon Hiann to start the day. One of the big questions is, is Devon Hiann going to be a top five running back in 2026? So you all may know Devon Hiann if you've been reading Scott for a good while as the Tyree Kill of Running Backs. If you read my debut article, I called him Birdman because Devon Hiann can fly in any weather and I'm betting on Hiann to be a top five running back even in this 2026 Miami offense because he's one of one and he's built different. So first big thing, like a certain Miami DJ, but unfortunately, unlike the 2026 Miami Dolphins, all Hiann does is win. He is a proven top five producer. It's always ever done. He's been RB5, RB6, and RB5 by average in the last three seasons. In debate, we have this concept called the burden of proof, which suggests, you know, which side it really needs, you know, to prove their case. And I think that the burden of proof is on the idea that Hiann won't be top five given that that's all he's ever done. He's a bargain in the second half of round two. He's going behind guys like Kenneth Locker and Chase Brown, who are great running backs, but I've never produced 20 fantasy points per game like Hiann has. And if you're wondering, can he repeat that? Well, the second big thing to consider is Hiann is in his own stratosphere. Scott, I know you love those historical comparisons. It not since they have invented a vaccine for polio in the 1950s, as anybody had as many yards per carry as Devon Hiann and his 5.62. I mean, and it hurts for me to say, because I'm broadcasting live from Kansas City, number two is Bo Jackson, who we have a special affinity for. Anytime you talk about somebody in Bo Jackson's category, it's insane. And that's where Devon Hiann is. And he's not just a devastating Russia. We all know he's a devastating receiver, 145 receptions in the last two years leading all backs, 4.4 receptions a game, which is Terry McClure and Territory. And I get it. If you're thinking in the back of your mind, well, things are going to look a lot different in 2026 they are. But that's the final point. Let's just assume this is the worst offense Hiann's ever played on. It probably will be. The fantasy points projections run by Chris Wecht and the crew, the industry's sharpest, they assume that he's going to have a career low in receiving touchdowns, his second worst rushing touchdowns mark, declines in rushing yards and receiving yards versus last season. But despite all of that, they still have impritid comfortably at RB 5, because very few running backs can touch the 70 plus receptions that Hiann projects for. So it's a bad offense. It's a run first quarterback, but you may have seen CMC overcome that in the past of the Panthers, say, Juan with the 5/11 Giants. You may have seen Alvin Camero make through a season with Taisam Hill and produce some very good things. I'm still betting on Hiann, even in tougher weather than ever, to do really good things and to be a top five running back in 2026. All right. Now it's my turn to argue against that. Whether or not in actuality, I agree with it. And so let me just tell you where when you when you when you have a fantasy football running back, where do fantasy points come from? They really only come from three, one of three things and ideally more than one of three things. It's it's red zone carries. And so touchdowns it's explosive runs and it's target buying. Right. And so if you look at for instance, Jonathan Taylor, if you if you strip out non explosive runs, non red zone carries, you know, non targets, you know, this was 66% of his total touches, but it was only 27% of his total fantasy points. Everything else is basically irrelevant. Those carries in between the 20s that don't go for explosives. And so when you have Devon Hiann, you even if you're arguing in favor of him, I think you have to admit there's not a lot of touchdown upside. He had just two go line rushing touchdowns last year that ranked 42nd among all running backs. And this isn't an offense that we expect to score many fantasy points. So really his his fantasy production can only come one of two weights, one through the air. And I like to pull this up in the screen if we can. He's losing the check down God to a tag of the low up who targeted running backs at the leagues highest rate. And he is replacing two with Malik Willis. We know hyper mobile quarterbacks tend not to target running backs. Malik Willis targeted running backs at the leagues lowest rate. If that holds, he's basically going from 85 targets to 48. That is a massive kneecap to where the bulk of his fantasy points have come from. And then the third leg is the explosive runs, the hyper efficiency. What you brought up with regard to the yards per carry figure. You're losing Mike McDonald's who is maybe is probably the best run game coordinator in the NFL. His offenses led the league in EPA per run over a five year span before with the 49ers before he joined the Miami Dolphins. And then you know, since he had his first job as a run game coordinator to present leads the league in EPA per run. And he's done that with outside of H and a lot of UDFA tier running backs, round seven running backs where he most heard you talk about bow jacks at life. To find H and yards per carry bests and bow jacks and guess what, where he most is right there behind it. And so maybe that's maybe H and is not the Tyree kill of running backs that we think he is maybe it's just Mike McDaniel, you know, doing a lot of heavy lifting. And then even if that's not the case, this is going to be a bottom five offense with bottom five game script. And teams are going to be stacking the box against you because yeah, Devon H and's pretty good. You know who's not good? The quarterback. He's not a good thrower of the football. They have no receivers to throw the ball to. And so they're just going to sell out to stop Devon H and he's going to be running against stack boxes and the efficiency's gone. So what are you left with? You a guy whose target volume is theoretically cut in half. The explosives are gone, much tougher sledding. And he was never scoring goal line touchdowns anyway. Devon H and is an awful pick as a top five eighty-two.
