Who Should I Start? Saquon Barkley or Kyle Pitts

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.

Tuesday, February 27, 3:16 PM

Atlanta Falcons general manager Terry Fontenot said that the team has a lot of faith in tight end Kyle Pitts now that he's fully healthy. Pitts played in all 17 games last year, but he wasn't fully healthy for much of the season after recovering from an MCL sprain in his right knee that he suffered in Week 11 of 2022. The 23-year-old former first-rounder had a frustrating 53-667-3 line in 2023, but he's already looking like a tight end to target in 2024 fantasy drafts. Not only will Pitts be another year beyond his knee injury, but Jonnu Smith is now gone, and new offensive coordinator Zac Robinson is expected to use Pitts all over the field this year. Pitts will be relatively cheap in drafts, too, so he's shaping up as an excellent value play. However, at the end of the day, how productive Pitts will be could depend on what quarterback Atlanta brings in.