Who Should I Start? Jaylen Warren or Zach Charbonnet

Thursday, January 8, 5:13 PM

Pittsburgh Steelers running back Jaylen Warren (illness) did not practice with the team on Thursday due to an illness, according to Brooke Pryor of ESPN. Warren's status is worth monitoring going into Monday night's Wild-Card playoff matchup against the visiting Houston Texans, but the 27-year-old should be good to go by then. However, if he's still feeling under the weather by then and sees a smaller workload, it would benefit backfield mate Kenneth Gainwell, albeit in a very tough matchup against the No. 1 defense in the league. Warren has seen double-digit carries in all but one of his 16 games played this year, but Gainwell has taken on a bigger role in Pittsburgh's backfield late in the season. He ranked as the RB19 with 12.3 half-PPR points per game, while Houston's defense allowed the eighth-fewest half-PPR points per week to the position. Warren sets up as a low-end RB1 in fantasy playoff formats.

Sunday, December 28, 5:42 PM

Seattle Seahawks running back Zach Charbonnet had 18 carries, 110 rushing yards, and two rushing touchdowns during Sunday's Week 17 win over the Carolina Panthers. He also caught two passes for an additional 12 receiving yards. The Seattle backfield has been nearly impossible to predict on a weekly basis this year, and Week 17 was no different. Kenneth Walker III led the backfield last week, and evidently, it was Charbonnet's turn this Sunday. While the 24-year-old did lead the team in carries, it's even more interesting to note that he out-snapped Walker with a 53.7% snap share. He has now played more than half of the snaps in three consecutive games, maintaining a trend of increased involvement. Charbonnet is firmly in the mix as a solid RB2 option for fantasy football ahead of Week 18 against the San Francisco 49ers.