Should I start James Cook III or Justin Herbert in Week 9?

The market-based projections

James Cook III's market-based projection is 16.2 PPR points a game, built from 5 markets across 8 market sources. That is the 24th highest figure of the 222 players with a market-based projection.

Justin Herbert's market-based projection is 12.5 PPR points a game, built from 5 markets across 11 market sources. That is the 59th highest figure of the 222 players with a market-based projection.

Where the draft room stands

Live drafts hold no current pick on James Cook III, and the board ranks him 9th overall on the rest of his evidence.

By format he goes standard: ADP 2; 2QB: ADP 10.

Live drafts hold no current pick on Justin Herbert, and the board ranks him 158th overall on the rest of his evidence.

By format he goes standard: ADP 23; 2QB: ADP 12.

This season through Week 8

Through Week 8, James Cook III has been on the field for 54 percent of BUF snaps, taken 54 percent of the carries, drawn 9 percent of the targets and had 35 percent of the red zone chances.

He has taken 1 of the offence's 7 third down targets, had 2 of its 7 chances inside the five and seen 0 of its 2 two minute targets.

His 3 targets have averaged 2.7 air yards.

In Week 8 against BAL he carried 21 times for 80 yards, caught 2 of 3 targets for 21 yards and scored 1 touchdown.

Through Week 8, Justin Herbert has been on the field for 100 percent of LAC snaps, dropped back 255 times and thrown 7.4 air yards an attempt.

He has been sacked or hit on 48 of 255 dropbacks and scrambled 22 times.

In Week 5 against DEN he completed 14 of 23 passes for 121 yards, threw 1 touchdown and 1 interception and ran 6 times for 54 yards.

In Week 6 against KC he completed 22 of 37 passes for 204 yards, threw 0 touchdowns and 1 interception and ran 5 times for 26 yards.

In Week 8 against LAR he completed 24 of 31 passes for 257 yards, threw 0 touchdowns and 2 interceptions and ran 4 times for 15 yards.

Their 2025 seasons

In 2025 James Cook III played 17 games and scored 302.2 PPR points, 17.8 a game, finishing RB6.

He carried 309 times for 1621 yards and 12 touchdowns, and caught 33 of 40 targets for 291 more yards.

That came to 18.2 carries a game at 5.2 yards a carry and 1.9 catches a game.

He was on the field for 60 percent of the snaps in the games he played.

In 2025 Justin Herbert played 16 games and scored 299.9 PPR points, 18.7 a game, finishing QB10.

He threw for 3727 yards on 512 attempts with 26 touchdowns and 13 interceptions, and ran for 498 yards and 2 touchdowns.

That came to 32.0 attempts a game at 7.3 yards an attempt.

He was on the field for 97 percent of the snaps in the games he played.

James Cook III was available for 1 game more.

Side by side

In 2025 Justin Herbert scored 18.7 PPR points a game and James Cook III 17.8, 1.0 a game between them.

James Cook III finished RB6 and Justin Herbert QB10, which are two different ladders.

James Cook III is a running back and Justin Herbert a quarterback, so the question is which slot you fill first rather than which of them is better.

Byes and availability

Both are off in Week 7, so a roster holding the pair has that one week to cover twice.

What would change the answer

3.7 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.