Should I drop Jonathan Taylor for James Cook III?

Not on these numbers alone. Jonathan Taylor projects 166 market-implied PPR points from Week 8 through Week 17 (18.4 a game over 9 games) and James Cook III 162 (16.2 a game over 10 games), too close to separate, so the roster spot decides it. For Week 8 the call starts Jonathan Taylor over James Cook III.

Start James Cook III or Jonathan Taylor? Week 8

Updated Oct 27, 6:01 PM ET. Locks at kickoff, graded after. Week 9 answer posts Tuesday.

Start Jonathan Taylor over James Cook III

Start

Jonathan Taylor

RB · IND · at JAX

Market projects: 18.0; recent weeks avg
JAX D vs RB: 17.3; 2nd fewest to RBs (2026)
Upside: Limited; 35 of 100 at RB
Snap share: 80%; Through Week 7
Target share: 12%; Through Week 7

Sit

James Cook III

RB · BUF · vs BAL

Market projects: 16.5; fantasy pts
BAL D vs RB: 18.5; 5th fewest to RBs (2026)
Upside: Rising; 82 of 100 at RB

Should I drop James Cook III for Jonathan Taylor?

Not on these numbers alone. James Cook III projects 162 market-implied PPR points from Week 8 through Week 17 (16.2 a game over 10 games) and Jonathan Taylor 166 (18.4 a game over 9 games), too close to separate, so the roster spot decides it. For Week 8 the call starts Jonathan Taylor over James Cook III.

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Our Week 8 call

Start Jonathan Taylor over James Cook III in Week 8.

Market-based projections have Jonathan Taylor at 18.0 points and James Cook III at 16.5, a gap of 1.5. No player market is posted for Jonathan Taylor this week yet, so his 18.0 is the average of his market-based projections in Weeks 5, 6 and 7 (17.9, 20.6 and 15.6); the call is rebuilt when his market posts. Drafters take Jonathan Taylor at ADP 8 and James Cook III at 9.

What the market projects

No Week 8 player market is posted for Jonathan Taylor yet. His market-based projections were 17.9, 20.6 and 15.6 points in Weeks 5, 6 and 7, an average of 18.0, which stands in until his Week 8 market posts.

Player markets imply 16.5 fantasy points for James Cook III, with 100 percent of the markets a RB needs posted.

The market-based projection for James Cook III is 10 receiving yards, 1-2 receptions and 0.9 touchdowns (3, 3 and 9 market sources).

That puts Jonathan Taylor 1.5 points ahead of James Cook III on these projections.

Week 8 matchups

Jonathan Taylor and IND visit JAX on Sunday at 1:00 PM ET.

JAX allowed 17.3 fantasy points a game to RBs this season over 6 games, the 2nd fewest in the league.

Running backs ran for 52 yards and 0-1 touchdowns a game against JAX and caught passes for 38 more yards.

James Cook III and BUF host BAL on Sunday at 1:00 PM ET.

BAL allowed 18.5 fantasy points a game to RBs this season over 7 games, the 5th fewest in the league.

Running backs ran for 77 yards and 0.9 touchdowns a game against BAL and caught passes for 15 more yards.

By points allowed to the position, James Cook III has the softer matchup.

Injury status

Jonathan Taylor is not on the injury report.

James Cook III is not on the injury report.

Usage before Week 8

Through Week 7, Jonathan Taylor played 80 percent of IND snaps, took 71 percent of the carries, drew 12 percent of the targets and had 47 percent of the red zone chances.

Jonathan Taylor, Week 4 against WAS: 47 of 66 snaps, 20 carries for 95 yards, 4 targets and 1 catch for 2 yards, 2 touchdowns.

Jonathan Taylor, Week 5 against PIT: 52 of 71 snaps, 15 carries for 45 yards, 4 targets and 3 catches for 37 yards.

Jonathan Taylor, Week 6 against TEN: 65 of 83 snaps, 21 carries for 94 yards, 4 targets and 2 catches for 57 yards, 1 touchdown.

Jonathan Taylor, Week 7 against MIN: 41 of 58 snaps, 18 carries for 95 yards, 3 targets and 2 catches for 15 yards, 1 touchdown.

Their 2025 seasons

In 2025, Jonathan Taylor played 17 games for IND and scored 362.3 PPR points, 21.3 a game, finishing RB4.

He ran 323 times for 1585 yards and 18 touchdowns, and caught 46 of 55 targets for 378 yards.

He was on the field for 84 percent of the offense's snaps in the games he played.

In 2025, James Cook III played 17 games for BUF and scored 302.2 PPR points, 17.8 a game, finishing RB6.

He ran 309 times for 1621 yards and 12 touchdowns, and caught 33 of 40 targets for 291 yards.

He was on the field for 60 percent of the offense's snaps in the games he played.

James Cook III, Week 18 of 2025 against NYJ: 2 carries for 15 yards, 0 targets and 0 catches for 0 yards, 1.5 PPR points.

James Cook III, Week 17 of 2025 against PHI: 39 of 76 snaps, 20 carries for 74 yards, 4 targets and 1 catch for 3 yards, 8.7 PPR points.

James Cook III, Week 16 of 2025 against CLE: 28 of 50 snaps, 16 carries for 117 yards, 2 targets and 1 catch for 17 yards, 2 touchdowns, 26.4 PPR points.

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 James Cook III for Jonathan Taylor?
Not on these numbers alone. James Cook III projects 162 market-implied PPR points from Week 8 through Week 17 (16.2 a game over 10 games) and Jonathan Taylor 166 (18.4 a game over 9 games), too close to separate, so the roster spot decides it. For Week 8 the call starts Jonathan Taylor over James Cook III.
Should I drop Jonathan Taylor for James Cook III?
Not on these numbers alone. Jonathan Taylor projects 166 market-implied PPR points from Week 8 through Week 17 (18.4 a game over 9 games) and James Cook III 162 (16.2 a game over 10 games), too close to separate, so the roster spot decides it. For Week 8 the call starts Jonathan Taylor over James Cook III.

Should I drop Jonathan Taylor?