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

Thursday, February 5, 5:06 PM

San Francisco 49ers running back Christian McCaffrey was named the 2025 Comeback Player of the Year on Thursday night, according to Matt Barrows of The Athletic. McCaffrey was limited to only four games in 2024 due to Achilles and knee issues, but he played in all 17 regular-season games in 2025 and led the 49ers in both rushing (1,202) and receiving yards (924). The four-time Pro Bowler and three-time first-team All-Pro handled a career-high 311 carries and scored 10 rushing touchdowns while also catching 102 passes on 129 targets with an additional seven trips to the end zone as a receiver. The Offensive Player of the Year in 2023 was the RB1 in half-PPR fantasy scoring this year after he slipped to the late first round of many drafts following his injury-plagued 2024 campaign. CMC is entering his age-30 campaign and has a lengthy injury history, but it's simply too hard to ignore his game-changing dual-threat abilities out of the backfield as the engine of San Fran's offense.

Friday, February 20, 6:20 PM

The Kansas City Star's Pete Sweeney reports that Jacksonville Jaguars impending free-agent running back Travis Etienne Jr. has "legitimate interest" in signing with the Kansas City Chiefs in free agency this offseason, according to sources. Chiefs RBs Kareem Hunt and Isiah Pacheco are both scheduled to hit free agency, too, so KC is definitely in the market for backfield help. Etienne, the former 25th overall pick by the Jags in 2021 out of Clemson, had a nice bounce-back campaign in 2025, reaching the 1,000-yard mark for the third time in his four NFL seasons. The 27-year-old had 260 carries and added seven rushing touchdowns while catching 36 passes for 292 yards and a career-high six receiving TDs in 17 regular-season games. Etienne would be a significant upgrade for a Chiefs offense looking to become more explosive after failing to make the postseason last year for the first time in a decade. Etienne was the RB10 in half-PPR scoring in 2025 and would have clear RB1 upside if he joined the Chiefs.