Who Should I Start? Alvin Kamara or TreVeyon Henderson

Friday, January 2, 3:42 PM

New Orleans Saints running back Alvin Kamara (knee, ankle) has been ruled out for his team's Week 18 matchup against the Atlanta Falcons, per ESPN's Katherine Terrell. Kamara suffered a sprained MCL in Week 12 that will ultimately end up causing him to miss New Orleans' final six games of the season. Across 11 contests in 2025, the 30-year-old recorded 657 scrimmage yards and one touchdown on 164 touches. His 3.6 yards per carry and 4.0 yards per touch both represent career lows. With Kamara sidelined and Saints backs Kendre Miller (knee) and Devin Neal (hamstring) on Injured Reserve, New Orleans will likely split backfield work between Audric Estime and Evan Hull in Week 18, with tight end Taysom Hill possibly mixing in as well. Estime functioned as the team's lead back in Week 17, recording 14 carries for 94 yards and a touchdown against the Tennessee Titans.

Sunday, January 18, 9:19 AM

New England Patriots running back TreVeyon Henderson is getting ready for one of the toughest matchups of his young career. The rookie will be tasked with finding gaps in one of the NFL's strongest run defenses, the Houston Texans, during the Divisional Round of the playoffs on Sunday afternoon. Henderson was impressive during the back half of the regular season, racking up key yardage, earning snaps over Rhamondre Stevenson, and delivering four different multi-touchdown performances. However, he has started to lose snaps lately, while Stevenson has played incredibly well and is earning more snaps. During the Wild Card Round last week, Henderson had 10 touches for 36 yards on a 41% snap share. Meanwhile, Stevenson had 13 touches for 128 yards on a 63% snap share. Henderson offers a solid change of pace, but he's not a must-start running back this week, especially against a strong run defense. The Texans allowed the eighth-fewest fantasy points to running backs during the regular season, and they held Jaylen Warren and Kenneth Gainwell to a combined 63 rushing yards last Monday. As it stands, Henderson ranks as the overall RB9 in RotoBaller's rankings for the Divisional Round, putting him one spot behind Stevenson and one spot ahead of opponent Woody Marks.