Who Should I Start? Ameer Abdullah or Deuce Vaughn

Monday, August 11, 8:41 PM

The San Francisco 49ers have placed running back Ameer Abdullah (ribs) on season-ending injured reserve, according to ESPN's Adam Schefter. Abdullah, who just joined the 49ers as a free agent on July 31, suffered a rib injury in a preseason-opening 30-9 loss to the Denver Broncos this past Saturday. While the 32-year-old was unlikely to make much of an impact this season (if any), it's another hit to San Francisco's depth in the backfield. The team is already set to go multiple weeks without injured Christian McCaffrey backups Isaac Guerendo (shoulder) and Jordan James (finger). The 49ers brought back Jeff Wilson Jr. in free agency on Sunday in the wake of Abdullah's injury to provide some much-needed healthy depth behind McCaffrey.

Wednesday, August 13, 7:06 PM

With Dallas Cowboys rookie running back Jaydon Blue (heel) still sidelined from Tuesday's training camp practice, it allowed Deuce Vaughn to work with the first-team offense, according to Calvin Watkins of The Dallas Morning News. Vaughn had a good day by showing lateral movements to make defenders miss in space. The 23-year-old is slippery in space because of his quickness and size (5-foot-6, 176 pounds), but Vaughn is still fighting an uphill battle to be involved out of Dallas' backfield in 2025. The former sixth-round pick (212th overall) in 2023 out of Kansas State has a combined 40 rushing attempts for 110 yards and no touchdowns while adding 10 receptions for 58 yards in the passing game in his two seasons in the NFL with the Cowboys. At best, he'll open his third season as the RB4 behind Javonte Williams, Miles Sanders and Blue.