Who Should I Start? Chris Rodriguez Jr. or Jaleel McLaughlin

Sunday, November 16, 4:02 PM

Washington Commanders running back Chris Rodriguez Jr. rushed for 79 yards on 15 carries during Sunday's Week 11 loss against the Miami Dolphins in Madrid. He also converted his lone target into a six-yard reception. Washington has operated out of a backfield committee for most of this season, but it now appears that Rodriguez has taken over as the team's lead back. Not only did he have more carries than Jacory Croskey-Merritt and Jeremy McNichols combined, but he also had more yards per carry than each of them. Rodriguez is now averaging 9.9 fantasy points (full-PPR) over his last three games, and he handled a season-high 44.8 percent snap share on Sunday morning. Fantasy managers should view Rodriguez as a high-end RB3/flex on the other side of his Week 12 bye.

Sunday, November 16, 9:42 AM

Denver Broncos running back Jaleel McLaughlin is expected to carve out a significant role on offense after J.K. Dobbins (foot) was placed on injured reserve and ruled out for the rest of the season. At first glance, it would seem that McLaughlin, who has been a healthy scratch in nine of 10 games this season, will merely slot into the No. 3 running back role and fail to play meaningful snaps. However, in reality, he's expected to operate behind R.J. Harvey as a change-of-pace back, while Tyler Badie plays passing downs. McLaughlin's rushing ability earned the praise of head coach Sean Payton, who said that the running back is "ready" despite being a healthy scratch for most of the year. McLaughlin has shown flashes of upside before, such as when he handled 26 carries over the final two weeks of last season. The 25-year-old is capable of handling moderate volume, and he's an appealing deep-league stash in case the Broncos rotate him in to avoid putting too much wear on tear on Harvey, who is a rookie.