Who Should I Start? Aaron Jones or Travis Etienne Jr.

Monday, April 7, 12:27 PM

The Minnesota Vikings have running back Aaron Jones penciled in as their starting RB again in 2025 after paying him more to return ($20 million over two seasons). However, ESPN's Kevin Seifert writes that new RB Jordan Mason isn't going to be a typical backup after they acquired him in a trade from the San Francisco 49ers. Head coach Kevin O'Connell has been very clear that he wants to pull back on Jones' usage after he set career-highs in snaps (700), rushing attempts (255) and total touches (306) in 2024. "When he has historically had that 1A/1B backfield structure, he can be a total game-changer every time he touches the ball," O'Connell said. "So it was always about bringing Aaron back ... but what are we going to pair him with?" It's obviously bad news for Jones' chances of an RB1 finish in fantasy in 2025, with Mason expected to be used in short-yardage and goal-line situations for the Vikes.

Tuesday, July 29, 12:51 PM

Jacksonville Jaguars running back Travis Etienne Jr. was seemingly the focus of the day in the backfield on Tuesday, getting plenty of work and busting a few impressive runs, according to SI.com's John Shipley. Meanwhile, Shipley says that fellow RB Tank Bigsby continued his strong training camp and made it to the second level of the defense a few times. Most folks are expecting Bigsby to take over Jacksonville's backfield in 2025 after running for a career-low 558 yards and two touchdowns in 15 starts in 2024 after going over the 1,000-yard rushing mark in his first two seasons. That could very well be the case, but Etienne also isn't going away anytime soon as long as he remains with the Jags. The former first-rounder should be a better scheme fit in head coach Liam Coen's offense, but the presence of Bigsby also probably caps his fantasy upside as an RB3/flex.