Who Should I Start? Jaleel McLaughlin or Will Shipley

Saturday, January 24, 7:55 PM

Denver Broncos running back Jaleel McLaughlin should continue to be the primary change-of-pace back behind rookie RJ Harvey, with J.K. Dobbins remaining on Injured Reserve after a week of limited practices. In Denver's Divisional Round win over a Bills team that came into the playoffs with one of the worst run defenses in the league, McLaughlin was able to turn four carries into 21 yards. In the Conference Championship, he'll face a Patriots defense that has been dominant against the run since Milton Williams' return from an ankle injury that cost him five games. Through two playoff games, New England has allowed a total of 74 yards on designed runs, so if McLaughlin is to find any success on Sunday, it may need to come through screens and checkdowns, though that is a role that's been owned by Harvey for most of the year. McLaughlin is RotoBaller's RB7 for the week, but there is a world where he is entirely phased out of the game script.

Friday, November 21, 11:34 PM

Philadelphia Eagles Will Shipley has been relegated mostly to special teams touches and the occasional carry behind Saquon Barkley and Tank Bigsby as the team's RB3. The Eagles acquired Bigsby ahead of Week 7, and he's mostly served as the primary backup to Barkley. Since then, Bigsby and Shipley have each played 14.5% of the offensive snaps, but Bigsby has 17 carries to Shipley's seven during that span. The 2024 fourth-round pick entered the season as the No. 2 back for the Eagles, then missed Weeks 2 and 3 due to a rib injury, and has now fallen out of favor with the team, going out and trading for another back to have another capable option behind Barkley. Shipley still has some appeal as a handcuff if Barkley were to go down, but it would likely be a timeshare with Bigsby.