P running that. Love it. So Scott, do I have one reputtle here? Is that right? Sure. You could take it. Awesome. I love it. So really good points by Scott. I agree. I don't think Redstone touchdowns are what you can count on H&F. But it wasn't what you were counting for last year either. And Scott, I know this is a stat that you shared with me. Fewer Redstone touchdowns last year than Dan McKnight running behind a bottom five offensive line playing in a bottom 12 offense. In that weather, still the RP-5. And I think two definitely caused for concern. That split from one to 32 is a big split. But one of the things I want to remind readers of, anybody who's listened to you for a long time, that Konami Code article, a classic from 2021, those rushing quarterbacks also tends to increase rushing efficiency. They stretch the defense. They lead to better boxes and rushing lanes. And H&N Willis is a pretty devastating RPO threat in line with something like a Camara and Tason Ill as ugly as the pass he might look. It's going to be a bad offense. But to credit our colleague Kyle Mitten, he pointed out last year in those losing game scripts. H&N was RB2. At 18.9 fantasy points per game. That's actually over the last two seasons. And that was with two, a struggling to hit 200 passing yards a game. I do think it's going to look a little different. He's going to see a lot more stacked boxes. But he's been second in yards per carry against stacked boxes in the past. He's had the most carries of 10 plus yards against stacked boxes. He's obviously up against it. Things are going to be harder than ever for Devon H&N. But very few running backs have that kind of upside and especially that proven upside. I'll believe H&N is not a top five RB when I see it. But after three years with the most predictive thing, prior fantasy output, we still haven't seen anything else. Scott, a really strong case. I'm still clicking H&N, but it's a good debate. Little judge, Camberling, who do you side with? Yeah, this one is tough because it's right down the middle right here. You're really arguing here whether he's going to be the RB5 or the RB6 the way that I'm looking at it unless James Cook sneaks up there and makes some stuff happen. You know, I'm looking at the top two guys. There's no non injury path for H&N to get past the Gibbs and the B's Johns of the world. But to me now, it's looking like Christian McCaffrey. We all know he took a step back, right? Took a little step back. H&N, the better player, the more explosive player. Volume is king at the end of the day. This one is so, so tight and so close, but I am going to give it to Brian. I think Devon H&N slides in there exactly at RB5 this season. Let me play the sound for you. Oh, I love it. All right. Well, let me give my ruling because I think the listeners want to know where I actually stand on this. If you pulled Ryan Heath, Ryan Heath would have said, I won this debate handily. If you asked Brett Whitefield, he would have said you won this debate. Brett thinks this might be the best fantasy season of H&N's career, like reminiscent of 2019 Christian McCaffrey on the Panthers with a hyper mobile quarterback. And I ultimately side with Chris Wack to, you know, when presented with all these debate points is like, yeah, you could say Malik Willis doesn't target running backs. It's a really small sample, by the way, but like my job is to project out volume and like there's nowhere else for the ball to go. You look at the past catchers on this team. It's Jalen Tolbert, 22 at well, Malik Washington as the starters. These guys suck. Like Devon H&N might be a better wide receiver than at least two of those three guys. So just projecting out the target volume, it has to still be there. And then like you said, I think this is a really talented running back. I think this is a rare talent who I expect the hyper efficiency on the ground to still be there, even if this Miami dolphins often sucks, which by the way, it's sucked last year. So you know, dead last and play volume. So yeah, ultimately I side with you. I think you're right. But you know, it is one of those things where, you know, there are good arguments on both sides. Do you ever next to debate topic for us, Brian? Yeah. So Scott, am I right up next? Are we talking about Loveland and about burden? Is that next up on the mic? Yeah. And so this is one I actually believe in. I'm team burden, your team, Loveland. So this is going to be a fun debate. When you lead us off with why your team, Loveland, I will argue against Loveland. I will make the pro burden case. You will argue against burden. And then we'll toss it up to trade to pick a winner. Love it. Sounds great. So a lot of this summer, I kept thinking, well, if I miss Loveland, I'll pick a burden in the next round. But ADP has caught up. Loveland and burden are now going in roughly the same spot. And with a choice between a guy who could be the tight end one as a pretty strong path versus a guy who I think is scratching the top 20 wide receivers, I'm leading narrowly to Loveland. I think he's got a real shot at tight end one. I think he largely outperforms burden and he's just a safer bet to lead that bearers group of pass catchers. And though I do also like the outlook for burden. To start with that last half of last season, I know a lot of people have zoned in on that kind of supernova last four games that Loveland produced. But look at an even larger sample, week 9 to 18, last half of the season, Loveland produced more fantasy points than any tight ends, not named, "Tray McBride." He's the only guy that's in that tier one of tight ends that you can get at that kind of cost towards the middle of round three or later. And I like his outcome the best. I worry about McBride with Beck. I worry about what the offense looks like with Bowers and Mendoza. I think that Loveland is the only one of that group whose situation really improves. It's got, I know that you've written persuasively in the past that a tight end really has to be great. To be one of the people that you invest in in those first four rounds, I think Loveland is that guy. And I think he's got a real shot at tight end one. I think if you look at that sample from weeks 9 to 18, the obvious thing that stands out is, okay, he outscores, burden, and fantasy points by about three points. But the less obvious thing is what kind of connection Loveland showed with Caleb Williams during that time. I mean, 137.6 passorating from Caleb to Loveland is the third best connection between any quarterback and pass catcher in the NFL, tight end wide receiver, anybody. That's the third best connection between any two guys. What I really think that Loveland gets ahead is in the red zone. He had a 10 to 1 advantage in red zone targets versus burden, a 31.6% team touchdown share versus 7.7% for burden. I'll save some of my notes about burden towards the end because I do think that there are some causes for concern with his case that I don't think exist with Loveland. But when you're thinking about Loveland versus the opportunity cost of other guys, it's what I know you've pointed out that Fanon produced roughly similar things in a similar period. Fanon is a yak god, but Loveland had a higher target share and a more stacked offense. I think there are different direction areas. I think Loveland is inside of an offense with lots of vacated targets, lots of room for his first read share to go up. And I think that a lot of those things are going to start to tilt even more strongly towards Loveland. There are a lot of good options there in the third round, one of which is burden. I don't think that burden is a bad pick at cost, but given a choice between the two, I'm going to take a shot at the guy I think has a real shot to be tight end one, which is Colston Loveland. Yeah, so I think the odds are really stacked against Loveland. I think this is a really hard argument for you to make. If you just understand opportunity cost, it's just really, really hard for around three to around four tight end to pay off that ADP. You really have to be prime Travis Kelsey. And if you're not that, you're a bad pick because that's