Bijan Robinson or Jonathan Taylor: Which star RB can perform better in Fantasy Football Week 9?

If you played your cards right in the draft or in trades, you might have both Jonathan Taylor and Bijan Robinson on your fantasy team. That's a pretty strong running back duo, with one being an electric rookie and another an established star finally rounding into form. For Week 9, which one will be a better choice?

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Bijan Robinson fantasy outlook

Bijan Robinson has been one of the most curious fantasy football experiences this year. He's been absolutely dynamic when touching the ball, but he doesn't get the ball as much as an eighth overall pick probably should.

The Atlanta Falcons seem to operate on a bit of a running back by committee at times, which doesn't make a lot of sense. Tyler Allgeier is good, but he's not Robinson.

Arthur Smith does not care about anyone's fantasy team (nor does any NFL coach, but Smith has professed as much publicly). He's not interested in force feeding Robinson because he was a top fantasy pick.

That is the reality, but it can't be ignored. It's hard to know what Robinson's workload will look like on a given day. He's always capable of doing the most with whatever he gets, but usage matters a lot here.

The likelihood is, you don't have great alternative options for Robinson. You're going to have to start him this week and hope Smith gives him the ball. Unfortunately, he doesn't have a good matchup this week.

What's Bijan Robinson's outlook?

The Minnesota Vikings have given up the sixth-fewest points to running backs this year. The Falcons will probably run the ball a lot as that's their strength, but it doesn't look like there's going to be a whole lot of success.

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Jonathan Taylor fantasy outlook

Jonathan Taylor is back and looks just as good as ever, there's just one problem. Zack Moss continues to get carries. Despite Taylor being the newly extended, expensive star back, Moss has almost split touches with him. It's largely due to the multi-week absence for Taylor at the start, but Moss is currently the RB4 in ESPN PPR leagues.

The Indianapolis Colts insist on feeding both backs. The silver lining is that that doesn't mean Taylor won't get carries. He and Moss will both get plenty of action, so they're both worth starting at this point. Moss will cut into Taylor's potential production, and that can't be ignored.

If you drafted Taylor, it was all about this part of the season. He's extended and therefore willing to play, and he's healthy, too. Now's when he's supposed to kick into your lineup and make a big difference.

Honestly, both he and Moss should be starting this week. They face the Carolina Panthers at home, and the Panthers' run defense has been abysmal. Even with a pretty solid defensive game last week, the Panthers are 31st against running backs this year. That's a tremendous matchup, one you should exploit for fantasy football.