Who Should I Start? Jaylen Warren or Jacory Croskey-Merritt

Friday, September 5, 6:11 PM

Pittsburgh Steelers running back Jaylen Warren will begin his first campaign as the team's featured ballcarrier in a road bout with the New York Jets. Warren thrived in a complementary role through his first three seasons, averaging 4.8 yards per tote while adding 127 receptions. Although he is expected to lead Pittsburgh's backfield ahead of rookie Kaleb Johnson, Warren will be tested by a solid New York defense. The Jets shut down running backs in the passing game and held the position to the fifth-fewest yards per carry in 2024. This is expected to be a low-scoring affair, so while Warren doesn't offer extreme upside, he can be started as a volume-based RB2 or flex option in Week 1.

Thursday, September 4, 12:29 PM

Washington Commanders head coach Kliff Kingsbury acknowledged the preseason "hype train" for rookie running back Jacory Croskey-Merritt leading into the 2025 regular season during a press conference on Thursday. Kingsbury also mentioned that he has a lot of respect for Croskey-Merritt's journey from being a practice-squad player to making it to the NFL. "He can't get enough," Kingsbury said. The 24-year-old's love for football has catapulted him to potentially having a big role in Washington's backfield in his rookie season. However, the Commanders listed him as the RB4 on their first unofficial depth chart of the year in what is shaping up to be a full-blown committee involving JCM, Austin Ekeler, Chris Rodriguez Jr. and even Jeremy McNichols. Ekeler is probably the safest flex play in PPR leagues in Week 1 against the Giants, but it's a dicey fantasy situation right now.