Should I start Mike Washington Jr. or Rico Dowdle in Week 8?
Updated Nov 3, 12:11 AM ET. Week 9 answers post Tuesday.
Start Rico Dowdle: 31 percent of the snaps and 32 percent of the carries over their last 3 games, against Mike Washington Jr.'s 26 percent of the snaps and 35 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.
Parlae may earn a commission from price links.
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.
RB · LV · bye 13
- Overall rank
- 267
RB · PIT · on bye this week
2026 vs carries line 3-2
- Market-based projection
- 9.0 pts a game Wk 8 price
- Overall rank
- 269
Make this call for your own roster
Sync your league and My Team sets this week's lineup for your actual roster, spot by spot. Free, no account.
Or get it by email
Tuesday 7am ET: one email with what moved on the board and who is worth a claim.
Free. One a week, one tap to stop.
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 Washington Jr., and the board ranks him 267th overall on the rest of his evidence.
Live drafts hold no current pick on Rico Dowdle, and the board ranks him 269th overall on the rest of his evidence.
The market-based projections
No season market is posted for Mike Washington Jr., so the only market valuing him on this page is the draft room.
No season market is posted for Rico Dowdle, so the only market valuing him on this page is the draft room.
Neither carries a posted market, so this page rests on the draft room and on what the two have already done.
This season through Week 8
Through Week 8, Mike Washington Jr. has been on the field for 26 percent of LV snaps, taken 65 percent of the carries, drawn 1 percent of the targets and had 38 percent of the red zone chances.
He has taken 0 of the offence's 16 third down targets, had 6 of its 10 chances inside the five and seen 0 of its 7 two minute targets.
His 1 target have come 2.0 yards behind the line of scrimmage on average.
In Week 7 against LAR he carried 6 times for 27 yards, caught 0 of 1 target for 0 yards and did not score.
In Week 8 against NYJ he carried 25 times for 83 yards and did not score.
Through Week 8, Rico Dowdle has been on the field for 38 percent of PIT snaps, taken 37 percent of the carries, drawn 10 percent of the targets and had 27 percent of the red zone chances.
He has taken 1 of the offence's 39 third down targets, had 1 of its 10 chances inside the five and seen 2 of its 27 two minute targets.
His 17 targets have come 0.6 yards behind the line of scrimmage on average.
In Week 6 against TB he carried 7 times for 40 yards, caught 3 of 4 targets for 9 yards and did not score.
In Week 7 against NO he carried 9 times for 41 yards, caught 6 of 6 targets for 45 yards and did not score.
In Week 8 against CLE he carried 15 times for 56 yards and scored 1 touchdown.
Their 2025 seasons
Mike Washington Jr. is a rookie, so there is no NFL season behind him to price him against.
In 2025 Rico Dowdle played 17 games and scored 216.3 PPR points, 12.7 a game, finishing RB18.
He carried 236 times for 1076 yards and 6 touchdowns, and caught 39 of 50 targets for 297 more yards.
That came to 13.9 carries a game at 4.6 yards a carry and 2.3 catches a game.
He was on the field for 56 percent of the snaps in the games he played.
Head to head
This season Rico Dowdle holds the bigger snap share, 38 percent against 26 percent.
This season Mike Washington Jr. holds the bigger share of the carries, 65 percent against 37 percent.
Byes and availability
Mike Washington Jr. is off in Week 13 and Rico Dowdle in Week 9, so either can cover the other's bye.
Both players in full
Week 8 on the board
- Is Mike Washington Jr. playing Week 8?
- Is Rico Dowdle playing Week 8?
- Raiders depth chart
- Steelers depth chart
- Week 8 RB 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
