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Start Jonathan Taylor or James Cook III? Week 9

Updated Nov 3, 4:51 AM ET.

Latest

  • : James Cook III: Listed Questionable (Undisclosed) (Sleeper injury feed)

Start Jonathan Taylor over James Cook III

Taylor projects lower, 16.3 to 16.5, and still gets the call because it also weighs where drafters take each player: ADP 8 for Taylor, 9 for Cook.

Start

Jonathan Taylor

RB · IND · vs DAL

Market projects
16.3
recent weeks avg
DAL D vs RB
24.6
7th most to RBs (2026)
Snap share
80%
Through Week 8
Target share
12%
Through Week 8
Sit

James Cook III

RB · BUF · at MIN · Questionable

Market projects
16.5
recent weeks avg
MIN D vs RB
16.0
fewest to RBs (2026)
Target share
9%
Through Week 8

Should I drop James Cook III for Jonathan Taylor?

Not on these numbers alone. James Cook III projects 146 market-implied PPR points from Week 9 through Week 17 (16.2 a game over 9 games) and Jonathan Taylor 147 (18.4 a game over 8 games), too close to separate, so the roster spot decides it. For Week 9 the call starts Jonathan Taylor over James Cook III. James Cook III is listed questionable.

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Our Week 9 call

Start Jonathan Taylor over James Cook III in Week 9.

Market-based projections have Jonathan Taylor at 16.3 points and James Cook III at 16.5, a gap of 0.2. That is inside the noise of a single catch, so treat it as close to a coin flip. Jonathan Taylor still gets the call because it also weighs where drafters take each player, ADP 8 against 9, and that outweighs a gap this size. No player market is posted for Jonathan Taylor this week yet, so his 16.3 is the average of his market-based projections in Weeks 6, 7 and 8 (20.6, 15.6 and 12.6); the call is rebuilt when his market posts. No player market is posted for James Cook III this week yet, so his 16.5 is the average of his market-based projections in Weeks 6 and 8 (16.8 and 16.2); the call is rebuilt when his market posts.

What the market projects

No Week 9 player market is posted for James Cook III yet. His market-based projections were 16.8 and 16.2 points in Weeks 6 and 8, an average of 16.5, which stands in until his Week 9 market posts.

The market-based projection for James Cook III is 0.8 touchdowns (5 market sources).

No Week 9 player market is posted for Jonathan Taylor yet. His market-based projections were 20.6, 15.6 and 12.6 points in Weeks 6, 7 and 8, an average of 16.3, which stands in until his Week 9 market posts.

That puts James Cook III 0.2 points ahead of Jonathan Taylor on these projections.

Week 9 matchups

James Cook III and BUF visit MIN on Monday at 8:15 PM ET.

MIN allowed 16.0 fantasy points a game to RBs this season over 6 games, the fewest in the league.

Running backs ran for 84 yards and 0-1 touchdowns a game against MIN and caught passes for 18 more yards.

Jonathan Taylor and IND host DAL on Sunday at 1:00 PM ET.

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

Running backs ran for 107 yards and a touchdown a game against DAL and caught passes for 25 more yards.

By points allowed to the position, Jonathan Taylor has the softer matchup.

Injury status

James Cook III is listed as questionable with a undisclosed injury.

Jonathan Taylor is not on the injury report.

Usage before Week 9

Through Week 8, James Cook III took 54 percent of the carries, drew 9 percent of the targets and had 35 percent of the red zone chances.

James Cook III, Week 8 against BAL: 21 carries for 80 yards, 3 targets and 2 catches for 21 yards, 1 touchdown.

Through Week 8, Jonathan Taylor played 80 percent of IND snaps, took 67 percent of the carries, drew 12 percent of the targets and had 47 percent of the red zone chances.

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.

Jonathan Taylor, Week 8 against JAX: 8 carries for 23 yards, 5 targets and 4 catches for 24 yards.

Their 2025 seasons

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.

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.

Their other Week 9 calls

Locks at kickoff, graded after. When the start/sit engine grades week 9, 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 146 market-implied PPR points from Week 9 through Week 17 (16.2 a game over 9 games) and Jonathan Taylor 147 (18.4 a game over 8 games), too close to separate, so the roster spot decides it. For Week 9 the call starts Jonathan Taylor over James Cook III. James Cook III is listed questionable.

  • Should I drop Jonathan Taylor for James Cook III?

    Not on these numbers alone. Jonathan Taylor projects 147 market-implied PPR points from Week 9 through Week 17 (18.4 a game over 8 games) and James Cook III 146 (16.2 a game over 9 games), too close to separate, so the roster spot decides it. For Week 9 the call starts Jonathan Taylor over James Cook III. James Cook III is listed questionable.

Should I drop Jonathan Taylor?

Week 9 on the board

Elsewhere on the board