Who Should I Start? Elijah Mitchell or LeQuint Allen Jr.

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).

Friday, September 12, 9:17 PM

Jacksonville Jaguars rookie running back LeQuint Allen Jr. enters Week 2 as the team's RB3 on the updated depth chart. In the season-opening win over the Carolina Panthers, Allen logged one carry for seven yards and added one reception for four yards, while Travis Etienne and Tank Bigsby dominated the backfield with 83% of the snaps and 21 of the team's 25 rushing attempts. With Bigsby now traded to Philadelphia, the door is open for Allen and fellow rookie Bhayshul Tuten to carve out roles behind Etienne. While Tuten came in with more hype as a prospect, Allen's receiving skills could earn him passing-down work. He'll draw a favorable matchup in Week 2 against the Bengals, who just allowed Browns running back Dylan Sampson to lead his team in receptions. Allen remains unstartable in fantasy for now, but his skill set makes him a name worth monitoring as the Jaguars' backfield evolves.