Who Should I Start? J.K. Dobbins or Jacory Croskey-Merritt

Wednesday, November 26, 7:13 PM

Denver Broncos head coach Sean Payton isn't ruling out a potential return from running back J.K. Dobbins (foot) later in the year, according to Parker Gabriel of The Denver Post. Dobbins was previously ruled out for the rest of the season due to a foot injury, but if the Broncos make a deep postseason run, Dobbins might be able to return. For fantasy football purposes, managers in single-year leagues can dump Dobbins to the waiver wire if they haven't already done so, since he won't be able to help them before the end of the year. Denver will move forward with rookie second-rounder RJ Harvey as their primary backfield option with Dobbins out, but Jaleel McLaughlin and Tyler Badie will also be involved in change-of-pace roles. Harvey will have RB2 upside the rest of the way, while McLaughlin and Badie are simply bench stashes in deeper fantasy leagues.

Thursday, January 1, 4:37 PM

Washington Commanders rookie running back Jacory Croskey-Merritt (illness) was able to practice in full on Thursday after he was held out due to illness on Wednesday. Croskey-Merritt had his second 100-yard game and two rushing touchdowns in last week's Christmas Day loss to the Dallas Cowboys, with Chris Rodriguez Jr. out due to illness. Rodriguez is back in the fold for the Week 18 regular-season finale against the division-rival Philadelphia Eagles this weekend, though, so fantasy managers will want to lower expectations for Croskey-Merritt in the final game of his rookie season. The 24-year-old JCM could be Washington's lead back against the Eagles, but Rodriguez's presence will definitely cap the rookie's upside this weekend.