Who Should I Start? Jaylen Warren or Jaleel McLaughlin

Monday, March 10, 12:06 PM

The Pittsburgh Steelers placed the second-round restricted tender on restricted free-agent running back Jaylen Warren on Monday, according to his agents. The tender is worth $5.346 million. Although technically not official yet, placing the second-round tender pretty much guarantees that the 26-year-old will be back in Pittsburgh in 2025. Fellow backfield mate Najee Harris is an unrestricted free agent this week and has a good chance of not returning, which would make Warren much more attractive in fantasy next season, depending on what other moves the Steelers make at the position in free agency or the draft. Any team that wants to sign Warren now would have to offer up second-round draft compensation. Although Harris had another 1,000-yard season in 2024, Warren has looked better than him at times the last two years and has averaged a healthy 4.8 yards per carry in his three NFL seasons.

Monday, January 13, 10:50 AM

Denver Broncos running back Jaleel McLaughlin was a complete non-factor in the team's 31-7 blowout loss to the Buffalo Bills on Sunday on wild-card weekend. Like most of the season, Denver's backfield was stuck in the mud and couldn't get anything going to control the game, with rookie quarterback Bo Nix leading the team with 43 rushing yards on four carries. McLaughlin, who had been the leader of a committee backfield late in the season, had only two rushing attempts for minus-two yards while catching his only target for no gain. It was a dismal end to the 24-year-old's second season in the NFL. He finished with 113 carries for 496 yards (4.4 yards per carry) and only one rushing touchdown in 16 regular-season games while adding 24 catches for 76 yards and two more TDs through the air. Denver will surely look to upgrade their backfield in the offseason to give more help to Nix in 2025.