Who Should I Start? Travis Etienne or Dameon Pierce

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.

Saturday, July 20, 1:20 PM

Houston Texans running back Dameon Pierce, who will enter the 2024 season as the backup to new lead back Joe Mixon, has looked good early on in training camp. Pierce was more decisive on his runs on the first day of camp on Saturday and could form a strong 1-2 punch with Mixon if he continues to look this good once the pads go on and to open the regular season. The 24-year-old former fourth-round pick in 2022 out of Florida nearly ran for 1,000 yards in just 13 games in his rookie season in 2022 before disappointing in his sophomore year in 2023 and losing the starting job to Devin Singletary. Pierce could excel with Houston moving to an outside-zone scheme, but as long as Mixon stays healthy, he probably won't be anything more than a handcuff option in fantasy leagues.