Who Should I Start? Christian McCaffrey or Travis Etienne

Monday, October 21, 1:25 PM

San Francisco 49ers running back Christian McCaffrey (Achilles) won't be available for the Week 8 game on Sunday night against the Dallas Cowboys, and then the team is on bye in Week 9. McCaffrey has been ramping up for an early-November return, so Week 10 against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Nov. 10 could be the target date he's shooting for to make his 2024 debut. NFL Network's Ian Rapoport reports CMC hasn't had any setbacks as he ramps up. San Fran could really use McCaffrey back with receiver Brandon Aiyuk (knee) going down with a potential season-ending torn ACL in the Week 7 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs. Fantasy managers that have been stashing McCaffrey all year could have him back just in time to make a run for a fantasy championship, although it remains to be seen how effective he'll be and how much of a workload he'll have upon his return.

Wednesday, October 23, 12:25 PM

Jacksonville Jaguars head coach Doug Pederson said that running back Travis Etienne Jr. (hamstring) is still "day-to-day" with a hamstring injury as the team prepares for a Week 8 tilt against the visiting Green Bay Packers this Sunday. Etienne will do individual drills in practice on Wednesday and will then work with trainers, which means he's likely to be listed as limited on the practice report. The 25-year-old was listed as week-to-week last week and did not play in London in the win over the New England Patriots. As long as he doesn't have any setbacks in practice this week, there's a good chance Etienne will rejoin Jacksonville's backfield this weekend. However, with Tank Bigsby continuing to produce -- he had two more touchdowns in Week 7 -- Etienne might be more of a change-of-pace option for the Jags instead of their leading ball-carrier.