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Should I start Saquon Barkley or Tony Pollard in Week 7?

Updated Oct 20, 3:21 PM ET.

Start Tony Pollard: 57 percent of the snaps and 74 percent of the carries over their last 3 games, against Saquon Barkley's 28 percent of the snaps and 27 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 Saquon Barkley?

Yes, on the rest of the season. Saquon Barkley projects 136 market-implied PPR points from Week 7 through Week 17 (13.6 a game over 10 games), Tony Pollard 99 (9.9 a game over 10 games). Saquon Barkley is listed out.

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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.

RB28 · PHI · bye 10

2026 vs carries line 0-4

Overall rank
81

RB29 · TEN · bye 9

2026 vs carries line 4-2

Market-based projection
11.2 pts a game Wk 6 price
Overall rank
85

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The gap

  • Board size299 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 Saquon Barkley, and the board ranks him 81st overall on the rest of his evidence.

By format he goes standard: ADP 3; 2QB: ADP 14.

Live drafts hold no current pick on Tony Pollard, and the board ranks him 85th overall on the rest of his evidence.

The market-based projections

The market-based projection for Saquon Barkley is 3.7 PPR points a game off 1 market across 2 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 Tony Pollard is 3.5 PPR points a game off 1 market across 9 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.

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

This season so far

Through Week 4, Saquon Barkley has been on the field for 38 percent of PHI snaps, taken 36 percent of the carries, drawn 7 percent of the targets and had 14 percent of the red zone chances.

He has taken 1 of the offence's 33 third down targets, had 2 of its 8 chances inside the five and seen 0 of its 24 two minute targets.

His 7 targets have come 0.3 yards behind the line of scrimmage on average.

In Week 2 against TEN he carried 4 times for 9 yards, caught 1 of 2 targets for 11 yards and did not score.

In Week 3 against CHI he carried 15 times for 82 yards, caught 1 of 2 targets for -2 yards and did not score.

In Week 4 against LAR he carried 2 times for 8 yards, caught 1 of 1 target for 2 yards and did not score.

Through Week 6, Tony Pollard has been on the field for 55 percent of TEN snaps, taken 67 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 48 third down targets, had 6 of its 12 chances inside the five and seen 0 of its 30 two minute targets.

His 13 targets have averaged 1.5 air yards.

In Week 4 against BAL he carried 16 times for 48 yards, caught 2 of 4 targets for 2 yards and scored 1 touchdown.

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.

Their 2025 seasons

In 2025 Saquon Barkley played 16 games and scored 232.3 PPR points, 14.5 a game, finishing RB14.

He carried 280 times for 1140 yards and 7 touchdowns, and caught 37 of 50 targets for 273 more yards.

That came to 17-18 carries a game at 4.1 yards a carry and 2.3 catches a game.

He was on the field for 78 percent of the snaps in the games he played.

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.

Tony Pollard was available for 1 game more.

Head to head

In 2025 Saquon Barkley scored 14.5 PPR points a game and Tony Pollard 10.9, 3.6 a game between them.

Saquon Barkley finished RB14 that year and Tony Pollard RB23.

Saquon Barkley had 38 more carries than Tony Pollard, 280 to 242.

Saquon Barkley had 4 more catches than Tony Pollard, 37 to 33.

This season Tony Pollard holds the bigger snap share, 55 percent against 38 percent.

This season Tony Pollard holds the bigger share of the carries, 67 percent against 36 percent.

Byes and availability

Saquon Barkley is off in Week 10 and Tony Pollard in Week 9, so either can cover the other's bye.

Saquon Barkley is listed as out on the injury report.

Drop or keep

  • Should I drop Tony Pollard for Saquon Barkley?

    Yes, on the rest of the season. Saquon Barkley projects 136 market-implied PPR points from Week 7 through Week 17 (13.6 a game over 10 games), Tony Pollard 99 (9.9 a game over 10 games). Saquon Barkley is listed out.

  • Should I drop Saquon Barkley for Tony Pollard?

    No. Keep Saquon Barkley: he projects 136 market-implied PPR points from Week 7 through Week 17 (13.6 a game over 10 games), Tony Pollard 99 (9.9 a game over 10 games). Saquon Barkley is listed out.

Both players in full

Week 7 on the board

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