Start CJ Donaldson or Seth McGowan? Week 7

Our Week 7 call

Start CJ Donaldson over Seth McGowan in Week 7.

Market-based projections have CJ Donaldson at 3.2 points and Seth McGowan at 2.7, a gap of 0.4. That is inside the noise of a single catch, so treat it as close to a coin flip. 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 CJ Donaldson 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 3.2 fantasy points for CJ Donaldson, with 70 percent of the markets a RB needs posted.

The market-based projection for CJ Donaldson is 11 rushing yards and 0.2 touchdowns (9 and 12 market sources).

Player markets imply 2.7 fantasy points for Seth McGowan, with 70 percent of the markets a RB needs posted.

The market-based projection for Seth McGowan is 14 rushing yards and 0.1 touchdowns (7 and 12 market sources).

That puts CJ Donaldson 0.4 points ahead of Seth McGowan on the market projections.

Week 7 matchups

CJ Donaldson and NO host PIT on Sunday at 9:30 AM ET.

PIT allowed 20.5 fantasy points a game to RBs this season over 6 games, the 15th fewest in the league.

Running backs ran for 86 yards and 0-1 touchdowns a game against PIT and caught passes for 35 more yards.

Seth McGowan and IND visit MIN on Sunday at 1:00 PM ET.

MIN allowed 14.3 fantasy points a game to RBs this season over 5 games, the fewest in the league.

Running backs ran for 72 yards and 0.4 touchdowns a game against MIN and caught passes for 18 more yards.

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

Injury status

CJ Donaldson is not on the injury report.

Seth McGowan is not on the injury report.

Usage before Week 7

Through Week 6, CJ Donaldson played 28 percent of NO snaps, took 11 percent of the carries, drew 3 percent of the targets and had 4 percent of the red zone chances.

CJ Donaldson, Week 3 against LV: 12 of 74 snaps, 1 carry for 5 yards, 0 targets and 0 catches for 0 yards.

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.

Through Week 6, Seth McGowan played 19 percent of IND snaps, took 13 percent of the carries, drew 2 percent of the targets and had 5 percent of the red zone chances.

Seth McGowan, Week 3 against HOU: 11 of 71 snaps, 4 carries for 14 yards, 0 targets and 0 catches for 0 yards.

Seth McGowan, Week 4 against WAS: 19 of 66 snaps, 6 carries for 31 yards, 2 targets and 1 catch for 7 yards.

Seth McGowan, Week 5 against PIT: 19 of 71 snaps, 5 carries for 16 yards, 1 target and 1 catch for 3 yards.

Seth McGowan, Week 6 against TEN: 19 of 83 snaps, 4 carries for 27 yards, 0 targets and 0 catches for 0 yards.

Their other Week 7 calls

• Start CJ Donaldson over AJ Dillon.
• Start Corey Kiner over CJ Donaldson.
• Start Devin Singletary over CJ Donaldson.
• Start AJ Dillon over Seth McGowan.
• Start Corey Kiner over Seth McGowan.
• Start Devin Singletary over Seth McGowan.