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.

Tuesday, January 27, 4:29 PM

Jacksonville Jaguars running back Travis Etienne Jr. was motivated in his contract year in 2025, and he delivered with 1,399 scrimmage yards and a career-high 13 touchdowns (seven rushing, six receiving) in 17 regular-season games. The 27-year-old posted his third 1,000-yard rushing season in his four years in the NFL, and it was a huge bounce-back campaign for the former Clemson star after he had only 558 rushing yards and two touchdowns in 2024 in 15 games. Determining Etienne's 2026 fantasy value is hard at the moment, since we don't know yet if the Jaguars plan to make an effort to re-sign him as he heads into his fifth year in the NFL. Etienne certainly outperformed expectations this year, but if he goes elsewhere, he might not see the kind of volume he did for the Jags as a dual-threat RB. If he stays in Duval, Etienne will be trying to hold off Bhayshul Tuten, who seems destined for a bigger role in 2026.