Start Derrick Henry or Alvin Kamara? Week 7

Updated Oct 19, 4:11 PM ET. Locks at kickoff, graded after. Week 8 answer posts Tuesday.

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

Start Derrick Henry over Alvin Kamara

Start

Derrick Henry

RB · BAL · vs CIN

Market projects: 18.4; recent weeks avg
CIN D vs RB: 18.6; 8th fewest to RBs (2026)
Snap share: 58%; Through Week 6
Target share: 6%; 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 Derrick Henry?

Yes, on the rest of the season. Derrick Henry projects 170 market-implied PPR points from Week 7 through Week 17 (17.0 a game over 10 games), Alvin Kamara 62 (6.2 a game over 10 games). For Week 7 the call starts Derrick Henry over Alvin Kamara. Alvin Kamara is listed questionable.

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Our Week 7 call

Start Derrick Henry over Alvin Kamara in Week 7.

Market-based projections have Derrick Henry at 18.4 points and Alvin Kamara at 10.6, a gap of 7.8. No player market is posted for Derrick Henry this week yet, so his 18.4 is the average of his market-based projections in Weeks 4 and 5 (21.3 and 15.4); 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 Derrick Henry at ADP 15 and Alvin Kamara at 164.

What the market projects

No Week 7 player market is posted for Derrick Henry yet. His market-based projections were 21.3 and 15.4 points in Weeks 4 and 5, an average of 18.4, 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 Derrick Henry 7.8 points ahead of Alvin Kamara on these projections.

Week 7 matchups

Derrick Henry and BAL host CIN on Sunday at 1:00 PM ET.

CIN allowed 18.6 fantasy points a game to RBs this season over 5 games, the 8th fewest in the league.

Running backs ran for 82 yards and 0.6 touchdowns a game against CIN and caught passes for 32 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, Alvin Kamara has the softer matchup.

Injury status

Derrick Henry is not on the injury report.

Alvin Kamara is listed as questionable with a undisclosed injury.

Usage before Week 7

Through Week 6, Derrick Henry played 58 percent of BAL snaps, took 73 percent of the carries, drew 6 percent of the targets and had 53 percent of the red zone chances.

Derrick Henry, Week 3 against DAL: 43 of 64 snaps, 26 carries for 89 yards, 1 target and 1 catch for 0 yards, 2 touchdowns.

Derrick Henry, Week 4 against TEN: 40 of 64 snaps, 23 carries for 73 yards, 2 targets and 2 catches for 6 yards, 1 touchdown.

Derrick Henry, Week 5 against ATL: 42 of 76 snaps, 24 carries for 102 yards, 2 targets and 1 catch for 18 yards, 1 touchdown.

Derrick Henry, Week 6 against CLE: 17 carries for 58 yards, 1 target and 1 catch for 2 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, Derrick Henry played 17 games for BAL and scored 279.5 PPR points, 16.4 a game, finishing RB8.

He ran 307 times for 1595 yards and 16 touchdowns, and caught 15 of 21 targets for 150 yards.

He was on the field for 54 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 Derrick Henry?
Yes, on the rest of the season. Derrick Henry projects 170 market-implied PPR points from Week 7 through Week 17 (17.0 a game over 10 games), Alvin Kamara 62 (6.2 a game over 10 games). For Week 7 the call starts Derrick Henry over Alvin Kamara. Alvin Kamara is listed questionable.
Should I drop Derrick Henry for Alvin Kamara?
No. Keep Derrick Henry: he projects 170 market-implied PPR points from Week 7 through Week 17 (17.0 a game over 10 games), Alvin Kamara 62 (6.2 a game over 10 games). For Week 7 the call starts Derrick Henry over Alvin Kamara. Alvin Kamara is listed questionable.