Start Christian McCaffrey or James Cook III? Week 3

Our Week 3 call

Start James Cook III over Christian McCaffrey in Week 3.

De-vigged player props project James Cook III at 16.2 points and Christian McCaffrey at 15.8, a gap of 0.4. That is inside the noise of a single catch, so treat it as close to a coin flip.

What the books imply

Player prop markets imply 16.2 fantasy points for James Cook III, with 100 percent of the markets a RB needs posted.

The books have James Cook III at 79.5 rushing yards, 11.5 receiving yards and 1.5 receptions, with a 60% chance to score a touchdown (14, 14, 14 and 15 books).

Player prop markets imply 15.8 fantasy points for Christian McCaffrey, with 90 percent of the markets a RB needs posted.

The books have Christian McCaffrey at 55.5 rushing yards, with a 70% chance to score a touchdown (12 and 15 books).

That puts James Cook III 0.4 points ahead of Christian McCaffrey on the books.

Week 3 matchups

James Cook III and BUF host LAC on Sunday at 1:00 PM ET.

LAC allowed 16.6 fantasy points a game to RBs this season over 2 games, the 11th fewest in the league.

Running backs ran for 79 yards and 0.5 touchdowns a game against LAC and caught passes for 17 more yards.

Injury status

James Cook III is not on the injury report.

Christian McCaffrey is not on the injury report.

Usage before Week 3

Through Week 2, Christian McCaffrey played 54 percent of SF snaps, took 36 percent of the carries, drew 22 percent of the targets and had 36 percent of the red zone chances.

Christian McCaffrey, Week 1 against LAR: 36 of 65 snaps, 10 carries for 68 yards, 8 targets and 5 catches for 20 yards.

Christian McCaffrey, Week 2 against MIA: 27 of 52 snaps, 10 carries for 23 yards, 4 targets and 4 catches for 43 yards, 2 touchdowns.

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.

James Cook III, Week 16 of 2025 against CLE: 28 of 50 snaps, 16 carries for 117 yards, 2 targets and 1 catch for 17 yards, 2 touchdowns, 26.4 PPR points.

In 2025, Christian McCaffrey played 17 games for SF and scored 416.6 PPR points, 24.5 a game, finishing RB1.

He ran 311 times for 1202 yards and 10 touchdowns, and caught 102 of 129 targets for 924 yards.

He was on the field for 83 percent of the offense's snaps in the games he played.

Christian McCaffrey, Week 18 of 2025 against SEA: 36 of 42 snaps, 8 carries for 23 yards, 7 targets and 6 catches for 34 yards, 11.7 PPR points.

Their other Week 3 calls

• Start James Cook III over Ashton Jeanty.
• Start James Cook III over Chase Brown.
• Start James Cook III over Chuba Hubbard.
• Start Christian McCaffrey over Ashton Jeanty.
• Start Bijan Robinson over Christian McCaffrey.
• Start Christian McCaffrey over Breece Hall.