Should I start Kenny Gainwell or Braelon Allen in Week 8?

Where the draft room stands

Live drafts hold no current pick on Kenny Gainwell, and the board ranks him 74th overall on the rest of his evidence.

Live drafts hold no current pick on Braelon Allen, and the board ranks him 91st overall on the rest of his evidence.

The market-based projections

The market-based projection for Kenny Gainwell is 6.2 PPR points a game off 2 markets across 13 market sources. That is 40 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 Braelon Allen is 5.3 PPR points a game off 1 market across 6 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.

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

This season through Week 7

Through Week 7, Kenny Gainwell has been on the field for 35 percent of TB snaps, taken 16 percent of the carries, drawn 9 percent of the targets and had 9 percent of the red zone chances.

He has taken 6 of the offence's 57 third down targets, had 0 of its 13 chances inside the five and seen 5 of its 44 two minute targets.

His 17 targets have come 2.3 yards behind the line of scrimmage on average.

In Week 5 against DAL he carried 4 times for 18 yards, caught 3 of 4 targets for 10 yards and did not score.

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.

Through Week 7, Braelon Allen has been on the field for 64 percent of NYJ snaps, taken 53 percent of the carries, drawn 10 percent of the targets and had 30 percent of the red zone chances.

He has taken 4 of the offence's 52 third down targets, had 2 of its 11 chances inside the five and seen 3 of its 31 two minute targets.

His 20 targets have averaged 0.2 air yards.

In Week 5 against CLE he carried 24 times for 116 yards, caught 1 of 4 targets for 0 yards and scored 1 touchdown.

In Week 6 against NE he carried 17 times for 78 yards, caught 2 of 2 targets for 26 yards and did not score.

In Week 7 against MIA he carried 17 times for 104 yards, caught 6 of 7 targets for 30 yards and did not score.

Their 2025 seasons

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.

In 2025 Braelon Allen played 4 games and scored 15.3 PPR points, 3.8 a game, finishing RB100.

He carried 18 times for 76 yards and 1 touchdown, and caught 2 of 3 targets for 17 more yards.

That came to 4-5 carries a game at 4.2 yards a carry and 0-1 catches a game.

He was on the field for 24 percent of the snaps in the games he played.

Kenny Gainwell was available for 13 games more.

Head to head

In 2025 Kenny Gainwell scored 13.1 PPR points a game and Braelon Allen 3.8, 9.3 a game between them.

Kenny Gainwell finished RB16 that year and Braelon Allen RB100.

Kenny Gainwell had 96 more carries than Braelon Allen, 114 to 18.

Kenny Gainwell had 71 more catches than Braelon Allen, 73 to 2.

This season Braelon Allen holds the bigger snap share, 64 percent against 35 percent.

This season Braelon Allen holds the bigger share of the carries, 53 percent against 16 percent.

Byes and availability

Kenny Gainwell is off in Week 10 and Braelon Allen in Week 13, so either can cover the other's bye.

Kenny Gainwell is listed as questionable on the injury report.

Braelon Allen is listed as questionable on the injury report.