Who Should I Start? Travis Etienne Jr. or Brian Thomas Jr.

Friday, September 4, 7:16 AM

New Orleans Saints running back Travis Etienne Jr. already looked headed for the bigger share of this backfield, and Alvin Kamara's knee injury could give him even more work out of the gate. Kamara was still absent from the portion of Thursday's practice open to the media as he works back from a sprained MCL. Kendre Miller has also been sidelined this week, which only adds to the uncertainty behind Etienne. The 27-year-old handled most of the first-team early-down work before Kamara was hurt, then finished camp healthy while the rest of the room dealt with injuries. Etienne is coming off 1,107 rushing yards and seven touchdowns on 260 carries in Jacksonville, plus 36 catches for 292 yards and six more scores. He now sits at RB15 in the latest PPR rankings. Kamara avoided injured reserve and still has time to make it back for the opener, so this may be a short-term boost rather than a season-long change. For now, Etienne has a clearer path to heavy volume than he did a few weeks ago.