Who Should I Start? George Holani or Jaleel McLaughlin

Friday, January 23, 5:58 PM

Seattle Seahawks running back George Holani (hamstring) was removed from the team's final injury report on Friday and will be active for the NFC Championship game on Sunday against the division-rival Los Angeles Rams, according to Michael-Shawn Dugar of The Athletic. Holani was placed on Injured Reserve on Nov. 29, but he was activated this week and will help give the Seahawks more backfield depth after Zach Charbonnet (knee) suffered a season-ending torn ACL in last weekend's Divisional Round win over the San Francisco 49ers. Kenneth Walker III should handle a big workload as the team's RB1 against the Rams, but Holani could be the RB2 in his first game back. Fantasy managers shouldn't have high expectations for Holani in his first time back on the field, though, and he could even share touches with Velus Jones Jr. He had only 22 carries during the regular season for 73 yards and one TD.

Saturday, January 24, 7:55 PM

Denver Broncos running back Jaleel McLaughlin should continue to be the primary change-of-pace back behind rookie RJ Harvey, with J.K. Dobbins remaining on Injured Reserve after a week of limited practices. In Denver's Divisional Round win over a Bills team that came into the playoffs with one of the worst run defenses in the league, McLaughlin was able to turn four carries into 21 yards. In the Conference Championship, he'll face a Patriots defense that has been dominant against the run since Milton Williams' return from an ankle injury that cost him five games. Through two playoff games, New England has allowed a total of 74 yards on designed runs, so if McLaughlin is to find any success on Sunday, it may need to come through screens and checkdowns, though that is a role that's been owned by Harvey for most of the year. McLaughlin is RotoBaller's RB7 for the week, but there is a world where he is entirely phased out of the game script.