Who Should I Start? Dylan Sampson or Tahj Brooks

Saturday, October 4, 10:15 AM

Cleveland Browns running back Dylan Sampson has seen his role shrink since a solid debut in Week 1. The rookie will now head to London to take on the Minnesota Vikings in Week 5. In theory, Sampson draws a decent matchup against a Minnesota defense that is allowing the 14th-most fantasy points per game to opposing running backs, but Cleveland has been giving almost all of the running-back work to Quinshon Judkins over the past two games, which has crushed the fantasy value of Sampson and Jerome Ford. Sampson is hard to trust in fantasy until the Browns show more of a commitment to getting him the ball, so managers should leave him on the bench in Week 5.

Saturday, September 13, 3:20 PM

Cincinnati Bengals running back Tahj Brooks didn't log an offensive snap in the Week 1 win over the Browns. Most assumed the rookie would have at least a small role in the offense. However, that didn't happen in the AFC North clash with Cleveland, with Samaje Perine getting 13 snaps and Chase Brown leading the way with 39. Without question, Brown was expected to get most of the work out of the backfield for the Bengals this season. That likely won't change unless he goes down with an injury. Brooks should get some snaps moving forward, but he has a long way to go before earning a spot in redraft lineups, including for the Week 2 meeting with the Jacksonville Jaguars. On the other hand, he's at least worth stashing on dynasty rosters.