2022 Finding ‘The Next Deebo’ (Arizona vs. NY Giants) -- March Madness Tourney (Elite 8)

Same Intro each day: We all know what the phrase ‘next Deebo’ means – a player who works at one position primarily but takes on a second position (in-game) beyond just a random 1-2-3 carries or targets…that they become a real dual-threat option for their team, and thus a great producer for Fantasy Football.

Before there was ‘Deebo’ (midway through the 2021 season), there was ‘Cordarrelle’ as the breakout WR who started also taking a good workload at RB…so much so he became the team’s lead RB, but then got all but dropped on his WR aspect.

Before ‘Cordarrelle’ there was Curtis Samuel trying to breakthrough as a ‘nails’ WR in 2020, but also a guy taking 3-5 carries a game in CMC’s absence and looking like he might make the turn – but then he went to Washington in free agency, got hurt, and barely played/impacted in 2021.  

Before Samuel there was everyone looking for the ‘next Tyreek’. We might forget that Tyreek started out as a low target WR taking 1-2 carries a game, and then taking every carry for a 50+ yard TD…then he was converted over from random WR/RB to main WR, and they stopped pushing him in the running game the past two years (definitely don’t get that guy the ball more, whatever you do).

We’ve had some promising guys try to breakdown this ‘Deebo’ wall, but Cordarrelle really was the one who kicked in that door to start 2021 season (then ATL went away from it)…after the door was kicked in, then Deebo ran right through it 2nd-half of 2021 and became the ultimate/best dual threat of our lifetimes – so much so every analyst is running around saying certain players ‘can be their Deebo’, and you’re going to get sick of hearing about it they say it so much now. But credit to Deebo (really, credit to Kyle Shanahan) the ‘Deebo’ role is a thing now…I think some teams are going to copy because of its success, as they should…as they should’ve created it years ago. It’s the evolution of the game – players/weapons who you don’t know where they’re gonna lineup or what they’re going to do, and they’ll draw plenty of mismatches to expose.

With that in mind, we’re going to have a ‘next Deebo’ tournament/FFM daily series for the next few weeks during March Madness time.

I am going to nominate one player from each NFL team to be the possible ‘next Deebo’…the ‘their Deebo’ hopeful. I’ll explain why I choose that player, and why not others if there was a close option – and then like March Madness, we’ll pit two of them against each other/state the case and I’ll choose a winner…the one most likely to be used as ‘the next Deebo’ for the 2022 season.

We’ll go by division, matchups by 2021 record (so #1 v. #4, #2 v. #3 in the division), one matchup/winner declared each day into April until we have one AFC rep and one NFC rep and then we’ll declare a final ‘Super Bowl of Deebo’ winner.

Now, San Francisco has their own Deebo already…so he is not in this tournament. For the SF slot, there will be a play-in game between two current draft prospect options. Unsigned free agents will be an option for the team they were last on in 2021. Got it? Good. Let’s go…

Today’s Matchup = NFC Final Four: ARI vs. NYG

WR Rondale Moore, ARI

vs.

WR Kadarius Toney, NYG

Two of my favorite young players…battling to go to the Final Four.

Rondale Moore was a runner-receiver stud in college…a 4.3s runner with excellent after the catch ability. Kliff Kingsbury went with it right away – Rondale was working out of the backfield early on in the 2021 season…18 carries for 76 yards to go along with 54 catches.

Kadarius Toney was doing it all upon getting his first real playing time in 2021…deep ball WR, beating CBs short and medium with traditional route running, bubble screen weapon, carries on jet sweeps, wildcat QB, and throwing passes.

Moore got more work as a runner in 2021, but Toney was hurt a bunch and went through two O-Cs…and now he has a new head coach – but with KT it’s more ‘promise’/hope than Moore already seeing some legit tailback work in the NFL…as well as in college.

So, which to choose as a more likely ‘Deebo’ breakout in 2022?

I’m going to bet on the come with Kadarius, for three reasons…

1) Brian Daboll seems pretty sharp and is really reaching out and connecting with KT already this offseason. The new H-C is treating him like a star, already.

2) Kliff Kingsbury and Kyler tend to bury the small speedster WR…it happened to Andy Isabella, and it happened to Rondale on-and-off in 2021.

3) …and this really is the bottom line: when I watched these guys play in 2021, I don’t ever remember being overwhelmed/thrilled by what I saw from Rondale. I didn’t see the ‘it’ factor that I saw in his college days at Purdue. He was fine, not ‘wow’.

On the other hand, I was a Toney skeptic (on mindset) going into his NFL journey…but the second I saw him get the opportunity, what I saw live and on tape in the pros, a tall-Tyreek…my jaw hit the floor. That Dallas game Week Five (10 catches, 189 yards, 1 carry for 7 yards, 1 incomplete pass) will probably be my ruination…like Chase Claypool’s 4 TD game early on his rookie season. It was a ‘wow’ moment.

I want the ‘wow’ guy here…but I like them both.

WINNER = Kadarius Toney moves onto the NFC Finals/the Final Four to face the winner of Cordarrelle Patterson vs. Amon-Ra St. Brown.

Elite 8 Results:

Kadarius Toney defeats Rondale Moore

Coming Up:

Cordarrelle Patterson vs. Amon-Ra St. Brown

Joe Reed vs. Tyreek Hill

A.J. Brown vs. Ja’Marr Chase