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Zack Cimini and Eric Wong discuss Friday’s semi-finals in the olympics along with a potential championship matchup. Hear their takes as they debut their third podcast together.

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The staples of the New England Patriots continue to be quarterback Tom Brady and Coach Belichick.

With the impending suspension of Brady, added pressure is on the team to produce in the month of September.

Backup quarterback Jimmy Garrapulo is the face of attention amongst the chaos.

If he exceeds expectations the automatic assumption is a quarterback controversy.

After all many years ago Tom Brady supplanted veteran Drew Bledsoe with his own cementing performances filling in.

Yet, an area of value that continues to be overlooked with New England is their success at the running back position.

In recent years, backup running backs have thrived to catapult Patriots ATS value and fantasy waiver wire success.

Lets take a look at some strong contributions of impact since 2010.

Danny Woodhead–2010
Woodhead emerged as a solid option out of the backfield hauling in thirty-four catches and nearly 900 total yards. His value changed over Brady’s career as he became more of a take what you can get quarterback versus his prior mold of down the field passer.

Stevan Ridley—2011
Ridley was drafted as a third-round pick but the Patriots still had a 1,000 yard rusher in-line with BenJarvus Green-Ellis. As the year progressed Ridley became the main back and finished as the Patriots leading rusher in four of the final five games.

Brandon Bolden—2012
Ridley continued to be the feature back in 2012 but Bolden was the hot hand for one game against the Bills. He finished with 137 yards becoming the popular fantasy waiver wire add. Things did not work out on that move but it shows again how deep the Patriots can go at running back.

LeGarrette Blount—2013
After subpar seasons in 2011 and 2012, Blount stood out to become an impact back for the Patriots. He carried over a solid regular season to an even better post-season (4 TD’s, 172 yards) becoming a catalyst to the Patriots Super Bowl run.

Jonathan Gray—2014
Nobody can ever forget Jonathan Gray. He led the Patriots in rushing yards in three consecutive games. Yet, it was an eye-popping Sunday night road performance of over 200 yards rushing that grabbed everyone’s attention. After being late to practice he went from a commodity to Belichick’s doghouse.

Dion Lewis—2015
The Patriots did it once again with scatback Dion Lewis. The hardly used fourth-year back suddenly became a staple for the Patriots. He was on his way to an outstanding season before an injury cut his season short at mid-season.

The Patriots ability to thrive at the running back position continues to be a main reason for their consistency.

Counting on unforeseen standout contributions is a pattern we can all expect to ease the pressure for Garrapulo and Brady to blossom in 2016.

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Zack Cimini and Eric Wong partner up for another all hoops podcast. In the first portion of the podcast they discuss NBA team future over/unders. In the last segment they discuss Olympic team odds. Have a listen as Eric brings great Olympic insight before the games begin.

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From a blog stand point things have been quiet since football concluded.

Zack’s planning some summertime overhaul website changes to change over features.

Expect less blogs and more video/podcasting content.

Zack still plans on having blogs during the football season but knows his audience wants the on-demand presence of videos/audio.

Thank you all for continuing to follow and track my handicapping plays month to month

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Organizations in the NFL can sometimes get away with hiding a positions depth due to an impact starter. The New York Giants have been able to do this for years as Eli Manning has been a durable quarterback. The backup quarterback role since the 2012 season has been Ryan Nassib’s out of Syracuse.

Nassib had many years under his belt as starter at Syracuse after replacing Greg Paulus in 2009. He was able to transform himself late in his junior season which carried over to a spotlight worthy senior season. When Doug Marrone landed in Buffalo, Nassib’s draft projections shot up to as high as a first round pick.

That didn’t happen but the Giants did draft him as a suitable backup for Eli Manning in the fourth round.

Each time Nassib has had brief action in preseason there has been little to write home about. He has had accuracy issues and does not seem comfortable yet with the Giants offense.

Even though the Giants did switch offenses last year, you’d expect Nassib to show a bit more of development in the pocket and take on the role a bit more as Eli’s backup.

It’s still early in the 2015 preseason but Nassib has to showcase his value a bit more in games two and three.

Eli, who is 34, is likely to get one more hefty contract offer from the Giants in the near future. That will make Nassib expendable when his contract is up as the Giants could bring in someone cheaper via the draft with a higher ceiling.

Nassib could still bounce around the NFL as a backup quarterback due to the veteran starters in the league and overall diluted backup talent throughout the league.

That’s never a goal of someone that has the tools Nassib does. It’ll be interesting to see how he finishes out this preseason and if he can finally clear that rookie hurdle and start to look like an NFL quarterback.

At this stage the Giants are unprepared if Eli were to go down for a length of time. If Nassib were thrown into a starter’s role it’d be a true disaster season.

The 2015 NFL draft class has quite a bit of potential when you look at the top positions in fantasy football. It is headlined by the two quarterbacks taken at the top of the draft, but it really shines at the wide receiver position. It might take a little while for some of these guys to live up to expectations, but for others, they are ready to contribute now. Here is a look at when to draft the three best rookies in fantasy football this year.

Melvin Gordon

At Wisconsin, he was nearly unstoppable throughout his college career. He is a very disciplined running back who will get an opportunity to shine right away in San Diego. Taking him in the top 15 among running backs is not a crazy thought at all. He has a chance to be really good for a long time with his size and speed.

Todd Gurley

The running back is coming off an injury, but St. Louis plans on using him right away. They need someone with his dynamic ability in the backfield, and that is why they drafted him in the first round. The injuries drop him a bit, but he is still a top 25 running back, and a top 50 player overall in fantasy football.

Amari Cooper

Most fantasy football owners are hesitant to trust a rookie wide receiver. Cooper shouldn’t play much like a rookie though, as he is mature and disciplined already. He will be an instant difference maker in Oakland for the Raiders. He needs to make sure he is on the same page as Derek Carr right away.