Who Should I Start? Jerick McKinnon or Jaylen Warren

Saturday, September 30, 11:08 PM

Kansas City Chiefs running back Jerick McKinnon managed two touchdowns on five touches (28 total yards) in Week 3's hammering of the Chicago Bears. While the 31-year-old's workload, or lack thereof, renders him hard to immediately thrust into fantasy lineups, it's an undeniably favorable matchup in Week 4 against a New York Jets defense that has been picked on for the most targets (27) and third-most catches (20) to RBs this year. Isiah Pacheco easily remains the best bet for carries as a top-24 play in this crowded backfield also including Clyde Edwards-Helaire, but McKinnon shows some signs of PPR RB3 life for Sunday night. Even so, he appears almost entirely touchdown-reliant while handling a scant 13.6% of the backfield's collective carries plus targets.

Monday, October 2, 9:53 AM

Pittsburgh Steelers running back Jaylen Warren received 14 opportunities out of the backfield in the team's 30-6 loss to the Houston Texans. The second-year pro turned eight carries and six catches into 55 total yards. Warren and Najee Harris nearly split the touches 50/50. The starter ran the ball 14 times and caught one pass on two targets. Both backs saw 49% of the snaps in the blowout loss. Warren and the Steelers face the Baltimore Ravens in Week 5. An already struggling offense could have a new quarterback in Mitch Trubisky, who is likely to start in place of Kenny Pickett (knee).