Should I start Alvin Kamara or Kimani Vidal in Week 9?

Where the draft room stands

Live drafts hold no current pick on Alvin Kamara, and the board ranks him 189th overall on the rest of his evidence.

Live drafts hold no current pick on Kimani Vidal, and the board ranks him 194th 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 Kimani Vidal is 1.4 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, Kimani Vidal has been on the field for 27 percent of LAC snaps, taken 15 percent of the carries, drawn 7 percent of the targets and had 8 percent of the red zone chances.

He has taken 3 of the offence's 68 third down targets, had 0 of its 7 chances inside the five and seen 3 of its 28 two minute targets.

His 14 targets have averaged 0.0 air yards.

In Week 5 against DEN he carried 8 times for 57 yards, caught 1 of 2 targets for -1 yards and scored 1 touchdown.

In Week 6 against KC he carried 7 times for 21 yards, caught 3 of 4 targets for 19 yards and did not score.

In Week 8 against LAR he carried 8 times for 23 yards, caught 2 of 2 targets for 7 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 Kimani Vidal played 13 games and scored 117.9 PPR points, 9.1 a game, finishing RB42.

He carried 155 times for 643 yards and 3 touchdowns, and caught 16 of 22 targets for 136 more yards.

That came to 11.9 carries a game at 4.1 yards a carry and 1.2 catches a game.

He was on the field for 58 percent of the snaps in the games he played.

Kimani Vidal was available for 2 games more.

Head to head

In 2025 Alvin Kamara scored 9.2 PPR points a game and Kimani Vidal 9.1, 0.1 a game between them.

Alvin Kamara finished RB46 that year and Kimani Vidal RB42.

Kimani Vidal had 24 more carries than Alvin Kamara, 155 to 131.

Alvin Kamara had 17 more catches than Kimani Vidal, 33 to 16.

This season Alvin Kamara holds the bigger snap share, 35 percent against 27 percent.

This season Alvin Kamara holds the bigger share of the carries, 28 percent against 15 percent.

Byes and availability

Alvin Kamara is off in Week 8 and Kimani Vidal in Week 7, so either can cover the other's bye.