Start Kenny Gainwell or Keaton Mitchell? Week 8

Updated Oct 27, 10:11 AM ET. Locks at kickoff, graded after. Week 9 answer posts Tuesday.

Latest

Oct 25, 3:13 PM ET: Kenny Gainwell: Listed Questionable (Hip) (Sleeper injury feed)

Start Kenny Gainwell over Keaton Mitchell

Gainwell projects lower, 6.0 to 7.8, and still gets the call because it also weighs where drafters take each player: ADP 95 for Gainwell, 190 for Mitchell.

Start

Kenny Gainwell

RB · TB · vs ATL · Questionable

Market projects: 6.0; recent weeks avg
ATL D vs RB: 24.6; 8th most to RBs (2026)
Upside: Moderate; 40 of 100 at RB
Snap share: 35%; Through Week 7
Target share: 9%; Through Week 7

Sit

Keaton Mitchell

RB · LAC · at LAR

Market projects: 7.8; recent weeks avg
LAR D vs RB: 20.6; 14th fewest to RBs (2026)
Upside: Limited; 9 of 100 at RB
Snap share: 32%; Through Week 6
Target share: 9%; Through Week 6

Should I drop Keaton Mitchell for Kenny Gainwell?

Yes, on the rest of the season. Kenny Gainwell projects 56 market-implied PPR points from Week 8 through Week 17 (6.2 a game over 9 games), Keaton Mitchell 30 (3.0 a game over 10 games). For Week 8 the call starts Kenny Gainwell over Keaton Mitchell. Kenny Gainwell is listed questionable.

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Our Week 8 call

Start Kenny Gainwell over Keaton Mitchell in Week 8.

Market-based projections have Kenny Gainwell at 6.0 points and Keaton Mitchell at 7.8, a gap of 1.8. Kenny Gainwell still gets the call because it also weighs where drafters take each player, ADP 95 against 190, and that outweighs a gap this size. No player market is posted for Kenny Gainwell this week yet, so his 6.0 is the average of his market-based projections in Weeks 5, 6 and 7 (5.3, 6.5 and 6.2); the call is rebuilt when his market posts. No player market is posted for Keaton Mitchell this week yet, so his 7.8 is the average of his market-based projections in Weeks 5 and 6 (8.6 and 7.0); the call is rebuilt when his market posts.

What the market projects

No Week 8 player market is posted for Keaton Mitchell yet. His market-based projections were 8.6 and 7.0 points in Weeks 5 and 6, an average of 7.8, which stands in until his Week 8 market posts.

No Week 8 player market is posted for Kenny Gainwell yet. His market-based projections were 5.3, 6.5 and 6.2 points in Weeks 5, 6 and 7, an average of 6.0, which stands in until his Week 8 market posts.

That puts Keaton Mitchell 1.8 points ahead of Kenny Gainwell on these projections.

Week 8 matchups

Keaton Mitchell and LAC visit LAR on Sunday at 4:05 PM ET.

LAR allowed 20.6 fantasy points a game to RBs this season over 7 games, the 14th fewest in the league.

Running backs ran for 86 yards and 0.3 touchdowns a game against LAR and caught passes for 45 more yards.

Kenny Gainwell and TB host ATL on Sunday at 1:00 PM ET.

ATL allowed 24.6 fantasy points a game to RBs this season over 7 games, the 8th most in the league.

Running backs ran for 82 yards and a touchdown a game against ATL and caught passes for 39 more yards.

By points allowed to the position, Kenny Gainwell has the softer matchup.

Injury status

Keaton Mitchell is not on the injury report.

Kenny Gainwell is listed as questionable with a hip injury.

Usage before Week 8

Through Week 6, Keaton Mitchell played 32 percent of LAC snaps, took 21 percent of the carries, drew 9 percent of the targets and had 9 percent of the red zone chances.

Keaton Mitchell, Week 3 against BUF: 26 of 69 snaps, 8 carries for 52 yards, 3 targets and 3 catches for -5 yards, 1 touchdown.

Keaton Mitchell, Week 4 against SEA: 26 of 71 snaps, 10 carries for 39 yards, 6 targets and 5 catches for 24 yards.

Keaton Mitchell, Week 5 against DEN: 23 of 67 snaps, 6 carries for 11 yards, 4 targets and 3 catches for 18 yards.

Keaton Mitchell, Week 6 against KC: 17 of 68 snaps, 2 carries for 4 yards, 1 target and 0 catches for 0 yards.

Through Week 7, Kenny Gainwell played 35 percent of TB snaps, took 16 percent of the carries, drew 9 percent of the targets and had 9 percent of the red zone chances.

Kenny Gainwell, Week 4 against GB: 27 of 64 snaps, 3 carries for 5 yards, 2 targets and 2 catches for 22 yards, 1 touchdown.

Kenny Gainwell, Week 5 against DAL: 26 of 72 snaps, 4 carries for 18 yards, 4 targets and 3 catches for 10 yards.

Kenny Gainwell, Week 6 against PIT: 11 of 74 snaps, 2 carries for 17 yards, 1 target and 1 catch for 7 yards.

Kenny Gainwell, Week 7 against CAR: 19 of 63 snaps, 14 carries for 88 yards, 0 targets and 0 catches for 0 yards.

Their 2025 seasons

In 2025, Keaton Mitchell played 13 games for BAL and scored 55.4 PPR points, 4.3 a game, finishing RB67.

He ran 59 times for 341 yards and 1 touchdown, and caught 9 of 12 targets for 63 yards.

He was on the field for 17 percent of the offense's snaps in the games he played.

In 2025, Kenny Gainwell played 17 games for PIT and scored 222.3 PPR points, 13.1 a game, finishing RB16.

He ran 114 times for 537 yards and 5 touchdowns, and caught 73 of 85 targets for 486 yards.

He was on the field for 49 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 Keaton Mitchell for Kenny Gainwell?
Yes, on the rest of the season. Kenny Gainwell projects 56 market-implied PPR points from Week 8 through Week 17 (6.2 a game over 9 games), Keaton Mitchell 30 (3.0 a game over 10 games). For Week 8 the call starts Kenny Gainwell over Keaton Mitchell. Kenny Gainwell is listed questionable.
Should I drop Kenny Gainwell for Keaton Mitchell?
No. Keep Kenny Gainwell: he projects 56 market-implied PPR points from Week 8 through Week 17 (6.2 a game over 9 games), Keaton Mitchell 30 (3.0 a game over 10 games). For Week 8 the call starts Kenny Gainwell over Keaton Mitchell. Kenny Gainwell is listed questionable.

Should I drop Keaton Mitchell?Should I drop Kenny Gainwell?