Start Emari Demercado or Samaje Perine? Week 3

Our Week 3 call

Start Samaje Perine over Emari Demercado in Week 3.

De-vigged player props project Samaje Perine at 5.0 points and Emari Demercado at 2.5, a gap of 2.4. Emari Demercado's number is scaled up from a partial market: the books have not posted every stat the position needs, so the rest is estimated from what they have.

What the books imply

Player prop markets imply 5.0 fantasy points for Samaje Perine, with 100 percent of the markets a RB needs posted.

The books have Samaje Perine at 14.5 rushing yards, with a 21% chance to score a touchdown (11 and 15 books).

Player prop markets imply 2.5 fantasy points for Emari Demercado, with 70 percent of the markets a RB needs posted.

The books have Emari Demercado at 7.5 rushing yards, with a 14% chance to score a touchdown (4 and 14 books).

That puts Samaje Perine 2.4 points ahead of Emari Demercado on the books.

Injury status

Samaje Perine is not on the injury report.

Emari Demercado is not on the injury report.

Usage before Week 3

Through Week 2, Samaje Perine played 34 percent of CIN snaps, took 15 percent of the carries, drew 6 percent of the targets and had 6 percent of the red zone chances.

Samaje Perine, Week 1 against TB: 18 of 64 snaps, 5 carries for 20 yards, 3 targets and 3 catches for 30 yards.

Samaje Perine, Week 2 against HOU: 24 of 60 snaps, 2 carries for 6 yards, 1 target and 1 catch for 16 yards.

Through Week 2, Emari Demercado played 12 percent of DAL snaps, took 13 percent of the carries, drew 0 percent of the targets and had 5 percent of the red zone chances.

Emari Demercado, Week 1 against NYG: 5 of 58 snaps, 2 carries for 7 yards, 0 targets and 0 catches for 0 yards.

Emari Demercado, Week 2 against WAS: 9 of 55 snaps, 3 carries for 8 yards, 0 targets and 0 catches for 0 yards.

Their 2025 seasons

In 2025, Samaje Perine played 15 games for CIN and scored 77.9 PPR points, 5.2 a game, finishing RB57.

He ran 84 times for 382 yards and 3 touchdowns, and caught 17 of 21 targets for 87 yards.

He was on the field for 34 percent of the offense's snaps in the games he played.

Samaje Perine, Week 18 of 2025 against CLE: 8 carries for 42 yards, 4 targets and 3 catches for 10 yards, 8.2 PPR points.

In 2025, Emari Demercado played 13 games for ARI and scored 58.3 PPR points, 4.5 a game, finishing RB65.

He ran 44 times for 312 yards and 0 touchdowns, and caught 13 of 20 targets for 101 yards.

He was on the field for 23 percent of the offense's snaps in the games he played.

Emari Demercado, Week 18 of 2025 against LAR: 2 carries for 29 yards, 1 target and 1 catch for 28 yards, 6.7 PPR points.

Their other Week 3 calls

• Start Samaje Perine over Brian Robinson.
• Start Chris Brooks over Samaje Perine.
• Start Samaje Perine over Chris Rodriguez Jr..
• Start Brian Robinson over Emari Demercado.
• Start Chris Rodriguez Jr. over Emari Demercado.