Who Should I Start? Ty Johnson or Dylan Sampson

Saturday, October 4, 6:31 PM

Buffalo Bills running back Ty Johnson continues to play a modest role in the team's backfield rotation, logging between 20% and 33% of offensive snaps in each of the first four games. However, his on-field presence has not translated into meaningful fantasy production, as he's averaging just two carries for 10.8 yards per game. With James Cook III firmly entrenched as the lead back and quarterback Josh Allen consistently handling a share of the rushing workload, Johnson's fantasy value remains minimal. Unless Cook misses time, Johnson offers little more than deep-league or handcuff appeal. Fantasy managers should avoid starting him in Week 5 against a Patriots defense that has allowed the second-fewest rushing yards per game. Johnson's role is simply too limited to warrant consideration outside of the deepest formats.

Saturday, October 4, 10:15 AM

Cleveland Browns running back Dylan Sampson has seen his role shrink since a solid debut in Week 1. The rookie will now head to London to take on the Minnesota Vikings in Week 5. In theory, Sampson draws a decent matchup against a Minnesota defense that is allowing the 14th-most fantasy points per game to opposing running backs, but Cleveland has been giving almost all of the running-back work to Quinshon Judkins over the past two games, which has crushed the fantasy value of Sampson and Jerome Ford. Sampson is hard to trust in fantasy until the Browns show more of a commitment to getting him the ball, so managers should leave him on the bench in Week 5.