Who Should I Start? Derrick Henry or Christian McCaffrey

Tuesday, April 1, 10:50 PM

Baltimore Ravens head coach John Harbaugh said that he'd like the team to extend running back Derrick Henry, who is heading into the last year of his current deal in 2025. It comes after Henry signed a two-year, $16 million deal last offseason and said in February that he'd like to finish his career in Baltimore. It makes sense for both sides after King Henry didn't show any signs of slowing down in 2024 with 1,921 rushing yards and a league-high 16 rushing touchdowns on 325 carries while adding 19 receptions for 193 yards and two touchdowns through the air in 17 regular-season starts. It was good enough to make him the RB3 in half-PPR scoring, behind only Jahmyr Gibbs and Saquon Barkley. Father Time is undefeated, but Henry is a different beast and pairs extremely well with quarterback Lamar Jackson's rushing ability. Henry is still much more attractive in standard-scoring fantasy leagues, but either way, he's a high-end RB1.

Tuesday, April 1, 10:43 PM

San Francisco 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan said that running back Christian McCaffrey (knee) is "healthy and doing great" this offseason. Despite playing in just four games in 2024 due to Achilles and knee injuries, McCaffrey said back in January that he was close to 100 percent and probably would have played if the team had advanced to the playoffs. The 28-year-old do-it-all back averaged a mediocre 4.0 yards per carry on his 50 rushing attempts in 2024. Jordan Mason was traded to the Minnesota Vikings this offseason, and although CMC is still the team's unquestioned lead back when healthy, it's possible that Isaac Guerendo could see more complementary work in the backfield in 2025. McCaffrey surely won't be the No. 1 overall fantasy pick this fall after being the biggest bust in 2024, but although there's plenty of injury risk, the upside will still make him hard to pass up as a high-end RB1.