Who Should I Start? Ezekiel Elliott or Christian McCaffrey

Tuesday, June 4, 2:14 PM

Dallas Cowboys head coach Mike McCarthy said the team will use a running-back-by-committee approach in 2024, although the exact members of the committee backfield aren't entirely clear yet. At the very least, it should be veteran Ezekiel Elliott and Rico Dowdle, with Royce Freeman, Deuce Vaughn, Hunter Luepke, Malik Davis, Snoop Conner and rookie Nathaniel Peat competing for roster spots behind them. "Two or three [running backs], whatever it takes," McCarthy said. Elliott has the best credentials with 8,904 career rushing yards, but he won't be asked to do what he did in his first stint with Dallas, when he averaged 268.7 carries per season. He had career-lows in rushing yards (642), touchdowns (three) and carries (184) last year with the Patriots, and those numbers could dip further in 2024 back in Dallas in an RB committee.

Saturday, June 29, 1:07 PM

No NFL running back played a higher percentage of his team's offensive snaps last year than San Francisco 49ers RB Christian McCaffrey. Elijah Mitchell, their top backup, missed six games in another injury-riddled season, and McCaffrey was simply too good to take off the field. CMC led the league with 1,459 rushing yards -- 292 more than the next best RB. His 21 TDs tied for the league lead and he also added 564 receiving yards, which ranked fourth on the 49ers. His 339 total touches were the second-most of his career. McCaffrey's efforts earned him Offensive Player of the Year honors and a two-year extension. The Niners would love a repeat performance in 2024, but perhaps with less wear and tear. A healthy Mitchell would help them accomplish that. "We have to protect Christian from himself. He doesn't like to ever come out no matter what the situation is and I do think that's something we could protect him with more," head coach Kyle Shanahan said.