Start Chris Rodriguez Jr. or Dameon Pierce? Week 8

Updated Oct 27, 4:51 PM ET. Locks at kickoff, graded after. Week 9 answer posts Tuesday.

Latest

Oct 27, 10:58 AM ET: Dameon Pierce: Listed Questionable (Undisclosed) (Sleeper injury feed)

Start Chris Rodriguez Jr. over Dameon Pierce

Start

Chris Rodriguez Jr.

RB · JAX · vs IND

Market projects: 8.9; fantasy pts
IND D vs RB: 22.0; 13th most to RBs (2026)
Upside: Rising; 67 of 100 at RB

Sit

Dameon Pierce

RB · PHI · at WAS · Questionable

Market projects: 6.0; recent weeks avg
WAS D vs RB: 19.0; 7th fewest to RBs (2026)
Upside: Limited; 38 of 100 at RB
Snap share: 80%; Through Week 7
Target share: 10%; Through Week 7

Should I drop Dameon Pierce for Chris Rodriguez Jr.?

Yes, on the rest of the season. Chris Rodriguez Jr. projects 47 market-implied PPR points from Week 8 through Week 17 (4.7 a game over 10 games), Dameon Pierce 21 (2.3 a game over 9 games). For Week 8 the call starts Chris Rodriguez Jr. over Dameon Pierce. Dameon Pierce is listed questionable.

Parlae may earn a commission from price links.

Make this call for your own roster

Sync your league and My Team sets this week's lineup for your actual roster, spot by spot. Free, no account.

Sync my league

Sleeper ESPN Yahoo

Or get it by email

Tuesday 7am ET: one email with what moved on the board and who is worth a claim.

Free. One a week, one tap to stop.

Our Week 8 call

Start Chris Rodriguez Jr. over Dameon Pierce in Week 8.

Market-based projections have Chris Rodriguez Jr. at 8.9 points and Dameon Pierce at 6.0, a gap of 3.0. Chris Rodriguez Jr.'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. No player market is posted for Dameon Pierce this week yet, so his 6.0 is the average of his market-based projections in Weeks 5, 6 and 7 (3.8, 10.4 and 3.6); the call is rebuilt when his market posts. Market coverage on Chris Rodriguez Jr. 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 8.9 fantasy points for Chris Rodriguez Jr., with 70 percent of the markets a RB needs posted.

The market-based projection for Chris Rodriguez Jr. is 24 rushing yards (6 market sources).

No Week 8 player market is posted for Dameon Pierce yet. His market-based projections were 3.8, 10.4 and 3.6 points in Weeks 5, 6 and 7, an average of 6.0, which stands in until his Week 8 market posts.

That puts Chris Rodriguez Jr. 3.0 points ahead of Dameon Pierce on these projections.

Week 8 matchups

Chris Rodriguez Jr. and JAX host IND on Sunday at 1:00 PM ET.

IND allowed 22.0 fantasy points a game to RBs this season over 7 games, the 13th most in the league.

Running backs ran for 96 yards and 0.7 touchdowns a game against IND and caught passes for 39 more yards.

Dameon Pierce and PHI visit WAS on Sunday at 8:20 PM ET.

WAS allowed 19.0 fantasy points a game to RBs this season over 6 games, the 7th fewest in the league.

Running backs ran for 78 yards and 0.7 touchdowns a game against WAS and caught passes for 36 more yards.

By points allowed to the position, Chris Rodriguez Jr. has the softer matchup.

Injury status

Chris Rodriguez Jr. is not on the injury report.

Dameon Pierce is listed as questionable with a undisclosed injury.

Usage before Week 8

Through Week 7, Dameon Pierce played 80 percent of PHI snaps, took 66 percent of the carries, drew 10 percent of the targets and had 47 percent of the red zone chances.

Dameon Pierce, Week 5 against JAX: 48 of 62 snaps, 11 carries for 14 yards, 5 targets and 2 catches for -2 yards.

Dameon Pierce, Week 6 against CAR: 61 of 64 snaps, 12 carries for 35 yards, 5 targets and 4 catches for 15 yards, 1 touchdown.

Dameon Pierce, Week 7 against DAL: 42 of 62 snaps, 14 carries for 47 yards, 1 target and 1 catch for 1 yards, 1 touchdown.

Their 2025 seasons

In 2025, Chris Rodriguez Jr. played 13 games for WAS and scored 92.0 PPR points, 7.1 a game, finishing RB51.

He ran 112 times for 500 yards and 6 touchdowns, and caught 3 of 4 targets for 30 yards.

He was on the field for 30 percent of the offense's snaps in the games he played.

Chris Rodriguez Jr., Week 18 of 2025 against PHI: 16 carries for 65 yards, 1 target and 1 catch for 18 yards, 1 touchdown, 15.3 PPR points.

Chris Rodriguez Jr., Week 16 of 2025 against PHI: 28 of 54 snaps, 15 carries for 63 yards, 1 target and 1 catch for 6 yards, 1 touchdown, 13.9 PPR points.

In 2025, Dameon Pierce played 5 games for KC and scored 3.6 PPR points, 0.7 a game, finishing RB128.

He ran 14 times for 36 yards and 0 touchdowns, and caught 0 of 1 target for 0 yards.

He was on the field for 8 percent of the offense's snaps in the games he played.

Their other Week 8 calls

Locks at kickoff, graded after. When the start/sit engine grades week 8, the call and the result appear on the public record, wrong ones included.

Drop or keep

Should I drop Dameon Pierce for Chris Rodriguez Jr.?
Yes, on the rest of the season. Chris Rodriguez Jr. projects 47 market-implied PPR points from Week 8 through Week 17 (4.7 a game over 10 games), Dameon Pierce 21 (2.3 a game over 9 games). For Week 8 the call starts Chris Rodriguez Jr. over Dameon Pierce. Dameon Pierce is listed questionable.
Should I drop Chris Rodriguez Jr. for Dameon Pierce?
No. Keep Chris Rodriguez Jr.: he projects 47 market-implied PPR points from Week 8 through Week 17 (4.7 a game over 10 games), Dameon Pierce 21 (2.3 a game over 9 games). For Week 8 the call starts Chris Rodriguez Jr. over Dameon Pierce. Dameon Pierce is listed questionable.

Should I drop Dameon Pierce?