Start James Cook III or Ashton Jeanty? Week 9
Updated Nov 3, 4:51 AM ET. Locks at kickoff, graded after. Week 10 answer posts Tuesday.
Latest
- : James Cook III: Listed Questionable (Undisclosed) (Sleeper injury feed)
Start James Cook III over Ashton Jeanty

- Market projects
- 16.5
- recent weeks avg
- MIN D vs RB
- 18.4
- 5th fewest to RBs (2026)
- Snap share
- 54%
- Through Week 8
- Target share
- 9%
- Through Week 8

- Market projects
- 15.8
- recent weeks avg
- SF D vs RB
- 22.7
- 12th most to RBs (2026)
- Snap share
- 66%
- Through Week 8
- Target share
- 17%
- Through Week 8
Should I drop Ashton Jeanty for James Cook III?
Yes, on the rest of the season. James Cook III projects 146 market-implied PPR points from Week 9 through Week 17 (16.2 a game over 9 games), Ashton Jeanty 130 (16.2 a game over 8 games). For Week 9 the call starts James Cook III over Ashton Jeanty. James Cook III is listed questionable.
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Our Week 9 call
Start James Cook III over Ashton Jeanty in Week 9.
Market-based projections have James Cook III at 16.5 points and Ashton Jeanty at 15.8, a gap of 0.7. That is inside the noise of a single catch, so treat it as close to a coin flip. No player market is posted for James Cook III this week yet, so his 16.5 is the average of his market-based projections in Weeks 6 and 8 (16.8 and 16.2); the call is rebuilt when his market posts. No player market is posted for Ashton Jeanty this week yet, so his 15.8 is the average of his market-based projections in Weeks 6, 7 and 8 (16.1, 16.0 and 15.2); the call is rebuilt when his market posts. Drafters take James Cook III at ADP 9 and Ashton Jeanty at 24.
What the market projects
No Week 9 player market is posted for James Cook III yet. His market-based projections were 16.8 and 16.2 points in Weeks 6 and 8, an average of 16.5, which stands in until his Week 9 market posts.
The market-based projection for James Cook III is 0.8 touchdowns (5 market sources).
No Week 9 player market is posted for Ashton Jeanty yet. His market-based projections were 16.1, 16.0 and 15.2 points in Weeks 6, 7 and 8, an average of 15.8, which stands in until his Week 9 market posts.
The market-based projection for Ashton Jeanty is 0.6 touchdowns (5 market sources).
That puts James Cook III 0.7 points ahead of Ashton Jeanty on these projections.
Week 9 matchups
James Cook III and BUF visit MIN on Monday at 8:15 PM ET.
MIN allowed 18.4 fantasy points a game to RBs this season over 7 games, the 5th fewest in the league.
Running backs ran for 103 yards and 0.6 touchdowns a game against MIN and caught passes for 18 more yards.
Ashton Jeanty and LV visit SF on Sunday at 4:25 PM ET.
SF allowed 22.7 fantasy points a game to RBs this season over 7 games, the 12th most in the league.
Running backs ran for 79 yards and 0.3 touchdowns a game against SF and caught passes for 48 more yards.
By points allowed to the position, Ashton Jeanty has the softer matchup.
Injury status
James Cook III is listed as questionable with a undisclosed injury.
Ashton Jeanty is not on the injury report.
Usage before Week 9
Through Week 8, James Cook III played 54 percent of BUF snaps, took 54 percent of the carries, drew 9 percent of the targets and had 35 percent of the red zone chances.
James Cook III, Week 8 against BAL: 44 of 82 snaps, 21 carries for 80 yards, 3 targets and 2 catches for 21 yards, 1 touchdown.
Through Week 8, Ashton Jeanty played 66 percent of LV snaps, took 55 percent of the carries, drew 17 percent of the targets and had 36 percent of the red zone chances.
Ashton Jeanty, Week 5 against NE: 32 of 60 snaps, 10 carries for 27 yards, 6 targets and 3 catches for 50 yards.
Ashton Jeanty, Week 6 against BUF: 38 of 66 snaps, 10 carries for 22 yards, 6 targets and 4 catches for 36 yards, 1 touchdown.
Ashton Jeanty, Week 7 against LAR: 49 of 68 snaps, 8 carries for 15 yards, 8 targets and 8 catches for 61 yards, 1 touchdown.
Ashton Jeanty, Week 8 against NYJ: 25 of 63 snaps, 2 carries for 9 yards, 4 targets and 3 catches for 64 yards.
Their 2025 seasons
In 2025, James Cook III played 17 games for BUF and scored 302.2 PPR points, 17.8 a game, finishing RB6.
He ran 309 times for 1621 yards and 12 touchdowns, and caught 33 of 40 targets for 291 yards.
He was on the field for 60 percent of the offense's snaps in the games he played.
James Cook III, Week 18 of 2025 against NYJ: 2 carries for 15 yards, 0 targets and 0 catches for 0 yards, 1.5 PPR points.
James Cook III, Week 17 of 2025 against PHI: 39 of 76 snaps, 20 carries for 74 yards, 4 targets and 1 catch for 3 yards, 8.7 PPR points.
In 2025, Ashton Jeanty played 17 games for LV and scored 245.1 PPR points, 14.4 a game, finishing RB11.
He ran 266 times for 975 yards and 5 touchdowns, and caught 55 of 73 targets for 346 yards.
He was on the field for 76 percent of the offense's snaps in the games he played.
Their other Week 9 calls
Locks at kickoff, graded after. When the start/sit engine grades week 9, the call and the result appear on the public record, wrong ones included.
Drop or keep
Should I drop Ashton Jeanty for James Cook III?
Yes, on the rest of the season. James Cook III projects 146 market-implied PPR points from Week 9 through Week 17 (16.2 a game over 9 games), Ashton Jeanty 130 (16.2 a game over 8 games). For Week 9 the call starts James Cook III over Ashton Jeanty. James Cook III is listed questionable.
Should I drop James Cook III for Ashton Jeanty?
No. Keep James Cook III: he projects 146 market-implied PPR points from Week 9 through Week 17 (16.2 a game over 9 games), Ashton Jeanty 130 (16.2 a game over 8 games). For Week 9 the call starts James Cook III over Ashton Jeanty. James Cook III is listed questionable.
Should I drop Ashton Jeanty?Should I drop James Cook III?
Week 9 on the board
- Is James Cook III playing Week 9?
- Is Ashton Jeanty playing Week 9?
- Bills depth chart
- Raiders depth chart
- Week 9 RB rankings
- Week 9 fantasy rankings
- Week 9 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 9
- Waiver wire pickups
- Fantasy sleepers
- Rest of season rankings
- Week 9 kicker rankings
- Week 9 defense rankings