Fantasy Football Running Back Rankings: Tyrone Tracy Jr. Vs. Jaylen Warren

We’ve already covered the top-10 fantasy running backs so we're going to dive a little bit deeper today and compare two running backs who are in similar situations at similar ADPs. Both Tyrone Tracy Jr. and Jaylen Warren are fighting off rookies who are coming for their jobs, but we can only draft one of them in this thought exercise. Let’s dig in and decide who.

Dec 29, 2024; East Rutherford, New Jersey, USA; New York Giants running back Tyrone Tracy Jr. (29) carries the ball during the first half against the Indianapolis Colts at MetLife Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images | Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images

While the early-round either-or draft decisions can seem like the most stressful for fantasy football managers, it’s actually mid-round decisions that can take you from a middle-of-the-pack team to a league-winning team. 

We’ve already covered the top-10 fantasy running backs so we’re going to dive a little bit deeper today and compare two running backs who are in similar situations at similar ADPs. Both Tyrone Tracy Jr. and Jaylen Warren are fighting off rookies who are coming for their jobs, but we can only draft one of them in this thought exercise. Let’s dig in and decide who.

RB Tyrone Tracy Jr., New York Giants

Currently ranked as RB27 in our preseason rankings, Tyrone Tracy Jr. had a solid rookie season during which he put up 839 rushing yards, 284 receiving yards, and a combined six touchdowns. While Tracy did some good stuff last year (including three games with 100-plus rushing yards), he also had five fumbles and doesn’t have a stranglehold on the starting running back job for the Giants as they added Cam Skattebo to the mix in the fourth round of the 2025 draft. 

The most likely scenario here is that Tracy begins the year on the better side of a 70-30 split with Skattebo. Where things go from there, however, depends on what Tracy does with his opportunities and how Skattebo looks in his limited touches. Tracy will have somewhat of a high floor because he can catch the ball (he caught 38 balls on 53 targets for 284 receiving yards in 2024), so he should maintain flex value even if Skattebo comes on as the season progresses.

RB Jaylen Warren, Pittsburgh Steelers

Fantasy managers have been waiting for Warren to get an opportunity to shine since he was splitting the Steelers backfield with Najee Harris, but they’ll have to keep waiting longer as Pittsburgh invested a third round pick in Kaleb Johnson to replace Harris. Warren didn’t see more than 14 carries in a game last season with Harris in the fold, and never put up more than 71 rushing yards in a game all season.

While his rushing upside is seemingly capped, Warren brings a pass-catching element to the fold that should keep his fantasy floor high. He put up 38 receptions on 47 targets for 310 receiving yards last season, and should figure to maintain a similar role in the worst-case scenario of Johnson stealing early-down work. Currently ranked as RB29 in our preseason rankings, Warren is likely to have very similar fantasy production as he did in 2024.

The Verdict

It’s actually pretty amazing how similar Tracy and Warren’s situations are heading into 2025, but I’m going with Tracy if given the binary decision. While the two players had almost exactly the same receiving output last year (which protects their high floor this season), Tracy has more upside as he has a clearer path to claiming the lion’s share of his team’s carries. The likeliest scenario is that both players return fantasy value in the RB25-35 range, but there’s there’s a more likely world in which Tracy finishes as a top-20 fantasy running back.