Who Should I Start? Saquon Barkley or Elijah Mitchell

Wednesday, December 17, 3:57 PM

Philadelphia Eagles running back Saquon Barkley (stinger) is back at practice on Wednesday after he was listed as a non-participant due to a stinger on Tuesday, according to Cayden Steele of NJ Advance Media. Barkley suffered a stinger in Sunday's blowout win over the Las Vegas Raiders, but his return to practice on Wednesday bodes well for his chances of playing on Saturday versus the division-rival Washington Commanders. Although the 28-year-old wasn't quite as good as he was in the Monday night overtime loss to the Los Angeles Chargers in Week 14, he scored a rushing touchdown for the second straight week and had 20-plus carries for the fifth time in 2025. Barkley has had 20-plus rushing attempts in four of six games since the team's bye, as the Eagles make a point to involve last year's leading rusher more to spark their struggling offense. As long as Barkley is active in Week 16, which he should be, he will be a must-start in all fantasy football lineups against a poor Washington defense.

Friday, September 5, 7:20 PM

Kansas City Chiefs running back Elijah Mitchell is a healthy inactive for the Week 1 regular-season opener on Friday night in Brazil against the division-rival Los Angeles Chargers, according to Nate Taylor of ESPN. It's bad news for Mitchell heading into his first year with the Chiefs, as it looks like he's the RB4 to open the year, behind starter Isiah Pacheco, Kareem Hunt and rookie Brashard Smith. The 27-year-old was getting some first-team reps early in training camp, but that was a long time ago in late July. Mitchell signed a one-year, $2.5 million deal with KC in the offseason after spending his first three NFL seasons with the San Francisco 49ers. In his three years in the Bay Area, the former sixth-rounder in 2021 out of Louisiana averaged 4.7 yards per tote on 327 rush attempts for 1,523 yards and nine touchdowns (five in his rookie season).