Who Should I Start? Christian McCaffrey or Travis Etienne

Monday, February 12, 1:25 AM

Predictably, San Francisco 49ers running back Christian McCaffrey was heavily involved in the team's 25-22 Super Bowl LVIII loss to the Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday. The newly-minted Offensive Player of the Year took 22 carries for 80 yards, plus eight receptions on as many targets for another 80 yards and a touchdown. The 21-yard touchdown reception improbably came from wide receiver Jauan Jennings on a trick play. It's hard to blame McCaffrey for the loss after 160 all-purpose yards, but besides the touchdown he was pretty well bottled up by Kansas City's defense, averaging just 3.6 yards on the ground while not gaining any chunks longer than 11 yards. CMC will once again enter 2024 fantasy drafts worthy of consideration for the No. 1 overall pick.

Sunday, April 28, 1:02 PM

Jacksonville Jaguars general manager Trent Baalke said on Saturday that the team is picking up the fifth-year option for quarterback Trevor Lawrence and running back Travis Etienne Jr. It's no surprise that the Jags will pick up the options for the former Clemson teammates with the deadline to do so coming next Thursday. The 24-year-old Lawrence has been given even more weapons in Gabe Davis and rookie Brian Thomas after Calvin Ridley left in free agency this offseason. Injuries hurt Lawrence in the second half of 2023, and with better health in 2024, he could easily rebound as a strong midrange QB1 for fantasy. Etienne has rushed for 1,000 yards in each of his first two NFL seasons while also catching 93 total passes for 792 yards. Tank Bigsby could be a thorn in his side as he gets more involved in the backfield, but Etienne is still an attractive fantasy RB in an offense that could be even more explosive this year.