Who Should I Start? Saquon Barkley or Josh Jacobs

Monday, March 11, 2:57 PM

Free-agent running back Saquon Barkley is signing with the Philadelphia Eagles on a three-year, $37.75 million deal. The deal includes $26 million in guaranteed money and has an additional $9 million available in incentives. After a 2018 rookie season that saw the former Penn State star go for over 2,000 yards from scrimmage and 15 touchdowns, he has struggled to stay healthy over a chunk of the next five years of his career. He missed 21 games from 2019 to 2021. He bounced back in 2022 with 1,312 rushing yards but regressed to 962 yards in 14 games in 2023. However, the Eagles believe in him as a game-changing running back, as his average salary ($12.58 million) ranks only below Christian McCaffrey, Alvin Kamara, and Jonathan Taylor. Although the Eagles' offensive line could take a hit after the retirement of Jason Kelce, Barkley should be playing behind the best offensive line of his career in 2024. He will have an immediate high-end RB1 upside in fantasy football.

Tuesday, May 21, 9:21 PM

Green Bay Packers running back Josh Jacobs (hamstring) is dealing with a hamstring injury, but head coach Matt LaFleur said he won't be out for long. Jacobs was heavily limited during organized team activities on Tuesday. It's not exactly what Packers fans want to hear from their new RB during offseason workouts, but it's still early in the offseason, and Jacobs should be fine for the start of training camp at the end of July as long as he doesn't aggravate the injury. The 26-year-old's absence will give intriguing rookie third-rounder MarShawn Lloyd some more repetitions this week, as well as AJ Dillon, who re-signed this offseason. Jacobs is fully expected to be the Packers' primary RB1 in 2024, but he's most likely going to face much more competition for touches in his new digs than he did in Sin City with the Raiders.