Who Should I Start? James Cook III or Ashton Jeanty

Wednesday, November 4, 2:54 PM

Las Vegas Raiders head coach Klint Kubiak said he "absolutely" believes that running back Ashton Jeanty can still be a bell-cow RB in the NFL, according to Ryan McFadden of ESPN. "Ashton's a young player and has a really bright future ahead. Glad we have him and all these young players on our roster that are continuing to grow. And it's our job as coaches to develop them," Kubiak said. Jeanty is averaging a paltry 3.1 yards per carry on 108 rushing attempts for 337 yards and one touchdown on the ground in the first eight games of his second season in the league. The former sixth overall pick from Boise State has been much more efficient as a pass-catcher, catching 37 of his 48 targets for 376 yards (10.2 yards per reception) and three touchdowns through the air. With Vegas' ground game going nowhere, they switched things up in the Week 8 win over the New York Jets. Jeanty played a season-low 40% of the offensive snaps and had only two carries for nine yards, while rookie Mike Washington Jr. had a season-high 60% snap share while handling 25 carries for 83 yards. Kubiak said the backfield touch distribution will vary from week to week, although it seems like the 22-year-old Jeanty is shifting away from early-down work for more pass-catching duties on third downs. It's a frustrating development for his fantasy managers, but at the very least, Jeanty should be in the low-end RB2 range in PPR leagues in Week 9 against the San Francisco 49ers.