Who Should I Start? Christian McCaffrey or Rico Dowdle

Sunday, December 14, 3:12 PM

Per the team, San Francisco 49ers running back Christian McCaffrey (back, illness) will be active for Week 15's home matchup with the Tennessee Titans. Fresh off a bye week, the fantasy stalwart gave owners a scare after coming down with an illness. A late-week back issue offered no solace, but it appears that McCaffrey will be out there despite just one full practice this week. Fantasy managers can exhibit no worries slotting him into their lineups, as it doesn't appear he's in any danger of playing less than his typical allotment of snaps. McCaffrey is an elite RB1 option, and, officially, RotoBaller's PPR RB1 in this week's rankings.

Monday, December 15, 1:15 PM

Carolina Panthers running back Rico Dowdle rushed for 49 yards on 16 carries with one touchdown in Carolina's Week 15 loss to New Orleans on Sunday. He added five receiving yards on one reception and totaled 12.4 PPR points. Dowdle outperformed Chuba Hubbard, who registered 38 scrimmage yards and 4.8 PPR points. Despite the workload being mostly split between the two RBs, Dowdle logged the most snaps (60%). In Week 16, the Panthers will face their NFC South rival, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Tampa Bay ranked 16th in fantasy points per game allowed to the RB position in the last four weeks leading up to Week 15. Even though Dowdle has a middling matchup this week, he is still worth starting as an RB2 or flex option based on his volume. In his last five games, he has fewer than 16 carries once, and he averaged 15.4 carries per game.