Who Should I Start? Travis Etienne or Jonathan Taylor

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.

Friday, May 24, 1:07 PM

Indianapolis Colts running back Jonathan Taylor has been getting valuable repetitions during organized team activities this week with second-year quarterback Anthony Richardson. Last year at this time, Taylor and Richardson didn't practice together in the offseason because Taylor was hurt and in a contract dispute. When he returned in Week 5, Taylor played with Richardson for two snaps before Richardson suffered a season-ending shoulder injury. Taylor missed seven games in 2023 due to ankle and thumb injuries but ended the year with season-highs in carries (30) and rushing yards (188), including a 48-yard touchdown run. The 25-year-old should be a lock for 1,000 rushing yards in 2024 if he's healthy, and his ceiling will be pretty high if Richardson remains healthy all years as well, although the dynamic QB could vulture plenty of TDs at the goal line.