Start Corey Kiner or CJ Donaldson? Week 9

Our Week 9 call

Start Corey Kiner over CJ Donaldson in Week 9.

Market-based projections have Corey Kiner at 4.4 points and CJ Donaldson at 3.2, a gap of 1.2. That is inside the noise of a single catch, so treat it as close to a coin flip. No player market is posted for Corey Kiner this week yet, so his 4.4 is the average of his market-based projections in Weeks 6, 7 and 8 (3.2, 3.3 and 6.6); the call is rebuilt when his market posts. No player market is posted for CJ Donaldson this week yet, so his 3.2 is the average of his market-based projections in Weeks 6 and 7 (3.4 and 3.0); the call is rebuilt when his market posts.

What the market projects

No Week 9 player market is posted for Corey Kiner yet. His market-based projections were 3.2, 3.3 and 6.6 points in Weeks 6, 7 and 8, an average of 4.4, which stands in until his Week 9 market posts.

The market-based projection for Corey Kiner is 0.3 touchdowns (9 market sources).

No Week 9 player market is posted for CJ Donaldson yet. His market-based projections were 3.4 and 3.0 points in Weeks 6 and 7, an average of 3.2, which stands in until his Week 9 market posts.

That puts Corey Kiner 1.2 points ahead of CJ Donaldson on these projections.

Week 9 matchups

Corey Kiner and NE host GB on Sunday at 4:25 PM ET.

GB allowed 25.0 fantasy points a game to RBs this season over 8 games, the 7th most in the league.

Running backs ran for 94 yards and 1.3 touchdowns a game against GB and caught passes for 34 more yards.

CJ Donaldson and NO host CLE on Sunday at 1:00 PM ET.

CLE allowed 21.1 fantasy points a game to RBs this season over 8 games, the 15th fewest in the league.

Running backs ran for 116 yards and 0.8 touchdowns a game against CLE and caught passes for 18 more yards.

By points allowed to the position, Corey Kiner has the softer matchup.

Injury status

Corey Kiner is not on the injury report.

CJ Donaldson is listed as questionable with a shoulder injury.

Usage before Week 9

Through Week 8, Corey Kiner played 13 percent of NE snaps, took 18 percent of the carries, drew 1 percent of the targets and had 14 percent of the red zone chances.

Corey Kiner, Week 5 against LV: 15 of 75 snaps, 6 carries for 52 yards, 1 target and 1 catch for 7 yards.

Corey Kiner, Week 6 against NYJ: 12 of 68 snaps, 11 carries for 57 yards, 0 targets and 0 catches for 0 yards.

Corey Kiner, Week 7 against CHI: 6 of 54 snaps, 4 carries for 13 yards, 0 targets and 0 catches for 0 yards.

Corey Kiner, Week 8 against MIA: 11 of 60 snaps, 7 carries for 38 yards, 0 targets and 0 catches for 0 yards.

Through Week 7, CJ Donaldson played 25 percent of NO snaps, took 10 percent of the carries, drew 2 percent of the targets and had 3 percent of the red zone chances.

CJ Donaldson, Week 4 against ATL: 28 of 74 snaps, 3 carries for 18 yards, 2 targets and 2 catches for 5 yards.

CJ Donaldson, Week 5 against MIN: 19 of 45 snaps, 4 carries for 13 yards, 1 target and 1 catch for 7 yards.

CJ Donaldson, Week 6 against NYG: 24 of 72 snaps, 6 carries for 39 yards, 1 target and 0 catches for 0 yards.

CJ Donaldson, Week 7 against PIT: 4 of 57 snaps, 0 carries for 0 yards, 0 targets and 0 catches for 0 yards.

Their 2025 seasons

In 2025, Corey Kiner played 4 games for ARI and scored 9.3 PPR points, 2.3 a game, finishing RB112.

He ran 12 times for 58 yards and 0 touchdowns, and caught 2 of 3 targets for 15 yards.

He was on the field for 7 percent of the offense's snaps in the games he played.

Their other Week 9 calls

• Start Dylan Sampson over Corey Kiner.
• Start George Holani over Corey Kiner.
• Start Corey Kiner over Isaiah Davis.
• Start George Holani over CJ Donaldson.
• Start CJ Donaldson over Isaiah Davis.
• Start CJ Donaldson over Jaylen Wright.