Start Alvin Kamara or Samaje Perine? Week 7

Updated Oct 21, 6:01 PM ET. Locks at kickoff, graded after. Week 8 answer posts Tuesday.

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

Latest

Oct 21, 6:13 PM ET: Alvin Kamara: Listed Questionable (Back) (Sleeper injury feed)

Start Alvin Kamara over Samaje Perine

Start

Alvin Kamara

RB · NO · vs PIT · Questionable

Market projects: 7.1; fantasy pts
PIT D vs RB: 20.4; 15th fewest to RBs (2026)
Upside: Limited; 32 of 100 at RB
Snap share: 31%; Through Week 6
Target share: 12%; Through Week 6

Sit

Samaje Perine

RB · CIN · at BAL

Market projects: 6.1; fantasy pts
BAL D vs RB: 18.5; 6th fewest to RBs (2026)
Upside: Rising; 68 of 100 at RB
Snap share: 37%; Through Week 5
Target share: 5%; Through Week 5

Should I drop Samaje Perine for Alvin Kamara?

Yes, on the rest of the season. Alvin Kamara projects 71 market-implied PPR points from Week 7 through Week 17 (7.1 a game over 10 games), Samaje Perine 50 (4.5 a game over 11 games). For Week 7 the call starts Alvin Kamara over Samaje Perine, 7.1 to 6.1 projected PPR points. Alvin Kamara is listed questionable.

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Our Week 7 call

Start Alvin Kamara over Samaje Perine in Week 7.

Market-based projections have Alvin Kamara at 7.1 points and Samaje Perine at 6.1, a gap of 1.0. That is inside the noise of a single catch, so treat it as close to a coin flip.

What the market projects

Player markets imply 7.1 fantasy points for Alvin Kamara, with 100 percent of the markets a RB needs posted.

The market-based projection for Alvin Kamara is 17 rushing yards, 13 receiving yards, 2-3 receptions and 0.3 touchdowns (9, 12, 12 and 13 market sources).

Player markets imply 6.1 fantasy points for Samaje Perine, with 100 percent of the markets a RB needs posted.

The market-based projection for Samaje Perine is 21 rushing yards, 8 receiving yards, 1-2 receptions and 0.3 touchdowns (7, 7, 7 and 12 market sources).

That puts Alvin Kamara 1.0 points ahead of Samaje Perine on the market projections.

Week 7 matchups

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

PIT allowed 20.5 fantasy points a game to RBs this season over 6 games, the 15th fewest in the league.

Running backs ran for 86 yards and 0-1 touchdowns a game against PIT and caught passes for 35 more yards.

Samaje Perine and CIN visit BAL on Sunday at 1:00 PM ET.

BAL allowed 18.5 fantasy points a game to RBs this season over 6 games, the 6th fewest in the league.

Running backs ran for 80 yards and 0.8 touchdowns a game against BAL and caught passes for 14 more yards.

By points allowed to the position, Alvin Kamara has the softer matchup.

Injury status

Alvin Kamara is listed as questionable with a back injury.

Samaje Perine is not on the injury report.

Usage before Week 7

Through Week 6, Alvin Kamara played 31 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: 19 of 72 snaps, 7 carries for 34 yards, 4 targets and 2 catches for 35 yards, 1 touchdown.

Through Week 5, Samaje Perine played 37 percent of CIN snaps, took 25 percent of the carries, drew 5 percent of the targets and had 16 percent of the red zone chances.

Samaje Perine, Week 2 against HOU: 24 of 60 snaps, 2 carries for 6 yards, 1 target and 1 catch for 16 yards.

Samaje Perine, Week 3 against PIT: 18 of 57 snaps, 3 carries for 9 yards, 3 targets and 1 catch for 5 yards.

Samaje Perine, Week 4 against JAX: 27 of 76 snaps, 3 carries for 7 yards, 1 target and 0 catches for 0 yards.

Samaje Perine, Week 5 against MIA: 33 of 65 snaps, 14 carries for 68 yards, 2 targets and 2 catches for 10 yards, 1 touchdown.

Their 2025 seasons

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.

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

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

He was on the field for 34 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 Samaje Perine for Alvin Kamara?
Yes, on the rest of the season. Alvin Kamara projects 71 market-implied PPR points from Week 7 through Week 17 (7.1 a game over 10 games), Samaje Perine 50 (4.5 a game over 11 games). For Week 7 the call starts Alvin Kamara over Samaje Perine, 7.1 to 6.1 projected PPR points. Alvin Kamara is listed questionable.
Should I drop Alvin Kamara for Samaje Perine?
No. Keep Alvin Kamara: he projects 71 market-implied PPR points from Week 7 through Week 17 (7.1 a game over 10 games), Samaje Perine 50 (4.5 a game over 11 games). For Week 7 the call starts Alvin Kamara over Samaje Perine, 7.1 to 6.1 projected PPR points. Alvin Kamara is listed questionable.