Bijan Robinson and Travis Etienne are two of the NFL’s most talented young running backs. Both running backs were first-round picks in the NFL Draft in the past few years. More importantly, Robinson and Etienne have been fantasy football stars this season. While both backs are excellent players, which one should you start in Week 4?
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Bijan Robinson’s Fantasy Outlook This Week
Robinson has been an outstanding player through the first three games of his rookie season. The former Longhorn has averaged 5.5 yards per rushing attempt. He ranks in the top five for that statistic among running backs with at least 30 rushing attempts this year.
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So far, he is the RB9, averaging 14.8 half-PPR fantasy points per game. He has 39 rushing attempts for 213 yards and zero touchdowns this season.
Furthermore, the rookie has played a significant role in the passing game for the Atlanta Falcons. Robinson leads the team in receptions (14), targets (17), and targets per route run rate (21.3%). However, he is coming off his worst performance this season, totaling only eight half-PPR fantasy points last week against the Detroit Lions.
Unfortunately, he has another difficult matchup in Week 4. The Jacksonville Jaguars have held running backs to just 14.7 fantasy points per game, the 10th-fewest in the NFL. Furthermore, the Jaguars have surrendered only one rushing touchdown and 3.1 yards per rushing attempt to running backs this season.
Travis Etienne’s Fantasy Outlook This Week
Some were afraid to draft Etienne this year after the Jaguars added Tank Bigsby and D’Ernest Johnson to the backfield this offseason.
However, they have combined for 14 rushing attempts for 33 yards and 16.3 half-point PPR fantasy points. Meanwhile, Etienne has scored 15.8 or more fantasy points in two of three games this year, including last week against the Houston Texans.
The former Clemson Tiger is the RB13, averaging 13.3 fantasy points per game. He has 49 rushing attempts for 205 yards and one touchdown this year.
The third-year running back has accounted for 77.8% of the team’s backfield rushing attempts, 86.1% of the rushing yards, 70.6% of the targets, and 84% of the receiving yards this season. Furthermore, Etienne has played at least 71% of the snaps in every contest this year.
After an easy matchup in Week 3 against the Texans, Etienne has a challenging one this week. The Atlanta Falcons have surrendered only 12.2 fantasy points per game to running backs, the fifth-fewest in the NFL.
They haven’t given up a single touchdown to opposing running backs. However, Atlanta has surrendered over 100.3 rushing yards per game to running backs this year, giving up over 100 yards twice.
Which Running Back Should You Start?
These two star running backs face off this week in London. While both players have a difficult matchup on paper, Robinson and Etienne are two of the few running backs in the NFL with elite potential.
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Both players have scored at least 15.8 fantasy points in two games this season. While they scored under 8.1 fantasy points in the other contest, even superstar players have bad performances.
Therefore, fantasy players should feel confident starting either running back. Both players are top-10 options in Week 4.
Ultimately, Robinson is the slightly better starting option over Etienne. Even with a near 50-50 backfield split with Tyler Allgeier and seven fewer touches than the Jaguars’ back, Robinson has more rushing yards and fantasy points than him.