Start Bucky Irving or Alvin Kamara? Week 7

Updated Oct 19, 2:21 PM ET. Locks at kickoff, graded after. Week 8 answer posts Tuesday.

Early kickoff: 9:30 AM ET, set your lineup before then.

Start Bucky Irving over Alvin Kamara

Start

Bucky Irving

RB · TB · at CAR

Market projects: 11.4; recent weeks avg
CAR D vs RB: 28.0; 4th most to RBs (2026)
Snap share: 61%; Through Week 6
Target share: 11%; Through Week 6

Sit

Alvin Kamara

RB · NO · vs PIT · Questionable

Market projects: 10.6; recent weeks avg
PIT D vs RB: 22.5; 11th most to RBs (2026)
Snap share: 32%; Through Week 6
Target share: 12%; Through Week 6

Should I drop Alvin Kamara for Bucky Irving?

Yes, on the rest of the season. Bucky Irving projects 120 market-implied PPR points from Week 7 through Week 17 (12.0 a game over 10 games), Alvin Kamara 62 (6.2 a game over 10 games). For Week 7 the call starts Bucky Irving over Alvin Kamara. Alvin Kamara is listed questionable.

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Our Week 7 call

Start Bucky Irving over Alvin Kamara in Week 7.

Market-based projections have Bucky Irving at 11.4 points and Alvin Kamara at 10.6, a gap of 0.8. That is inside the noise of a single catch, so treat it as close to a coin flip. No player market is posted for Bucky Irving this week yet, so his 11.4 is the average of his market-based projections in Weeks 4 and 5 (11.5 and 11.2); the call is rebuilt when his market posts. No player market is posted for Alvin Kamara this week yet, so his 10.6 is the average of his market-based projections in Weeks 4 and 5 (10.3 and 10.8); the call is rebuilt when his market posts. Drafters take Bucky Irving at ADP 45 and Alvin Kamara at 164.

What the market projects

No Week 7 player market is posted for Bucky Irving yet. His market-based projections were 11.5 and 11.2 points in Weeks 4 and 5, an average of 11.4, which stands in until his Week 7 market posts.

No Week 7 player market is posted for Alvin Kamara yet. His market-based projections were 10.3 and 10.8 points in Weeks 4 and 5, an average of 10.6, which stands in until his Week 7 market posts.

That puts Bucky Irving 0.8 points ahead of Alvin Kamara on these projections.

Week 7 matchups

Bucky Irving and TB visit CAR on Sunday at 1:00 PM ET.

CAR allowed 28.0 fantasy points a game to RBs this season over 4 games, the 4th most in the league.

Running backs ran for 120 yards and 1.3 touchdowns a game against CAR and caught passes for 38 more yards.

Alvin Kamara and NO host PIT on Sunday at 9:30 AM ET.

PIT allowed 22.5 fantasy points a game to RBs this season over 5 games, the 11th most in the league.

Running backs ran for 91 yards and 0.6 touchdowns a game against PIT and caught passes for 40 more yards.

By points allowed to the position, Bucky Irving has the softer matchup.

Injury status

Bucky Irving is not on the injury report.

Alvin Kamara is listed as questionable with a undisclosed injury.

Usage before Week 7

Through Week 6, Bucky Irving played 61 percent of TB snaps, took 61 percent of the carries, drew 11 percent of the targets and had 38 percent of the red zone chances.

Bucky Irving, Week 3 against MIN: 36 of 69 snaps, 15 carries for 46 yards, 4 targets and 2 catches for 12 yards.

Bucky Irving, Week 4 against GB: 37 of 64 snaps, 16 carries for 61 yards, 0 targets and 0 catches for 0 yards.

Bucky Irving, Week 5 against DAL: 39 of 72 snaps, 21 carries for 165 yards, 3 targets and 2 catches for 10 yards, 2 touchdowns.

Bucky Irving, Week 6 against PIT: 19 carries for 46 yards, 3 targets and 2 catches for 3 yards.

Through Week 6, Alvin Kamara played 32 percent of NO snaps, took 28 percent of the carries, drew 12 percent of the targets and had 13 percent of the red zone chances.

Alvin Kamara, Week 3 against LV: 24 of 74 snaps, 9 carries for 36 yards, 1 target and 1 catch for 5 yards.

Alvin Kamara, Week 4 against ATL: 28 of 74 snaps, 7 carries for 23 yards, 7 targets and 5 catches for 35 yards, 2 touchdowns.

Alvin Kamara, Week 5 against MIN: 12 of 45 snaps, 3 carries for 12 yards, 2 targets and 2 catches for -6 yards.

Alvin Kamara, Week 6 against NYG: 7 carries for 34 yards, 4 targets and 2 catches for 35 yards, 1 touchdown.

Their 2025 seasons

In 2025, Bucky Irving played 10 games for TB and scored 138.5 PPR points, 13.9 a game, finishing RB34.

He ran 173 times for 588 yards and 1 touchdown, and caught 30 of 35 targets for 277 yards.

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

In 2025, Alvin Kamara played 11 games for NO and scored 100.7 PPR points, 9.2 a game, finishing RB46.

He ran 131 times for 471 yards and 1 touchdown, and caught 33 of 39 targets for 186 yards.

He was on the field for 63 percent of the offense's snaps in the games he played.

Their other Week 7 calls

Locks at kickoff, graded after. When the start/sit engine grades week 7, the call and the result appear on the public record, wrong ones included.

Drop or keep

Should I drop Alvin Kamara for Bucky Irving?
Yes, on the rest of the season. Bucky Irving projects 120 market-implied PPR points from Week 7 through Week 17 (12.0 a game over 10 games), Alvin Kamara 62 (6.2 a game over 10 games). For Week 7 the call starts Bucky Irving over Alvin Kamara. Alvin Kamara is listed questionable.
Should I drop Bucky Irving for Alvin Kamara?
No. Keep Bucky Irving: he projects 120 market-implied PPR points from Week 7 through Week 17 (12.0 a game over 10 games), Alvin Kamara 62 (6.2 a game over 10 games). For Week 7 the call starts Bucky Irving over Alvin Kamara. Alvin Kamara is listed questionable.