Start James Cook III. Cook III is projected for 16.9 PPR points vs 16.4 for Bucky Irving, and faces the 5th-toughest defense against RBs this week.
Updated Oct 30, 7:29 AM ET
| James Cook III RB · BUF | Bucky Irving RB · TB | |
|---|---|---|
| Projection (Week 8, avg of sources) | 16.9 | 16.4 |
| Floor (lowest source) | 16.1 | 15.8 |
| Ceiling (highest source) | 18.8 | 17.3 |
| StatChasers projection | 16.7 (RB8) | 16.4 (RB12) |
| Opponent | vs BAL | vs ATL |
| Opponent vs. position | 5th-toughest (18.5 pts/g allowed) | 8th-softest (24.6 pts/g allowed) |
| Recent usage | 69% carry share (last 3) | 57% carry share (last 3) |
| Position | RB | RB |
| Our call | START · Strong RB1 | START · Strong RB1 |
Settle every start/sit call with projections, matchup, recent usage and floor-versus-ceiling for your exact scoring settings.
Start James Cook III. Cook III projects for 16.9 PPR points vs BAL, against 16.4 for Bucky Irving vs ATL: a 0.5-point edge.
The projection is the average of every source that carries each player this week, and a player listed Out or Doubtful is never the start.
James Cook III is projected to score more: 16.9 PPR points to 16.4 for Bucky Irving.
The sources range from 16.1 to 18.8 for Cook III and from 15.8 to 17.3 for Irving. The ranges overlap, so Irving outscoring Cook III is a realistic result.
James Cook III is the safer start: even the most cautious projection source has Cook III at 16.1 PPR points, against 15.8 for Bucky Irving.
Start the higher floor when you are favored and only need to avoid a dud.
James Cook III has the higher ceiling: the most optimistic projection source has Cook III at 18.8 PPR points, against 17.3 for Bucky Irving.
Start the higher ceiling when you are the underdog and need points more than safety.
James Cook III plays BAL and Bucky Irving plays ATL in Week 8.
By fantasy points allowed to each position, Cook III faces the 5th-toughest defense against RBs and Irving faces the 8th-softest defense against RBs, so Bucky Irving has the softer matchup.
Each projection already accounts for the opponent, so a soft matchup is a tiebreaker, not a reason to bench the higher projection.
Over his recent games James Cook III has drawn 69% of his team's carries, and Bucky Irving 57% of his team's carries.
James Cook III has the bigger role, and volume is the steadiest thing a projection rests on.
These numbers are in PPR. Full PPR adds a point per catch, so it helps whichever player sees more targets.
Switch between PPR, Half PPR and Standard on the board above to rescore both players from the same sources.
Neither James Cook III nor Bucky Irving has an injury designation for Week 8.
Designations change through the week, so check again before kickoff; this page updates with each refresh.
Each figure is the average of the projection sources that carry the player this week: StatChasers, Sleeper, ESPN, numberFire, FFToday and the betting markets (sportsbook player props). James Cook III is projected by 6 of them and Bucky Irving by 6.
A source with no number for a player is left out of the average rather than counted as a zero.