Start CJ Donaldson or Isaiah Davis? Week 9

Our Week 9 call

Start CJ Donaldson over Isaiah Davis in Week 9.

Market-based projections have CJ Donaldson at 3.2 points and Isaiah Davis at 2.8, a gap of 0.4. That is inside the noise of a single catch, so treat it as close to a coin flip. 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. No player market is posted for Isaiah Davis this week yet, so his 2.8 is the average of his market-based projections in Weeks 6 and 8 (1.9 and 3.7); the call is rebuilt when his market posts.

What the market projects

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.

No Week 9 player market is posted for Isaiah Davis yet. His market-based projections were 1.9 and 3.7 points in Weeks 6 and 8, an average of 2.8, which stands in until his Week 9 market posts.

That puts CJ Donaldson 0.4 points ahead of Isaiah Davis on these projections.

Week 9 matchups

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.

Isaiah Davis and NYJ visit KC on Sunday at 1:00 PM ET.

KC allowed 19.8 fantasy points a game to RBs this season over 7 games, the 10th fewest in the league.

Running backs ran for 69 yards and 0.7 touchdowns a game against KC and caught passes for 42 more yards.

By points allowed to the position, CJ Donaldson has the softer matchup.

Injury status

CJ Donaldson is listed as questionable with a shoulder injury.

Isaiah Davis is not on the injury report.

Usage before Week 9

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.

Through Week 8, Isaiah Davis played 15 percent of NYJ snaps, took 13 percent of the carries, drew 5 percent of the targets and had 15 percent of the red zone chances.

Isaiah Davis, Week 5 against CLE: 10 of 70 snaps, 2 carries for 8 yards, 2 targets and 1 catch for 9 yards.

Isaiah Davis, Week 6 against NE: 8 of 62 snaps, 7 carries for 16 yards, 1 target and 1 catch for 10 yards.

Isaiah Davis, Week 7 against MIA: 13 of 59 snaps, 1 carry for 5 yards, 3 targets and 3 catches for 49 yards.

Isaiah Davis, Week 8 against LV: 11 of 64 snaps, 5 carries for 15 yards, 0 targets and 0 catches for 0 yards.

Their 2025 seasons

In 2025, Isaiah Davis played 16 games for NYJ and scored 71.2 PPR points, 4.5 a game, finishing RB59.

He ran 43 times for 236 yards and 1 touchdown, and caught 21 of 28 targets for 186 yards.

He was on the field for 29 percent of the offense's snaps in the games he played.

Their other Week 9 calls

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