Who Should I Start? Christian McCaffrey or Travis Etienne Jr.

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, June 15, 1:24 PM

SI.com's John Shipley guesses that Jacksonville Jaguars running back Travis Etienne Jr. opens the year as the team's lead back. However, Shipley also writes that Etienne, Tank Bigsby and rookies Bhayshul Tuten and LeQuint Allen will get some run at some point. Under a new coaching staff, many believed that Etienne's stock would continue to fall after another disappointing showing in 2024, when he had career-lows across the board in carries (150), rushing yards (558) and touchdowns (two) while catching 39 of 52 targets for 254 yards through the air in 15 starts. That could still be the case, especially since the former first-rounder now has to fight off a pair of rookies in addition to Bigsby. Etienne has fallen all the way to No. 35 in RotoBaller's preseason rankings for 2025, but he still has a chance to prove himself in a new offense as the RB1.