Who Should I Start? Ameer Abdullah or Jeremy McNichols

Friday, January 3, 6:07 PM

After initially being listed as doubtful, the Las Vegas Raiders have downgraded running back Ameer Abdullah (foot) to out for the Week 18 regular-season finale on Sunday against the division-rival Los Angeles Chargers after he missed practice all week. Abdullah injured his foot in the Week 17 loss to the New Orleans Saints in which he had the first 100-yard rushing day of the season. With the 31-year-old getting an early start to the offseason, the Raiders will use Alexander Mattison as their lead back against LA at Allegiant Stadium, with rookie Dylan Laube and Chris Collier also seeing action in a change-of-pace role. Abdullah saw additional opportunities in the second half of this season due to injuries to Mattison and Zamir White, but he'll finish his third season in Sin City with only 311 rushing yards and two TDs on 66 carries over 16 games. He added a career-high 40 catches for 261 yards and three more TDs.

Saturday, January 18, 11:50 PM

Washington Commanders running back Jeremy McNichols punched in a goal line score during their upset victory over the Detroit Lions on Saturday evening. McNichols ran the ball only four times but was able to seal the victory with a late one-yard TD run in the fourth quarter. He finished the game with just eight yards on the ground and was not targeted in the passing attack. While McNichols had a similar role to what he did during the wild-card game, it is promising to see him occasionally receive opportunities in scoring positions. Given his depth role in the Washington offense, he remains a high-risk play in DFS formats during the Championship round.