Who Should I Start? Elijah Mitchell or Julius Chestnut

Tuesday, December 23, 11:37 PM

The New England Patriots signed veteran free-agent running back Elijah Mitchell to their practice squad on Tuesday, according to Tom Pelissero of NFL Network. Mitchell quickly latches on with another team after the Kansas City Chiefs waived him last weekend. Patriots rookie RB TreVeyon Henderson suffered a concussion in Sunday night's win over the Baltimore Ravens and is in danger of missing the Week 17 game against the New York Jets, so the Pats will bring in Mitchell to give the team more RB depth at the end of the regular season. If Henderson doesn't clear the league's concussion protocol by this Sunday, Mitchell could be elevated to the active 53-man roster to serve as the RB3 behind Rhamondre Stevenson and D'Ernest Johnson. Unless Stevenson also misses time with an injury, Mitchell is unlikely to become a major contributor in New England's offense. He was active for just one game with KC this year and didn't have a single rushing attempt.

Saturday, October 4, 12:57 AM

Tennessee Titans running back Julius Chestnut could be headed for a reduced workload in Week 5 despite a favorable matchup against the Arizona Cardinals. Chestnut has operated as a backup to Tony Pollard through the first four weeks of the season. While his usage has been relatively modest given that Pollard leads all NFL running backs in snap share, Chestnut has still been his backup and did see the field in every game, logging five total carries. That marginal usage could drop to no usage as soon as Tyjae Spears (ankle) returns to game action. Spears is currently on injured reserve but has been designated to return and is questionable for Week 5. Chestnut's already limited opportunity share would surely disappear entirely as soon as another reliable, proven player like Spears is added to the backfield. If Spears plays Sunday, Chestnut, 24, might not touch the ball. Even if he remains on IR, though, the Sacred Heart product is due for just a couple of touches and remains off the fantasy radar.