the range you want to be drafting running backs or wide receivers. It's also really rare for a tight end to lead the team and fantasy points. You know, Trayn McBride did it, Brock Bauer's did it. There's very few examples, especially when you have talented wide receivers, which is the case in Chicago. So they're going in the same round range and I do not see Colston Loveland outscoring Luther Bird. And I think the odds of that happening are really low just because of the position he plays. And then I think, you know, this this four game window is doing a lot of the heavy lifting. And first I'd like to say that it's Colcomett is still there. And we need to put some respect on Colcomett's name. He, Loveland had four good games, but he sucked ass the rest of the time. You know, there was that Bangles game that that Colcomett missed. But outside of that, he did absolutely nothing. He was basically the tight end 30 by fantasy points per game, single digit fantasy points per game. Loveland hit a 60% route share only four times in the 15 games that Colcomett was fully healthy. You are not going to be a productive fantasy tight end with a 60% route. That's the Dalton concade issue, right? And so those four games, he did hit a 60% route share. The four games you're talking about this four game sample that was electric that four week window for consecutive games week 16 to the wild card round of the playoffs. The bail the bears trailed on 81% of their offensive plays every single game of 75% or higher in all other games. It was under 40%. It was fluke extreme negative game script. And that matters to me because if you look at Hunter Henry in games, the trail
that often he was averaging 28 fantasy points per game. If you look at like absolute scrubs, it's the same thing. And so I worry, you know, maybe, you know, it was, it was loved Lind getting more work, which he deserved because the dude is like legitimately an amazing talent. I think he's already a top three, top four, tight end in the NFL. Um, you know, maybe he was finally getting the volume he deserved or maybe it was just GameScript. And maybe we're under rating, come at the end of the day. There's just like the fact that I can raise this argument for around three, round four, tight end means I don't want to be drafting it. Instead, I want to be drafting the later round value with the Tucker crafts, the George Kiddles, the Isaiah Likles of the world. And so, yeah, I'm, I'm, I'm legitimately out on Loveland, although in dynasty, I'm a massive buyer. Sure. Absolutely. So my, my argument then for Luther Burton, who I feel even more strongly about in the affirmative, you were talking about how, you know, Loveland was the guy over Burton in that four game stretch. I will say, Ola Midez, the keyist was still there. And Chicago beatwriters were all saying, Burton's supposed to be playing the DJ more role. DJ Moore's not going to be with the team next year because that's the Luther Burton role. They're, they're, you know, grooming him to step into. And so we never really saw him firing at all cylinders. And that DJ Moore role is very similar to the Jarvis Landry role, you know, when Ben Johnson was a wide receivers coach, Jarvis Landry in the slot, led the league in receptions. And then I'm on Ross St Brown with the Detroit Lions in the slot of a Ben Johnson offense, led the league and receiving touched, receiving first downs multiple years in a row. And I had this quote from Luther Burton that's, that's, you know, in the tweet right below this is my offense runs to the slot wide receiver. Everywhere I've been, my offense runs through the slot wide receiver. And who is the slot wide receiver in this offense? It's Luther Burton. And there was a quote just today that, hey, this guy reminds me of Jarvis Landry. This guy reminds me of Amon Ross St Brown. And then Luther Burton, what are you left with? Insane hyper efficiency last season. As a rookie, it was the best rookie season yards per route run since Odell Beckham, Jr. And that's really one of the most predictive stats there is. He look at the top 12 of that list. It's stacked with AJ Brown, Julio Jones. It's very rare for a guy to, to, to pop like that as a rookie and not be not just good, but great. So everything kind of pointing in this direction with also we didn't bring him up, but Romo Dunes' Ace foot is a serious concern. Really to me, it seems like it's going to be the Luther Burton show in 2026, but I'm eager to hear your rebuttal. Yeah, absolutely. And obviously if Rome struggles, both of these guys are really great picks inside of that offense. But I think if everything goes according to plan, all three guys are healthy and play their role, I like Leveland a bit better. I do know that per route run stat for Luther is insane. And that was also the other half of that Ben Johnson quote is we want to get Luther running more routes, which is a scary prospect for those arguing against burden. I do think that more routes are going to reduce some of that per route efficiency and bring that back down to earth just slightly, just like H&N 7.7 yards for Care After his rookie year came back down to earth in a more manageable 5.7. I think burdens will look a little bit more human once things start to settle in and he runs more routes. But the thing that I don't know is going to settle in for burden as heavily is being a red zone or touchdown threat. You know, only having two targets and no touchdowns on 28 red zone routes and those two playoff games producing six catches for 66 yards and no touchdowns. I definitely agree a lot of Leveland's production for those games are doing the heavy lifting. But I think a similar case could be made for burden. You know, one game over 20 fantasy points and that big shoot out against the 49ers. You know, that's a very high output. It's a sign of what, you know, burden is capable of. But it's the only time that he did that. And I think, you know, you do think that some of these things are going to kind of come back a little bit more to normal next year, like Leveland having six touchdowns, burden having two. Maybe that mark gets a little closer. But again, going back to the fantasy points projections, they have that number, you know, equalizing a bit. They have Leveland going down to 5.5 touchdowns, burden going all the way up to 0.6, but they still have Leveland projected for about 10 more points over the course of the year with just a heavier target share, more touchdowns, more red zone looks. I think there's definitely a case to be made, especially in those last four games that those scripts were little unusual. The bears were trailing. They didn't spend a lot of the year trailing. And it's, I think worthwhile to ask how well is Leveland going to do in the games for their head. But if you just break down, you know, the game scripts where it's tied or their head, Leveland is pretty far ahead of burden and yards, 254 to 187. He's ahead of yards per out run in those winning game scripts, yards per target, red zone targets, first downspour out run, expected fantasy points for out run, and pass or anyone's target. So I think in those scripts outside of the ones where they're trailing, Leveland still has a pretty strong advantage. And that's all despite, you know, burden having six design looks in those game scripts to, you know, Leveland zero, burden having a first-treed percentage. That's about 5% higher than Leveland. They were designing more things and looking for Luther more often in those scripts. But it's just harder for him to find the end zone. Now the scary thing is thinking about what happens if you send that Ben Johnson slot roll, what happens if Luther becomes a mod ride and that comparison Ben Johnson talked about this morning comes to pass. I think that the challenge is he's going to have a lot more competition to win that role and to have kind of the lion share of those routes. Last year Leveland and Rome, both ran more routes from the slot than burden did. Rome ran about 24.2% of the Bears team slot routes to burdens 14.5%. Love burdens a monster. I think if you see him with more routes in the field, more routes from the slot, I do