Who Should I Start? Christian McCaffrey or Saquon Barkley

Saturday, January 17, 10:30 PM

San Francisco 49ers running back Christian McCaffrey (shoulder) exited with a stinger during the third quarter of Saturday's Divisional Round contest against the Seattle Seahawks. He was briefly listed as questionable to return, but he checked back into the game midway through the third quarter. The superstar running back took multiple hits throughout the first 30-plus minutes of game action, and he was seeing testing his injury on the sideline. At the time of his initial departure, McCaffrey had totaled nine carries, 29 rushing yards, five catches, and 39 receiving yards. Bad injury news has plagued the 49ers left and right. In addition to various defensive injuries throughout the regular season, San Francisco lost George Kittle (Achilles) last week, and Jake Tonges (foot) is currently listed as questionable to return against Seattle. For the time being, McCaffrey will try to play through his injury with the 49ers' season on the line. However, we wouldn't be surprised to see No. 2 running back Brian Robinson Jr. earn more snaps while McCaffrey manages his injury.

Thursday, January 29, 12:26 PM

Philadelphia Eagles running back Saquon Barkley carried the Eagles to a Super Bowl championship and a lot of fantasy managers to a championship as well in 2024 in his first year with the team, when he ran for a league-high 2,005 yards and a career-high 13 touchdowns on a whopping 345 rushing attempts in 16 regular-season games to win Offensive Player of the Year honors. The 28-year-old was a consensus top-three fantasy pick in drafts last fall, but he ended up being a bust (mainly because of Philly's lackluster offense) as the RB15 in half-PPR scoring with 1,140 rushing yards and seven touchdowns on 280 carries in the regular season. Barkley added 37 receptions for 273 yards and two scores through the air. The three-time Pro Bowler will still be in the RB1 conversation in 2026 as a workhorse, but his ability to bounce back as a high-end fantasy RB will depend on whether the Eagles' offense can return to its 2024 form.