Who Should I Start? Ian Thomas or Austin Ekeler

Sunday, April 7, 1:31 PM

The Athletic's Bruce Feldman predicts that the Arizona Cardinals will trade down to pick No. 11 in a swap with the Minnesota Vikings in the first round of this year's NFL draft to take LSU wide receiver BrIan Thomas. The 21-year-old pass-catcher has been in the shadow of fellow wideout Malik Nabers, but he was terrific at the scouting combine in February to raise his draft stock tremendously. He also had 68 receptions for 1,177 yards and led the FBS with 17 touchdowns in 2023. "Potentially, I think can be really good in the NFL. He was a red zone nightmare. Even if you were in great position, he could still win those 50-50 balls. But he didn't scare you with (yards after catch) like Nabers did," one coach said. Adding another receiving weapon for quarterback Kyler Murray makes a lot of sense, especially when considering Arizona's top-three receivers are currently Michael Wilson, Chris Moore and Greg Dortch.

Monday, March 11, 7:05 PM

Veteran free-agent running back Austin Ekeler is signing with the Washington Commanders on Monday on a two-year deal worth up to $11.43 million, according to sources. Ekeler is headed to the East coast after seven seasons and 69 total touchdowns with the Los Angeles Chargers. The 28-year-old was extremely productive in his time with the Bolts, but he's coming off one of his worst statistical seasons in 2023 and is now heading to a Commanders backfield where he'll be expected to split the workload with Brian Robinson. On a side note, former Commanders RB Antonio Gibson agreed to join the New England Patriots. Gone are the days of Ekeler being a no-doubt RB1 for fantasy managers, although he still has the talent to be a highly productive RB3/flex option, especially in PPR leagues. In addition, the Commanders' signing of Ekeler is going to be bad news for B-Rob's fantasy ceiling.