Who Should I Start? Christian McCaffrey or J.K. Dobbins

Wednesday, January 7, 3:00 PM

San Francisco 49ers running back Christian McCaffrey finished 2025 as the RB1 in almost all fantasy formats, and he carries the same projection into most fantasy playoff leagues. San Francisco opens the playoffs against the defending champion Philadelphia Eagles and a defensive front that scarcely resembles the one that gave Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs fits in Super Bowl LIX. The Eagles were the 10th most generous fantasy defense to opposing running backs, and McCaffrey comes into the matchup having finished as the RB12 or better in 14 of 17 starts in Full-PPR formats. He is RotoBaller's RB1 for Wild Card Weekend and, given San Francisco's status as 4.5-point road underdogs, an obvious must-start in formats that allow players to be started only once.

Friday, January 9, 1:23 PM

Denver Broncos running back J.K. Dobbins (foot), who landed on Injured Reserve in mid-November after having surgery to fix a Lisfranc foot injury, could be an option to return to the team if they advance to the Super Bowl on Feb. 8, according to Nick Kosmider of The Athletic. Dobbins was well on his way to a career year in 2025 in his first year in Denver before the injury, as he had 772 rushing yards and four touchdowns on 153 carries over 10 games. He was fifth in the league in rushing at the time of his Week 10 injury, and the Broncos ranked eighth in yards per carry from RBs (4.8) and 10th in RB yards per game (101.2). Denver has gone 6-1 without Dobbins, but they averaged only 3.8 yards per carry in the final seven games, ranking 23rd in the NFL. Their 79.1 RB yards per game ranked 24th. Getting Dobbins back for a potential Super Bowl matchup would be huge for Denver's offense, but a lot has to go right still for that to be on the table for Dobbins and the Broncos.