Should I start James Cook III or Justin Jefferson in Week 10?

Where the draft room stands

Live drafts hold no current pick on James Cook III, and the board ranks him 42nd 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 Jefferson, and the board ranks him 69th overall on the rest of his evidence.

By format he goes standard: ADP 4; 2QB: ADP 15.

The market-based projections

The market-based projection for James Cook III is 6.0 PPR points a game off 1 market across 4 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 Justin Jefferson is 2.9 PPR points a game off 1 market across 1 market source. That is 30 percent of what a wide receiver's projection needs, so it is a fragment of one rather than a projection.

James Cook III's projection is not complete, so the two figures are not set against each other here.

This season through Week 9

Through Week 9, James Cook III has been on the field for 54 percent of BUF snaps, taken 66 percent of the carries, drawn 6 percent of the targets and had 44 percent of the red zone chances.

He has taken 1 of the offence's 16 third down targets, had 3 of its 8 chances inside the five and seen 0 of its 7 two minute targets.

His 4 targets have averaged 2.0 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.

In Week 9 against MIN he carried 31 times for 107 yards, caught 0 of 1 target for 0 yards and scored 1 touchdown.

Through Week 9, Justin Jefferson has been on the field for 80 percent of MIN snaps, drawn 29 percent of the targets and had 19 percent of the red zone chances.

He has taken 21 of the offence's 63 third down targets, had 1 of its 4 chances inside the five and seen 5 of its 18 two minute targets.

His 51 targets have averaged 10.5 air yards.

In Week 7 against IND he caught 4 of 7 targets for 44 yards and did not score.

In Week 8 against DET he caught 5 of 9 targets for 33 yards and scored 1 touchdown.

In Week 9 against BUF he caught 3 of 11 targets for 58 yards and did not score.

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 Jefferson played 17 games and scored 201.5 PPR points, 11.9 a game, finishing WR21.

He caught 84 of 141 targets for 1048 yards and 2 touchdowns, with 17 red zone targets.

That came to 8.3 targets a game, a 60 percent catch rate and 13 yards a catch.

He was on the field for 95 percent of the snaps in the games he played.

Both were available for 17 games that season.

Side by side

In 2025 James Cook III scored 17.8 PPR points a game and Justin Jefferson 11.9, 5.9 a game between them.

James Cook III finished RB6 and Justin Jefferson WR21, which are two different ladders.

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

Byes and availability

James Cook III is off in Week 7 and Justin Jefferson in Week 6, so either can cover the other's bye.