Should I start Samaje Perine or Ja'Kobi Lane in Week 7?

Where the draft room stands

Live drafts hold no current pick on Samaje Perine, and the board ranks him 137th overall on the rest of his evidence.

Live drafts hold no current pick on Ja'Kobi Lane, and the board ranks him 138th overall on the rest of his evidence.

The market-based projections

The market-based projection for Samaje Perine is 1.7 PPR points a game off 1 market across 3 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 Ja'Kobi Lane is 1.5 PPR points a game off 1 market across 3 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.

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

This season so far

Through Week 5, Samaje Perine has been on the field for 37 percent of CIN snaps, taken 25 percent of the carries, drawn 5 percent of the targets and had 16 percent of the red zone chances.

He has taken 6 of the offence's 46 third down targets, had 0 of its 12 chances inside the five and seen 0 of its 33 two minute targets.

His 10 targets have averaged 1.3 air yards.

In Week 3 against PIT he carried 3 times for 9 yards, caught 1 of 3 targets for 5 yards and did not score.

In Week 4 against JAX he carried 3 times for 7 yards, caught 0 of 1 target for 0 yards and did not score.

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

Through Week 6, Ja'Kobi Lane has been on the field for 46 percent of BAL snaps, drawn 15 percent of the targets and had 15 percent of the red zone chances.

He has taken 5 of the offence's 19 third down targets, had 1 of its 7 chances inside the five and seen 2 of its 10 two minute targets.

His 8 targets have averaged 10.8 air yards.

In Week 1 against IND he caught 1 of 3 targets for 11 yards and did not score.

In Week 6 against CLE he caught 4 of 5 targets for 40 yards and did not score.

Their 2025 seasons

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.

Ja'Kobi Lane is a rookie, so there is no NFL season behind him to price him against.

Side by side

Samaje Perine is a running back and Ja'Kobi Lane a wide receiver, so the question is which slot you fill first rather than which of them is better.

Byes and availability

Samaje Perine is off in Week 6 and Ja'Kobi Lane in Week 13, so either can cover the other's bye.