Who Should I Start? Christian McCaffrey or Austin Ekeler

Monday, February 12, 1:25 AM

Predictably, San Francisco 49ers running back Christian McCaffrey was heavily involved in the team's 25-22 Super Bowl LVIII loss to the Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday. The newly-minted Offensive Player of the Year took 22 carries for 80 yards, plus eight receptions on as many targets for another 80 yards and a touchdown. The 21-yard touchdown reception improbably came from wide receiver Jauan Jennings on a trick play. It's hard to blame McCaffrey for the loss after 160 all-purpose yards, but besides the touchdown he was pretty well bottled up by Kansas City's defense, averaging just 3.6 yards on the ground while not gaining any chunks longer than 11 yards. CMC will once again enter 2024 fantasy drafts worthy of consideration for the No. 1 overall pick.

Monday, March 11, 7:05 PM

Veteran free-agent running back Austin Ekeler is signing with the Washington Commanders on Monday on a two-year deal worth up to $11.43 million, according to sources. Ekeler is headed to the East coast after seven seasons and 69 total touchdowns with the Los Angeles Chargers. The 28-year-old was extremely productive in his time with the Bolts, but he's coming off one of his worst statistical seasons in 2023 and is now heading to a Commanders backfield where he'll be expected to split the workload with Brian Robinson. On a side note, former Commanders RB Antonio Gibson agreed to join the New England Patriots. Gone are the days of Ekeler being a no-doubt RB1 for fantasy managers, although he still has the talent to be a highly productive RB3/flex option, especially in PPR leagues. In addition, the Commanders' signing of Ekeler is going to be bad news for B-Rob's fantasy ceiling.