Who Should I Start? Christian McCaffrey or David Montgomery

Friday, June 13, 12:53 PM

San Francisco 49ers running back Christian McCaffrey (knee) was one of the few high-profile veterans who took part in 11-on-11 situations during offseason workouts in recent weeks, according to The Athletic's Matt Barrows. McCaffrey wanted to test himself after last year's injury-plagued season in which he dealt with Achilles and knee injuries that limited him to just four games played. "I wanted to put myself in a position where I didn't miss a day of OTAs and I could practice and play football again and be healthy again and not miss a day. And I did that. And now we can kind of kick back up to training again," McCaffrey said. After being the biggest fantasy bust in 2024, CMC has dropped to the RB6 in RotoBaller's 2025 fantasy rankings at the position. He's once again a risk/reward pick, having played fewer than eight games in three of the last five seasons.

Sunday, January 19, 12:12 AM

Detroit Lions running back David Montgomery rushed seven times for 28 yards during Saturday's playoff loss to the Washington Commanders. He also threw a pass for 20 yards. Montgomery returned from a multi-week absence caused by a knee injury. As expected, he took a backseat to Jahmyr Gibbs, who had twice as many carries and also saw a whopping 11 targets. Montgomery's ability to convert in short-yardage situations makes him a special running back, but there's no denying that he lacks the shiftiness, receiving skills, and big-play upside of Gibbs. Nevertheless, the two continue to form the best running back duo in the NFL. Heading into 2025, Montgomery will have standalone value as a high-end RB3, and he'll also be a premier handcuff option in case Gibbs gets hurt.