Who Should I Start? Ezekiel Elliott or Tony Pollard

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.

Tuesday, July 23, 6:43 PM

Tennessee Titans running backs Tyjae Spears and Tony Pollard appear poised to split reps in 2024. While discussing a potential starter at running back, new head coach Brian Callahan indicated that both players could be interchangeable and may even share the field simultaneously. It affirms what many of us suspected heading into training camp, which is that this backfield will likely be roughly a 50/50 split. Both players have similar skill sets and are electric to watch when they get hot. Their speed will be a necessity given that the Titans enter the season with the 30th-ranked offensive line, according to PFF. Both players will leech each other's fantasy value in 2024. If second-year quarterback Will Levis can take a solid step forward, the dump-off opportunities could be there for both players if the running lanes are clogged. Each player is drafted outside the top-24 running backs in fantasy drafts, which is in line with RotoBaller's running back rankings that have Pollard as the RB25 while Spears is RB30.