Start David Montgomery or Bucky Irving? Week 1

Our Week 1 call

Start Bucky Irving over David Montgomery in Week 1.

Bucky Irving is priced by the books at 7.5 projected points. David Montgomery has no player market posted for this week, so his side of this call rests on consensus ADP and the news wire only. Drafters take Bucky Irving at ADP 49 and David Montgomery at 52. Market coverage on Bucky Irving is 33 percent of what his position needs, so the market side of this carries proportionally less weight.

What the books imply

Player prop markets imply 7.5 fantasy points for Bucky Irving, with 33 percent of the markets a RB needs posted.

No sportsbook posted a player market for David Montgomery in Week 1.

Week 1 matchups

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

CIN allowed 23.1 fantasy points to RBs in its one game this season, the 16th most in the league.

Running backs ran for 60 yards and a touchdown against CIN and caught passes for 51 more yards.

David Montgomery and HOU host BUF.

BUF allowed 33.9 fantasy points to RBs in its one game this season, the 7th most in the league.

Running backs ran for 102 yards and 2 touchdowns against BUF and caught passes for 17 more yards.

By points allowed to the position, David Montgomery has the softer matchup.

Injury status

Bucky Irving was not on the injury report when the call was made.

David Montgomery was not on the injury report when the call was made.

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.

Bucky Irving, Week 18 of 2025 against CAR: 42 of 67 snaps, 26 carries for 85 yards, 2 targets and 1 catch for 13 yards, 10.8 PPR points.

Bucky Irving, Week 17 of 2025 against MIA: 36 of 67 snaps, 9 carries for 19 yards, 6 targets and 5 catches for 14 yards, 8.3 PPR points.

Bucky Irving, Week 16 of 2025 against CAR: 40 of 64 snaps, 19 carries for 71 yards, 0 targets and 0 catches for 0 yards, 7.1 PPR points.

In 2025, David Montgomery played 17 games for DET and scored 166.9 PPR points, 9.8 a game, finishing RB27.

He ran 158 times for 716 yards and 8 touchdowns, and caught 24 of 29 targets for 192 yards.

He was on the field for 37 percent of the offense's snaps in the games he played.

David Montgomery, Week 18 of 2025 against CHI: 8 carries for 42 yards, 1 target and 1 catch for 13 yards, 6.5 PPR points.

David Montgomery, Week 17 of 2025 against MIN: 22 of 64 snaps, 10 carries for 25 yards, 2 targets and 2 catches for 15 yards, 6.0 PPR points.

David Montgomery, Week 16 of 2025 against PIT: 13 of 74 snaps, 4 carries for 14 yards, 0 targets and 0 catches for 0 yards, 1.4 PPR points.

How Week 1 went

Bucky Irving scored 20.3 PPR points and David Montgomery scored 28.9.

The call was wrong: David Montgomery outscored Bucky Irving by 8.6.

Bucky Irving finished 12.8 points above the 7.5 the props implied.

Bucky Irving, Week 1 against CIN: 35 of 57 snaps, 8 carries for 45 yards, 7 targets and 7 catches for 48 yards, 1 touchdown, 20.3 PPR points.

Bucky Irving finished as the week's RB12 in PPR scoring.

David Montgomery, Week 1 against BUF: 39 of 79 snaps, 20 carries for 60 yards, 3 targets and 3 catches for 19 yards, 3 touchdowns, 28.9 PPR points.

David Montgomery finished as the week's RB7 in PPR scoring.

Their other Week 1 calls

• Start Bucky Irving over Bhayshul Tuten.
• Start Cam Skattebo over Bucky Irving.
• Start Bucky Irving over D'Andre Swift.
• Start Bhayshul Tuten over David Montgomery.
• Start D'Andre Swift over David Montgomery.
• Start David Montgomery over Jadarian Price.