Start CJ Donaldson or Sione Vaki? Week 7

Our Week 7 call

Start CJ Donaldson over Sione Vaki in Week 7.

Market-based projections have CJ Donaldson at 3.2 points and Sione Vaki at 2.3, a gap of 0.9. 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 2.3 fantasy points for Sione Vaki, with 70 percent of the markets a RB needs posted.

The market-based projection for Sione Vaki is 9 rushing yards and 0.1 touchdowns (12 and 12 market sources).

That puts CJ Donaldson 0.9 points ahead of Sione Vaki 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.

Sione Vaki and DET host GB on Sunday at 4:25 PM ET.

GB allowed 26.2 fantasy points a game to RBs this season over 6 games, the 3rd most in the league.

Running backs ran for 91 yards and 1-2 touchdowns a game against GB and caught passes for 34 more yards.

By points allowed to the position, Sione Vaki has the softer matchup.

Injury status

CJ Donaldson is not on the injury report.

Sione Vaki 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 5, Sione Vaki played 26 percent of DET snaps, took 12 percent of the carries, drew 3 percent of the targets and had 1 percent of the red zone chances.

Sione Vaki, Week 2 against BUF: 11 of 65 snaps, 1 carry for 7 yards, 1 target and 1 catch for 13 yards.

Sione Vaki, Week 3 against NYJ: 20 of 65 snaps, 6 carries for 26 yards, 1 target and 1 catch for 11 yards.

Sione Vaki, Week 4 against CAR: 12 of 71 snaps, 0 carries for 0 yards, 2 targets and 1 catch for 17 yards.

Sione Vaki, Week 5 against ARI: 23 of 66 snaps, 6 carries for 11 yards, 0 targets and 0 catches for 0 yards.

Their 2025 seasons

In 2025, Sione Vaki played 11 games for DET and scored 0.4 PPR points, 0.0 a game, finishing RB143.

He ran 1 time for 4 yards and 0 touchdowns, and caught 0 of 0 targets for 0 yards.

He was on the field for 0 percent of the offense's snaps in the games he played.

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 Sione Vaki.
• Start Corey Kiner over Sione Vaki.
• Start Devin Singletary over Sione Vaki.