Start Dameon Pierce or Rico Dowdle? Week 8

Our Week 8 call

Start Rico Dowdle over Dameon Pierce in Week 8.

Market-based projections have Rico Dowdle at 6.9 points and Dameon Pierce at 6.0, a gap of 0.9. That is inside the noise of a single catch, so treat it as close to a coin flip. No player market is posted for Rico Dowdle this week yet, so his 6.9 is the average of his market-based projections in Weeks 5, 6 and 7 (8.4, 5.6 and 6.7); 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 Rico Dowdle yet. His market-based projections were 8.4, 5.6 and 6.7 points in Weeks 5, 6 and 7, an average of 6.9, 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 Rico Dowdle 0.9 points ahead of Dameon Pierce on these projections.

Week 8 matchups

Rico Dowdle and PIT host CLE on Sunday at 1:00 PM ET.

CLE allowed 19.4 fantasy points a game to RBs this season over 7 games, the 8th fewest in the league.

Running backs ran for 104 yards and 0.6 touchdowns a game against CLE and caught passes for 20 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, Rico Dowdle has the softer matchup.

Injury status

Rico Dowdle is not on the injury report.

Dameon Pierce is listed as questionable with a undisclosed injury.

Usage before Week 8

Through Week 7, Rico Dowdle played 38 percent of PIT snaps, took 34 percent of the carries, drew 12 percent of the targets and had 25 percent of the red zone chances.

Rico Dowdle, Week 1 against ATL: 39 of 67 snaps, 8 carries for 15 yards, 5 targets and 2 catches for 6 yards.

Rico Dowdle, Week 2 against NE: 18 of 70 snaps, 7 carries for 22 yards, 2 targets and 2 catches for 22 yards.

Rico Dowdle, Week 6 against TB: 21 of 79 snaps, 7 carries for 40 yards, 4 targets and 3 catches for 9 yards.

Rico Dowdle, Week 7 against NO: 28 of 64 snaps, 9 carries for 41 yards, 6 targets and 6 catches for 45 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, Rico Dowdle played 17 games for CAR and scored 216.3 PPR points, 12.7 a game, finishing RB18.

He ran 236 times for 1076 yards and 6 touchdowns, and caught 39 of 50 targets for 297 yards.

He was on the field for 56 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 Rico Dowdle over Blake Corum.
• Start Rico Dowdle over George Holani.
• Start J.K. Dobbins over Rico Dowdle.
• Start Blake Corum over Dameon Pierce.
• Start Dameon Pierce over George Holani.
• Start Dameon Pierce over Jaylen Wright.