Who Should I Start? Isiah Pacheco or Bucky Irving

Friday, December 12, 4:18 PM

Kansas City Chiefs running back Isiah Pacheco handled nine carries for 30 yards in last week's 10-20 loss to the Houston Texans. In his second game back from injury, Pacheco's opportunities ticked up closer to Kareem Hunt, who handled 12 carries in the contest. Pacheco looked like the best back in the backfield before his knee injury, so the team may prefer to lean on him more as he gets healthier. Pacheco will have a chance to surpass Hunt this week against the Los Angeles Chargers. The Chargers defense has been middle-of-the-pack in fantasy points allowed to opposing running backs this season, meaning that it should not be a difficult matchup for Pacheco. That said, splitting carries with Hunt in a divisional matchup could be a difficult situation to succeed in. Pacheco is ranked RB48 in our RotoBaller Half-PPR rankings, making him a difficult player to trust until he shows more upside.

Thursday, December 11, 11:03 AM

Tampa Bay Buccaneers running back Bucky Irving has worked his way back from injury and is starting to heat up at the perfect time for fantasy managers. Since making his return in Week 13. Irving has totaled 162 scrimmage yards and two touchdowns in the past two games. His snap count has been limited since returning, as he's played just 53% of the snaps, while Rachaad White has played 44% and Sean Tucker has played 16%. Hopefully, Irving can pull away from this rotation as he did in his rookie season, where he averaged 17.4 PPR points per game from Week 15 on. He faces the Atlanta Falcons in Week 15, who Irving has yet to eclipse 45 rushing yards in his NFL career. Despite his previous struggles against this Falcons defense, fantasy managers should fire up the second-year back as a low-end RB1 in Week 15.