think burdens going up. I think he's a very reasonable bet inside of those top 20 wide receivers. But the path is clearing for a guy that produced as the tie-down to over the second half of the season with a lot more looks and a lot less competition from DJ Moore and Olamidi Zikias. I think in that high-powered Bears offense, I know betting on touchdowns can be a tough game, but I am betting on Leveland to see the end zone quite often in 2026 and to make a strong case for the tie-down one. Judge Trey Camberling, who wins this debate? This is a tough one for me personally because I would love to say that both of you guys lose as either of you are taking Rome a Dune Zay. If I could make the case quick, he's the most talented player on the roster. We had Matt Harmon on last week and he gave what I thought was the quote of the summer in regards to Rome a Dune Zay. Matt Harmon said, "We know Rome came out and was candid about his new normal. You don't think Malik neighbors is dealing with a new normal right now. You don't think a guy like Keenan Allen was dealing with a new normal when he was so banged up, a guy like Julio Jones with the hamstring injuries during his career. A lot of guys deal with this new normal in the NFL and they make it work. I think Rome is the most talented player on that offense and I think the second most talented player on that offense is Colston Loveland. So I am going to have to side here with Brian for that reason and I just think earlier in the summer where the ADPs were, Luther made a little more sense. Now Luther's higher in ADP than both guys. It's just not making sense to me. So I'm going with Rome a Dune Zay. First and foremost. But after that, I'm going with Colston Loveland and let me give you the sound real quick. All right, Brian. This one is a, you know, this isn't an easy one. This isn't a popular one. You know, you're not making too many friends arguing the position that you're that you're going to argue. So let's hear it. Yeah, I'm not going to lie, y'all. My luck may be about to run out. When I opened the article and realized that not only was Scott high on Brooks, but he was in Exodia, you know, it made me think twice and I will say I in the similar vein. I was drafting Jonathan Brooks all summer. I thought he was one of the best values until Jonathan Brooks caught up to and then in some formats started the past. Chuba Hubbard in ADP. That's when I think we've just gone a little bit too far. This is definitely an eager vegetables pick. It doesn't bring me any joy. But I am on team Chuba at an equal cost. Chuba has been a top 15 proven producer. Brooks' case is largely built on projection. The fancy points projections lean very strongly towards Chuba and his contract is fully guaranteed for this year. If I'm the Panthers, I'm betting on Jonathan Brooks in the future. He's probably taking over the reins in 2027 and beyond. But in 2026 at equal cost, give me Chuba Hubbard. The first reason is just production versus projection. As a general rule, you want a favor, guys who have proven that they can do this at a high level against the best talent in the NFL. And Chuba has done that. In 2024, he was the RB 13. By average, was 16.3 fantasy points per game. He was 12th in yards per carry. He was one of only four running backs that had a top 15 success rate against Bozoan and Mann Gap, you know, kind of run blocking teams. He, or nonstopian schemes. Brooks, as Scott has often pointed out, he only has one season with 30 plus carries after high school. And so that's where the fantasy points projections come into play. The projection that I'm most concerned about is just how is it going to break down on the field? They project Chuba for about 12.83 fantasy points per game. And Brooks for about 7.9
I might even have that mark closer, but I think that Shuba is much more likely to come close to his projection than Brooks is to his. Before Shuba had that calf injury last year in week four, he was producing 14 fantasy points per game, 54.3 rushing yards per game. Nothing's right, home about, but about what you expect if you draft Shuba at his cost. After that is fantasy points per game, dropped once it came back in week seven to 6.4, fantasy points a game, only 26.7 yards per game. He just wasn't the same guy and he tried to play through it. And as you think about injury and how it affects the player, that more than anything else is what leads me to believe. If I'm the Carolina front office, if I've got an asset as strong as Jonathan Brooks, future of the team, great future producer, everything kind of on the line, I just hesitate to think, why would you want to rush a guy like that back, make him kind of a featured workhorse RB? When you have a guy in Shuba Hubbard that for better or worse, you can disagree with the Carolina Panthers contract, but like Scott talked about before with Tidens, it's a sunk cost. That money has been paid, Shuba's money is all guaranteed for this year. I think they're paying him to be an RB one. Now that front office does believe in Brooks, but I think they're going to do what the Patriots did last year with Ramon Draver's Trey or what the Titans did with DeMarco Murray versus Derek Henry. If you've got an older running back that you've paid that's still producing at roughly the same level that you paid them to produce at, you're going to lean on that guy for as long as you've paid them. Again, Scott, this one brings me joy. I love Jonathan Brooks. It's not the most fun thing in the world to be telling people you probably want to go with the guy like Shuba at 27 years old, instead of the top drafted running back in his class from just a few years ago. Jonathan Brooks is incredibly talented. The profile is amazing, but it's largely based on projection. I'm going to go with the guy that I think can pretty comfortably be the RB 15 to RB 20 if he stays healthy and produces at the level he's produced at the last two seasons in Shuba. Yeah, all right. My turn to argue against Shuba Hubbard. I have to say it feels like an easy one. I do not think Shuba Hubbard is good. Last year he ranked dead last and explosive run rate. He had zero. No other running back with at least 100 carries had zero. It was just Shuba Hubbard. Extremely non-explosive. In the year previous, he had the worst, if we could pull it up on the screen, that'd be great. He had the worst yards per target of any player ever. Not just any running back, not just this past decade, any player ever. This actually really matters to Dave can Alice. This was a big quote from Dave can Alice right after he drafted Jonathan Brooks. It's really important to my offense that we have a do it all running back who doesn't tip our play calling hand. You can catch passes as well as run the ball. You saw that when Rashad White had a fantasy RB one season with Dave can Alice at ranked top three in snap share. I think that's what he wants. That's what Cameron Wolf, you know, Panthers beat writer keeps saying is like if if this guy has a pulse, he's going to be taking over this backfield halfway through the season. Also another point on Shuba Hubbard sucking. I know he was a little banged up last year, but the average 34.1 rushing yards per game in the two games he missed. Rico Dattel averaged 195 rushing yards per game. But yeah, Cameron Wolf keeps saying, yeah, this is this is going to be the Jonathan Brook show as long as he's alive. This he's going to take over this backfield. He is more upside. This is the player that drafted in round two. And we know, you know, the eat your vegetables pick isn't what wins championships. It's upside that wins championships. And that's what I see with Jonathan Brooks. I think in the first half of the season, you know, maybe it is a committee. Maybe it is more Chuba. But the final four games of the season matter exponentially more than the first, you know, the fantasy playoffs. You know, it's kind of easy to make it to the fantasy plan. So it's kind of hard to make it to your championship and win it. And I think Jonathan Brooks gives you a way better odds of doing that than Chuba Hubbard. What do you think, Trey? This one's a tough one, but I'm going