Should I start Aaron Jones Sr. or Kenny Gainwell in Week 9?

Where the draft room stands

Live drafts hold no current pick on Aaron Jones Sr., and the board ranks him 57th overall on the rest of his evidence.

Live drafts hold no current pick on Kenny Gainwell, and the board ranks him 152nd overall on the rest of his evidence.

The market-based projections

The market has Aaron Jones Sr. at 8.4 PPR points a game off 2 markets across 8 market sources. That is 70 percent of what a running back's projection needs, so it is a fragment of one rather than a projection.

The market-based projection for Kenny Gainwell is 1.4 PPR points a game off 1 market across 9 market sources. That is 30 percent of what a running back's projection needs, so it is a fragment of one rather than a projection.

Aaron Jones Sr.'s projection is not complete, so the two figures are not set against each other here.

This season through Week 8

Through Week 8, Aaron Jones Sr. has been on the field for 32 percent of MIN snaps, taken 30 percent of the carries, drawn 6 percent of the targets and had 20 percent of the red zone chances.

He has taken 0 of the offence's 17 third down targets, had 0 of its 2 chances inside the five and seen 0 of its 2 two minute targets.

His 3 targets have come 0.3 yards behind the line of scrimmage on average.

In Week 7 against IND he carried 8 times for 26 yards, caught 1 of 1 target for 0 yards and did not score.

In Week 8 against DET he carried 5 times for 22 yards, caught 2 of 2 targets for 18 yards and did not score.

Through Week 8, Kenny Gainwell has been on the field for 37 percent of TB snaps, taken 22 percent of the carries, drawn 9 percent of the targets and had 8 percent of the red zone chances.

He has taken 7 of the offence's 60 third down targets, had 0 of its 14 chances inside the five and seen 5 of its 44 two minute targets.

His 18 targets have come 2.4 yards behind the line of scrimmage on average.

In Week 6 against PIT he carried 2 times for 17 yards, caught 1 of 1 target for 7 yards and did not score.

In Week 7 against CAR he carried 14 times for 88 yards and did not score.

In Week 8 against ATL he carried 25 times for 140 yards, caught 0 of 1 target for 0 yards and did not score.

Their 2025 seasons

In 2025 Aaron Jones Sr. played 12 games and scored 118.7 PPR points, 9.9 a game, finishing RB41.

He carried 132 times for 548 yards and 2 touchdowns, and caught 28 of 41 targets for 199 more yards.

That came to 11.0 carries a game at 4.2 yards a carry and 2.3 catches a game.

He was on the field for 55 percent of the snaps in the games he played.

In 2025 Kenny Gainwell played 17 games and scored 222.3 PPR points, 13.1 a game, finishing RB16.

He carried 114 times for 537 yards and 5 touchdowns, and caught 73 of 85 targets for 486 more yards.

That came to 6.7 carries a game at 4.7 yards a carry and 4.3 catches a game.

He was on the field for 49 percent of the snaps in the games he played.

Kenny Gainwell was available for 5 games more.

Head to head

In 2025 Kenny Gainwell scored 13.1 PPR points a game and Aaron Jones Sr. 9.9, 3.2 a game between them.

Aaron Jones Sr. finished RB41 that year and Kenny Gainwell RB16.

Aaron Jones Sr. had 18 more carries than Kenny Gainwell, 132 to 114.

Kenny Gainwell had 45 more catches than Aaron Jones Sr., 73 to 28.

This season Kenny Gainwell holds the bigger snap share, 37 percent against 32 percent.

This season Aaron Jones Sr. holds the bigger share of the carries, 30 percent against 22 percent.

Byes and availability

Aaron Jones Sr. is off in Week 6 and Kenny Gainwell in Week 10, so either can cover the other's bye.