Who Should I Start? MarShawn Lloyd or Emari Demercado

Thursday, July 17, 10:38 PM

Last year, Green Bay Packers running backs Emanuel Wilson and Chris Brooks shared backup duties behind bell-cow Josh Jacobs. But their biggest challenger for the No. 2 job in 2025 comes from MarShawn Lloyd, writes Packers.com's Mike Spofford. The third-rounder out of USC in 2024 was derailed by injuries in his rookie season, first by a hip injury early in training camp and then a hamstring injury in the preseason. Lloyd injured his ankle in his lone regular-season appearance in Week 2 and then had appendicitis that required emergency surgery when he was on the verge of coming off Injured Reserve. The 5-foot-9, 220-pounder offers an intriguing mix of speed, shiftiness and power that will make him an interesting handcuff option for fantasy managers that draft Jacobs. In addition to beating out Wilson and Brooks, Lloyd will need to solve ball-security issues he had in college.

Saturday, December 14, 4:43 PM

Arizona Cardinals running back Emari Demercado (back) has been placed on the injured reserve. Demercado has 24 rushes for 223 yards and a rushing touchdown this season and has added 16 catches for 104 receiving yards. Demercado's absence will likely open the door for more involvement for backup running back Trey Benson behind starter James Conner. Benson has some sneaky speculative pickup value with Demercado out and Conner himself being pretty injury-prone.