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Will Travis Etienne Jr. start for the New Orleans Saints when he returns? Aidin breaks down the Travis Etienne Jr. return timeline and fantasy football outlook ahead of Week 10.
Travis Etienne Jr. had an outstanding 2025 season, scoring 13 touchdowns from scrimmage and finishing the year as the overall PPR RB10.
That great season led to him receiving a four-year, $52 million contract from the New Orleans Saints in the offseason, and he was supposed to be the missing piece that would take the Saints' offense to the next level. Unfortunately, he looked slightly unimpressive before suffering a hamstring injury and landing on Injured Reserve after Week 3. The Saints have had a very difficult time replacing Etienne in recent weeks, shuffling through multiple options.
Will Etienne be the Saints' starting running back when he returns? Let's dive in.
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Will Travis Etienne Jr. Start For The New Orleans Saints When He Returns?
Although Etienne had a poor start to the year, rushing for 128 yards on 30 carries (4.3 yards per carry), he will almost certainly be the team's RB1 when he makes his return.
Audric Estime go-ahead TD! (He was a Brown earlier this week)
CLEvsNO on CBS/Paramount+
Stream on @NFLPlus https://t.co/BCgkHzAqhJ— NFL (@NFL) November 8, 2026
Aging franchise icon Alvin Kamara has provided a few flashes of his former self, such as a two-touchdown performance in a loss to the Falcons the week following Etienne's injury, but he clearly isn't the player he once used to be.
Kamara hasn't had a game with over 40 rushing yards, and has only had one game with 40+ receiving yards.
This was the last chance for the Saints' injury-prone former third-round pick Kendre Miller to prove himself. Miller couldn't answer the call, putting up a disgusting 2.6 yards per carry in Etienne's absence, forcing the Saints to finally give up on him, as he was waived on November 7.
Rookie UDFA CJ Donaldson ran for 39 yards against the Giants in Week 6, but the team hasn't trusted him enough to give him any snaps since then. Former fantasy darling Zamir White has also logged one carry for one yard.
The Saints decided to bring back Audric Estime ahead of their Week 9 clash against the Browns, which proved to be a wise decision.
Estime ran for 72 yards and a touchdown against Cleveland, and will have an interesting few weeks ahead to fully establish himself in the team's long-term rotation.
Travis Etienne Jr. Fantasy Football Outlook
The Saints didn't pay Etienne $13 million a year by accident. Their rushing attack is the weakest part of their roster, and they feel like they can take control of the NFC South for years to come with an effective running game.
Saints Taking Wait-and-See Approach With Travis Etienne Jr.
https://t.co/92rQKpucaL
— RotoBaller NFL (@RotoBallerNFL) November 11, 2026
Audric Estime's revenge game against the Browns, whom he had been a part of just a few days before the game, was undoubtedly very wholesome and will be one of the "feel-good stories" of the year.
But Estime is clearly not built to be the team's main running back. With a few good games, he could be a solid part of the rotation alongside Kamara and Etienne.
But it's obvious that Etienne will be the leader of the pack. When asked about Etienne's return, Saints head coach Kellen Moore told Luke Johnson of The New Orleans Times-Picayune, "We'll see. He's progressing well. We'll gather some more information and make a decision."
Moore added that the team was "using the time allotted" to let Etienne work with the training staff before making a decision on his return this week.
The Saints are hoping for Etienne to make his return before the team's brutal three-game gauntlet against three championship contenders: the Bears, Bengals, and Packers.
Winning any one of those games could provide a huge boost to their playoff chances ahead of their final five-game stretch, which includes four games against divisional opponents, all of whom could still be in the mix come December and January.
Who Should I Start Tool
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Who Should I Start? Who Should I Sit? Some common Week 10 fantasy football lineup decisions are regarding players like Alvin Kamara, Audric Estime, Quinshon Judkins, Ollie Gordon II, Rico Dowdle. But not to worry, we are here to help make these decisions and build winning lineups in Week 10. Set your optimal fantasy football lineups for Week 10 of the 2026 NFL season. Our free Who Should I Start? tool will help make your fantasy football lineup decisions. Compare up to four NFL players, and we tell you who to start... all free! Get your winning lineups set, and make the right decisions.
Week 10 Player Decisions. Today's focus is on specific players - Alvin Kamara, Audric Estime, Quinshon Judkins, Ollie Gordon II, Rico Dowdle. These are some of the most common searches for fantasy football lineups in Week 10.
Using The Tool. This is a simple tool but very powerful. The first step is to enter the player names that you want to compare. In the first box, search for the first player name. In the second box, search for the second player name. Compare up to four NFL players at once, and then click the Who To Start? button to see who the recommended starts are based on weekly fantasy football matchups.
Improvements For Who Should I Start? You may have noticed that our 'Who Should I Start?' tool has gotten an overhaul. We've added lots of great features for you to give you as much information as possible to win your fantasy football matchups each week. You'll see NFL player tiles with headshots and bye weeks, stats, projections, strength of schedule, players news, and enhanced search results with data to compare with a slick new interface. We hope you enjoy!
How It Works. Each week our RotoBaller staff puts together their weekly fantasy football rankings and projections based on their research. That information is the core data that is powering the decision-making in this tool. When you search for player names, you will only see those players who are ranked. If someone is out for the week, they will not appear in the search results.
Scoring Formats. Fantasy football managers play in various types of leagues, and this tool allows you to choose whether it's PPR scoring, Half-PPR scoring, or Standard (Non-PPR) scoring. The second thing you want to do, is to select the scoring format. There are three small radio buttons (small circle), so click on the scoring format you prefer. The results may vary based on the scoring format you select.
Popular Week 10 Searches. Curious to see some tough lineup decisions for Week 10 (2026)? Below you will find a list of some popular Who Should I Start? searches that RotoBaller readers are looking at this week. Click any of the links to see the result and recommendation.
Popular Week 10 Searches - Start/Sit Player Comparisons
Below are some popular Week 10 searches and comparisons from our 'Who To Start' tool for Alvin Kamara, Audric Estime, Quinshon Judkins, Ollie Gordon II, Rico Dowdle compared to others:
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