Who Should I Start? Craig Reynolds or Jordan James

Thursday, July 31, 11:24 PM

Detroit Lions running back Craig Reynolds led his team in rushing yards during the team's 34-7 preseason loss to the Los Angeles Chargers on Thursday night. Reynolds finished with 10 carries for 38 yards and one touchdown as a rusher, adding one catch for 10 yards as a receiver. The 29-year-old running back is entering his seventh NFL season and has been with Detroit since 2021. In 34 games for the Lions since the start of 2023, Reynolds has logged 72 carries for 318 yards and one touchdown. He appears to be fairly locked into the RB3 role in Detroit behind Jahmyr Gibbs and David Montgomery. Reynolds would need an injury to one of those two backs to be relevant in fantasy, and even then, he would likely be a fringe flex option at best.

Thursday, August 7, 4:31 PM

San Francisco 49ers rookie running back Jordan James (finger) broke his finger and will undergo surgery, according to David Lombardi of The Athletic. As a result, James will be out for "a couple weeks," according to head coach Kyle Shanahan. It's tough news for the 21-year-old heading into his first NFL season, but the good news is that he could still be ready to roll for the Week 1 regular-season opener in early September. Isaac Guerendo (shoulder) is also expected to miss a couple weeks, so San Fran's backfield behind injury-prone Christian McCaffrey is suddenly very thin in camp. Going forward, Patrick Taylor, Ameer Abdullah and Corey Kiner will see more opportunities to prove themselves in practices and the preseason. Unless Guerendo isn't ready for the start of the season, James will probably go undrafted in most single-year fantasy leagues.