Start Seth McGowan or Sione Vaki? Week 8

Our Week 8 call

Start Seth McGowan over Sione Vaki in Week 8.

Market-based projections have Seth McGowan at 2.9 points and Sione Vaki at 2.3, 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 Seth McGowan this week yet, so his 2.9 is the average of his market-based projections in Weeks 5, 6 and 7 (2.4, 3.6 and 2.7); the call is rebuilt when his market posts. No player market is posted for Sione Vaki this week yet, so his 2.3 is the average of his market-based projections in Weeks 5 and 7 (2.3 and 2.3); the call is rebuilt when his market posts.

What the market projects

No Week 8 player market is posted for Seth McGowan yet. His market-based projections were 2.4, 3.6 and 2.7 points in Weeks 5, 6 and 7, an average of 2.9, which stands in until his Week 8 market posts.

No Week 8 player market is posted for Sione Vaki yet. His market-based projections were 2.3 and 2.3 points in Weeks 5 and 7, an average of 2.3, which stands in until his Week 8 market posts.

The market-based projection for Sione Vaki is 0.1 touchdowns (12 market sources).

That puts Seth McGowan 0.6 points ahead of Sione Vaki on these projections.

Week 8 matchups

Seth McGowan and IND visit JAX on Sunday at 1:00 PM ET.

JAX allowed 17.3 fantasy points a game to RBs this season over 6 games, the 2nd fewest in the league.

Running backs ran for 52 yards and 0-1 touchdowns a game against JAX and caught passes for 38 more yards.

Sione Vaki and DET host MIN on Sunday at 1:00 PM ET.

MIN allowed 16.0 fantasy points a game to RBs this season over 6 games, the fewest in the league.

Running backs ran for 84 yards and 0-1 touchdowns a game against MIN and caught passes for 18 more yards.

By points allowed to the position, Seth McGowan has the softer matchup.

Injury status

Seth McGowan is not on the injury report.

Sione Vaki is not on the injury report.

Usage before Week 8

Through Week 7, Seth McGowan played 21 percent of IND snaps, took 16 percent of the carries, drew 2 percent of the targets and had 7 percent of the red zone chances.

Seth McGowan, Week 4 against WAS: 19 of 66 snaps, 6 carries for 31 yards, 2 targets and 1 catch for 7 yards.

Seth McGowan, Week 5 against PIT: 19 of 71 snaps, 5 carries for 16 yards, 1 target and 1 catch for 3 yards.

Seth McGowan, Week 6 against TEN: 19 of 83 snaps, 4 carries for 27 yards, 0 targets and 0 catches for 0 yards.

Seth McGowan, Week 7 against MIN: 20 of 58 snaps, 11 carries for 46 yards, 1 target and 1 catch for 2 yards.

Through Week 7, Sione Vaki played 24 percent of DET snaps, took 10 percent of the carries, drew 2 percent of the targets and had 1 percent of the red zone chances.

Sione Vaki, Week 3 against NYJ: 20 of 65 snaps, 6 carries for 26 yards, 1 target and 1 catch for 11 yards.

Sione Vaki, Week 4 against CAR: 12 of 71 snaps, 0 carries for 0 yards, 2 targets and 1 catch for 17 yards.

Sione Vaki, Week 5 against ARI: 23 of 66 snaps, 6 carries for 11 yards, 0 targets and 0 catches for 0 yards.

Sione Vaki, Week 7 against GB: 9 of 68 snaps, 1 carry for 5 yards, 0 targets and 0 catches for 0 yards.

Their 2025 seasons

In 2025, Sione Vaki played 11 games for DET and scored 0.4 PPR points, 0.0 a game, finishing RB143.

He ran 1 time for 4 yards and 0 touchdowns, and caught 0 of 0 targets for 0 yards.

He was on the field for 0 percent of the offense's snaps in the games he played.

Their other Week 8 calls

• Start Chris Rodriguez Jr. over Seth McGowan.
• Start Corey Kiner over Seth McGowan.
• Start George Holani over Seth McGowan.
• Start Chris Rodriguez Jr. over Sione Vaki.
• Start Corey Kiner over Sione Vaki.
• Start Isaiah Davis over Sione Vaki.