Who Should I Start? Sione Vaki or Riley Nowakowski
Week 1 Projections
| Fant. Pts. |
Rush. Yds. |
Rush TD |
Rec. | Rec. Yds. |
Rec TD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2.6 | 12.4 | 0.1 | 0.5 | 3.9 | 0.0 |
Sione Vaki News
Tuesday, September 8, 11:49 AM
Detroit Lions running back Sione Vaki has a little more life as a deep-league stash with Isiah Pacheco on injured reserve. Dan Campbell said Vaki and Jacob Saylors will split the No. 2 role behind Jahmyr Gibbs against New Orleans, so there is no clean handcuff here. Still, Vaki has earned some trust. Campbell liked the progress he made as both a runner and pass catcher during camp and said he is comfortable using him when Gibbs needs a breather. The problem is we have barely seen Vaki on offense in the NFL. He has seven career carries for 18 yards and three catches for 37 yards, while Saylors is going to get work too. Vaki is rostered in only 1% of Yahoo leagues and sits in the 14-team PPR range on the current waiver list. That makes him more of a cheap bench swing than someone to start in Week 1.
Week 1 Projections
| Fant. Pts. |
Rush. Yds. |
Rush TD |
Rec. | Rec. Yds. |
Rec TD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1.4 | 0.4 | 0.0 | 0.6 | 4.7 | 0.0 |
Riley Nowakowski News
Saturday, April 25, 11:23 AM
The Pittsburgh Steelers have selected Indiana tight end prospect Riley Nowakowski with the 169th overall pick in the fifth round of the 2026 NFL Draft. Nowakowski caught 32 passes for 387 yards and two receiving touchdowns in the Hoosiers' national championship-winning offense last year. He also got involved as a fullback, scoring two rushing touchdowns. We could see him take on a similar hybrid fullback/tight end role in Pittsburgh, serving as the team's replacement for Connor Heyward, who signed with the Raiders this offseason. Assuming that's the case, Nowakowski doesn't have a clear path to fantasy relevance. He can be avoided in most fantasy football drafts.
Sione Vaki vs. Riley Nowakowski
Still trying to decide between Vaki and Nowakowski? Check on the latest news to make sure both players are active and healthy. Our PPR projections show that Sione Vaki is projected to score 2.6 points this week while Riley Nowakowski is projected to score 1.4 points.
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