Who Should I Start? Kareem Hunt or Chris Rodriguez Jr.

Saturday, November 15, 4:23 AM

Kansas City Chiefs running back Kareem Hunt will take on the Denver Broncos in Week 11. Hunt is set to handle the lion's share of the carries out of the backfield with Isiah Pacheco ruled out for Sunday's matchup. Hunt had been splitting the work with Pacheco for much of the season, but Pacheco had begun earning a larger role before going down with a knee injury. Now Hunt will assume a larger workload after being successful in his opportunities at the goal-line and in short-yardage situations. Despite playing in all nine games for the Chiefs this season, Hunt's 294 rushing yards rank 43rd among rushers this season. That low yardage total could be concerning if he didn't score so much, but Hunt ranks 11th in rushing touchdowns with five this year. The veteran back has a great chance to find the endzone every week, but he will have to contend with the stout Denver defense this week. The Broncos defense has allowed the fifth-fewest fantasy points to opposing running backs this season. Given his low yardage totals, starting Hunt this week would be betting on him to score a touchdown against one of the best defenses in the league. Hunt is ranked RB33 in our RotoBaller Half-PPR rankings, putting him at the backend of RB3 range this week.

Sunday, November 16, 4:02 PM

Washington Commanders running back Chris Rodriguez Jr. rushed for 79 yards on 15 carries during Sunday's Week 11 loss against the Miami Dolphins in Madrid. He also converted his lone target into a six-yard reception. Washington has operated out of a backfield committee for most of this season, but it now appears that Rodriguez has taken over as the team's lead back. Not only did he have more carries than Jacory Croskey-Merritt and Jeremy McNichols combined, but he also had more yards per carry than each of them. Rodriguez is now averaging 9.9 fantasy points (full-PPR) over his last three games, and he handled a season-high 44.8 percent snap share on Sunday morning. Fantasy managers should view Rodriguez as a high-end RB3/flex on the other side of his Week 12 bye.