Who Should I Start? Saquon Barkley or Bucky Irving

Thursday, January 29, 12:26 PM

Philadelphia Eagles running back Saquon Barkley carried the Eagles to a Super Bowl championship and a lot of fantasy managers to a championship as well in 2024 in his first year with the team, when he ran for a league-high 2,005 yards and a career-high 13 touchdowns on a whopping 345 rushing attempts in 16 regular-season games to win Offensive Player of the Year honors. The 28-year-old was a consensus top-three fantasy pick in drafts last fall, but he ended up being a bust (mainly because of Philly's lackluster offense) as the RB15 in half-PPR scoring with 1,140 rushing yards and seven touchdowns on 280 carries in the regular season. Barkley added 37 receptions for 273 yards and two scores through the air. The three-time Pro Bowler will still be in the RB1 conversation in 2026 as a workhorse, but his ability to bounce back as a high-end fantasy RB will depend on whether the Eagles' offense can return to its 2024 form.

Tuesday, February 10, 2:23 PM

Tampa Bay Buccaneers running back Bucky Irving was a disappointment for fantasy managers in 2025 while missing seven games because of shoulder and foot injuries. New offensive coordinator Zac Robinson had good things to say about Irving, though, and the 23-year-old could be a popular bounce-back candidate this fall with Rachaad White likely to leave in free agency. "I see Bucky in a very similar light [to Bijan Robinson] there with what he can do in the passing game, and there's not a run concept that he can't run," Robinson said. "So I'm excited to work with Bucky and know that there is a ton of meat on the bone in the passing game." Irving, a fourth-rounder in 2024 out of Oregon, rushed for 588 yards and only one touchdown on 173 carries in 10 games in 2025, but he proved to be worthy of lead-back duties after carrying the ball 207 times for 1,122 yards and eight rushing TDs in 17 games as a rookie. Don't sleep on Irving going into next season.