Start Samaje Perine or Rico Dowdle? Week 8

Updated Oct 27, 2:26 PM ET. Locks at kickoff, graded after. Week 9 answer posts Tuesday.

Latest

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

Start Rico Dowdle over Samaje Perine

Start

Rico Dowdle

RB · PIT · vs CLE

Market projects: 6.9; recent weeks avg
CLE D vs RB: 19.4; 8th fewest to RBs (2026)
Upside: Moderate; 60 of 100 at RB
Snap share: 38%; Through Week 7
Target share: 12%; 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 Rico Dowdle for Samaje Perine?

Yes, on the rest of the season. Samaje Perine projects 45 market-implied PPR points from Week 8 through Week 17 (4.5 a game over 10 games), Rico Dowdle 32 (3.6 a game over 9 games). For Week 8 the call starts Rico Dowdle over Samaje Perine. So make the move after his Week 8 game.

Parlae may earn a commission from price links.

Rico Dowdle rookie cards

Make this call for your own roster

Sync your league and My Team sets this week's lineup for your actual roster, spot by spot. Free, no account.

Sync my league

Sleeper ESPN Yahoo

Or get it by email

Tuesday 7am ET: one email with what moved on the board and who is worth a claim.

Free. One a week, one tap to stop.

Our Week 8 call

Start Rico Dowdle over Samaje Perine in Week 8.

Market-based projections have Rico Dowdle at 6.9 points and Samaje Perine at 5.6, a gap of 1.2. That is inside the noise of a single catch, so treat it as close to a coin flip. No player market is posted for Rico Dowdle this week yet, so his 6.9 is the average of his market-based projections in Weeks 5, 6 and 7 (8.4, 5.6 and 6.7); 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 Rico Dowdle yet. His market-based projections were 8.4, 5.6 and 6.7 points in Weeks 5, 6 and 7, an average of 6.9, 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 Rico Dowdle 1.2 points ahead of Samaje Perine on these projections.

Week 8 matchups

Rico Dowdle and PIT host CLE on Sunday at 1:00 PM ET.

CLE allowed 19.4 fantasy points a game to RBs this season over 7 games, the 8th fewest in the league.

Running backs ran for 104 yards and 0.6 touchdowns a game against CLE and caught passes for 20 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, Samaje Perine has the softer matchup.

Injury status

Rico Dowdle is not on the injury report.

Samaje Perine is not on the injury report.

Usage before Week 8

Through Week 7, Rico Dowdle played 38 percent of PIT snaps, took 34 percent of the carries, drew 12 percent of the targets and had 25 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.

Rico Dowdle, Week 7 against NO: 28 of 64 snaps, 9 carries for 41 yards, 6 targets and 6 catches for 45 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, 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.

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 Rico Dowdle for Samaje Perine?
Yes, on the rest of the season. Samaje Perine projects 45 market-implied PPR points from Week 8 through Week 17 (4.5 a game over 10 games), Rico Dowdle 32 (3.6 a game over 9 games). For Week 8 the call starts Rico Dowdle over Samaje Perine. So make the move after his Week 8 game.
Should I drop Samaje Perine for Rico Dowdle?
No. Keep Samaje Perine: he projects 45 market-implied PPR points from Week 8 through Week 17 (4.5 a game over 10 games), Rico Dowdle 32 (3.6 a game over 9 games). For Week 8 the call starts Rico Dowdle over Samaje Perine.

Should I drop Rico Dowdle?Should I drop Samaje Perine?