Who Should I Start? Saquon Barkley or Christian McCaffrey

Monday, March 11, 2:57 PM

Free-agent running back Saquon Barkley is signing with the Philadelphia Eagles on a three-year, $37.75 million deal. The deal includes $26 million in guaranteed money and has an additional $9 million available in incentives. After a 2018 rookie season that saw the former Penn State star go for over 2,000 yards from scrimmage and 15 touchdowns, he has struggled to stay healthy over a chunk of the next five years of his career. He missed 21 games from 2019 to 2021. He bounced back in 2022 with 1,312 rushing yards but regressed to 962 yards in 14 games in 2023. However, the Eagles believe in him as a game-changing running back, as his average salary ($12.58 million) ranks only below Christian McCaffrey, Alvin Kamara, and Jonathan Taylor. Although the Eagles' offensive line could take a hit after the retirement of Jason Kelce, Barkley should be playing behind the best offensive line of his career in 2024. He will have an immediate high-end RB1 upside in fantasy football.

Monday, February 12, 1:25 AM

Predictably, San Francisco 49ers running back Christian McCaffrey was heavily involved in the team's 25-22 Super Bowl LVIII loss to the Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday. The newly-minted Offensive Player of the Year took 22 carries for 80 yards, plus eight receptions on as many targets for another 80 yards and a touchdown. The 21-yard touchdown reception improbably came from wide receiver Jauan Jennings on a trick play. It's hard to blame McCaffrey for the loss after 160 all-purpose yards, but besides the touchdown he was pretty well bottled up by Kansas City's defense, averaging just 3.6 yards on the ground while not gaining any chunks longer than 11 yards. CMC will once again enter 2024 fantasy drafts worthy of consideration for the No. 1 overall pick.