Who Should I Start? Jordan Mason or Bucky Irving

Monday, September 15, 11:11 AM

With Minnesota Vikings starting running back Aaron Jones (hamstring) facing an injury, fellow running back Jordan Mason could be in line for more work with Minnesota set to face Cincinnati in Week 3. Already operating with a committee, the Vikings have seen significantly more rushing success with their new acquisition, whom the team extended after the trade that brought him from San Francisco to Minnesota. Even with a mostly awful offensive showing so far this season by the Vikings, Mason has 98 yards on 22 carries and three catches in two games. Should Jones miss any time, Mason is likely to get a feature-back workload for a team that desperately needs its running game to get going.

Tuesday, September 16, 12:19 AM

Tampa Bay Buccaneers running back Bucky Irving was busy Monday night against Houston, handling 17 carries for 71 yards while adding six receptions for 50 yards in the pass game. Irving was the engine of Tampa Bay's offense against Houston's stout defense, consistently making defenders miss and finding positive yardage. The star's second year back forced 11 missed tackles, including five on receptions in Monday night's game, the most in his career, according to NFL Pro. Mayfield was under a ton of pressure and took four sacks overall against one of the league's best pass rush groups, and he often resorted to Irving as a safety valve. Rachaad White handled more work than he did in Week 1 and ended up scoring the game-winning touchdown after Mayfield drove them down to the goal line. Otherwise, Irving still had a highly productive fantasy outing and remains Tampa Bay's lead back. He should be viewed as a rock-solid RB1 moving forward with his high-value touch role.