Should I drop Pierre Strong Jr. for Kenny Gainwell?

Not on these numbers alone. Pierre Strong Jr. projects 63 market-implied PPR points from Week 7 through Week 17 (6.3 a game over 10 games) and Kenny Gainwell 61 (6.1 a game over 10 games), too close to separate, so the roster spot decides it. For Week 7 the call starts Kenny Gainwell over Pierre Strong Jr.

Start Pierre Strong Jr. or Kenny Gainwell? Week 7

Updated Oct 22, 12:41 AM ET. Locks at kickoff, graded after. Week 8 answer posts Tuesday.

Start Kenny Gainwell over Pierre Strong Jr.

Start

Kenny Gainwell

RB · TB · at CAR

Market projects: 5.3; recent weeks avg
CAR D vs RB: 25.7; 5th most to RBs (2026)
Upside: Limited; 35 of 100 at RB
Snap share: 36%; Through Week 6
Target share: 9%; Through Week 6

Sit

Pierre Strong Jr.

RB · GB · at DET

Market projects: 4.7; fantasy pts
DET D vs RB: 18.7; 8th fewest to RBs (2026)
Upside: High; 85 of 100 at RB

Should I drop Kenny Gainwell for Pierre Strong Jr.?

Not on these numbers alone. Kenny Gainwell projects 61 market-implied PPR points from Week 7 through Week 17 (6.1 a game over 10 games) and Pierre Strong Jr. 63 (6.3 a game over 10 games), too close to separate, so the roster spot decides it. For Week 7 the call starts Kenny Gainwell over Pierre Strong Jr.

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Pierre Strong Jr. rookie cards

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Our Week 7 call

Start Kenny Gainwell over Pierre Strong Jr. in Week 7.

Market-based projections have Kenny Gainwell at 5.3 points and Pierre Strong Jr. at 4.7, a gap of 0.6. That is inside the noise of a single catch, so treat it as close to a coin flip. No player market is posted for Kenny Gainwell this week yet, so his 5.3 is the average of his market-based projections in Weeks 4, 5 and 6 (4.3, 5.3 and 6.5); the call is rebuilt when his market posts.

What the market projects

No Week 7 player market is posted for Kenny Gainwell yet. His market-based projections were 4.3, 5.3 and 6.5 points in Weeks 4, 5 and 6, an average of 5.3, which stands in until his Week 7 market posts.

The market-based projection for Kenny Gainwell is 0.2 touchdowns (12 market sources).

Player markets imply 4.7 fantasy points for Pierre Strong Jr., with 100 percent of the markets a RB needs posted.

The market-based projection for Pierre Strong Jr. is 11 rushing yards, 8 receiving yards, 1-2 receptions and 0.2 touchdowns (6, 5, 4 and 13 market sources).

That puts Kenny Gainwell 0.6 points ahead of Pierre Strong Jr. on these projections.

Week 7 matchups

Kenny Gainwell and TB visit CAR on Sunday at 1:00 PM ET.

CAR allowed 25.7 fantasy points a game to RBs this season over 5 games, the 5th most in the league.

Running backs ran for 103 yards and 1.2 touchdowns a game against CAR and caught passes for 34 more yards.

Pierre Strong Jr. and GB visit DET on Sunday at 4:25 PM ET.

DET allowed 18.7 fantasy points a game to RBs this season over 5 games, the 8th fewest in the league.

Running backs ran for 84 yards and 0.8 touchdowns a game against DET and caught passes for 16 more yards.

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

Injury status

Kenny Gainwell is not on the injury report.

Pierre Strong Jr. is not on the injury report.

Usage before Week 7

Through Week 6, Kenny Gainwell played 36 percent of TB snaps, took 12 percent of the carries, drew 9 percent of the targets and had 10 percent of the red zone chances.

Kenny Gainwell, Week 3 against MIN: 32 of 69 snaps, 3 carries for -4 yards, 5 targets and 2 catches for 14 yards.

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.

Their 2025 seasons

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 7 calls

Locks at kickoff, graded after. When the start/sit engine grades week 7, the call and the result appear on the public record, wrong ones included.

Drop or keep

Should I drop Kenny Gainwell for Pierre Strong Jr.?
Not on these numbers alone. Kenny Gainwell projects 61 market-implied PPR points from Week 7 through Week 17 (6.1 a game over 10 games) and Pierre Strong Jr. 63 (6.3 a game over 10 games), too close to separate, so the roster spot decides it. For Week 7 the call starts Kenny Gainwell over Pierre Strong Jr.
Should I drop Pierre Strong Jr. for Kenny Gainwell?
Not on these numbers alone. Pierre Strong Jr. projects 63 market-implied PPR points from Week 7 through Week 17 (6.3 a game over 10 games) and Kenny Gainwell 61 (6.1 a game over 10 games), too close to separate, so the roster spot decides it. For Week 7 the call starts Kenny Gainwell over Pierre Strong Jr.