Should I start Alvin Kamara or Dylan Sampson in Week 8?

Where the draft room stands

Live drafts hold no current pick on Alvin Kamara, and the board ranks him 190th overall on the rest of his evidence.

Live drafts hold no current pick on Dylan Sampson, and the board ranks him 192nd overall on the rest of his evidence.

The market-based projections

The market-based projection for Alvin Kamara is 1.8 PPR points a game off 1 market across 1 market source. That is 30 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 Dylan Sampson is 1.7 PPR points a game off 1 market across 1 market source. That is 30 percent of what a running back's projection needs, so it is a fragment of one rather than a projection.

Alvin Kamara's projection is not complete, so the two figures are not set against each other here.

This season so far

Through Week 7, Alvin Kamara has been on the field for 35 percent of NO snaps, taken 28 percent of the carries, drawn 13 percent of the targets and had 16 percent of the red zone chances.

He has taken 4 of the offence's 59 third down targets, had 2 of its 22 chances inside the five and seen 1 of its 23 two minute targets.

His 27 targets have averaged 0.4 air yards.

In Week 5 against MIN he carried 3 times for 12 yards, caught 2 of 2 targets for -6 yards and did not score.

In Week 6 against NYG he carried 7 times for 34 yards, caught 2 of 4 targets for 35 yards and scored 1 touchdown.

In Week 7 against PIT he carried 6 times for 5 yards, caught 7 of 7 targets for 57 yards and did not score.

Through Week 8, Dylan Sampson has been on the field for 46 percent of CLE snaps, taken 16 percent of the carries, drawn 15 percent of the targets and had 6 percent of the red zone chances.

He has taken 2 of the offence's 18 third down targets, had 0 of its 6 chances inside the five and seen 5 of its 19 two minute targets.

His 11 targets have come 0.3 yards behind the line of scrimmage on average.

In Week 7 against TEN he carried 6 times for 45 yards, caught 3 of 3 targets for 32 yards and did not score.

In Week 8 against PIT he carried 1 time for 7 yards, caught 6 of 8 targets for 62 yards and did not score.

Their 2025 seasons

In 2025 Alvin Kamara played 11 games and scored 100.7 PPR points, 9.2 a game, finishing RB46.

He carried 131 times for 471 yards and 1 touchdown, and caught 33 of 39 targets for 186 more yards.

That came to 11.9 carries a game at 3.6 yards a carry and 3.0 catches a game.

He was on the field for 63 percent of the snaps in the games he played.

In 2025 Dylan Sampson played 15 games and scored 87.6 PPR points, 5.8 a game, finishing RB55.

He carried 65 times for 175 yards and 0 touchdowns, and caught 33 of 40 targets for 271 more yards.

That came to 4.3 carries a game at 2.7 yards a carry and 2.2 catches a game.

He was on the field for 25 percent of the snaps in the games he played.

Dylan Sampson was available for 4 games more.

Head to head

In 2025 Alvin Kamara scored 9.2 PPR points a game and Dylan Sampson 5.8, 3.3 a game between them.

Alvin Kamara finished RB46 that year and Dylan Sampson RB55.

Alvin Kamara had 66 more carries than Dylan Sampson, 131 to 65.

Both had 33 catches.

This season Dylan Sampson holds the bigger snap share, 46 percent against 35 percent.

This season Alvin Kamara holds the bigger share of the carries, 28 percent against 16 percent.

Byes and availability

Alvin Kamara is off in Week 8 and Dylan Sampson in Week 11, so either can cover the other's bye.