to have to side. So here's a deal. Okay. If you're looking at projections and you're asking me, who's going to have the better fantasy season, right? Is that the question that I'm going to go with Chuba Hubbard because I believe my heart of hearts that his outcome is more likely better than Jonathan Brooks outcome. However, this is a game where upside does win championships. And what are the odds that Chuba Hubbard wins your league effectively zero? What are the odds that Jonathan Brooks wins your league better than zero? So in this situation, I am going to have to side with Jonathan Brooks, even though my lean generally is, we're not drafted any Panthers right now with all the injuries going on and how bad that offense looks. So I am signing with Scott here. We're going with Jonathan Brooks, but I'd stay away from both if I could. Yeah, Jonathan for the folks at home. Yeah, I'm very in on Jonathan Brooks. Actually not on FF PC, maybe not on underdog. You know, some of the sharper sites, but on sleeper, he has around 1280 p on ESPN and Yahoo, he's around 11, which is just crazy. All right, Brian, let's hit them with our final debate topic. What have you got for us? Who? Okay. No. Yeah, second to last. Second to last. Apologize. We got a couple more in the bag here. Scott's about to go in a generational heater. I think now he's heating up. You may have heard Scott talking a lot about Amika Agbuka, one of the hardest players to project. But I'm going to lean towards Amika Agbuka finishing the season as a wide receiver one. He's a special talent with a huge opportunity after the departure of Mike Evans. And I think that his hot start was his stork that second half swoon was largely due to injuries and played out a position. And that shift to a new zero and his act Robinson offense should be a big boom in 2026. So to start, you may have heard Scott mentioned this fact before or Ryan, not since the fall of the Berlin wall. And we've seen somebody like Amika Agbuka, the third time since that's happened that we saw a wide receiver produce that kind of start 102.4 fantasy points in his first five weeks. That's in very rare air with Randy Moss and Pukinakua. It was not just touchdowns. There was a heavy look and he's a great red zone threat. But he had an elite 2.71 yards per route run NFL leading 145.3 pass rating when targeted and a top 10 mark in catchable target rate. But then it all fell out. Agbuka and his injuries started to click in in week six and things quickly went bad for Baker. Baker went from being first and deep throw rate and seventh and catchable throw rate. And and 17 catchable throw rate first and deep throw rate to a very, very big collapse. He went from first to 32nd and deep throw rate, which was where Agbuka was most dangerous to start the season. He went from 7th and catchable throw rate to QB 28. You may have seen that on quarterback when Baker may fields are was several different shades of purple and blue. You may have seen it a week earlier when entry expert Jeff Mueller said watch for quarterback to come out. I bet you're going to see exactly that for Baker may field. So if you follow fantasy points, you know it first. But after the injuries is really when things began to fall apart for Agbuka not just to Baker. But after his hamstring injury, Agbuka lost a lot of his strength and burst. He really struggled to a top speed or to beat press coverage. But despite all of that is expected fantasy points stayed more or less the same. They went from 14.2 in those first five games to 13.9 to close out the season. And I think you're going to see a lot more of the Agbuka who started the season to close it out. He was absolutely deadly and two wide receiver sets. But unfortunately he was in an offense that ran the highest number of three wide receiver sets in the league. Now he's getting Zach Robinson in a new offense. Zach Robinson called two wide receiver sets at this. I threw out of the receiver sets at the seventh lowest rate in the NFL in those two wide receiver sets which Robinson is much more fond of and Agbuka produces much more heavily in. Agbuka has a 0.33 targets per round run. And in Ryan Heath's piece on play collar tendency to a great job of breaking down. Why both this and the shift to the zero should really be good for Agbuka's production. And Matt Harmon broke this down recently as well in his last episode with Scott. It means more posts, more digs, more slants. It's not a cure all. And if you heard Scott talk about that with Brett Whitefield, you know that Agbuka did run some routes from the last year. Injury did somewhat hold back his effectiveness from the Z. But returning the full health and baker full health, seeing more of that, you know, kind of off ball inside slot roll in the Z. Agbuka looks to be very deadly. He may not, you know, produce that same kind of start. That's the third hottest since the fall of the Berlin wall. But if Agbuka can maintain even 80% of that pace, you're looking at a sure fire wide receiver one next season.
Yeah, so I'm gonna have to argue the opposite here and I'll just I'll just point at his current ADP, which is what wide receiver 15 16-ish and then point out the downside here. So yeah, weeks one through five, which is like the only time he was good showed upside. Let's not forget, you know, Mike Evans was banged up. Chris Godwin wasn't on the field. Jalen McMillan wasn't on the field. And then from weeks six through 14, those guys were still out. The target volume was immense. He was averaging nine targets per game. And he still was ridiculously unproductive 8.9 fantasy points per game. Worst fantasy points over expectation of any player in fantasy. He was literally the worst player in fantasy over that stretch. Sure, you know, he did pick up a hamstring injury, but that's what? That's a that's a four to six week injury. Is that gonna really last the the rest of the season? And then what happened weeks 15 through 18? He had a 51.4% route share. He was sharing wide receiver three duties with Jalen McMillan. They were splitting it perfectly 50, 50. This is a guy we think is going to be a fantasy wide receiver one. He was barely wide receiver three in his own team. He was barely a starter weeks 15 through 18. He had he had one 100 yard game weeks 16 through 18. Jalen McMillan had a hundred yard game. And he only was he was only active in four games, you know, so really, really worried about this downside worried, you know, his hot start was really just a product of Chris Godwin a shell of his former self, but hey, this guy's really good, you know, last full season. He was fully healthy. He ranked behind only Jamar chase and fantasy points for game. You get Jalen McMillan who like a really promising rookie season a player. I was really high on. I said, Hey, this guy's going to be I think this guy's way better than Jalen poke. And someone called me a fantasy boy and Jalen poke just retired. So Jalen McMillan, I think is really talented. And so these guys are all going so much later in your draft, you know, maybe the move is to bet on them instead of betting on Jalen McMillan, what he's already priced as almost a wide receiver one. I'll be honest, I feel like I was a little half-hearted there. Trey, Trey Campbell, when you break the news, who won this debate? So I want to I want to go back a little bit in our debates here too and mention some of the things that we've just said. So Mecheg Bukov, of course, he started the season really hot. You know who else started the season really hot and then got injured. Roma Dunesay said Jalen McMillan was better than Jalen poke. You know who was better than Jalen McMillan at Washington? Roma Dunesay, I just wanted to add that little note there for you guys. This one to me actually like Brian alluded to. This one's pretty easy. I'm going with Scott here. It's hard for me to imagine a world where Mecheg Bukov climbs up into a fantasy wide receiver one. If you're talking the team wide receiver one, of course I could see that. But for him to have a top 12 finish this year, there's some big names on that list that he's going to have to surpass to get that done. Is it possible? Of