Who Should I Start? Travis Etienne or Zamir White

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.

Monday, July 8, 2:19 PM

Las Vegas Raiders running back Zamir White stepped up last season and is in great shape heading into the 2024 season, but he will have to prove it to the coaching staff again this year and to new general manager Tom Telesco. The Raiders lost Josh Jacobs in free agency but brought in Alexander Mattison because of his fit to the new offense. The Athletic's Vic Tafur also writes that the Raiders could add another running back if either White or Mattison get off to a slow start in training camp this summer. The 24-year-old White is expected to open the season as Vegas' lead back, with Mattison filling a complementary role ahead of RB3 Ameer Abdullah. As long as he doesn't fall flat in training camp and the preseason, fantasy managers should view White as a low-end RB2/high-end RB3 as he takes on an expanded role with Jacobs out of the picture.