Who Should I Start? Duke Johnson or Ameer Abdullah

Sunday, May 5, 1:51 PM

Running back Duke Johnson announced his retirement from professional football on Sunday. Johnson was originally taken in the third round (77th overall) by the Cleveland Browns in the 2015 NFL draft out of Miami. He spent the first four seasons of his NFL career with the Browns before spending two years with the Houston Texans. Johnson played for the Miami Dolphins in 2021 and the Buffalo Bills in the final year of his career in 2022. The 30-year-old wraps up his career having recorded 2,265 rushing yards and 11 touchdowns on 532 carries, adding 311 catches on 405 targets for 2,870 yards and an additional 12 touchdowns in 97 games (21 starts) covering eight seasons. Johnson had a career-high 410 rushing yards on 83 attempts in his first year in Houston in 2019.

Friday, January 3, 6:07 PM

After initially being listed as doubtful, the Las Vegas Raiders have downgraded running back Ameer Abdullah (foot) to out for the Week 18 regular-season finale on Sunday against the division-rival Los Angeles Chargers after he missed practice all week. Abdullah injured his foot in the Week 17 loss to the New Orleans Saints in which he had the first 100-yard rushing day of the season. With the 31-year-old getting an early start to the offseason, the Raiders will use Alexander Mattison as their lead back against LA at Allegiant Stadium, with rookie Dylan Laube and Chris Collier also seeing action in a change-of-pace role. Abdullah saw additional opportunities in the second half of this season due to injuries to Mattison and Zamir White, but he'll finish his third season in Sin City with only 311 rushing yards and two TDs on 66 carries over 16 games. He added a career-high 40 catches for 261 yards and three more TDs.