Who Should I Start? Isaac Guerendo or Tahj Brooks

Tuesday, October 21, 9:16 PM

San Francisco 49ers running back Isaac Guerendo was thrust into action in his rookie season in the NFL in 2024 because Christian McCaffrey missed most of the year due to injuries. Guerendo finished with 84 rushing attempts for 420 yards and four touchdowns in 16 games (three starts) and also chipped in 15 catches on 16 targets as a pass-catcher for 152 yards. Fantasy managers probably viewed him as a pretty valuable handcuff for the injury-prone CMC going into 2025 drafts, but the Niners' acquisition of Brian Robinson Jr. before the season pretty much killed whatever fantasy appeal he had. Through the first seven weeks of his sophomore campaign, the 25-year-old former fourth-rounder has yet to play an offensive snap with CMC and B-Rob both staying healthy. Instead, Guerendo has been limited to a special teams role, returning five kickoffs for a combined 100 yards.

Monday, November 24, 1:36 PM

Cincinnati Bengals head coach Zac Taylor has ruled out rookie running back Tahj Brooks (concussion) for this Thursday's Thanksgiving Day game against the division-rival Baltimore Ravens in Week 13, according to Jay Morrison of SI.com. Brooks suffered a concussion in Sunday's loss to the New England Patriots, and on a short week, the 23-year-old won't be able to clear the league's concussion protocol. Veteran Samaje Perine (ankle) has missed the last two games due to injury and might not be available this week, either, so the Bengals' backfield could be extremely thin behind Chase Brown this week versus Baltimore. If Perine ends up missing a third straight game, expect Gary Brightwell to operate as Cincy's RB2 behind Brown on Turkey Day. Brooks has only nine rushing attempts in 11 games this year for 28 rushing yards.