Who Should I Start? Elijah Mitchell or Bucky Irving

Tuesday, August 27, 5:07 PM

The San Francisco 49ers placed running back Elijah Mitchell (hamstring) on Injured Reserve on Tuesday, and his 2024 season is over. Mitchell, who was projected as the team's RB2, has dealt with injury problems throughout his career, having never played more than 11 games in a year. Jordan Mason is now expected to be the 49ers' RB2 behind Christian McCaffrey (calf) with Mitchell sidelined. Rookie Isaac Guerendo and Patrick Taylor Jr. will also see an uptick in playing time behind McCaffrey and Mason with Mitchell now done for the year.

Thursday, September 5, 7:43 PM

Tampa Bay Buccaneers running back Bucky Irving looks to be set as the primary backup option to Rachaad White in the backfield. He won the competition against Sean Tucker in camp for the No. 2 role in this offense. Sadly for Irving, that No. 2 role probably isn't going to be too significant. The Bucs are likely going to lean on White as their lead back. Irving should help out on special teams and possibly see a handful of snaps as the change-of-pace back. However, there is unlikely to be enough carries for Irving to have viable value during the season opener. He's worth stashing in dynasty formats and deep leagues because if White goes down then Irving will be the next man up. Irving could carve out a bigger role for himself as the season goes on, but he remains a shaky option for the season opener against the Washington Commanders.