Who Should I Start? Israel Abanikanda or Frank Gore Jr.

Monday, September 9, 7:44 PM

New York Jets running back Israel Abanikanda is a healthy scratch for the team's Week 1 regular-season opener at Levi's Stadium on Monday night against the San Francisco 49ers. Abanikanda enters the 2024 season as the team's RB4 behind starter and bell-cow Breece Hall and rookies Braelon Allen and Isaiah Davis. As such, the 21-year-old is obviously off the fantasy radar in most single-year leagues for the time being unless injuries push him into a relevant game-day role. The former fifth-round pick out of Pittsburgh last year was also buried on the depth chart in his rookie season and finished with 22 carries for 70 yards while catching seven passes for 43 yards in only six games. Abanikanda has breakaway speed but is once again buried on the depth chart and will have to wait for his opportunity beyond Week 1.

Saturday, August 23, 11:50 PM

Buffalo Bills running back Frank Gore Jr. led the Bills in yards from scrimmage for the third straight week in a 23-19 win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Saturday. Gore amassed 61 total yards (32 rushing, 29 receiving) on 10 carries and two catches, and he scored his lone touchdown of the preseason on a one-yard run in the first quarter. In all, the hard-running 23-year-old piled up 104 yards on the ground on 23 attempts and hauled in 11 catches for another 109 yards in three preseason contests. Even though Gore stood out in Buffalo's exhibition games, he doesn't have a clear path to a roster spot with James Cook, Ray Davis, and Ty Johnson ahead of him on the depth chart. Odds are that the former Southern Miss standout will either wind up on the Bills' practice squad for the second year in a row or join another team via waivers before the season. He made a compelling case that he's an NFL-caliber back during the preseason.