Should I start Michael Mayer or Samaje Perine in Week 7?

The market-based projections

Michael Mayer's market-based projection is 7.9 PPR points a game, built from 3 markets across 13 market sources. That is the 101st highest figure of the 205 players with a market-based projection.

Samaje Perine's market-based projection is 6.1 PPR points a game, built from 5 markets across 13 market sources. That is the 123rd highest figure of the 205 players with a market-based projection.

Where the draft room stands

Live drafts hold no current pick on Michael Mayer, and the board ranks him 113th overall on the rest of his evidence.

Live drafts hold no current pick on Samaje Perine, and the board ranks him 111th overall on the rest of his evidence.

This season so far

Through Week 6, Michael Mayer has been on the field for 81 percent of LV snaps, drawn 16 percent of the targets and had 3 percent of the red zone chances.

He has taken 6 of the offence's 61 third down targets, had 1 of its 15 chances inside the five and seen 9 of its 36 two minute targets.

His 34 targets have averaged 4.5 air yards.

In Week 4 against KC he caught 8 of 10 targets for 82 yards and did not score.

In Week 5 against NE he caught 1 of 1 target for 2 yards and did not score.

In Week 6 against BUF he caught 7 of 9 targets for 95 yards and did not score.

Through Week 5, Samaje Perine has been on the field for 37 percent of CIN snaps, taken 25 percent of the carries, drawn 5 percent of the targets and had 16 percent of the red zone chances.

He has taken 6 of the offence's 46 third down targets, had 0 of its 12 chances inside the five and seen 0 of its 33 two minute targets.

His 10 targets have averaged 1.3 air yards.

In Week 3 against PIT he carried 3 times for 9 yards, caught 1 of 3 targets for 5 yards and did not score.

In Week 4 against JAX he carried 3 times for 7 yards, caught 0 of 1 target for 0 yards and did not score.

In Week 5 against MIA he carried 14 times for 68 yards, caught 2 of 2 targets for 10 yards and scored 1 touchdown.

Their 2025 seasons

In 2025 Michael Mayer played 13 games and scored 73.8 PPR points, 5.7 a game, finishing TE38.

He caught 35 of 50 targets for 328 yards and 1 touchdown, with 6 red zone targets.

That came to 3.8 targets a game, a 70 percent catch rate and 9.4 yards a catch.

He was on the field for 57 percent of the snaps in the games he played.

In 2025 Samaje Perine played 15 games and scored 77.9 PPR points, 5.2 a game, finishing RB57.

He carried 84 times for 382 yards and 3 touchdowns, and caught 17 of 21 targets for 87 more yards.

That came to 5.6 carries a game at 5 yards a carry and 1.1 catches a game.

He was on the field for 34 percent of the snaps in the games he played.

Samaje Perine was available for 2 games more.

Side by side

In 2025 Michael Mayer scored 5.7 PPR points a game and Samaje Perine 5.2, 0.5 a game between them.

Michael Mayer finished TE38 and Samaje Perine RB57, which are two different ladders.

Michael Mayer is a tight end and Samaje Perine a running back, so the question is which slot you fill first rather than which of them is better.

Byes and availability

Michael Mayer is off in Week 13 and Samaje Perine in Week 6, so either can cover the other's bye.

What would change the answer

1.8 points a game is the entire case. The market restates it every week, and a line that moves moves the order with it.

The draft market is the half that is missing: when live drafts hold these two again they can order them differently from the projection, and this page will follow the drafts rather than the market-based projection when they do.