Who Should I Start? Rhamondre Stevenson or Bijan Robinson

Friday, November 14, 9:41 AM

New England Patriots running back Rhamondre Stevenson (toe) missed Week 11's Thursday Night Football matchup against the New York Jets, and proceeded to watch rookie running back TreVeyon Henderson score three touchdowns and combine for 93 all-purpose yards, which was a career night for the rookie running back. This was after Henderson rushed for 147 yards in Week 10 against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and scored twice in that game as well, while Stevenson was sidelined. Due to the nature of how Henderson has broken out, it raises the question of what Stevenson's role will be when he returns. At this time, it's too early to assume that Henderson will completely take over, given Patriots' head coach Mike Vrabel's feelings about Stevenson in the running game. Still, Henderson may be forcing Vrabel's hand in making him the starter, given the results he has put up over the past two weeks. Regardless, Henderson clearly has the upside over Stevenson and appears to be the running back you want in New England, but given the overall effectiveness of the Patriots' offense, whoever gets a majority of the touches will be fantasy relevant.

Tuesday, November 11, 10:57 AM

Atlanta Falcons running back Bijan Robinson rushed 17 times for 84 yards in Sunday's 31-25 overtime loss to the Colts, adding two catches for four yards in the contest. It was the third straight week without a touchdown, though, currently sitting with two rushing and two receiving scores on the season. Fellow running back Tyler Allgeier scored twice, however, and now has six rushing touchdowns on the season, despite totaling 79 touches for 290 yards from scrimmage compared to Robinson's 178 touches for 1,146 yards. The problem for fantasy managers was glaring in Sunday's game, which was that Allgeier received five red zone attempts while Robinson saw only one. Allgeier doesn't get much work, especially if the Falcons are playing from behind, but he's getting a lot of the carries that matter when games are close, and Atlanta's next few games should be competitive (CAR, @NO, @NYJ). Although Robinson drew only two targets on Sunday, his work in the passing attack typically provides a solid floor for fantasy, but the lack of touchdowns is concerning. Nevertheless, he should be a top-five option at the position in Week 11 against Carolina, a defense that gave up 146 yards from scrimmage to running backs this past week.