Who Should I Start? Patrick Taylor Jr. or Israel Abanikanda

Monday, March 10, 4:14 PM

The San Francisco 49ers agreed to an undisclosed one-year contract extension on Monday with running back Patrick Taylor Jr., according to NFL Network's Tom Pelissero. Taylor will give the Niners additional running back depth behind Christian McCaffrey (knee) and Isaac Guerendo after Elijah Mitchell signed with the Kansas City Chiefs in free agency on Monday. Jordan Mason is a restricted free agent and should also return to the team in 2025 unless he's traded. Taylor, 25, went undrafted out of Memphis before latching on with the Green Bay Packers in 2021. Last year in his first year in the Bay Area, Taylor appeared in 13 games (one start) and had a career-high 183 rushing yards and one touchdown on 39 rushing attempts. He also added three catches for 25 yards in his fourth year in the NFL. One hundred and nine of Taylor's rushing yards in 2024 came late in the year in the win over the Cardinals.

Monday, September 9, 7:44 PM

New York Jets running back Israel Abanikanda is a healthy scratch for the team's Week 1 regular-season opener at Levi's Stadium on Monday night against the San Francisco 49ers. Abanikanda enters the 2024 season as the team's RB4 behind starter and bell-cow Breece Hall and rookies Braelon Allen and Isaiah Davis. As such, the 21-year-old is obviously off the fantasy radar in most single-year leagues for the time being unless injuries push him into a relevant game-day role. The former fifth-round pick out of Pittsburgh last year was also buried on the depth chart in his rookie season and finished with 22 carries for 70 yards while catching seven passes for 43 yards in only six games. Abanikanda has breakaway speed but is once again buried on the depth chart and will have to wait for his opportunity beyond Week 1.