Who Should I Start? Elijah Mitchell or Dameon Pierce

Friday, September 5, 7:20 PM

Kansas City Chiefs running back Elijah Mitchell is a healthy inactive for the Week 1 regular-season opener on Friday night in Brazil against the division-rival Los Angeles Chargers, according to Nate Taylor of ESPN. It's bad news for Mitchell heading into his first year with the Chiefs, as it looks like he's the RB4 to open the year, behind starter Isiah Pacheco, Kareem Hunt and rookie Brashard Smith. The 27-year-old was getting some first-team reps early in training camp, but that was a long time ago in late July. Mitchell signed a one-year, $2.5 million deal with KC in the offseason after spending his first three NFL seasons with the San Francisco 49ers. In his three years in the Bay Area, the former sixth-rounder in 2021 out of Louisiana averaged 4.7 yards per tote on 327 rush attempts for 1,523 yards and nine touchdowns (five in his rookie season).

Saturday, October 18, 5:33 PM

Houston Texans running back Dameon Pierce played a season-high 16 snaps and had seven carries for 21 yards in his team's last game before the bye week. However, it was his first game being active since Week 1, and all his work came in the fourth quarter of their blowout win over the Ravens. With Nick Chubb getting early-down work and Woody Marks as a promising prospect for passing downs, Pierce will likely have no role except in mop-up duty or an occasional one-off carry. He is the No. 69-ranked RB in RotoBaller's rankings for Week 7 and is not expected to be a fantasy factor going forward, barring injury to Chubb or Marks.