Who Should I Start? Ameer Abdullah or Ty Chandler

Friday, August 16, 6:48 PM

The Athletic's Tashan Reed writes that Las Vegas Raiders running backs Ameer Abdullah and rookie sixth-rounder Dylan Laube are in a position battle to determine who will be the third-down running back behind Zamir White and Alexander Mattison. Neither Abdullah nor Laube made much of an impact in the preseason opener last weekend against the Minnesota Vikings, so the competition remains a toss-up as of right now. The 31-year-old Abdullah probably has a leg up just because of his familiarity with the offense after catching 19 of his 24 targets in 2023 for 131 yards in 17 games played. However, unless one of White or Mattison miss time with an injury this year, it's hard to foresee Abdulla or Laube having much fantasy appeal outside of very deep PPR leagues.

Wednesday, September 4, 12:07 AM

Minnesota Vikings running back Ty Chandler is expected to return kicks following the latest depth chart update. Chandler is listed as the team's primary kick returner while Brandon Powell handles punt return duties. This development comes in the wake of Minnesota's decision to release talented returner Kene Nwangwu. Chandler has big shoes to fill but is likely up for the challenge after getting a taste of the job last year. He returned four kicks for 97 yards in 2023. Fantasy managers should keep in mind that just because he is returning kicks doesn't mean he won't see snaps out of the backfield. Minnesota is expected to rely on Chandler to take some of the workload off veteran Aaron Jones. Chandler might not see quite enough snaps to warrant any fantasy consideration immediately, but he's an intriguing insurance policy at the very least.