Should I start Kaelon Black or Kenny Gainwell in Week 9?
Updated Nov 4, 8:16 AM ET. Week 10 answers post Tuesday.
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- : Kenny Gainwell: Listed Questionable (Hip) (Sleeper injury feed)
Kaelon Black and Kenny Gainwell are too close to call on usage: 30 percent of the snaps and 35 percent of the carries against 30 percent of the snaps and 32 percent of the carries over their last 3 games. 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.
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Your next move
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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.
RB50 · SF · bye 8
- Overall rank
- 141
RB53 · TB · bye 10
2026 vs carries line 3-5
- Market-based projection
- 5.5 pts a game Wk 8 price
- Overall rank
- 147
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The gap
- Board size306 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 Kaelon Black, and the board ranks him 141st overall on the rest of his evidence.
Live drafts hold no current pick on Kenny Gainwell, and the board ranks him 147th overall on the rest of his evidence.
The market-based projections
The market-based projection for Kaelon Black is 1.7 PPR points a game off 1 market across 6 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 1.3 PPR points a game off 1 market across 10 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.
Kaelon Black's projection is not complete, so the two figures are not set against each other here.
This season so far
Through Week 7, Kaelon Black has been on the field for 30 percent of SF snaps, taken 31 percent of the carries, drawn 3 percent of the targets and had 16 percent of the red zone chances.
He has taken 0 of the offence's 50 third down targets, had 3 of its 24 chances inside the five and seen 0 of its 30 two minute targets.
His 6 targets have come 2.0 yards behind the line of scrimmage on average.
In Week 5 against SEA he carried 6 times for 16 yards and did not score.
In Week 6 against WAS he carried 8 times for 34 yards, caught 1 of 1 target for 3 yards and did not score.
In Week 7 against ATL he carried 12 times for 63 yards, caught 1 of 3 targets for -4 yards and scored 1 touchdown.
Through Week 8, Kenny Gainwell has been on the field for 37 percent of TB snaps, taken 22 percent of the carries, drawn 9 percent of the targets and had 8 percent of the red zone chances.
He has taken 7 of the offence's 60 third down targets, had 0 of its 14 chances inside the five and seen 5 of its 44 two minute targets.
His 18 targets have come 2.4 yards behind the line of scrimmage on average.
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.
In Week 8 against ATL he carried 25 times for 140 yards, caught 0 of 1 target for 0 yards and did not score.
Their 2025 seasons
Kaelon Black is a rookie, so there is no NFL season behind him to price him against.
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.
Head to head
This season Kenny Gainwell holds the bigger snap share, 37 percent against 30 percent.
This season Kaelon Black holds the bigger share of the carries, 31 percent against 22 percent.
Byes and availability
Kaelon Black is off in Week 8 and Kenny Gainwell in Week 10, so either can cover the other's bye.
Both players in full
Week 9 on the board
- Is Kaelon Black playing Week 9?
- Is Kenny Gainwell playing Week 9?
- 49ers depth chart
- Buccaneers depth chart
- Week 9 RB rankings
- Week 9 fantasy rankings
- Week 9 start or sit
- Week 9 waiver wire
- Week 9 trade value chart
- Trade deadline buy low, sell high
- Fantasy football rankings
- Start 'em sit 'em Week 9
- Waiver wire pickups
- Fantasy sleepers
- Rest of season rankings
- Week 9 kicker rankings
- Week 9 defense rankings
