Should I start Mike Evans or Kenny Gainwell in Week 8?
Updated Nov 3, 12:11 AM ET. Week 9 answers post Tuesday.
Latest
- : Kenny Gainwell: Listed Questionable (Hip) (Sleeper injury feed)
Start Mike Evans: 54 percent of the snaps and 27 percent of the targets over their last 3 games, against Kenny Gainwell's 27 percent of the snaps and 18 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 Mike Evans for Kenny Gainwell?
Yes, on the rest of the season. Kenny Gainwell projects 49 market-implied PPR points from Week 9 through Week 17 (6.1 a game over 8 games), Mike Evans 27 (3.0 a game over 9 games). Mike Evans is listed out.
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Your next move
More fantasy football tools and rankings, all built from the same board.
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.
WR23 · SF · bye 8
2026 vs anytime td line 3-3
- Overall rank
- 61
RB18 · TB · bye 10
2026 vs carries line 3-5
- Market-based projection
- 5.5 pts a game Wk 8 price
- Overall rank
- 62
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The gap
- Board size297 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 Mike Evans, and the board ranks him 61st overall on the rest of his evidence.
Live drafts hold no current pick on Kenny Gainwell, and the board ranks him 62nd overall on the rest of his evidence.
The market-based projections
The market-based projection for Mike Evans is 4.6 PPR points a game off 1 market across 1 market source. That is 30 percent of what a wide receiver's projection needs, so it is a fragment of one rather than a projection.
No season market is posted for Kenny Gainwell, so the only market valuing him on this page is the draft room.
This season so far
Through Week 6, Mike Evans has been on the field for 55 percent of SF snaps, drawn 23 percent of the targets and had 9 percent of the red zone chances.
He has taken 19 of the offence's 43 third down targets, had 2 of its 19 chances inside the five and seen 9 of its 25 two minute targets.
His 39 targets have averaged 14.6 air yards.
In Week 4 against DEN he caught 5 of 8 targets for 76 yards and did not score.
In Week 5 against SEA he caught 7 of 10 targets for 113 yards and scored 1 touchdown.
In Week 6 against WAS he caught 3 of 5 targets for 94 yards and did not score.
Through Week 8, Kenny Gainwell has been on the field for 35 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
In 2025 Mike Evans played 8 games and scored 84.8 PPR points, 10.6 a game, finishing WR76.
He caught 30 of 61 targets for 368 yards and 3 touchdowns, with 8 red zone targets.
That came to 7.6 targets a game, a 49 percent catch rate and 12.3 yards a catch.
He was on the field for 65 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 9 games more.
Side by side
In 2025 Kenny Gainwell scored 13.1 PPR points a game and Mike Evans 10.6, 2.5 a game between them.
Mike Evans finished WR76 and Kenny Gainwell RB16, which are two different ladders.
Mike Evans is a wide receiver and Kenny Gainwell a running back, so the question is which slot you fill first rather than which of them is better.
Byes and availability
Mike Evans is off in Week 8 and Kenny Gainwell in Week 10, so either can cover the other's bye.
Mike Evans is listed as out on the injury report.
Drop or keep
Should I drop Mike Evans for Kenny Gainwell?
Yes, on the rest of the season. Kenny Gainwell projects 49 market-implied PPR points from Week 9 through Week 17 (6.1 a game over 8 games), Mike Evans 27 (3.0 a game over 9 games). Mike Evans is listed out.
Should I drop Kenny Gainwell for Mike Evans?
No. Keep Kenny Gainwell: he projects 49 market-implied PPR points from Week 9 through Week 17 (6.1 a game over 8 games), Mike Evans 27 (3.0 a game over 9 games). Mike Evans is listed out.
Both players in full
Week 8 on the board
- Is Mike Evans playing Week 8?
- Is Kenny Gainwell playing Week 8?
- 49ers depth chart
- Buccaneers depth chart
- Week 8 RB rankings
- Week 8 WR rankings
- Week 8 fantasy rankings
- Week 8 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 8
- Waiver wire pickups
- Fantasy sleepers
- Rest of season rankings
- Week 8 kicker rankings
- Week 8 defense rankings








