Start Saquon Barkley or Kenneth Walker? Week 1

Our Week 1 call

Start Kenneth Walker over Saquon Barkley in Week 1.

De-vigged player props project Kenneth Walker at 15.9 points and Saquon Barkley at 9.7, a gap of 6.2. Drafters take Kenneth Walker at ADP 23 and Saquon Barkley at 18.

What the books imply

Player prop markets imply 9.7 fantasy points for Saquon Barkley, with 33 percent of the markets a RB needs posted.

Player prop markets imply 15.9 fantasy points for Kenneth Walker, with 100 percent of the markets a RB needs posted.

That puts Kenneth Walker 6.2 points ahead of Saquon Barkley on the books.

Week 1 matchups

Saquon Barkley and PHI host WAS on Sunday at 4:25 PM ET.

WAS allowed 11.5 fantasy points to RBs in its one game this season, the 6th fewest in the league.

Running backs ran for 90 yards and no touchdowns against WAS and caught passes for 5 more yards.

Kenneth Walker and KC host DEN on Monday at 8:15 PM ET.

DEN allowed 42.9 fantasy points to RBs in its one game this season, the 2nd most in the league.

Running backs ran for 197 yards and a touchdown against DEN and caught passes for 62 more yards.

By points allowed to the position, Kenneth Walker has the softer matchup.

Injury status

Saquon Barkley was not on the injury report when the call was made.

Kenneth Walker was not on the injury report when the call was made.

Their 2025 seasons

In 2025, Saquon Barkley played 16 games for PHI and scored 232.3 PPR points, 14.5 a game, finishing RB14.

He ran 280 times for 1140 yards and 7 touchdowns, and caught 37 of 50 targets for 273 yards.

He was on the field for 78 percent of the offense's snaps in the games he played.

Saquon Barkley, Week 17 of 2025 against BUF: 43 of 54 snaps, 19 carries for 68 yards, 0 targets and 0 catches for 0 yards, 6.8 PPR points.

Saquon Barkley, Week 16 of 2025 against WAS: 54 of 70 snaps, 21 carries for 132 yards, 2 targets and 0 catches for 0 yards, 1 touchdown, 21.2 PPR points.

Saquon Barkley, Week 15 of 2025 against LV: 39 of 69 snaps, 22 carries for 78 yards, 3 targets and 2 catches for 14 yards, 1 touchdown, 17.2 PPR points.

How Week 1 went

Kenneth Walker scored 34.1 PPR points and Saquon Barkley scored 9.0.

The call was right: Kenneth Walker outscored Saquon Barkley by 25.1.

Kenneth Walker finished 18.2 points above the 15.9 the props implied.

Kenneth Walker, Week 1 against DEN: 47 of 69 snaps, 23 carries for 173 yards, 6 targets and 3 catches for 18 yards, 2 touchdowns, 34.1 PPR points.

Kenneth Walker finished as the week's RB2 in PPR scoring.

Saquon Barkley finished 0.7 points below the 9.7 the props implied.

Saquon Barkley, Week 1 against WAS: 39 of 55 snaps, 15 carries for 83 yards, 2 targets and 1 catch for -3 yards, 9.0 PPR points.

Saquon Barkley finished as the week's RB30 in PPR scoring.

Their other Week 1 calls

• Start Saquon Barkley over Ashton Jeanty.
• Start Saquon Barkley over Chase Brown.
• Start Derrick Henry over Saquon Barkley.
• Start Kenneth Walker over Ashton Jeanty.
• Start Kenneth Walker over Breece Hall.
• Start Chase Brown over Kenneth Walker.