Start Rico Dowdle or George Holani? Week 8

Updated Oct 27, 8:26 AM ET. Locks at kickoff, graded after. Week 9 answer posts Tuesday.

Latest

Oct 21, 5:43 PM ET: Rico Dowdle: Listed Questionable (Knee) (Sleeper injury feed)

Start Rico Dowdle over George Holani

Start

Rico Dowdle

RB · PIT · vs CLE

Market projects: 6.9; recent weeks avg
CLE D vs RB: 19.4; 8th fewest to RBs (2026)
Upside: Moderate; 60 of 100 at RB
Snap share: 38%; Through Week 7
Target share: 12%; Through Week 7

Sit

George Holani

RB · SEA · vs CHI

Market projects: 5.2; recent weeks avg
CHI D vs RB: 18.6; 6th fewest to RBs (2026)
Upside: Limited; 38 of 100 at RB
Snap share: 40%; Through Week 7
Target share: 7%; Through Week 7

Should I drop Rico Dowdle for George Holani?

Yes, on the rest of the season. George Holani projects 49 market-implied PPR points from Week 8 through Week 17 (5.4 a game over 9 games), Rico Dowdle 32 (3.6 a game over 9 games). For Week 8 the call starts Rico Dowdle over George Holani. So make the move after his Week 8 game.

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Our Week 8 call

Start Rico Dowdle over George Holani in Week 8.

Market-based projections have Rico Dowdle at 6.9 points and George Holani at 5.2, a gap of 1.7. 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 George Holani this week yet, so his 5.2 is the average of his market-based projections in Weeks 5, 6 and 7 (5.5, 5.4 and 4.6); 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 George Holani yet. His market-based projections were 5.6, 5.4 and 4.6 points in Weeks 5, 6 and 7, an average of 5.2, which stands in until his Week 8 market posts.

That puts Rico Dowdle 1.7 points ahead of George Holani 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.

George Holani and SEA host CHI on Monday at 8:15 PM ET.

CHI allowed 18.6 fantasy points a game to RBs this season over 7 games, the 6th fewest in the league.

Running backs ran for 74 yards and 0.4 touchdowns a game against CHI and caught passes for 35 more yards.

By points allowed to the position, Rico Dowdle has the softer matchup.

Injury status

Rico Dowdle is not on the injury report.

George Holani is not on the injury report.

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, George Holani played 40 percent of SEA snaps, took 18 percent of the carries, drew 7 percent of the targets and had 17 percent of the red zone chances.

George Holani, Week 4 against LAC: 22 of 60 snaps, 7 carries for 18 yards, 1 target and 1 catch for 2 yards.

George Holani, Week 5 against SF: 26 of 63 snaps, 4 carries for 7 yards, 4 targets and 4 catches for 24 yards.

George Holani, Week 6 against DEN: 49 of 85 snaps, 5 carries for 20 yards, 0 targets and 0 catches for 0 yards, 1 touchdown.

George Holani, Week 7 against KC: 25 of 69 snaps, 5 carries for 11 yards, 2 targets and 1 catch for 12 yards.

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, George Holani played 11 games for SEA and scored 20.8 PPR points, 1.9 a game, finishing RB93.

He ran 22 times for 73 yards and 1 touchdown, and caught 2 of 2 targets for 15 yards.

He was on the field for 5 percent of the offense's snaps in the games he played.

Their other Week 8 calls

Locks at kickoff, graded after. When the start/sit engine grades week 8, the call and the result appear on the public record, wrong ones included.

Drop or keep

Should I drop Rico Dowdle for George Holani?
Yes, on the rest of the season. George Holani projects 49 market-implied PPR points from Week 8 through Week 17 (5.4 a game over 9 games), Rico Dowdle 32 (3.6 a game over 9 games). For Week 8 the call starts Rico Dowdle over George Holani. So make the move after his Week 8 game.
Should I drop George Holani for Rico Dowdle?
No. Keep George Holani: he projects 49 market-implied PPR points from Week 8 through Week 17 (5.4 a game over 9 games), Rico Dowdle 32 (3.6 a game over 9 games). For Week 8 the call starts Rico Dowdle over George Holani.

Should I drop George Holani?Should I drop Rico Dowdle?