Who Should I Start? Latavius Murray or Austin Ekeler

Thursday, July 31, 1:24 PM

Veteran running back Latavius Murray is retiring from the NFL, Jordan Schultz of FOX Sports reports. Murray was originally a sixth-round pick (181st overall) in the 2013 NFL draft out of Central Florida by the Oakland Raiders. The 35-year-old spent the first three years of his NFL career in Oakland before then joining the Minnesota Vikings and New Orleans Saints for two years each. Murray bounced around with the Baltimore Ravens, Saints, Denver Broncos and Buffalo Bills his last three seasons. He finishes his 10-year NFL career with 6,552 rushing yards and 59 touchdowns on 1,560 attempts while catching 239 passes for 1,620 yards and two more TDs in 151 regular-season games. Murray was a Pro Bowler once in 2015 with the Raiders, when he had 1,066 rushing yards and six touchdowns. He had 300 yards in 16 games with the Bills in his final season in 2023.

Monday, September 22, 12:34 PM

Although Washington Commanders running back Chris Rodriguez Jr. wasn't all that efficient (3.5 yards per carry) in his 2025 debut in the team's 41-24 blowout win over the visiting Las Vegas Raiders on Sunday, he did lead the team with 11 carries. Rodriguez was a healthy scratch the first two weeks, but he was elevated to the active roster for Week 3 after Austin Ekeler tore his Achilles in Week 2. The 24-year-old ran for 39 yards on his 11 carries and was not utilized in the passing game. Rookie Jacory Croskey-Merritt was second on the team with eight carries, and he, too, was inefficient with just 26 yards on the ground. Jeremy McNichols and quarterback Marcus Mariota combined for 10 rushing attempts and two touchdowns against the Raiders. Croskey-Merritt has the most upside in the Commanders' backfield moving forward with Ekeler done for the year, but Rodriguez is worth a waiver-wire pickup if you have JCM rostered or are looking for RB depth. Rodriguez is currently rostered in only 5% of Yahoo leagues.