Who Should I Start? Austin Ekeler or Bijan Robinson

Thursday, June 27, 4:25 PM

Washington Commanders running back Austin Ekeler was an elite fantasy football producer for a few of his seasons with the Los Angeles Chargers, but last year was disappointing for the veteran and fantasy managers. Ekeler posted 179 attempts for 628 yards and five touchdowns and caught 51 passes for 436 yards and one touchdown en route to an RB26 finish in PPR leagues. He was selected as a top-three running back in PPR formats, so it was far from ideal. However, the former undrafted free agent is confident he will bounce back in 2024. "You're going to get the best version of myself always, no matter what," Ekeler told NFL Network Insider Tom Pelissero. "There's been this controversy out there, like, 'Oh Austin said he doesn't want 300 carries, 'cause that's what the Chargers said.' I've never had that many carries ever. So, I don't know why everybody's in an uproar. It's not that I don't want to touch the ball. It's the way that I've had the most production is when I'm able to split between catching and running the ball. If I'm healthy, I'm going to be on the field and I'm going to be producing." The 29-year-old is slated to share the backfield with Brian Robinson this season, but as long as he maintains the clear pass-catching role out of the backfield, he should be a weekly flex option in PPR and half-PPR setups. He is usually available after the top 25 running backs are selected.

Saturday, July 13, 1:11 PM

Atlanta Falcons running back Bijan Robinson was slowed by a left-ankle sprain in the offseason, but he'll be fine for training camp and is ready for the team to put more on his plate in his sophomore season. New offensive coordinator Zac Robinson and head coach Raheem Morris haven't been shy about saying the plan is to use Robinson like the 49ers use RB Christian McCaffrey. He finished 15th in the league in 2023 with 976 rushing yards while also adding 58 receptions for 487 yards and eight total touchdowns. With a more diversified attack on offense after Atlanta stuck with a wide-zone rushing attack in 2023, there's plenty of room for growth for Robinson as a high-end RB1 in fantasy, especially with quarterback Kirk Cousins now leading the offense. "I'm going to be more of a runner that does everything else," Robinson said.