Should I start J.K. Dobbins or Chris Olave in Week 9?

Where the draft room stands

Live drafts hold no current pick on J.K. Dobbins, and the board ranks him 134th overall on the rest of his evidence.

Live drafts hold no current pick on Chris Olave, and the board ranks him 135th overall on the rest of his evidence.

In standard drafts he goes at ADP 9.

The market-based projections

The market has J.K. Dobbins at 2.1 PPR points a game off 1 market across 12 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.

The market-based projection for Chris Olave is 2.3 PPR points a game off 1 market across 7 market sources. That is 30 percent of what a wide receiver's projection needs, so it is a fragment of one rather than a projection.

J.K. Dobbins's projection is not complete, so the two figures are not set against each other here.

This season so far

Through Week 8, J.K. Dobbins has been on the field for 38 percent of DEN snaps, taken 50 percent of the carries, drawn 4 percent of the targets and had 22 percent of the red zone chances.

He has taken 0 of the offence's 66 third down targets, had 8 of its 26 chances inside the five and seen 0 of its 26 two minute targets.

His 9 targets have come 1.1 yards behind the line of scrimmage on average.

In Week 6 against SEA he carried 17 times for 41 yards, caught 3 of 3 targets for 5 yards and scored 1 touchdown.

In Week 7 against ARI he carried 6 times for 23 yards and scored 1 touchdown.

In Week 8 against KC he carried 7 times for 13 yards and did not score.

Through Week 7, Chris Olave has been on the field for 81 percent of NO snaps, drawn 27 percent of the targets and had 12 percent of the red zone chances.

He has taken 19 of the offence's 68 third down targets, had 1 of its 23 chances inside the five and seen 8 of its 38 two minute targets.

His 71 targets have averaged 12.3 air yards.

In Week 5 against MIN he caught 4 of 6 targets for 46 yards and did not score.

In Week 6 against NYG he caught 4 of 7 targets for 43 yards and scored 1 touchdown.

In Week 7 against PIT he caught 6 of 10 targets for 56 yards and did not score.

Their 2025 seasons

In 2025 J.K. Dobbins played 10 games and scored 115.9 PPR points, 11.6 a game, finishing RB43.

He carried 153 times for 772 yards and 4 touchdowns, and caught 11 of 14 targets for 37 more yards.

That came to 15.3 carries a game at 5.0 yards a carry and 1.1 catches a game.

He was on the field for 51 percent of the snaps in the games he played.

In 2025 Chris Olave played 16 games and scored 269.0 PPR points, 16.8 a game, finishing WR6.

He caught 100 of 156 targets for 1163 yards and 9 touchdowns, with 13 red zone targets.

That came to 9.8 targets a game, a 64 percent catch rate and 11.6 yards a catch.

He was on the field for 84 percent of the snaps in the games he played.

Chris Olave was available for 6 games more.

Side by side

In 2025 Chris Olave scored 16.8 PPR points a game and J.K. Dobbins 11.6, 5.2 a game between them.

J.K. Dobbins finished RB43 and Chris Olave WR6, which are two different ladders.

J.K. Dobbins is a running back and Chris Olave a wide receiver, so the question is which slot you fill first rather than which of them is better.

Byes and availability

J.K. Dobbins is off in Week 10 and Chris Olave in Week 8, so either can cover the other's bye.