Who Should I Start? Javonte Williams or Chase Brown

Friday, August 29, 7:06 PM

Dallas Cowboys running back Javonte Williams is listed as the team's RB1 on their first depth chart of the 2025 season, according to Adam Schefter of ESPN. Williams is followed on the RB depth chart by Miles Sanders and rookie Jaydon Blue (ankle). Williams saw most of the team's reps with the first-team offense during training camp, so this initial depth chart for Dallas has no surprises. Blue impressed the coaching staff during the summer, but he was never realistically going to enter his rookie season higher than RB3 on the depth chart, and an ankle/heel injury also cost him valuable reps near the end of the preseason. The 25-year-old Williams will get the first shot at lead-back duties in his first year in Dallas, but Sanders and Blue will also be involved, making him no better than a low-upside RB3/flex target in fantasy. Williams hasn't shown the same burst since tearing his ACL in 2022 with Denver.

Saturday, August 30, 9:13 AM

The Athletic's Paul Dehner Jr. predicts that Cincinnati Bengals running back Chase Brown's workload "won't be too far off" from the 23.6 touches he averaged per game between Week 9 and Week 17 of the 2024 season. Dehner Jr. writes that the team "restructured the run game specifically around (Brown's) skillset" and is "utilizing him more split out wide." During the eight-game stretch last season referenced above, Brown gained 930 yards from scrimmage and scored six touchdowns. As long as Cincinnati's offense is again one of the league's most prolific, Brown should be in line for a monster season. He's a low-end fantasy RB1, and could finish even higher in full-PPR scoring formats.