Start Rico Dowdle or RJ Harvey? Week 7

Updated Oct 21, 3:11 PM ET. Locks at kickoff, graded after. Week 8 answer posts Tuesday.

Early kickoff: 9:30 AM ET in Paris, set your lineup before then.

Latest

Oct 21, 5:43 PM ET: Rico Dowdle: Listed Questionable (Knee) (Sleeper injury feed)

Dowdle projects lower, 7.7 to 9.6, and still gets the call because it also weighs where drafters take each player: ADP 76 for Dowdle, 100 for Harvey.

Start

Rico Dowdle

RB · PIT · at NO · Questionable

Market projects: 7.7; fantasy pts
NO D vs RB: 29.7; most to RBs (2026)
Upside: Rising; 79 of 100 at RB
Snap share: 36%; Through Week 6
Target share: 9%; Through Week 6

Sit

RJ Harvey

RB · DEN · at ARI

Market projects: 9.6; recent weeks avg
ARI D vs RB: 20.4; 14th fewest to RBs (2026)
Upside: Rising; 74 of 100 at RB
Snap share: 41%; Through Week 6
Target share: 18%; Through Week 6

Should I drop Rico Dowdle for RJ Harvey?

Yes, on the rest of the season. RJ Harvey projects 87 market-implied PPR points from Week 7 through Week 17 (8.7 a game over 10 games), Rico Dowdle 36 (3.6 a game over 10 games). For Week 7 the call starts Rico Dowdle over RJ Harvey. So make the move after his Week 7 game. Rico Dowdle is listed questionable.

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Rico Dowdle rookie cards RJ Harvey rookie cards

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Our Week 7 call

Start Rico Dowdle over RJ Harvey in Week 7.

Market-based projections have Rico Dowdle at 7.7 points and RJ Harvey at 9.6, a gap of 1.8. Rico Dowdle still gets the call because it also weighs where drafters take each player, ADP 76 against 100, and that outweighs a gap this size. No player market is posted for RJ Harvey this week yet, so his 9.6 is the average of his market-based projections in Weeks 4, 5 and 6 (9.1, 10.9 and 8.7); the call is rebuilt when his market posts.

What the market projects

No Week 7 player market is posted for RJ Harvey yet. His market-based projections were 9.1, 10.9 and 8.7 points in Weeks 4, 5 and 6, an average of 9.6, which stands in until his Week 7 market posts.

The market-based projection for RJ Harvey is 0.4 touchdowns (9 market sources).

Player markets imply 7.7 fantasy points for Rico Dowdle, with 100 percent of the markets a RB needs posted.

The market-based projection for Rico Dowdle is 32 rushing yards, 10 receiving yards, 1-2 receptions and 0.3 touchdowns (12, 13, 12 and 13 market sources).

That puts RJ Harvey 1.8 points ahead of Rico Dowdle on these projections.

Week 7 matchups

RJ Harvey and DEN visit ARI on Sunday at 4:05 PM ET.

ARI allowed 20.4 fantasy points a game to RBs this season over 6 games, the 14th fewest in the league.

Running backs ran for 107 yards and 0.7 touchdowns a game against ARI and caught passes for 25 more yards.

Rico Dowdle and PIT visit NO on Sunday at 9:30 AM ET.

NO allowed 29.7 fantasy points a game to RBs this season over 6 games, the most in the league.

Running backs ran for 117 yards and 1.8 touchdowns a game against NO and caught passes for 31 more yards.

By points allowed to the position, Rico Dowdle has the softer matchup.

Injury status

RJ Harvey is not on the injury report.

Rico Dowdle is listed as questionable with a knee injury.

Usage before Week 7

Through Week 6, RJ Harvey played 41 percent of DEN snaps, took 18 percent of the carries, drew 18 percent of the targets and had 15 percent of the red zone chances.

RJ Harvey, Week 3 against LAR: 24 of 67 snaps, 2 carries for 6 yards, 7 targets and 6 catches for 41 yards.

RJ Harvey, Week 4 against SF: 29 of 65 snaps, 7 carries for 25 yards, 10 targets and 10 catches for 68 yards.

RJ Harvey, Week 5 against LAC: 23 of 62 snaps, 3 carries for 7 yards, 1 target and 0 catches for 0 yards.

RJ Harvey, Week 6 against SEA: 24 of 60 snaps, 6 carries for 25 yards, 4 targets and 3 catches for 31 yards, 1 touchdown.

Through Week 6, Rico Dowdle played 36 percent of PIT snaps, took 35 percent of the carries, drew 9 percent of the targets and had 19 percent of the red zone chances.

Rico Dowdle, Week 1 against ATL: 39 of 67 snaps, 8 carries for 15 yards, 5 targets and 2 catches for 6 yards.

Rico Dowdle, Week 2 against NE: 18 of 70 snaps, 7 carries for 22 yards, 2 targets and 2 catches for 22 yards.

Rico Dowdle, Week 6 against TB: 21 of 79 snaps, 7 carries for 40 yards, 4 targets and 3 catches for 9 yards.

Their 2025 seasons

In 2025, RJ Harvey played 17 games for DEN and scored 206.6 PPR points, 12.2 a game, finishing RB20.

He ran 146 times for 540 yards and 7 touchdowns, and caught 47 of 58 targets for 356 yards.

He was on the field for 41 percent of the offense's snaps in the games he played.

In 2025, Rico Dowdle played 17 games for CAR and scored 216.3 PPR points, 12.7 a game, finishing RB18.

He ran 236 times for 1076 yards and 6 touchdowns, and caught 39 of 50 targets for 297 yards.

He was on the field for 56 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 Rico Dowdle for RJ Harvey?
Yes, on the rest of the season. RJ Harvey projects 87 market-implied PPR points from Week 7 through Week 17 (8.7 a game over 10 games), Rico Dowdle 36 (3.6 a game over 10 games). For Week 7 the call starts Rico Dowdle over RJ Harvey. So make the move after his Week 7 game. Rico Dowdle is listed questionable.
Should I drop RJ Harvey for Rico Dowdle?
No. Keep RJ Harvey: he projects 87 market-implied PPR points from Week 7 through Week 17 (8.7 a game over 10 games), Rico Dowdle 36 (3.6 a game over 10 games). For Week 7 the call starts Rico Dowdle over RJ Harvey. Rico Dowdle is listed questionable.