Who Should I Start? Saquon Barkley or Elijah Mitchell

Thursday, September 21, 7:29 PM

New York Giants running back Saquon Barkley (ankle) told NFL on Prime reporter Taylor Rooks that he's in fact dealing with a "high-ankle sprain" to his right ankle and that not playing on Thursday night against the San Francisco 49ers was simply a pain-tolerance issue. The Giants don't play again until Monday night against the Seattle Seahawks in Week 4, but if he's indeed dealing with a high-ankle sprain, there's a good chance he won't play in that game, either. We'll have a better idea of Barkley's status for Week 4 next week, but fantasy managers expecting him to only miss one game should check their expectations. In Barkley's absence, Matt Breida should be lead dog, but the G-Men could also go with a RB committee with Breida, Gary Brightwell and rookie Eric Gray.

Friday, September 22, 11:29 AM

San Francisco 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan made good on his promise to get running back Elijah Mitchell involved in the game plan after Mitchell didn't play at all in the Week 2 win over the Los Angeles Rams. On Thursday night in the 30-12 win over the New York Giants, Mitchell saw a season-high 11 carries for 42 yards and caught all three of his targets for two yards. It was nice to see the 25-year-old get more involved in a game that wasn't close at all late, but Mitchell's week-to-week workload could vary drastically based on game flow, and as long as bell-cow Christian McCaffrey is healthy and doing his thing, Mitchell isn't going to have standalone fantasy value. He could, however, see another solid workload in a Week 4 matchup with the lowly Arizona Cardinals.