Who Should I Start? Sione Vaki or Audric Estime

Sunday, August 17, 10:00 AM

Detroit Lions running back Sione Vaki rushed for 30 yards on five carries in his 2025 preseason debut against the Miami Dolphins on Saturday. Vaki has been dealing with a lingering hamstring injury throughout training camp, but he returned to practice in full earlier this week. The second-year back is "showing good vision and wiggle," according to Colton Pouncy of The Athletic. A fourth-round pick out of Utah in 2024, Vaki is competing with veteran Craig Reynolds for the RB3 job in Detroit behind Jahmyr Gibbs and David Montgomery. Vaki is still new to the running back position after playing mostly as a safety in college, so his development could take longer than the average young player. With Gibbs and Montgomery ahead of him on the depth chart, Vaki is highly unlikely to be fantasy-relevant in 2025.

Wednesday, August 27, 5:32 PM

The Philadelphia Eagles signed former Denver Broncos running back Audric Estime to their practice squad on Wednesday, sources told Jordan Schultz of FOX Sports. Estime was on the open market after failing to make the Broncos' 53-man roster in a backfield that includes rookie RJ Harvey, veteran J.K. Dobbins, Jaleel McLaughlin and Tyler Badie. In Philadelphia, he'll start on the practice squad for the reigning Super Bowl champions while providing depth behind Saquon Barkley, Will Shipley and AJ Dillon. He's still very young at 21 years old and was selected in the fifth round (147th overall) last year out of Notre Dame. Estime got a little bit of run in his first NFL season with Denver, carrying the ball 76 times for 310 yards (4.1 yards per carry) and two touchdowns in 13 regular-season games (one start). He can be avoided in all fantasy leagues for now.