Who Should I Start? Chuba Hubbard or Isiah Pacheco

Saturday, December 13, 12:14 PM

Chuba Hubbard delivered his best performance of the season in Week 13 against the Rams before going on bye. In that game, Hubbard totaled 83 rushing yards on 17 carries and 41 receiving yards on two receptions. The Carolina RB finished the game with 20.4 PPR points, marking the first time this year he registered over 20 PPR points. Hubbard and Rico Dowdle nearly split the workload in this game, with Hubbard seeing more of the snaps (59%) for the first time since Dowdle was named the starting RB in Week 9. Head coach Dave Canales confirmed that Hubbard would be the preferred back for third-down situations. Carolina faces the New Orleans Saints in Week 15. New Orleans ranks 18th in Fantasy Points Per Game allowed to RBs this season. In Week 10 against New Orleans, Hubbard finished with only 14 rushing yards on three carries and posted 2.5 PPR points. With a decent matchup and increased volume, Hubbard has fantasy appeal as a flex option in deeper leagues.

Friday, December 12, 4:18 PM

Kansas City Chiefs running back Isiah Pacheco handled nine carries for 30 yards in last week's 10-20 loss to the Houston Texans. In his second game back from injury, Pacheco's opportunities ticked up closer to Kareem Hunt, who handled 12 carries in the contest. Pacheco looked like the best back in the backfield before his knee injury, so the team may prefer to lean on him more as he gets healthier. Pacheco will have a chance to surpass Hunt this week against the Los Angeles Chargers. The Chargers defense has been middle-of-the-pack in fantasy points allowed to opposing running backs this season, meaning that it should not be a difficult matchup for Pacheco. That said, splitting carries with Hunt in a divisional matchup could be a difficult situation to succeed in. Pacheco is ranked RB48 in our RotoBaller Half-PPR rankings, making him a difficult player to trust until he shows more upside.