Austin Ekeler or Jonathan Taylor
Who Should I Start? - Week 2
Can't Decide? Leave it up to the Fantasy Gods
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Experts' Pick | |||
RB - IND  vs. MIN, Sun 1pm EDT |
RB - LAC  vs. KC, Sun 4pm EDT |
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Expert |
93% Recommended by 158 of 169 experts |
7% Recommended by 11 of 169 experts |
Add Player |
| Most Accurate Experts | |||
| Top ExpertsTop RB ExpertsTop Player Experts |  See who the Most Accurate Experts would startUpgrade Now | ||
| Rankings | |||
| ECR | # 8 | # 14 | - |
| Best Rank | # 3 | # 7 | - |
| Worst Rank | # 24 | # 24 | - |
| Matchup | |||
| Opponent | vs. MIN | vs. KC | - |
| Matchup Rating | This is a 2 star matchup. RBs perform close to their average vs MIN | This is a 4 star matchup. RBs perform better than their average vs KC | - |
| Stats Allowed | |||
| Rush Att | 36 | 33 | |
| Rush Yds | 154.5 | 150.5 | |
| Rush TD | 1 | 1.5 | |
| Fantasy Points | |||
| Season Total | 8.9 | 23.5 | - |
| Avg Game | 8.9 | 11.8 | - |
| Avg Projection | 13.3 | 11.6 | - |
| Week 1 | 8.9 | 8.7 | - |
| Misc | |||
| Injury Alert | ‐ | ‐ | - |
| Weather | Indoor | 64 F, Mostly Cloudy | - |
| Expert Ranks | |||
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Jonathan Taylor | Austin Ekeler | Add Player |
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RB - IND | RB - LAC | |
| 2020 Schedule | ||
| Week 1 | at JAC 9 rush, 22 yds, 0 td 6 tar, 6 rec, 67 yds, 0 td | at CIN 19 rush, 84 yds, 0 td 1 tar, 1 rec, 3 yds, 0 td |
| Week 2 | vs. MIN | vs. KC |
| Week 3 | vs. NYJ | vs. CAR |
| Week 4 | at CHI | at TB |
| Week 5 | at CLE | at NO |
| Week 6 | vs. CIN | vs. NYJ |
| Week 7 | BYE WEEK | at MIA |
| Week 8 | at DET | vs. JAC |
| Week 9 | vs. BAL | vs. LV |
| Week 10 | at TEN | BYE WEEK |
| Week 11 | vs. GB | at DEN |
| Week 12 | vs. TEN | at BUF |
| Week 13 | at HOU | vs. NE |
| Week 14 | at LV | vs. ATL |
| Week 15 | vs. HOU | at LV |
| Week 16 | at PIT | vs. DEN |
| Week 17 | vs. JAC | at KC |
RB - IND vs. MIN, Sun 1pm EDT |
RB - LAC vs. KC, Sun 4pm EDT |
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| Rushing | ||
| Rush Attempts | 14.9 | 11.0 |
| Rush Yards | 68.0 | 52.5 |
| Rush TDs | 0.6 | 0.2 |
| Receiving | ||
| Receptions | 2.8 | 4.0 |
| Rec Yards | 25.8 | 38.4 |
| Rec TDs | 0.1 | 0.2 |
| Points | ||
| Fantasy Points | 13.3 | 11.6 |
RB - IND | RB - LAC | |
| 2020 Points | ||
| Week 1 | 8.9 | 8.7 |
| Week 2 | ‐ | 14.8 |
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| Total | 8.9 | 23.5 |
| Average | 8.9 | 11.8 |
RB - IND | RB - LAC | |
| 2020 Targets | ||
| Week 1 | 6 | 1 |
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RB - IND vs. MIN, Sun 1pm EDT |
RB - LAC vs. KC, Sun 4pm EDT |
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| Expert | ||
| Kevin Wheeler Draftwize | Taylor had nine carries for 22 yards, hauling in all six of his targets for 67 yards last week. Mack had 4 carries and 3 targets before he left so we may not want to bump up Taylors opportunities to bell-cow status quite yet. | |
| Isaiah Sirois FantasyPros | Jonathan Taylor is a great upside pick against Minnesota this week. The Vikings just surrendered 158 rushing yards and a score to the Packers, and as Indianapolis' lead back, Taylor looks like a high-end RB2. The Colts have one of the best offensive lines in the league, as PFF ranked them first, so I would play Taylor with confidence here. | Austin Ekeler did not see the passing-game usage that we expected him to get in Week 2. While that's a troubling development and caps his upside, you should start him with confidence against the Chiefs. They have an atrocious rushing defense, and FootballOutsiders ranked them 31st against the run in Week 1. Look for Ekeler to rebound slightly despite the game script. |
