Who Should I Start? Jerome Ford or Bucky Irving

Wednesday, July 30, 7:20 PM

Daniel Oyefusi of ESPN noticed that Cleveland Browns running back Jerome Ford (undisclosed) progressed to participating in team drills at training camp practice on Wednesday. Ford returned in a limited capacity during Monday's practice but took a step forward on Wednesday by joining team drills. An undisclosed injury kept the 25-year-old out of practices for a week, but the Browns are now slowly easing him back into the fold. It's a bigger story this summer with rookie second-rounder Quinshon Judkins unsigned as he goes through the legal process due to domestic-violence charges. Ford will be splitting first-team reps with rookie Dylan Sampson now that he's back on the field, and he could see the majority of touches early in the 2025 season, depending on when Judkins' off-field situation is settled. Ford is currently ranked by RotoBaller as the RB53 in fantasy.

Tuesday, July 29, 8:02 AM

Tampa Bay Buccaneers running back Bucky Irving was one of the biggest surprises from the 2024 draft class. He wrestled the lead-back role away from Rachaad White mid-season and rushed for 1,122 yards and eight touchdowns. Irving, who weighs under 200 pounds, told CBS Sports' Pete Prisco that he feels he can handle a large workload, but Prisco tweeted that he thinks the Bucs might try to limit him a bit to keep him fresh because of his small stature. While fantasy gamers would prefer for Irving to see all the work out of Tampa Bay's backfield, it is clear that the team still wants to give touches to White and Sean Tucker. That being said, Irving is still the lead back and showed last season he can be a dominant force at the running-back position. The team keeping him fresh is a positive in the long run and shouldn't deter fantasy managers from grabbing him as a low-end RB1 in upcoming drafts.