Start Dameon Pierce or Kenny Gainwell? Week 7

Our Week 7 call

Start Dameon Pierce over Kenny Gainwell in Week 7.

Market-based projections have Dameon Pierce at 7.1 points and Kenny Gainwell at 5.3, a gap of 1.8. No player market is posted for Dameon Pierce this week yet, so his 7.1 is the average of his market-based projections in Weeks 5 and 6 (3.8 and 10.4); the call is rebuilt when his market posts. 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

No Week 7 player market is posted for Dameon Pierce yet. His market-based projections were 3.8 and 10.4 points in Weeks 5 and 6, an average of 7.1, which stands in until his Week 7 market posts.

The market-based projection for Dameon Pierce is 0.6 touchdowns (11 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.

That puts Dameon Pierce 1.8 points ahead of Kenny Gainwell on these projections.

Week 7 matchups

Dameon Pierce and PHI host DAL on Monday at 8:15 PM ET.

DAL allowed 23.2 fantasy points a game to RBs this season over 6 games, the 10th most in the league.

Running backs ran for 104 yards and 0.8 touchdowns a game against DAL and caught passes for 24 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

Dameon Pierce is not on the injury report.

Kenny Gainwell is not on the injury report.

Usage before Week 7

Through Week 6, Dameon Pierce played 87 percent of PHI snaps, took 74 percent of the carries, drew 12 percent of the targets and had 43 percent of the red zone chances.

Dameon Pierce, Week 5 against JAX: 48 of 62 snaps, 11 carries for 14 yards, 5 targets and 2 catches for -2 yards.

Dameon Pierce, Week 6 against CAR: 61 of 64 snaps, 12 carries for 35 yards, 5 targets and 4 catches for 15 yards, 1 touchdown.

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, Dameon Pierce played 5 games for KC and scored 3.6 PPR points, 0.7 a game, finishing RB128.

He ran 14 times for 36 yards and 0 touchdowns, and caught 0 of 1 target for 0 yards.

He was on the field for 8 percent of the offense's snaps in the games he played.

Dameon Pierce, Week 18 of 2025 against LV: 4 carries for 10 yards, 0 targets and 0 catches for 0 yards, 1.0 PPR points.

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

• Start Alvin Kamara over Dameon Pierce.
• Start Blake Corum over Dameon Pierce.
• Start Dameon Pierce over Brian Robinson.
• Start Kenny Gainwell over Alvin Kamara.
• Start Kenny Gainwell over Blake Corum.
• Start Kenny Gainwell over Brian Robinson.