Who Should I Start? Isaac Guerendo or Tahj Brooks

Wednesday, September 17, 12:37 PM

San Francisco 49ers running back Isaac Guerendo entered the 2025 season as a prime handcuff for fantasy managers who were looking to score Christian McCaffrey at a discount early in drafts. However, Guerendo's fantasy value took a massive hit when the Niners acquired Brian Robinson Jr. from the Washington Commanders. B-Rob has been McCaffrey's backup through two weeks, relegating Guerendo to a distant RB3 role. In the Week 2 win over the New Orleans Saints, the 25-year-old didn't play a single snap on offense, with all 17 of his snaps coming on special teams. Guerendo averaged a healthy 5.0 yards per carry on 84 rushing attempts for 420 yards and four touchdowns in 16 games (three starts) as a rookie in 2024 when CMC was bothered by injuries, but currently, he's well off the fantasy radar in single-year leagues going into Week 3 against the division-rival Arizona Cardinals.

Saturday, September 13, 3:20 PM

Cincinnati Bengals running back Tahj Brooks didn't log an offensive snap in the Week 1 win over the Browns. Most assumed the rookie would have at least a small role in the offense. However, that didn't happen in the AFC North clash with Cleveland, with Samaje Perine getting 13 snaps and Chase Brown leading the way with 39. Without question, Brown was expected to get most of the work out of the backfield for the Bengals this season. That likely won't change unless he goes down with an injury. Brooks should get some snaps moving forward, but he has a long way to go before earning a spot in redraft lineups, including for the Week 2 meeting with the Jacksonville Jaguars. On the other hand, he's at least worth stashing on dynasty rosters.