Should I start James Cook III or Woody Marks 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 Woody Marks, and the board ranks him 65th 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 Woody Marks is 4.6 PPR points a game off 1 market across 1 market source. 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 so far

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 7, Woody Marks has been on the field for 61 percent of HOU snaps, taken 47 percent of the carries, drawn 7 percent of the targets and had 25 percent of the red zone chances.

He has taken 5 of the offence's 54 third down targets, had 3 of its 14 chances inside the five and seen 3 of its 41 two minute targets.

His 17 targets have averaged 0.9 air yards.

In Week 5 against TEN he carried 15 times for 62 yards, caught 4 of 4 targets for 23 yards and did not score.

In Week 6 against JAX he carried 15 times for 56 yards, caught 2 of 3 targets for 25 yards and did not score.

In Week 7 against NYG he carried 19 times for 66 yards, caught 1 of 1 target for 15 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 Woody Marks played 16 games and scored 151.1 PPR points, 9.4 a game, finishing RB29.

He carried 196 times for 703 yards and 2 touchdowns, and caught 24 of 36 targets for 208 more yards.

That came to 12.3 carries a game at 3.6 yards a carry and 1-2 catches a game.

He was on the field for 53 percent of the snaps in the games he played.

James Cook III was available for 1 game more.

Head to head

In 2025 James Cook III scored 17.8 PPR points a game and Woody Marks 9.4, 8.3 a game between them.

James Cook III finished RB6 that year and Woody Marks RB29.

James Cook III had 113 more carries than Woody Marks, 309 to 196.

James Cook III had 9 more catches than Woody Marks, 33 to 24.

This season Woody Marks holds the bigger snap share, 61 percent against 54 percent.

This season James Cook III holds the bigger share of the carries, 54 percent against 47 percent.

Byes and availability

James Cook III is off in Week 7 and Woody Marks in Week 8, so either can cover the other's bye.

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

Woody Marks is listed as questionable on the injury report.