📝 News & Notes

• Sean Payton gave us no clarity on the Broncos backfield, noting “it’s way too early” and when asked about revealing the depth chart, “when that time comes, you guys are going to know just like I'm going to know. You're going to see it." [ESPN]

  My take: I don’t think one person ever wins this backfield but if it can get condensed down to two, there can still be value. But that’s also not a guarantee. This likely limits Harvey’s pre-Dobbins upside as the team has both told us they see value in a complementary back and acted on with the signing. I’m not buying much of Dobbins at his price (also accounting for his substantial rise) and am hoping Harvey drops a bit more before I would start taking him.

• Bears’ beat reporter believes Luther Burden “could make more of an impact than folks think during his rookie season.” [Marquee Sports Network]

  My take: Burden is the type of high variance, high upside player I want to be drafting, particularly when he’s being drafted on DraftKings around guys like Kyle Williams or Adam Thielen. He’s an early 2nd round pick on an ascending offense with a versatile skill set that can get him on the field right away. I am happily taking the injury discount and will continue to be overweight him.

🔁 In Case You Missed It

• For those looking to get further in the weeds on NFL projections and how it applies to creating rankings, player takes, team dynamics, etc., I highly recommend checking out the recent Establish the Edge episodes where Michael Leone and Ben Gretch go division by division comparing each team’s year-long projections. Great way to better understand how projections are made and sharpen your takes for this year.

• Interested in a deep dive on Zero RB data? Tom Strachan put out a thought provoking thread on Twitter.

📊 Poll of the Day