Who Should I Start? D'Andre Swift or Jaylen Warren

Wednesday, January 7, 9:57 AM

Chicago Bears running back D'Andre Swift was one of fantasy football's best running back picks in the mid rounds, as he finished the 2025 season as the RB15, and rushed for 1,087 yards on 223 attempts (4.87 YPC) and added 34 receptions for 299 yards in the receiving game as well. As the season progressed, the Rutgers rookie running back, Kyle Monangai, started to make an impact, and the Bears' backfield became more of a running-back-by-committee approach, leaving Swift managers frustrated. However, in his somewhat limited workload down the stretch, Swift still was averaging closer to 60 percent of the snaps to Monangai's 40, and is still the clear lead back averaging 14.4 fantasy points per game on the season, and with the Bears in their first playoff game with second-year quarterback Caleb Williams, and first time head coach Ben Johnson, it's likely they will make an emphasis to try and run the ball effectively against a depleted Packers defense who last Micah Parson's (knee) for the season. The Bears are underdogs (+1) in this contest, but have shown all season that they can win close games. Although Swift is not one of the top running back options to own in fantasy payoff leagues, he is a solid option and would only become more valuable if the Bears can continue to advance in the playoffs.

Thursday, January 8, 5:13 PM

Pittsburgh Steelers running back Jaylen Warren (illness) did not practice with the team on Thursday due to an illness, according to Brooke Pryor of ESPN. Warren's status is worth monitoring going into Monday night's Wild-Card playoff matchup against the visiting Houston Texans, but the 27-year-old should be good to go by then. However, if he's still feeling under the weather by then and sees a smaller workload, it would benefit backfield mate Kenneth Gainwell, albeit in a very tough matchup against the No. 1 defense in the league. Warren has seen double-digit carries in all but one of his 16 games played this year, but Gainwell has taken on a bigger role in Pittsburgh's backfield late in the season. He ranked as the RB19 with 12.3 half-PPR points per game, while Houston's defense allowed the eighth-fewest half-PPR points per week to the position. Warren sets up as a low-end RB1 in fantasy playoff formats.