Who Should I Start? Alexander Mattison or Isiah Pacheco

Monday, March 18, 6:02 PM

Former Minnesota Vikings running back Alexander Mattison is signing an undisclosed deal with the Las Vegas Raiders on Monday, according to a source. Mattison is still only 25 years old and recorded 17 touchdowns in his five seasons in Minnesota after they took him in the third round in the 2019 draft out of Boise State. The 25-year-old was a disappointment in 2023 while taking over the lead-back role from Dalvin Cook, though, which is why Mattison was released this offseason. In 16 games (13 starts) last year, Mattison had a career-high 180 carries for 700 yards (3.9 yards per carry) and no rushing touchdowns while adding 30 catches for 192 yards and three touchdowns. Josh Jacobs is no longer in Vegas, but Mattison figures to work in a timeshare with Zamir White in his first year in Sin City in 2024.

Monday, February 12, 1:16 AM

Kansas City Chiefs running back Isiah Pacheco (ankle/toe) couldn't get much going in Super Bowl LVIII, but his team still topped the San Francisco 49ers 25-22 to come away with their third championship in the past four years. Pacheco carried the ball 18 times for 59 yards and added six receptions for 33 yards, but it was a rough evening all around for the 2022 seventh-rounder. Pacheco lost a fumble with the Chiefs in a goal-to-go to stall a potential scoring drive in the second quarter and nearly coughed it up again on a failed handoff to open the second half. It was a disappointing outcome in the box score, considering the Niners had gotten trampled on the ground during the postseason. The 24-year-old dealt with some tough injury luck down the stretch of the campaign, but Pacheco solidified himself as a fully capable workhorse in 2023 and will enter 2024 as an early-round fantasy pick with top-12 positional expectations in all likelihood.