Who Should I Start? Travis Etienne or Antonio Gibson

Thursday, May 23, 6:23 PM

For the second straight season, the Jacksonville Jaguars plan to ease running back Travis Etienne Jr.'s workload in 2024. Despite similar plans last year, Etienne actually had a bigger workload in 2023 than he did in 2022, and head coach Doug Pederson doesn't want to repeat that. "We talked about this as a staff and myself, making sure Tank Bigsby gets opportunities to get out there and take some of the pounding off of Travis," head coach Doug Pederson said. Etienne took over as the top back in 2022 by mid-October and accounted for 61% of the RB carries and 60% of the RB touches. Last year, he had 75% of the RB carries and 76% of the RB touches. Bigsby never quite earned the trust of the coaches for a bigger role in 2023, but that figures to change this year. Etienne missed his rookie year with a Lisfranc foot injury but has since established himself as a top back in the NFL. However, his ceiling as an RB1 in fantasy in 2024 could be tough to come by.

Tuesday, July 23, 7:04 PM

New England Patriots running back Antonio Gibson (undisclosed) was placed on the active/NFI list to start training camp. The 26-year-old was added to the Patriots backfield as a depth piece and potential third-down running back. Gibson has been relatively durable throughout his career. He has played in at least 15 games in three straight seasons. Players are often placed on the NFI list during training camp, so this could turn out to be nothing, but it is worth monitoring. Gibson had a career-low in carries (65), rushing yards (265), and rushing touchdowns (1) in 2023 as he ceded the starting running back job to Brian Robinson Jr. Gibson is joining a Patriots team amid a considerable rebuild, especially on offense. Gibson's skills as a pass-catcher should come in handy in 2024, but the presence of incumbent Rhamondre Stevenson will likely once again limit Gibson's rushing upside. Generally, running backs on bad offense perform poorly for fantasy, so it may be best to look in another direction as you build out RB depth during your draft.