Should I start James Cook III or Trey McBride in Week 6?

Updated Oct 19, 10:06 PM ET. Week 7 answers post Tuesday.

Start Trey McBride: 92 percent of the snaps and 25 percent of the targets over their last 3 games, against James Cook III's 63 percent of the snaps and 69 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.

Should I drop James Cook III for Trey McBride?

Yes, on the rest of the season. Trey McBride projects 169 market-implied PPR points from Week 7 through Week 17 (16.9 a game over 10 games), James Cook III 160 (16.0 a game over 10 games).

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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.

James Cook III

RB7 · BUF · bye 7

2026 vs carries line 4-2

Market-based projection: 17.3 pts a game Wk 6 price
Overall rank: 12

Trey McBride

TE2 · ARI · bye 14

2026 vs anytime td line 3-3

Market-based projection: 16.6 pts a game Wk 6 price
Overall rank: 13

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The gap

Board size332 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 James Cook III, and the board ranks him 12th overall on the rest of his evidence.

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

Live drafts hold no current pick on Trey McBride, and the board ranks him 13th overall on the rest of his evidence.

In 2QB drafts he goes at ADP 31.

The market-based projections

No season market is posted for James Cook III, so the only market valuing him on this page is the draft room.

No season market is posted for Trey McBride, so the only market valuing him on this page is the draft room.

Neither carries a posted market, so this page rests on the draft room and on what the two have already done.

This season through Week 6

Through Week 6, James Cook III has been on the field for 67 percent of BUF snaps, taken 70 percent of the carries, drawn 9 percent of the targets and had 39 percent of the red zone chances.

He has taken 1 of the offence's 42 third down targets, had 8 of its 19 chances inside the five and seen 1 of its 25 two minute targets.

His 14 targets have come 1.0 yards behind the line of scrimmage on average.

In Week 4 against NE he carried 12 times for 75 yards, caught 2 of 2 targets for 8 yards and scored 1 touchdown.

In Week 5 against LAR he carried 25 times for 111 yards, caught 1 of 1 target for 7 yards and scored 2 touchdowns.

In Week 6 against LV he carried 22 times for 95 yards, caught 3 of 3 targets for 58 yards and scored 1 touchdown.

Through Week 6, Trey McBride has been on the field for 89 percent of ARI snaps, drawn 29 percent of the targets and had 17 percent of the red zone chances.

He has taken 18 of the offence's 63 third down targets, had 4 of its 19 chances inside the five and seen 13 of its 40 two minute targets.

His 65 targets have averaged 5.5 air yards.

In Week 4 against NYG he caught 7 of 12 targets for 31 yards and did not score.

In Week 5 against DET he caught 9 of 10 targets for 66 yards and scored 1 touchdown.

In Week 6 against LAR he caught 7 of 9 targets for 53 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 Trey McBride played 17 games and scored 315.9 PPR points, 18.6 a game, finishing TE1.

He caught 126 of 169 targets for 1239 yards and 11 touchdowns, with 32 red zone targets.

That came to 9.9 targets a game, a 75 percent catch rate and 9.8 yards a catch.

He was on the field for 91 percent of the snaps in the games he played.

Both were available for 17 games that season.

Side by side

In 2025 Trey McBride scored 18.6 PPR points a game and James Cook III 17.8, 0.8 a game between them.

James Cook III finished RB6 and Trey McBride TE1, which are two different ladders.

James Cook III is a running back and Trey McBride a tight end, 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 Trey McBride in Week 14, so either can cover the other's bye.

Drop or keep

Should I drop James Cook III for Trey McBride?
Yes, on the rest of the season. Trey McBride projects 169 market-implied PPR points from Week 7 through Week 17 (16.9 a game over 10 games), James Cook III 160 (16.0 a game over 10 games).
Should I drop Trey McBride for James Cook III?
No. Keep Trey McBride: he projects 169 market-implied PPR points from Week 7 through Week 17 (16.9 a game over 10 games), James Cook III 160 (16.0 a game over 10 games).