Start Dameon Pierce or Kenny Gainwell? Week 8

Our Week 8 call

Start Kenny Gainwell over Dameon Pierce in Week 8.

Market-based projections have Kenny Gainwell at 6.0 points and Dameon Pierce at 6.0, a gap of 0.0. That is inside the noise of a single catch, so treat it as close to a coin flip. No player market is posted for Kenny Gainwell this week yet, so his 6.0 is the average of his market-based projections in Weeks 5, 6 and 7 (5.3, 6.5 and 6.2); the call is rebuilt when his market posts. No player market is posted for Dameon Pierce this week yet, so his 6.0 is the average of his market-based projections in Weeks 5, 6 and 7 (3.8, 10.4 and 3.6); the call is rebuilt when his market posts.

What the market projects

No Week 8 player market is posted for Kenny Gainwell yet. His market-based projections were 5.3, 6.5 and 6.2 points in Weeks 5, 6 and 7, an average of 6.0, which stands in until his Week 8 market posts.

No Week 8 player market is posted for Dameon Pierce yet. His market-based projections were 3.8, 10.4 and 3.6 points in Weeks 5, 6 and 7, an average of 6.0, which stands in until his Week 8 market posts.

That puts Kenny Gainwell 0.0 points ahead of Dameon Pierce on these projections.

Week 8 matchups

Kenny Gainwell and TB host ATL on Sunday at 1:00 PM ET.

ATL allowed 24.6 fantasy points a game to RBs this season over 7 games, the 8th most in the league.

Running backs ran for 82 yards and a touchdown a game against ATL and caught passes for 39 more yards.

Dameon Pierce and PHI visit WAS on Sunday at 8:20 PM ET.

WAS allowed 19.0 fantasy points a game to RBs this season over 6 games, the 7th fewest in the league.

Running backs ran for 78 yards and 0.7 touchdowns a game against WAS and caught passes for 36 more yards.

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

Injury status

Kenny Gainwell is listed as questionable with a hip injury.

Dameon Pierce is listed as questionable with a undisclosed injury.

Usage before Week 8

Through Week 7, Kenny Gainwell played 35 percent of TB snaps, took 16 percent of the carries, drew 9 percent of the targets and had 9 percent of the red zone chances.

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.

Kenny Gainwell, Week 7 against CAR: 19 of 63 snaps, 14 carries for 88 yards, 0 targets and 0 catches for 0 yards.

Through Week 7, Dameon Pierce played 80 percent of PHI snaps, took 66 percent of the carries, drew 10 percent of the targets and had 47 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.

Dameon Pierce, Week 7 against DAL: 42 of 62 snaps, 14 carries for 47 yards, 1 target and 1 catch for 1 yards, 1 touchdown.

Their 2025 seasons

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.

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.

Their other Week 8 calls

• Start Kenny Gainwell over Blake Corum.
• Start Kenny Gainwell over George Holani.
• Start J.K. Dobbins over Kenny Gainwell.
• Start Blake Corum over Dameon Pierce.
• Start Dameon Pierce over George Holani.
• Start Dameon Pierce over Jaylen Wright.