Start Tyjae Spears or Zach Charbonnet? Week 1

Our Week 1 call

Start Tyjae Spears over Zach Charbonnet in Week 1.

Zach Charbonnet is listed pup on our news wire, so this is not a close call: start Tyjae Spears. Drafters take Tyjae Spears at ADP 143 and Zach Charbonnet at 154. Market coverage on Tyjae Spears is 33 percent of what his position needs, so the market side of this carries proportionally less weight.

What the books imply

Player prop markets imply 1.8 fantasy points for Tyjae Spears, with 33 percent of the markets a RB needs posted.

No sportsbook posted a player market for Zach Charbonnet in Week 1.

Week 1 matchups

Tyjae Spears and TEN host NYJ on Sunday at 1:00 PM ET.

NYJ allowed 8.8 fantasy points to RBs in its one game this season, the 2nd fewest in the league.

Running backs ran for 47 yards and no touchdowns against NYJ and caught passes for 11 more yards.

Zach Charbonnet and SEA host NE.

NE allowed 15.0 fantasy points to RBs in its one game this season, the 10th fewest in the league.

Running backs ran for 84 yards and no touchdowns against NE and caught passes for 26 more yards.

By points allowed to the position, Zach Charbonnet has the softer matchup.

Injury status

Tyjae Spears was not on the injury report when the call was made.

Zach Charbonnet was listed as pup when the call was made.

Their 2025 seasons

In 2025, Tyjae Spears played 13 games for TEN and scored 111.7 PPR points, 8.6 a game, finishing RB44.

He ran 72 times for 283 yards and 2 touchdowns, and caught 45 of 50 targets for 264 yards.

He was on the field for 46 percent of the offense's snaps in the games he played.

Tyjae Spears, Week 18 of 2025 against JAX: 3 carries for 18 yards, 7 targets and 7 catches for 9 yards, 9.7 PPR points.

Tyjae Spears, Week 17 of 2025 against NO: 39 of 74 snaps, 6 carries for 2 yards, 2 targets and 1 catch for -1 yards, 1.1 PPR points.

Tyjae Spears, Week 16 of 2025 against KC: 34 of 73 snaps, 13 carries for 52 yards, 5 targets and 5 catches for 53 yards, 1 touchdown, 21.5 PPR points.

In 2025, Zach Charbonnet played 16 games for SEA and scored 181.4 PPR points, 11.3 a game, finishing RB24.

He ran 184 times for 730 yards and 12 touchdowns, and caught 20 of 24 targets for 144 yards.

He was on the field for 49 percent of the offense's snaps in the games he played.

Zach Charbonnet, Week 18 of 2025 against SF: 39 of 69 snaps, 17 carries for 74 yards, 4 targets and 3 catches for 23 yards, 1 touchdown, 18.7 PPR points.

Zach Charbonnet, Week 17 of 2025 against CAR: 35 of 66 snaps, 18 carries for 110 yards, 2 targets and 2 catches for 12 yards, 2 touchdowns, 26.2 PPR points.

Zach Charbonnet, Week 16 of 2025 against LAR: 38 of 68 snaps, 9 carries for 32 yards, 4 targets and 4 catches for 22 yards, 1 touchdown, 17.4 PPR points.

How Week 1 went

Tyjae Spears scored 4.4 PPR points and Zach Charbonnet scored 0.0.

The call was right: Tyjae Spears outscored Zach Charbonnet by 4.4.

Tyjae Spears finished 2.6 points above the 1.8 the props implied.

Tyjae Spears, Week 1 against NYJ: 25 of 50 snaps, 3 carries for 12 yards, 4 targets and 2 catches for 12 yards, 4.4 PPR points.

Tyjae Spears finished as the week's RB45 in PPR scoring.

Their other Week 1 calls

• Start Tyjae Spears over Alvin Kamara.
• Start Blake Corum over Tyjae Spears.
• Start Tyjae Spears over Emari Demercado.
• Start Alvin Kamara over Zach Charbonnet.
• Start Blake Corum over Zach Charbonnet.
• Start Chris Rodriguez Jr. over Zach Charbonnet.