Start Kenny Gainwell or Chris Rodriguez Jr.? Week 8

Updated Oct 26, 2:11 PM ET. Locks at kickoff, graded after. Week 9 answer posts Tuesday.

Latest

Oct 25, 3:13 PM ET: Kenny Gainwell: Listed Questionable (Hip) (Sleeper injury feed)

Start Kenny Gainwell over Chris Rodriguez Jr.

Gainwell projects lower, 6.5 to 8.9, and still gets the call because it also weighs where drafters take each player: ADP 95 for Gainwell, 178 for Rodriguez.

Start

Kenny Gainwell

RB · TB · vs ATL

Market projects: 6.5; fantasy pts
ATL D vs RB: 24.6; 8th most to RBs (2026)
Upside: Moderate; 54 of 100 at RB
Snap share: 35%; Through Week 7
Target share: 9%; Through Week 7

Sit

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

Should I drop Chris Rodriguez Jr. for Kenny Gainwell?

Yes, on the rest of the season. Kenny Gainwell projects 55 market-implied PPR points from Week 8 through Week 17 (6.1 a game over 9 games), Chris Rodriguez Jr. 47 (4.7 a game over 10 games). For Week 8 the call starts Kenny Gainwell over Chris Rodriguez Jr.

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Our Week 8 call

Start Kenny Gainwell over Chris Rodriguez Jr. in Week 8.

Market-based projections have Kenny Gainwell at 6.5 points and Chris Rodriguez Jr. at 8.9, a gap of 2.4. Kenny Gainwell still gets the call because it also weighs where drafters take each player, ADP 95 against 178, and that outweighs a gap this size. Both numbers are 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 Kenny Gainwell is 40 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).

Player markets imply 6.5 fantasy points for Kenny Gainwell, with 40 percent of the markets a RB needs posted.

The market-based projection for Kenny Gainwell is 11 receiving yards and 0.3 touchdowns (5 and 8 market sources).

That puts Chris Rodriguez Jr. 2.4 points ahead of Kenny Gainwell on the market 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.

Kenny Gainwell and TB host ATL on Sunday at 1:00 PM ET.

ATL allowed 24.6 fantasy points a game to RBs this season over 7 games, the 8th most in the league.

Running backs ran for 82 yards and a touchdown a game against ATL and caught passes for 39 more yards.

By points allowed to the position, Kenny Gainwell has the softer matchup.

Injury status

Chris Rodriguez Jr. is not on the injury report.

Kenny Gainwell is not on the injury report.

Usage before Week 8

Through Week 7, Kenny Gainwell played 35 percent of TB snaps, took 16 percent of the carries, drew 9 percent of the targets and had 9 percent of the red zone chances.

Kenny Gainwell, Week 4 against GB: 27 of 64 snaps, 3 carries for 5 yards, 2 targets and 2 catches for 22 yards, 1 touchdown.

Kenny Gainwell, Week 5 against DAL: 26 of 72 snaps, 4 carries for 18 yards, 4 targets and 3 catches for 10 yards.

Kenny Gainwell, Week 6 against PIT: 11 of 74 snaps, 2 carries for 17 yards, 1 target and 1 catch for 7 yards.

Kenny Gainwell, Week 7 against CAR: 19 of 63 snaps, 14 carries for 88 yards, 0 targets and 0 catches for 0 yards.

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, Kenny Gainwell played 17 games for PIT and scored 222.3 PPR points, 13.1 a game, finishing RB16.

He ran 114 times for 537 yards and 5 touchdowns, and caught 73 of 85 targets for 486 yards.

He was on the field for 49 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 Chris Rodriguez Jr. for Kenny Gainwell?
Yes, on the rest of the season. Kenny Gainwell projects 55 market-implied PPR points from Week 8 through Week 17 (6.1 a game over 9 games), Chris Rodriguez Jr. 47 (4.7 a game over 10 games). For Week 8 the call starts Kenny Gainwell over Chris Rodriguez Jr.
Should I drop Kenny Gainwell for Chris Rodriguez Jr.?
No. Keep Kenny Gainwell: he projects 55 market-implied PPR points from Week 8 through Week 17 (6.1 a game over 9 games), Chris Rodriguez Jr. 47 (4.7 a game over 10 games). For Week 8 the call starts Kenny Gainwell over Chris Rodriguez Jr.

Should I drop Kenny Gainwell?