Start Samaje Perine or Kenny Gainwell? Week 8

Updated Oct 27, 4:16 PM 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 Samaje Perine

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

Samaje Perine

RB · CIN · vs TEN

Market projects: 5.6; recent weeks avg
TEN D vs RB: 22.0; 14th most to RBs (2026)
Upside: Moderate; 52 of 100 at RB
Snap share: 35%; Through Week 7
Target share: 5%; Through Week 7

Should I drop Samaje Perine 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), Samaje Perine 45 (4.5 a game over 10 games). For Week 8 the call starts Kenny Gainwell over Samaje Perine. Kenny Gainwell is listed questionable.

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Our Week 8 call

Start Kenny Gainwell over Samaje Perine in Week 8.

Market-based projections have Kenny Gainwell at 6.0 points and Samaje Perine at 5.6, a gap of 0.3. 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 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 Samaje Perine this week yet, so his 5.6 is the average of his market-based projections in Weeks 5 and 7 (4.7 and 6.6); the call is rebuilt when his market posts.

What the market projects

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.

No Week 8 player market is posted for Samaje Perine yet. His market-based projections were 4.7 and 6.6 points in Weeks 5 and 7, an average of 5.6, which stands in until his Week 8 market posts.

That puts Kenny Gainwell 0.3 points ahead of Samaje Perine on these projections.

Week 8 matchups

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.

Samaje Perine and CIN host TEN on Sunday at 1:00 PM ET.

TEN allowed 22.0 fantasy points a game to RBs this season over 7 games, the 14th most in the league.

Running backs ran for 105 yards and 0.9 touchdowns a game against TEN and caught passes for 32 more yards.

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

Injury status

Kenny Gainwell is listed as questionable with a hip injury.

Samaje Perine is not on the injury report.

Usage before Week 8

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.

Through Week 7, Samaje Perine played 35 percent of CIN snaps, took 24 percent of the carries, drew 5 percent of the targets and had 17 percent of the red zone chances.

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.

Samaje Perine, Week 7 against BAL: 12 of 53 snaps, 4 carries for 16 yards, 0 targets and 0 catches for 0 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 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 Samaje Perine 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), Samaje Perine 45 (4.5 a game over 10 games). For Week 8 the call starts Kenny Gainwell over Samaje Perine. Kenny Gainwell is listed questionable.
Should I drop Kenny Gainwell for Samaje Perine?
No. Keep Kenny Gainwell: he projects 56 market-implied PPR points from Week 8 through Week 17 (6.2 a game over 9 games), Samaje Perine 45 (4.5 a game over 10 games). For Week 8 the call starts Kenny Gainwell over Samaje Perine. Kenny Gainwell is listed questionable.

Should I drop Kenny Gainwell?Should I drop Samaje Perine?