Should I start Tony Pollard or Malik Willis in Week 8?

Updated Oct 27, 7:16 AM ET. Week 9 answers post Tuesday.

Start Malik Willis: 100 percent of the snaps and 0 percent of the targets over their last 3 games, against Tony Pollard's 57 percent of the snaps and 74 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 Tony Pollard for Malik Willis?

Yes, on the rest of the season. Malik Willis projects 144 market-implied PPR points from Week 8 through Week 17 (14.4 a game over 10 games), Tony Pollard 89 (9.9 a game over 9 games).

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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.

Tony Pollard

RB26 · TEN · bye 9

2026 vs carries line 5-2

Market-based projection: 12.2 pts a game Wk 7 price
Overall rank: 79

Malik Willis

QB11 · MIA · bye 6

2026 vs pass yds line 4-2

Market-based projection: 12.9 pts a game Wk 7 price
Overall rank: 81

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The gap

Board size292 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 Tony Pollard, and the board ranks him 79th overall on the rest of his evidence.

Live drafts hold no current pick on Malik Willis, and the board ranks him 81st overall on the rest of his evidence.

In 2QB drafts he goes at ADP 38.

The market-based projections

The market-based projection for Tony Pollard is 3.3 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 Malik Willis is 1.8 PPR points a game off 1 market across 7 market sources. That is 0 percent of what a quarterback's projection needs, so it is a fragment of one rather than a projection.

Tony Pollard's projection is not complete, so the two figures are not set against each other here.

This season through Week 7

Through Week 7, Tony Pollard has been on the field for 55 percent of TEN snaps, taken 70 percent of the carries, drawn 8 percent of the targets and had 41 percent of the red zone chances.

He has taken 1 of the offence's 59 third down targets, had 9 of its 16 chances inside the five and seen 0 of its 35 two minute targets.

His 16 targets have averaged 1.4 air yards.

In Week 5 against HOU he carried 14 times for 52 yards, caught 0 of 1 target for 0 yards and did not score.

In Week 6 against IND he carried 19 times for 76 yards, caught 0 of 1 target for 0 yards and did not score.

In Week 7 against CLE he carried 25 times for 129 yards, caught 3 of 3 targets for 26 yards and scored 3 touchdowns.

Through Week 7, Malik Willis has been on the field for 100 percent of MIA snaps, dropped back 188 times and thrown 9.7 air yards an attempt.

He has been sacked or hit on 26 of 188 dropbacks and scrambled 22 times.

In Week 4 against MIN he completed 9 of 17 passes for 85 yards, threw 0 touchdowns and 0 interceptions and ran 2 times for 11 yards.

In Week 5 against CIN he completed 15 of 26 passes for 137 yards, threw 1 touchdown and 2 interceptions and ran 8 times for 74 yards.

In Week 7 against NYJ he completed 14 of 21 passes for 208 yards, threw 2 touchdowns and 0 interceptions and ran 6 times for 39 yards.

Their 2025 seasons

In 2025 Tony Pollard played 17 games and scored 185.8 PPR points, 10.9 a game, finishing RB23.

He carried 242 times for 1082 yards and 5 touchdowns, and caught 33 of 41 targets for 206 more yards.

That came to 14.2 carries a game at 5 yards a carry and 1.9 catches a game.

He was on the field for 62 percent of the snaps in the games he played.

In 2025 Malik Willis played 4 games and scored 51.2 PPR points, 12.8 a game, finishing QB45.

He threw for 422 yards on 35 attempts with 3 touchdowns and 0 interceptions, and ran for 123 yards and 2 touchdowns.

That came to 8.8 attempts a game at 12.1 yards an attempt.

He was on the field for 10 percent of the snaps in the games he played.

Tony Pollard was available for 13 games more.

Side by side

In 2025 Malik Willis scored 12.8 PPR points a game and Tony Pollard 10.9, 1.9 a game between them.

Tony Pollard finished RB23 and Malik Willis QB45, which are two different ladders.

Tony Pollard is a running back and Malik Willis a quarterback, so the question is which slot you fill first rather than which of them is better.

Byes and availability

Tony Pollard is off in Week 9 and Malik Willis in Week 6, so either can cover the other's bye.

Drop or keep

Should I drop Tony Pollard for Malik Willis?
Yes, on the rest of the season. Malik Willis projects 144 market-implied PPR points from Week 8 through Week 17 (14.4 a game over 10 games), Tony Pollard 89 (9.9 a game over 9 games).
Should I drop Malik Willis for Tony Pollard?
No. Keep Malik Willis: he projects 144 market-implied PPR points from Week 8 through Week 17 (14.4 a game over 10 games), Tony Pollard 89 (9.9 a game over 9 games).

Should I drop Tony Pollard?