Should I start James Cook III or Samaje Perine in Week 9?

Where the draft room stands

Live drafts hold no current pick on James Cook III, and the board ranks him 60th overall on the rest of his evidence.

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

Live drafts hold no current pick on Samaje Perine, and the board ranks him 178th overall on the rest of his evidence.

The market-based projections

The market-based projection for James Cook III is 4.9 PPR points a game off 1 market across 5 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 Samaje Perine is 1.9 PPR points a game off 1 market across 7 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.

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

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, Samaje Perine has been on the field for 35 percent of CIN snaps, taken 23 percent of the carries, drawn 4 percent of the targets and had 18 percent of the red zone chances.

He has taken 6 of the offence's 61 third down targets, had 1 of its 17 chances inside the five and seen 0 of its 43 two minute targets.

His 11 targets have averaged 1.3 air yards.

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

In Week 7 against BAL he carried 4 times for 16 yards and scored 1 touchdown.

In Week 8 against TEN he carried 4 times for 10 yards, caught 1 of 1 target for 9 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 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.

James Cook III was available for 2 games more.

Head to head

In 2025 James Cook III scored 17.8 PPR points a game and Samaje Perine 5.2, 12.6 a game between them.

James Cook III finished RB6 that year and Samaje Perine RB57.

James Cook III had 225 more carries than Samaje Perine, 309 to 84.

James Cook III had 16 more catches than Samaje Perine, 33 to 17.

This season James Cook III holds the bigger snap share, 54 percent against 35 percent.

This season James Cook III holds the bigger share of the carries, 54 percent against 23 percent.

Byes and availability

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

James Cook III is listed as questionable on the injury report.