Should I start Michael Penix Jr. or Dameon Pierce in Week 8?

Updated Oct 28, 3:17 AM ET. Week 9 answers post Tuesday.

Latest

Oct 27, 10:58 AM ET: Dameon Pierce: Listed Questionable (Undisclosed) (Sleeper injury feed)

Start Michael Penix Jr.: 99 percent of the snaps and 0 percent of the targets over their last 3 games, against Dameon Pierce's 80 percent of the snaps and 66 percent of the carries. No market projection is posted on either of them this week, so this is a usage call, and a lower confidence one than a call made on a projection. What follows is what each of them has done.

Should I drop Dameon Pierce for Michael Penix Jr.?

Yes, on the rest of the season. Michael Penix Jr. projects 131 market-implied PPR points from Week 8 through Week 17 (14.6 a game over 9 games), Dameon Pierce 21 (2.3 a game over 9 games). Dameon Pierce is listed questionable.

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Neither man carries a season projection right now, so this is their usage this season and their last full season's numbers, side by side.

Michael Penix Jr.

QB15 · ATL · bye 11

2026 vs pass yds line 2-3

Overall rank: 99

Dameon Pierce

RB35 · PHI · bye 10

2025 vs anytime td line 0-4

Market-based projection: 3.7 pts a game Wk 7 price
Overall rank: 101

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The gap

Board size295 draftable players

Draft data is not current for these two, so the figures that depend on it are left out. The call above comes from each player's usage.

Where the draft room stands

Live drafts hold no current pick on Michael Penix Jr., and the board ranks him 99th overall on the rest of his evidence.

Live drafts hold no current pick on Dameon Pierce, and the board ranks him 101st overall on the rest of his evidence.

The market-based projections

The market has Michael Penix Jr. at 16.1 PPR points a game off 4 markets across 6 market sources. That is 80 percent of what a quarterback's projection needs, so it is a fragment of one rather than a projection.

The market-based projection for Dameon Pierce is 3.3 PPR points a game off 1 market across 2 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.

Michael Penix Jr.'s projection is not complete, so the two figures are not set against each other here.

This season through Week 7

Through Week 7, Michael Penix Jr. has been on the field for 99 percent of ATL snaps, dropped back 34 times and thrown 6.1 air yards an attempt.

He has been sacked or hit on 0 of 34 dropbacks and scrambled 1 time.

In Week 7 against SF he completed 25 of 33 passes for 213 yards, threw 3 touchdowns and 0 interceptions and ran 2 times for 2 yards.

Through Week 7, Dameon Pierce has been on the field for 80 percent of PHI snaps, taken 66 percent of the carries, drawn 10 percent of the targets and had 47 percent of the red zone chances.

He has taken 2 of the offence's 36 third down targets, had 4 of its 7 chances inside the five and seen 0 of its 13 two minute targets.

His 11 targets have come 0.9 yards behind the line of scrimmage on average.

In Week 5 against JAX he carried 11 times for 14 yards, caught 2 of 5 targets for -2 yards and did not score.

In Week 6 against CAR he carried 12 times for 35 yards, caught 4 of 5 targets for 15 yards and scored 1 touchdown.

In Week 7 against DAL he carried 14 times for 47 yards, caught 1 of 1 target for 1 yards and scored 1 touchdown.

Their 2025 seasons

In 2025 Michael Penix Jr. played 9 games and scored 123.3 PPR points, 13.7 a game, finishing QB33.

He threw for 1982 yards on 276 attempts with 9 touchdowns and 3 interceptions, and ran for 70 yards and 1 touchdown.

That came to 30.7 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 Dameon Pierce played 5 games and scored 3.6 PPR points, 0.7 a game, finishing RB128.

He carried 14 times for 36 yards and 0 touchdowns, and caught 0 of 1 target for 0 more yards.

That came to 2.8 carries a game at 2.6 yards a carry.

He was on the field for 8 percent of the snaps in the games he played.

Michael Penix Jr. was available for 4 games more.

Side by side

In 2025 Michael Penix Jr. scored 13.7 PPR points a game and Dameon Pierce 0.7, 13.0 a game between them.

Michael Penix Jr. finished QB33 and Dameon Pierce RB128, which are two different ladders.

Michael Penix Jr. is a quarterback and Dameon Pierce a running back, so the question is which slot you fill first rather than which of them is better.

Byes and availability

Michael Penix Jr. is off in Week 11 and Dameon Pierce in Week 10, so either can cover the other's bye.

Dameon Pierce is listed as questionable on the injury report.

Drop or keep

Should I drop Dameon Pierce for Michael Penix Jr.?
Yes, on the rest of the season. Michael Penix Jr. projects 131 market-implied PPR points from Week 8 through Week 17 (14.6 a game over 9 games), Dameon Pierce 21 (2.3 a game over 9 games). Dameon Pierce is listed questionable.
Should I drop Michael Penix Jr. for Dameon Pierce?
No. Keep Michael Penix Jr.: he projects 131 market-implied PPR points from Week 8 through Week 17 (14.6 a game over 9 games), Dameon Pierce 21 (2.3 a game over 9 games). Dameon Pierce is listed questionable.

Should I drop Dameon Pierce?