Start Corey Kiner or Kenny Gainwell? Week 7

Updated Oct 21, 11:26 PM ET. Locks at kickoff, graded after. Week 8 answer posts Tuesday.

Start Kenny Gainwell over Corey Kiner

Start

Kenny Gainwell

RB · TB · at CAR

Market projects: 5.3; recent weeks avg
CAR D vs RB: 25.7; 5th most to RBs (2026)
Upside: Limited; 35 of 100 at RB
Snap share: 36%; Through Week 6
Target share: 9%; Through Week 6

Sit

Corey Kiner

RB · NE · at CHI

Market projects: 3.4; fantasy pts
CHI D vs RB: 17.0; 4th fewest to RBs (2026)
Upside: Limited; 33 of 100 at RB
Snap share: 12%; Through Week 6
Target share: 1%; Through Week 6

Should I drop Corey Kiner for Kenny Gainwell?

Yes, on the rest of the season. Kenny Gainwell projects 61 market-implied PPR points from Week 7 through Week 17 (6.1 a game over 10 games), Corey Kiner 24 (2.4 a game over 10 games). For Week 7 the call starts Kenny Gainwell over Corey Kiner.

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Our Week 7 call

Start Kenny Gainwell over Corey Kiner in Week 7.

Market-based projections have Kenny Gainwell at 5.3 points and Corey Kiner at 3.4, a gap of 1.9. Corey Kiner's number is scaled up from a partial market: not every stat the position needs is posted yet, so the rest is estimated from what is. No player market is posted for Kenny Gainwell this week yet, so his 5.3 is the average of his market-based projections in Weeks 4, 5 and 6 (4.3, 5.3 and 6.5); the call is rebuilt when his market posts.

What the market projects

Player markets imply 3.4 fantasy points for Corey Kiner, with 70 percent of the markets a RB needs posted.

The market-based projection for Corey Kiner is 15 rushing yards and 0.1 touchdowns (6 and 13 market sources).

No Week 7 player market is posted for Kenny Gainwell yet. His market-based projections were 4.3, 5.3 and 6.5 points in Weeks 4, 5 and 6, an average of 5.3, which stands in until his Week 7 market posts.

The market-based projection for Kenny Gainwell is 0.2 touchdowns (12 market sources).

That puts Kenny Gainwell 1.9 points ahead of Corey Kiner on these projections.

Week 7 matchups

Corey Kiner and NE visit CHI on Thursday at 8:15 PM ET.

CHI allowed 17.0 fantasy points a game to RBs this season over 6 games, the 4th fewest in the league.

Running backs ran for 79 yards and 0-1 touchdowns a game against CHI and caught passes for 23 more yards.

Kenny Gainwell and TB visit CAR on Sunday at 1:00 PM ET.

CAR allowed 25.7 fantasy points a game to RBs this season over 5 games, the 5th most in the league.

Running backs ran for 103 yards and 1.2 touchdowns a game against CAR and caught passes for 34 more yards.

By points allowed to the position, Kenny Gainwell has the softer matchup.

Injury status

Corey Kiner is not on the injury report.

Kenny Gainwell is not on the injury report.

Usage before Week 7

Through Week 6, Corey Kiner played 12 percent of NE snaps, took 17 percent of the carries, drew 1 percent of the targets and had 16 percent of the red zone chances.

Corey Kiner, Week 3 against JAX: 8 of 63 snaps, 6 carries for 18 yards, 1 target and 1 catch for 9 yards.

Corey Kiner, Week 4 against BUF: 2 of 76 snaps, 0 carries for 0 yards, 0 targets and 0 catches for 0 yards.

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.

Through Week 6, Kenny Gainwell played 36 percent of TB snaps, took 12 percent of the carries, drew 9 percent of the targets and had 10 percent of the red zone chances.

Kenny Gainwell, Week 3 against MIN: 32 of 69 snaps, 3 carries for -4 yards, 5 targets and 2 catches for 14 yards.

Kenny Gainwell, Week 4 against GB: 27 of 64 snaps, 3 carries for 5 yards, 2 targets and 2 catches for 22 yards, 1 touchdown.

Kenny Gainwell, Week 5 against DAL: 26 of 72 snaps, 4 carries for 18 yards, 4 targets and 3 catches for 10 yards.

Kenny Gainwell, Week 6 against PIT: 11 of 74 snaps, 2 carries for 17 yards, 1 target and 1 catch for 7 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.

In 2025, Kenny Gainwell played 17 games for PIT and scored 222.3 PPR points, 13.1 a game, finishing RB16.

He ran 114 times for 537 yards and 5 touchdowns, and caught 73 of 85 targets for 486 yards.

He was on the field for 49 percent of the offense's snaps in the games he played.

Their other Week 7 calls

Locks at kickoff, graded after. When the start/sit engine grades week 7, the call and the result appear on the public record, wrong ones included.

Drop or keep

Should I drop Corey Kiner for Kenny Gainwell?
Yes, on the rest of the season. Kenny Gainwell projects 61 market-implied PPR points from Week 7 through Week 17 (6.1 a game over 10 games), Corey Kiner 24 (2.4 a game over 10 games). For Week 7 the call starts Kenny Gainwell over Corey Kiner.
Should I drop Kenny Gainwell for Corey Kiner?
No. Keep Kenny Gainwell: he projects 61 market-implied PPR points from Week 7 through Week 17 (6.1 a game over 10 games), Corey Kiner 24 (2.4 a game over 10 games). For Week 7 the call starts Kenny Gainwell over Corey Kiner.