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Should I start J.K. Dobbins or Efton Chism III in Week 9?

Updated Nov 5, 12:06 PM ET.

Start Efton Chism III: 76 percent of the snaps and 12 percent of the targets over their last 3 games, against J.K. Dobbins's 32 percent of the snaps and 41 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.

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Your next move

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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.

RB35 · DEN · bye 10

2026 vs carries line 3-5

Overall rank
115

WR69 · NE · bye 11

2026 vs anytime td line 1-6

Market-based projection
6.8 pts a game Wk 8 price
Overall rank
177

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The gap

  • Board size318 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 J.K. Dobbins, and the board ranks him 115th overall on the rest of his evidence.

Live drafts hold no current pick on Efton Chism III, and the board ranks him 177th overall on the rest of his evidence.

The market-based projections

The market has J.K. Dobbins at 6.7 PPR points a game off 2 markets across 13 market sources. That is 70 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 Efton Chism III is 1.8 PPR points a game off 1 market across 13 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 through Week 8

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 8, Efton Chism III has been on the field for 76 percent of NE snaps, drawn 12 percent of the targets and had 22 percent of the red zone chances.

He has taken 0 of the offence's 8 third down targets, had 0 of its 1 chance inside the five and seen 0 of its 6 two minute targets.

His 6 targets have averaged 4.5 air yards.

In Week 7 against CHI he caught 1 of 1 target for 16 yards and did not score.

In Week 8 against MIA he caught 5 of 5 targets for 37 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 Efton Chism III played 8 games and scored 16.5 PPR points, 2.1 a game.

He caught 3 of 3 targets for 75 yards and 1 touchdown, with 1 red zone target.

That came to 0.4 targets a game, a 100 percent catch rate and 25.0 yards a catch.

He was on the field for 14 percent of the snaps in the games he played.

J.K. Dobbins was available for 2 games more.

Side by side

In 2025 J.K. Dobbins scored 11.6 PPR points a game and Efton Chism III 2.1, 9.5 a game between them.

J.K. Dobbins is a running back and Efton Chism III 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 Efton Chism III in Week 11, so either can cover the other's bye.

Should I drop J.K. Dobbins?

Both players in full

Week 9 on the board

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