| Jacob Wayne Lineups | If you drafted Jonathan Taylor early, things could not be off to a better start for you. Marlon Mack's unfortunate Achilles injury leaves Taylor as the clear-cut first and second-down back behind an elite offensive line. Nyheim Hines will still see heavy involvement on third down, but Taylor caught 6 passes for 67 yards last week as Philip Rivers is addicted to throwing to his running backs. The Vikings allowed Aaron Jones to have an awesome Week 1 and Taylor could see as many as 20 touches in this matchup. He's a borderline top-five guy this week and is a locked-and-loaded RB1 for the foreseeable future. | While Austin Ekeler only had one catch in Week 1, I expect him to be more involved in the passing game moving forward. Ekeler is a superb talent and he can take advantage of a Chiefs' defense that allowed David Johnson to have a very good game in Week 1. Given the potential for the Chargers to be trailing in this game, Ekeler should see more targets, but either way, he's a high-end RB2 given the starting role and his talent. |
| Kyle Yates FantasyPros | Taylor is now deemed the starter with Mack's season-ending injury. He could easily see 17-20 touches in this matchup and he should become the player that we expect to see at the NFL level sooner than later. JT can be rolled out as a safe RB2 this week. | Ekeler is still an every week start even though he hasn't been as involved so far this season as a receiver. He's still seeing a ton of work on the ground and Taylor's going to need him this week if they are indeed playing from behind. He's a solid RB2. |
| Mike Tagliere FantasyPros | After getting word that Marlon Mack is out for the season, these two running backs are going to be major factors in fantasy moving forward. Some will say that Hines only has a big role due to Mack's injury, but that's not true, as he was splitting reps with Mack while Taylor was the clear No. 3 running back. Taylor didn't have a touch in the first quarter and didn't get on the field until Mack was hurt. It may have been to ease the rookie in, but Hines certainly had a big role. With the way Rivers operates, this could very easily be a Melvin Gordon/Austin Ekeler-type backfield. The Vikings have allowed a stable 4.43 yards per carry over their last 17 games, so they're not the elite run-stopping defense that everyone remembers. There were five different running backs who crossed the 100-rushing-yard threshold against them last year. The refreshing part of Taylor's performance that was just two-and-a-half quarters was that he saw six targets and caught all of them for 67 yards. That's not going to be an every-week thing, but it's good to know he'll be used in that fashion, even in a game that has a neutral gamescript. With the issues the Vikings have in their secondary right now, they can't afford to focus too much energy on stopping the run. Start Taylor as a high-end RB2 who should net 15-plus touches. | It was not what Ekeler owners had hoped for in his first game alongside Tyrod Taylor. Sure, he got 19 carries that amounted to 84 yards, but he saw just one target. That's an issue, especially when you see that Kelley got the lone carry inside the five-yard-line. After the game, Anthony Lynn said it's a priority to get Ekeler more involved. Expect a big bounce-back this week against the Chiefs, who allowed the most receiving yards to running backs last year. They allowed a massive 59.4 yards per game through the air to running backs while no other team allowed more than 55.7 per game. It's not just that, either. They allowed the sixth-most fantasy points per opportunity to running backs, so touches mean everything. And guys, let's not pretend that 19 carries for 84 yards isn't impressive, as that was the eighth-most among running backs in Week 1. Start Ekeler as an RB1 and expect big results. Kelley is a bit tougher to place this week, as he looked good on his 12 carries last week, but that was a neutral gamescript where they ran the ball 33 times with the running backs. Against the Chiefs, that won't happen. Opponents averaged just 22.3 carries per game against them in 2019. Still, if they get into a goal-line situation, it seems Kelley will be the guy. Seeing that Justin Jackson is dealing with an injury, we should still get 8-10 carries out of Kelley. Consider him a touchdown-dependent RB4. |
| Derek Lofland FantasyPros | The Vikings were 24th against fantasy running backs last week as the Packers torched them at home. They should be better than that most weeks, but Taylor has a great opportunity with Marlon Mack lost for the year. Taylor should be a solid RB2 with upside. | Ekeler lost some carries to Joshua Kelley in the opener, but he should still have a big enough role to be a RB2 against a suspect Chiefs run defense. |
