Who Should I Start? Elijah Mitchell or Emari Demercado

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).

Tuesday, December 16, 12:21 AM

Arizona Cardinals running back Emari Demercado had one carry for a yard in Sunday's 40-20 loss to the Houston Texans in Week 15. Demercado also had two catches for zero yards on three targets. The 26-year-old had a quiet performance in his first game back after missing three games due to an ankle injury. Bam Knight (ankle) was carted off the field early on Sunday and was ruled out for the remainder of the game. Michael Carter then slid into the RB1 role and dominated carries the rest of the game. With the Cardinals unsure of Knight's status for Week 16, Demercado could be in for a bigger workload against the Atlanta Falcons. If Knight can't play next week against the Atlanta Falcons, Carter and Demercado would split work in the backfield. It is worth noting that Demercado had out-snapped Carter in two consecutive games before suffering his own ankle injury. Heading into Week 16, Demercado is worth monitoring on waiver wires ahead of his matchup against the Falcons.