Should I start Alvin Kamara or Omar Cooper Jr. in Week 9?

Where the draft room stands

Live drafts hold no current pick on Alvin Kamara, and the board ranks him 146th overall on the rest of his evidence.

Live drafts hold no current pick on Omar Cooper Jr., and the board ranks him 147th overall on the rest of his evidence.

The market-based projections

The market-based projection for Alvin Kamara is 2.5 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 has Omar Cooper Jr. at 1.4 PPR points a game off 1 market across 1 market source. That is 30 percent of what a wide receiver'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, Omar Cooper Jr. has been on the field for 72 percent of NYJ snaps, drawn 8 percent of the targets and had 4 percent of the red zone chances.

He has taken 2 of the offence's 18 third down targets, had 1 of its 6 chances inside the five and seen 0 of its 3 two minute targets.

His 5 targets have averaged 10.2 air yards.

In Week 7 against MIA he caught 5 of 5 targets for 115 yards and scored 1 touchdown.

In Week 8 against LV he was not given the ball.

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.

Omar Cooper Jr. is a rookie, so there is no NFL season behind him to price him against.

Side by side

Alvin Kamara is a running back and Omar Cooper Jr. a wide receiver, so the question is which slot you fill first rather than which of them is better.

Byes and availability

Alvin Kamara is off in Week 8 and Omar Cooper Jr. in Week 13, so either can cover the other's bye.