Start Austin Ekeler or Samaje Perine? Week 10

Our Week 10 call

Start Samaje Perine over Austin Ekeler in Week 10.

Market-based projections have Samaje Perine at 6.7 points and Austin Ekeler at 6.5, a gap of 0.2. That is inside the noise of a single catch, so treat it as close to a coin flip. Samaje Perine's number is scaled up from a partial market: not every stat the position needs is posted yet, so the rest is estimated from what is. Market coverage on Samaje Perine is 70 percent of what his position needs, so the market side of this carries proportionally less weight.

What the market projects

Player markets imply 6.7 fantasy points for Samaje Perine, with 70 percent of the markets a RB needs posted.

The market-based projection for Samaje Perine is 24 rushing yards and 0.3 touchdowns (9 and 10 market sources).

Player markets imply 6.5 fantasy points for Austin Ekeler, with 100 percent of the markets a RB needs posted.

The market-based projection for Austin Ekeler is 28 rushing yards, 8 receiving yards, 1-2 receptions and 0.3 touchdowns (13, 13, 13 and 14 market sources).

That puts Samaje Perine 0.2 points ahead of Austin Ekeler on the market projections.

Week 10 matchups

Samaje Perine and CIN host PIT on Sunday at 8:20 PM ET.

PIT allowed 20.2 fantasy points a game to RBs this season over 8 games, the 14th fewest in the league.

Running backs ran for 70 yards and 0.4 touchdowns a game against PIT and caught passes for 47 more yards.

Austin Ekeler and WAS visit NYG on Thursday at 8:15 PM ET.

NYG allowed 19.1 fantasy points a game to RBs this season over 8 games, the 7th fewest in the league.

Running backs ran for 92 yards and 0-1 touchdowns a game against NYG and caught passes for 21 more yards.

By points allowed to the position, Samaje Perine has the softer matchup.

Injury status

Samaje Perine is not on the injury report.

Austin Ekeler is not on the injury report.

Usage before Week 10

Through Week 9, Samaje Perine played 36 percent of CIN snaps, took 27 percent of the carries, drew 4 percent of the targets and had 17 percent of the red zone chances.

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.

Samaje Perine, Week 7 against BAL: 12 of 53 snaps, 4 carries for 16 yards, 0 targets and 0 catches for 0 yards, 1 touchdown.

Samaje Perine, Week 8 against TEN: 26 of 74 snaps, 4 carries for 10 yards, 1 target and 1 catch for 9 yards.

Samaje Perine, Week 9 against ATL: 23 of 57 snaps, 11 carries for 43 yards, 0 targets and 0 catches for 0 yards.

Through Week 9, Austin Ekeler played 25 percent of WAS snaps, took 21 percent of the carries, drew 5 percent of the targets and had 17 percent of the red zone chances.

Austin Ekeler, Week 5 against NYG: 6 of 62 snaps, 3 carries for -1 yards, 1 target and 1 catch for 15 yards.

Austin Ekeler, Week 6 against SF: 7 of 67 snaps, 1 carry for 3 yards, 2 targets and 2 catches for 4 yards.

Austin Ekeler, Week 8 against PHI: 20 of 60 snaps, 8 carries for 36 yards, 0 targets and 0 catches for 0 yards.

Austin Ekeler, Week 9 against LAR: 28 of 62 snaps, 8 carries for 16 yards, 3 targets and 2 catches for 18 yards.

Their 2025 seasons

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.

In 2025, Austin Ekeler played 2 games for WAS and scored 13.1 PPR points, 6.6 a game, finishing RB103.

He ran 14 times for 43 yards and 0 touchdowns, and caught 5 of 7 targets for 38 yards.

He was on the field for 50 percent of the offense's snaps in the games he played.

Their other Week 10 calls

• Start Aaron Jones Sr. over Samaje Perine.
• Start Chris Rodriguez Jr. over Samaje Perine.
• Start Corey Kiner over Samaje Perine.
• Start Chris Rodriguez Jr. over Austin Ekeler.
• Start Corey Kiner over Austin Ekeler.
• Start Devin Singletary over Austin Ekeler.