Should I start J.K. Dobbins or Kenny Gainwell in Week 8?

Where the draft room stands

Live drafts hold no current pick on J.K. Dobbins, and the board ranks him 105th overall on the rest of his evidence.

Live drafts hold no current pick on Kenny Gainwell, and the board ranks him 181st overall on the rest of his evidence.

The market-based projections

The market has J.K. Dobbins at 3.0 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.

The market-based projection for Kenny Gainwell is 1.7 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.

J.K. Dobbins's projection is not complete, so the two figures are not set against each other here.

This season through Week 7

Through Week 7, J.K. Dobbins has been on the field for 41 percent of DEN snaps, taken 52 percent of the carries, drawn 5 percent of the targets and had 27 percent of the red zone chances.

He has taken 0 of the offence's 58 third down targets, had 8 of its 18 chances inside the five and seen 0 of its 25 two minute targets.

His 9 targets have come 1.1 yards behind the line of scrimmage on average.

In Week 5 against LAC he carried 18 times for 68 yards, caught 2 of 2 targets for 6 yards and scored 1 touchdown.

In Week 6 against SEA he carried 17 times for 41 yards, caught 3 of 3 targets for 5 yards and scored 1 touchdown.

In Week 7 against ARI he carried 6 times for 23 yards and scored 1 touchdown.

Through Week 7, Kenny Gainwell has been on the field for 35 percent of TB snaps, taken 16 percent of the carries, drawn 9 percent of the targets and had 9 percent of the red zone chances.

He has taken 6 of the offence's 57 third down targets, had 0 of its 13 chances inside the five and seen 5 of its 44 two minute targets.

His 17 targets have come 2.3 yards behind the line of scrimmage on average.

In Week 5 against DAL he carried 4 times for 18 yards, caught 3 of 4 targets for 10 yards and did not score.

In Week 6 against PIT he carried 2 times for 17 yards, caught 1 of 1 target for 7 yards and did not score.

In Week 7 against CAR he carried 14 times for 88 yards and did not score.

Their 2025 seasons

In 2025 J.K. Dobbins played 10 games and scored 115.9 PPR points, 11.6 a game, finishing RB43.

He carried 153 times for 772 yards and 4 touchdowns, and caught 11 of 14 targets for 37 more yards.

That came to 15.3 carries a game at 5.0 yards a carry and 1.1 catches a game.

He was on the field for 51 percent of the snaps in the games he played.

In 2025 Kenny Gainwell played 17 games and scored 222.3 PPR points, 13.1 a game, finishing RB16.

He carried 114 times for 537 yards and 5 touchdowns, and caught 73 of 85 targets for 486 more yards.

That came to 6.7 carries a game at 4.7 yards a carry and 4.3 catches a game.

He was on the field for 49 percent of the snaps in the games he played.

Kenny Gainwell was available for 7 games more.

Head to head

In 2025 Kenny Gainwell scored 13.1 PPR points a game and J.K. Dobbins 11.6, 1.5 a game between them.

J.K. Dobbins finished RB43 that year and Kenny Gainwell RB16.

J.K. Dobbins had 39 more carries than Kenny Gainwell, 153 to 114.

Kenny Gainwell had 62 more catches than J.K. Dobbins, 73 to 11.

This season J.K. Dobbins holds the bigger snap share, 41 percent against 35 percent.

This season J.K. Dobbins holds the bigger share of the carries, 52 percent against 16 percent.

Byes and availability

Both are off in Week 10, so a roster holding the pair has that one week to cover twice.

Kenny Gainwell is listed as questionable on the injury report.