Who Should I Start? Travis Etienne Jr. or Tahj Brooks

Sunday, November 23, 8:53 PM

Jacksonville Jaguars running back Travis Etienne Jr. rushed for 86 yards on 15 carries during Sunday's Week 12 victory over the Arizona Cardinals. He also caught three of his four targets for 30 receiving yards and a touchdown. After a bit of a lull earlier in the season, Etienne has bounced back as a highly effective RB1 in fantasy football ever since his bye week. In four games since the bye, he has 301 rushing yards, 80 receiving yards, and four touchdowns while ranking as the overall RB6 in PPR leagues during that span. Unlike last week, Etienne was able to fend off a strong game from backfield-mate Bhayshul Tuten this Sunday. It appears as though Etienne still has a firm grasp on the lead-back role in Jacksonville, keeping him in the top-10 range for next week's matchup against a struggling Tennessee Titans run defense.

Monday, November 24, 1:36 PM

Cincinnati Bengals head coach Zac Taylor has ruled out rookie running back Tahj Brooks (concussion) for this Thursday's Thanksgiving Day game against the division-rival Baltimore Ravens in Week 13, according to Jay Morrison of SI.com. Brooks suffered a concussion in Sunday's loss to the New England Patriots, and on a short week, the 23-year-old won't be able to clear the league's concussion protocol. Veteran Samaje Perine (ankle) has missed the last two games due to injury and might not be available this week, either, so the Bengals' backfield could be extremely thin behind Chase Brown this week versus Baltimore. If Perine ends up missing a third straight game, expect Gary Brightwell to operate as Cincy's RB2 behind Brown on Turkey Day. Brooks has only nine rushing attempts in 11 games this year for 28 rushing yards.