Who Should I Start? Christian McCaffrey or Trey Benson

Wednesday, January 7, 3:00 PM

San Francisco 49ers running back Christian McCaffrey finished 2025 as the RB1 in almost all fantasy formats, and he carries the same projection into most fantasy playoff leagues. San Francisco opens the playoffs against the defending champion Philadelphia Eagles and a defensive front that scarcely resembles the one that gave Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs fits in Super Bowl LIX. The Eagles were the 10th most generous fantasy defense to opposing running backs, and McCaffrey comes into the matchup having finished as the RB12 or better in 14 of 17 starts in Full-PPR formats. He is RotoBaller's RB1 for Wild Card Weekend and, given San Francisco's status as 4.5-point road underdogs, an obvious must-start in formats that allow players to be started only once.

Wednesday, December 10, 12:00 PM

Arizona Cardinals running back Trey Benson (knee) will not be activated off Injured Reserve for the team's Week 15 matchup against the Houston Texans, according to ESPN's Adam Schefter. Since Benson will not return within his 21-day activation window, he will revert to season-ending IR and will not be eligible to return in 2025. Benson suffered a knee injury in Week 4 that was serious enough to land him on IR, but was not thought at the time to be season-ending. It's unclear whether the 23-year-old suffered a setback once his activation window was opened, or if the 3-10 Cardinals are simply choosing to be cautious with their potential running back of the future. Either way, Benson should now be completely off the radar of redraft fantasy managers for the remainder of 2025. His absence ups the value of Cardinals running backs Bam Knight and Michael Carter, who should continue to see the majority of the team's backfield snaps. Emari Demercado (ankle) could play a role in Arizona as well once he returns from the ankle injury that has sidelined him since Week 11.