course it's possible. But yeah, I'm saying he's not getting to that mark this year. He could pay off his ADP. He could be in that 15, 16, 17 range. But did it get into that top 12? I'm just not seeing it this year. So Scott, we're giving you this one. I'll take it. I'll take it. Mecheg Bukov is really tough to me. I keep saying he's maybe the toughest player for me to get right. And it's not like anti-Egg Bukov. It's really more just like, hey, maybe the better bet is a much cheaper Chris Godwin. But more than not, I think I side with you, Brian, instead of me here, because he did have that hamstring injury, which really did show up in his next gen stats play speed, the miles per hour, with so much worse after that first five game stretch. And then Baker Mayfield was hurt on top of it. He was on the injury report 11 different times with six or seven unique different injuries. And so, yeah, the buzz of camp really seems like Zach Robinson, like you alluded to, is really high on him. All right, what's our last debate topic here, Brian? Yeah, so this is exciting. No, it's not our last. It's our second. Sorry. Hey, I was going to say, I didn't know if we're going to do that last one. If this one's for all the marbles, that's okay, too, because this is a big one. Scott, this is one of the hottest debates in fantasy football. And it's perfect that we're tied to to going into this one as I lose the ad vote. And, you know, we jump in and Scott, I know you said in your exotie article, if you're not drafting parker wash, and you can't be friends, I still will be drafting parker wash, and I hope you can still be friends. But I got to go with my fellow Brian. This one is a little bit of head versus heart. I'm usually on that modest mouth's kind of heartcooks brain kind of train, but I can't with this one. Brian Thomas's rookie year was one of the best ever produced. I think he's got a higher ceiling. His decline last year was largely due to injury. And although I do like parker wash in quite a bit, especially in dynasty, I think Thomas is the ultimate post-type injury discount sleeper. He looked like last year, like last year's, you know, kind of big fantasy superstar before he got hurt. And he's a steal heading into this year's drafts. So the first thing to think about is what's the ceiling case if upside wins championships. Brian Thomas Jr. produced the fourth most fantasy points of any wide receiver in the year 2024. He had one of the five best rookie wide receiver finishes in the last 50 years. He had 2.45 yards per route run and was top 25 in first downs per route run. Two of the most sticky and predictive statistics for wide receiver fantasy production. And I think this is where the sample size really matters because you have a large sample of Brian Thomas's rookie year producing as one of the top five receivers versus a promising but smaller sample to end parker wash in the season that also didn't quite get to the highs of what Thomas produced. Washington produced 22.3 fantasy points per game to close out an amazing four game run in 2025. But in debate, we talk about this concept called recency bias quite frequently. The human mind sense remembered the thing that it saw most recently. And so it's easier to forget that Brian Thomas produced 23.6 fantasy points per game over that five game stretch to close out 2024. If you have a choice between a larger sample, that's a little further back. And a more recent sample that's much smaller. I think you're looking for that larger one. It's less prone to recency bias. It's less prone to some of the training camp hype that's kind of driving up parker wash in ADP. Although that hype is very impressive, the better bet is parker wash in terms of a ceiling play. Now I understand what you just saw last season was not promising. That was a shell of Brian Thomas Jr. You know, you can call it, you know, spring break. That airstrops real quick from a 0.19 mark pre-pree injury to negative 0.58 post injury. As Brian Thomas said, it no longer hurts for him to run. He had injuries to his wrist, to his shoulder, to his ankle, to his chest. I mean, just kind of put up on the board and, you know, throw a dart. He probably had an injury there. And his cost is being influenced by a lot of non-sticky factors like drops or this idea that maybe he just misses playing with Mac Jones or maybe he's become a field stretching decoy. All of these bad arguments, along with his injury, have depressed his price and made it so that you can draft a true superstar at an incredible cost. And both of these guys have, you know, some downside risk. And I just think that Washington's is a lot more scary than Brian Thomas Jr. One tweet that I do want to pull up is a great tweet from Wayne McFarland that talks about guys who have Parker Washington's profile. These guys who are drafted in the six rounds or later and produce these incredible seasons, you know, how often do they go on, you know, to replicate that fact. It just doesn't happen very frequently. And unfortunately, the fantasy graveyard is littered with profiles like Parker Washington, guys who pop and have some amazing stretches when the rest of the best, you know, when the rest of the past catchers are down with injury. But I just think even if you look at last year, even when Washington went on that heater, you still saw Thomas seeing more snaps. If you see more heavy personnel after the tight, after the Jaguar is drafted, every tight and available in the draft, that's probably going to play Parker Washington off the field more often. Now there is some concern about Brian Thomas Jr.'s role. Azane Denonni wrote about this about how Thomas was pushed largely to a big play outside threat role. I don't think he's going to be relegated to just that role, but he was extremely threatening in that role. He is still the primary red zone target for Jacksonville. He's still the primary deep threat. And Scott, I know you like to point out, you know, Trevor Lawrence really produced a generational stretch of games with Parker Washington. But that period also coincides with when Liam Cohen pulled Trevor Lawrence aside after week 10 and said, 'Let it rip.' You know, this is an offense that is pretty deadly with the deep ball. Brian Thomas is their best threat there. He's also their primary red zone threat. And he's produced a top five wide receiver season. I love Parker Washington. He's a great exodia pick. If he weren't now, going at the same price or higher than Brian Thomas Jr., I would have more shares. But at the same price, I'm betting on the proven top five producer Brian Thomas Jr. All right. Keep this on the screen here, Trey. Brian, what happens when someone
in a debate uses an incorrect source. - Oh. - Because this is really bad source. So you're looking at the names first of all, I'd say. These are a bunch of guys I wasn't in on at all. Like it was just very clearly the case that, you know, Marcus Wheaton benefited from a bunch of injuries and just had this nice little four game stretch. No one was ever excited about Russell Gage or Richard Matthews. Joanne Jennings might be the only guy in this list and he dealt with like seven different injuries last year, couldn't stay healthy, which, you know, heard his production. But you're missing at least one key player and it was one who I said months ago, I've been saying, Parker Washington reminds me of 2017 Adam Feeling, who I was all in on. And so he's missing from that list, even though he perfectly qualifies. I was sitting Doug Baldwin too, might be another one too, who I was kind of in on who. But yeah, I keep hearing this argument. I don't think it's a good one. It's like, oh, you know, he was drafted day three. And he, yeah, look at any day three wide receiver who did what he did. You know, four consecutive games of 77 yards from Scrimmage or more at least once in the first three seasons of his career since 2006. Here's the whole list. Parker Washington and Tony O'Brown, Tyree Kale, Pukka Nakuwa, Amin Rossing Brown, Stefan Diggs, Marcus Colston, read the point now where draft capital doesn't matter anymore. It's really just what have you shown on the field? And what