Los Angeles Chargers running back Austin Ekeler and Yahoo Sports’ Fantasy Analyst Matt Harmon discuss arguably the hottest topic in fantasy football heading into week 9. Why don’t the Cowboys give the bulk of the RB reps to Tony Pollard? Austin gives his NFL running back insight, and shares what he believes is the best course of action for Dallas moving forward. Catch fresh episodes of Ekeler’s Edge every Wednesday on Yahoo Sports and your favorite social media platforms. Listen to Ekeler’s Edge on the Yahoo Fantasy Football Forecast wherever you get podcasts.

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AUSTIN EKELER: But I was a fan of Tony Pollard too. I drafted him in a couple of my leagues.

MATT HARMON: Oh nice.

AUSTIN EKELER: Earlier on, earlier on. Because I knew, like, this guy, he's emerging. He reminded me of myself, right? He's going to be one of those guys that makes an impact.

[LIGHTNING STRIKING]

MATT HARMON: I did want to pick your brain about what's probably the biggest, buzziest topic in the Fantasy Football world after Tony Pollard's, like, eruption performance against the Chicago Bears because this has sort of been a debate that's been brewing for years. Like, is Tony Pollard better than Ezekiel Elliott? Because you know this in fantasy football, everybody always loves the backup running back.

Everybody always wants to know who the backup running back is. But Pollard goes out there without Zeke Elliott and really dices up the Chicago Bears. And I've usually been one, Austin, to kind of defend Zeke as like a grinder back and a guy who's really good in pass protection. But I'm curious as to your thoughts about how good is Tony Pollard and like the kind of the tandem that they have there?

AUSTIN EKELER: Yeah, I think Tony could definitely start on most teams. If he was competing in a room, he'd probably be starting in a lot of places. That's become more apparent lately as he's been getting a little bit more reps, getting a little bit older, but he's had that tandem with Zeke. And in my opinion, I feel like that's one of the best situations to be in as a running back because not only it allows you to save your body, but you feel fresh at the end of the year.

And guess what. Now you have a different flow of backs that go in and you're different from whoever you're paired up with. Similar to me and Melvin. And so I think there's things that add to your game and help you be more successful when you have a tandem like that.

But you know, Zeke, you know, he's got that massive contract. You cannot get away from that. So you know that plays a factor within, him getting his playing time. And it's been his spot for a while. And he's been doing his thing and he's been playing consistent. Obviously, he got a little banged up.

And so that's another benefit. Not to, I guess, to Zeke, but to the team, right? Is to have two backs that can get it done, right? Especially at our position because we do get banged up so much compared to other positions.

To me I feel like they're both the starters. Like, whoever goes out there first, like, I feel like that really doesn't matter because they're both going to get their touches, right? They're both very efficient with the ball and have their own playmaking ability. And if Zeke's still balling, Zeke's still healthy, they're going to find a way to get Tony on the field to try to put the ball in his hands, whether it's in the slot, whether it's in the backfield. So I'm definitely a fan.

MATT HARMON: Yeah, I feel like we'll see more and more of Tony Pollard as the season goes on. I've always kind of felt like maybe he doesn't bring this, like, in between the tackles juice that we see from, like, Zeke Elliott stuff, like that. But man, against Chicago Bears, like, he was bringing juice in between the tackles and ripping big plays there as well. So I think we'll see more of Tony Pollard. It's a good draft pick by you and a really good running back tandem by the Dallas Cowboys there.

[LIGHTNING STRIKING]

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