Who Should I Start? Elijah Mitchell or Ty Chandler

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).

Thursday, September 11, 7:54 PM

The Minnesota Vikings announced on Thursday that they placed running back Ty Chandler (knee) on Injured Reserve, which means he will be forced to sit out beyond the team's Week 6 bye. Chandler was active for the Week 1 win over the Chicago Bears on Monday night but only played on special teams as a return man. With Chandler's injury, the Vikings are now pretty thin in the backfield behind their top two options, Aaron Jones Sr. and Jordan Mason. Zavier Scott is currently listed as their No. 3. Myles Price (knee) and Tai Felton are the candidates to replace Chandler on kickoff-return duties moving forward, starting in Week 2 on Sunday night against the Atlanta Falcons. In three seasons with the Vikes, Chandler has 164 rushing attempts for 663 yards (4.0 yards per carry) and three rushing touchdowns in 38 games (four starts).