Parker Washington showed last year was he was an absolute alpha, you know, turning a Brian Thomas junior into a beta and turning Trevor Lawrence into a superstar. Trevor Lawrence was very underwhelming throughout nearly all of his career and particularly in the second half of last season. And then he turned it on. He averaged 28.9 fantasy points per game over his final five games that let all quarterbacks by nearly 30% was easily the best five game stretch of his career. What was the catalyst behind it? I think it was Parker Washington who over this span averaged over 100 yards per game. No other wide receiver was over 42 yards per game. He was the clear alpha. Whenever all three wide receivers were on the field together, Parker Washington, 3.23 yards per out run, next close is 1.58, 32.1 target share. And so why would you move away from that? When your offense clearly at its best, and it makes sense that the offense runs through Parker Washington. Why? Because he's the primary slot wide receiver. And Liam Cohen's offense always has run through the slot wide receiver. We saw that in 2021, Juan Deel Robinson was a running back. And he moves to Kentucky. And Liam Cohen's like, "Hey, I'm going to turn you into a slot wide receiver." Is that cool? And he's like, "All right." And then he leads the FDS, all FDS wide receivers in fantasy points per game. Average 103 yards per game. In 2022, Cooper Cup broke records as Liam Cohen slot wide receiver. In 2024, I was all in on Chris Godwin as Liam Cohen slot wide receiver. He led the league, or he ranked behind only Jamar Chase in fantasy points per game. And now you have Parker Washington stepping in that role. And by the way, with Chris Godwin, it wasn't just that he ranked behind only Jamar Chase, but when they were both healthy, average nine fantasy points per game more than Mike Evans, which is really what makes the difference for me because we know Mike Evans is an alpha. But in this offense, I don't know, the slot wide receiver was the alpha, and Mike Evans looked a little bit like a beta. So it can be the case that BTJ is, in many ways, looking like the ideal post type sleeper. He's kind of looking like a mecha booka, except a booka, you had a five game sample, he was good. BTJ, you had an entire rookie season and then sophomore year derailed by injury. Or he kind of looks like Luther Bird in where, you had this historically great rookie year, but he's going way cheaper. And so like I get those arguments, but I think in this offense, the Liam Cohen slot wide receiver role is the alpha. And you saw that last year at the tail end of the season when Parker Washington is breaking leagues. And like I said four months ago, he reminds me of 2017 Adam Fielin reincarnated, and I think that's what we see in 2026. Judge Campbelling. - Yeah, I keep this one pretty simple. I'll flip you guys two scenarios. Scenario one, I have a gun to my head and somebody asked me who I think is going to score more fantasy points. In that scenario, I'm going with Brian Thomas Jr. Scenario two, my boss is Scott Barrett, then he loves Parker Washington, who am I picking Parker Washington? Now we know situation one, not real, situation two, it's very much real. So let me give you a few more points here. (laughing) - I'll take it. - We're going Parker Washington all day, baby. Parker Washington all day. - All right, all right. Last debate topic, Jonathan Taylor, buying or selling, which side are you taking, which side do I have to reflexively take against you? - Great question. So I'm a buy on Jonathan Taylor. I think Jonathan Taylor and H&N are the other two guys in that top five RBs with Bjohn Gibbs and CMC, and I think that there's a pretty good gap after those guys. It's a similar case for Jonathan Taylor. Jonathan Taylor had more finishes as the overall RB1 and PPR in 2025 than Gibbs and Bjohn did combined. His week to week ceiling is as high as any running back in football. The cults are going to lean on Jonathan Taylor a lot more, especially at the start of the season, and he's locked in for an extension. And Taylor has been that guy in terms of every major predictive output, whether it's yards per carry, usage, explosives, touchdowns. If you need it, Jonathan Taylor's got it. But the first thing I want to talk about is he had an absolute wrecking ball start to 2025 that somehow seems to have been quickly forgotten, even though it didn't occur very long ago. Last year, the first 10 weeks of the season, before he hit that week 11 buy, he averaged 27.4 fantasy points per game. He was the RB1 in four of the first 10 weeks of the season. It's almost half the first 10 weeks of the season. Jonathan Taylor, then everybody else. Six of those 10 weeks, he was RB3 or better. When he came back from that buy week, things took a little bit of a tough turn. Obviously, the Chiefs in Texans, it's kind of the reverse. Those two games, the Rekold Dattle, it's about as tough of the two defenses as you could get. They then fall behind 28/10 to the Jaguars, and then he spins the rest of the season playing with a literal grandfather. And yet, in those seven games, he was still RB20 or better in five of seven of those games, which means, even when the going gets bad, you haven't wasted a pick on Jonathan Taylor. But when the going is good, it's good as anybody. Sealing, he's an absolute monster. The floor, if he's playing with a literal grandfather, is bad as it gets, is about 12.6 fantasy points per game and still an RB2 finish. And I think things are going to look a lot better in 2026. It's not just playing with the guy who doesn't have grandkids. And an offense where Pittman is gone, Pierce has been slow out of the gate. He was having trouble walking as of a month ago. Jones is still slowly working his way back. And it takes a little bit for that deep ball accuracy to come back. I think it's a great bet to lean on Jonathan Taylor and Downs at the start of the season. And I get it. We're skeptical of coach speak, player speak, GM speak. But when Jonathan Taylor talked about his extension, talks recently said they were good. When Carly Urce Gordon spoke, it was the opposite of this 2023 hardball talks. The quotes where we love Jonathan. He's one of our pillars. He's got our picture on the stadium for a reason. And we would love it if he's a cult for life. The offense runs through Jonathan Taylor. And it's going to be an offense that needs to lean on the run, even more with Pittman gone and with some injuries to the rest of the team and Dan Jones working his way back in. And Jonathan Taylor is exactly the kind of guy you want to lean on. He is number eight in yards per carry over the last three seasons. And just three really quick fantasy points data notes. He's an end zone magnet. Led last season, rushing touchdowns, second and expected fantasy points. They will turn to him at a crazy clip. His usage rate is almost unparalleled. And he's a home run hitter. He was number seven in explosives the last three seasons with 32% of his yards coming on those carries. And he's locked into an offense that's going to need him more than ever. Reproducing that 27.4 per game start. And those four RB1 finishes for the first 10 weeks. That's a really hard pace for anyone to maintain. But Jonathan Taylor looks on pace to produce a very strong 2026. And he's absolutely the guy that I like as the fifth of those five running backs. Yeah, can we keep this on the screen here from my rebuttal? I really think this tells the whole story. So you talk about this first 10 weeks before Daniel Jones got hurt. Jonathan Taylor was looking like he was going to break fantasy leagues. Yeah, well, I will say that you have the best record in football, which Vegas doesn't expect them to have this year. They have the softest strength of schedule over that span. And now their 2026 strength of schedule is the least improved and one of the most difficult overall. So yeah, over the last last year, Jonathan Taylor averaged 12.4 fantasy points per game and losses. With the last five years, you see it on the screen nearly 25 fantasy points per game and wins 14 fantasy points for game and losses. Diaz the most game.
