Start Kenny Gainwell or Samaje Perine? Week 7

Our Week 7 call

Start Kenny Gainwell over Samaje Perine in Week 7.

Market-based projections have Kenny Gainwell at 4.8 points and Samaje Perine at 4.7, a gap of 0.1. 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 4.8 is the average of his market-based projections in Weeks 4 and 5 (4.3 and 5.3); the call is rebuilt when his market posts. No player market is posted for Samaje Perine this week yet, so his 4.7 is the average of his market-based projections in Weeks 4 and 5 (4.8 and 4.7); 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 and 5.3 points in Weeks 4 and 5, an average of 4.8, which stands in until his Week 7 market posts.

No Week 7 player market is posted for Samaje Perine yet. His market-based projections were 4.8 and 4.7 points in Weeks 4 and 5, an average of 4.7, which stands in until his Week 7 market posts.

That puts Kenny Gainwell 0.1 points ahead of Samaje Perine on these projections.

Week 7 matchups

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

CAR allowed 28.0 fantasy points a game to RBs this season over 4 games, the 4th most in the league.

Running backs ran for 120 yards and 1.3 touchdowns a game against CAR and caught passes for 38 more yards.

Injury status

Kenny Gainwell is not on the injury report.

Samaje Perine is not on the injury report.

Usage before Week 7

Through Week 6, Kenny Gainwell played 41 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: 2 carries for 17 yards, 1 target and 1 catch for 7 yards.

Through Week 5, Samaje Perine played 37 percent of CIN snaps, took 25 percent of the carries, drew 5 percent of the targets and had 16 percent of the red zone chances.

Samaje Perine, Week 2 against HOU: 24 of 60 snaps, 2 carries for 6 yards, 1 target and 1 catch for 16 yards.

Samaje Perine, Week 3 against PIT: 18 of 57 snaps, 3 carries for 9 yards, 3 targets and 1 catch for 5 yards.

Samaje Perine, Week 4 against JAX: 27 of 76 snaps, 3 carries for 7 yards, 1 target and 0 catches for 0 yards.

Samaje Perine, Week 5 against MIA: 33 of 65 snaps, 14 carries for 68 yards, 2 targets and 2 catches for 10 yards, 1 touchdown.

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.

In 2025, Samaje Perine played 15 games for CIN and scored 77.9 PPR points, 5.2 a game, finishing RB57.

He ran 84 times for 382 yards and 3 touchdowns, and caught 17 of 21 targets for 87 yards.

He was on the field for 34 percent of the offense's snaps in the games he played.

Their other Week 7 calls

• Start Kenny Gainwell over Blake Corum.
• Start George Holani over Kenny Gainwell.
• Start Kenny Gainwell over Isaiah Davis.
• Start George Holani over Samaje Perine.
• Start Samaje Perine over Isaiah Davis.
• Start Jaylen Wright over Samaje Perine.