Should I start C.J. Stroud or Samaje Perine in Week 9?

The market-based projections

C.J. Stroud's market-based projection is 16.9 PPR points a game, built from 5 markets across 9 market sources. That is the 18th highest figure of the 220 players with a market-based projection.

Samaje Perine's market-based projection is 4.7 PPR points a game, built from 5 markets across 12 market sources. That is the 111th highest figure of the 220 players with a market-based projection.

Where the draft room stands

Live drafts hold no current pick on C.J. Stroud, and the board ranks him 95th overall on the rest of his evidence.

In 2QB drafts he goes at ADP 30.

Live drafts hold no current pick on Samaje Perine, and the board ranks him 97th overall on the rest of his evidence.

This season so far

Through Week 7, C.J. Stroud has been on the field for 100 percent of HOU snaps, dropped back 266 times and thrown 9.3 air yards an attempt.

He has been sacked or hit on 35 of 266 dropbacks and scrambled 8 times.

In Week 5 against TEN he completed 26 of 34 passes for 261 yards, threw 1 touchdown and 0 interceptions and ran 4 times for 7 yards.

In Week 6 against JAX he completed 24 of 34 passes for 312 yards, threw 3 touchdowns and 1 interception and ran 1 time for 5 yards.

In Week 7 against NYG he completed 17 of 28 passes for 153 yards, threw 2 touchdowns and 0 interceptions and ran 2 times for 4 yards.

Through Week 8, Samaje Perine has been on the field for 35 percent of CIN snaps, taken 23 percent of the carries, drawn 4 percent of the targets and had 18 percent of the red zone chances.

He has taken 6 of the offence's 61 third down targets, had 1 of its 17 chances inside the five and seen 0 of its 43 two minute targets.

His 11 targets have averaged 1.3 air yards.

In Week 5 against MIA he carried 14 times for 68 yards, caught 2 of 2 targets for 10 yards and scored 1 touchdown.

In Week 7 against BAL he carried 4 times for 16 yards and scored 1 touchdown.

In Week 8 against TEN he carried 4 times for 10 yards, caught 1 of 1 target for 9 yards and did not score.

Their 2025 seasons

In 2025 C.J. Stroud played 14 games and scored 216.5 PPR points, 15.5 a game, finishing QB21.

He threw for 3041 yards on 423 attempts with 19 touchdowns and 8 interceptions, and ran for 209 yards and 1 touchdown.

That came to 30.2 attempts a game at 7.2 yards an attempt.

He was on the field for 93 percent of the snaps in the games he played.

In 2025 Samaje Perine played 15 games and scored 77.9 PPR points, 5.2 a game, finishing RB57.

He carried 84 times for 382 yards and 3 touchdowns, and caught 17 of 21 targets for 87 more yards.

That came to 5.6 carries a game at 5 yards a carry and 1.1 catches a game.

He was on the field for 34 percent of the snaps in the games he played.

Samaje Perine was available for 1 game more.

Side by side

In 2025 C.J. Stroud scored 15.5 PPR points a game and Samaje Perine 5.2, 10.3 a game between them.

C.J. Stroud finished QB21 and Samaje Perine RB57, which are two different ladders.

C.J. Stroud is a quarterback and Samaje Perine a running back, so the question is which slot you fill first rather than which of them is better.

Byes and availability

C.J. Stroud is off in Week 8 and Samaje Perine in Week 6, so either can cover the other's bye.

What would change the answer

12.3 points a game is the entire case. The market restates it every week, and a line that moves moves the order with it.

The draft market is the half that is missing: when live drafts hold these two again they can order them differently from the projection, and this page will follow the drafts rather than the market-based projection when they do.