script, sensitive player and fantasy football. This used to be Derek Henry. You still close. Now it's Jonathan Taylor. And so if we take the averages from the above graphic and you apply them to current win totals for the Ravens over under 11.5 wins and the Colts over under 7.5 wins, we should be expecting 19.4 fantasy points per game from Henry and only 18.6 from Jonathan Taylor. And yet Taylor typically goes 12 picks earlier. And so it's really just, hey, he ran hot with a really soft strength of schedule. The Colts overperformed. But if they're at expectation this year in a much tougher strength of schedule, you're going to have a player who's super volatile week to week and really checking in as only like a mid range to low end to RB one and not a player who's breaking fantasy leagues. Judge, Judge Camberling, who wins this one? Let me throw some points on the board there. We're on tweets for quite a while. I've given this one to Brian here. And it's, you know, we go back to the Devon H.Anne argument. Jonathan Taylor was one of the guys that was keeping Devon H.Anne push back. I think that when you look at this player, there aren't many guys that have an opportunity to challenge B. John Robinson, Jimier Gibbs at the top league. I don't know that Jonathan Taylor does have that opportunity. But, you know, like we talked about, when you saw what he did last year when the Colts were healthy and when Daniel Jones was playing and that offense was humming, he was the best running back in the NFL. I mean, people, you know, quickly forget that. I will say this too. You mentioned Scott that, you know, Vegas doesn't have them implied to win very many games. They didn't have them implied last year to win very many games either and they kind of came out and surprised. So I'm, I'm side with Brian on this one. I'm going with BTJ and he's the guy that I'm going to be trying to get if I, if I, I'm a big believer and pay up for B. John Gibbs, just get one of those two guys. But if I can't do that, I'm, I'm going right to Jonathan Taylor after that, after seeing C.M.C. slow down a little bit last year. So. All right. Let's, I'll give Brian a few more points too. If you want to pull this up in the screen, I just dropped it in the chat. But one of my favorite stats, all running backs over their last 17 games, excluding games with a quarterback who is a literal grandfather. Jonathan Taylor, 24.4 fantasy points per game. That's more than B. John. That's more than Jemier Gibbs. It's actually tied to C.M.C. So leads all running backs in games without a literal grandfather. So like that, that ties into the extreme game script sensitivity is like it wasn't just like he was, you know, the cults were losing games. He was, he was playing with a literal grandfather a quarterback like that. Yeah. Obviously he didn't score fantasy points. That, that team was dead or than dirt. But, um, yeah. I mean, I, I side with you. Ryan, he's actually, uh, would, would have side with me. He thinks this is a really compelling argument in that. Jonathan Taylor is overvalued. Derek Henry is undervalued for exactly why I laid out folks at home. I hope you enjoyed this. Please sound off in comments. Who do you think one who made the best arguments? Did I get my ass whooped by Brian? The, uh, is he now the new master debater fantasy football? Sound off in the comments and also head on over to fantasy points.com. We have a new site redesign new new site. Who this? It's us. We also have a new league importer generator tool, uh, the front office tool. Make sure you check that out. We really think that's one of the best in the game. Am I draft guy dropped? It's, it's the moment we've all been waiting for the exodia reveal, uh, who are my five must-draft players? You're going to have to read my draft guide. You can subscribe with promo code exodia for 15% off that expires soon. Uh, so check that out. Subscribe to fantasy points. Leave a comment and thank you for tuning in.
Podcast Summary
Key Points:
Scott and Brian debate fantasy football topics, with Brian, a national champion debate coach, arguing against Scott on player projections.
First debate
Brian argues Hiann’s proven production, elite efficiency, and receiving volume outweigh concerns; Scott counters with touchdown scarcity, target loss from Tua to Malik Willis, and offensive decline. Judge Trey rules for Brian, and Scott agrees.
Second debate
Summary:
The transcript features a fantasy football debate series hosted by Scott, who claims to be the best debater in the space, against Brian Rubai, a national champion debate coach and new Fantasy Points staffer. Judge Trey Camberling moderates. In the first debate, Brian argues Devon Hiann will be a top-five running back in 2026, citing his consistent RB5-6 finishes, historic yards per carry, and elite receiving production.
Scott counters that Hiann lacks red-zone touchdowns, faces a target decline with Malik Willis replacing Tua, and loses offensive efficiency under new coaching. Trey rules for Brian, noting Hiann’s talent and volume, and Scott concedes, citing projections that still place Hiann at RB5 despite offensive struggles. In the second debate, Brian champions Colston Loveland over Luther Burden, highlighting Loveland’s late-season production, red-zone target advantage, and strong chemistry with Caleb Williams.
Scott argues against Loveland, emphasizing the opportunity cost of drafting a tight end early, his limited route share in healthy games, and the fluky nature of his stats driven by negative game script. The transcript ends mid-debate, with Scott continuing his case and Trey’s ruling not yet delivered. The discussion underscores key fantasy strategy concepts like volume, efficiency, and situational context, with both debaters using historical data and projections to support their cases.
FAQs
The series features Scott and a guest, like Brian Rubai, debating fantasy football topics. A judge, Trey Canberling, decides the winner of each debate.
Brian Rubai is a new member of the Fantasy Points team and a former national champion debate coach. He is known for his unique background in debate and his debut article for the site.
The first debate was on whether Devon Hiann would be a top five running back in 2026. Brian argued yes, Scott argued no, and judge Trey ruled in favor of Brian.
Brian argues Hiann has consistently been a top five producer, has elite efficiency with a high yards per carry, and is a strong receiver. Even in a worse offense, projections still place him as RB5.
Scott argues Hiann lacks touchdown upside, his target volume may drop with Malik Willis at quarterback, and the loss of Mike McDaniel could hurt his explosive runs. He also notes a potentially poor offense and stacked boxes.
The second debate compared tight end Colston Loveland and wide receiver Luther Burden. Scott sided with Loveland, while Brian argued for Burden.
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