Start James Cook III. Cook III is projected for 16.9 PPR points vs 15.9 for Josh Jacobs, and faces the 5th-toughest defense against RBs this week.
Updated Oct 30, 7:29 AM ET
| James Cook III RB · BUF | Josh Jacobs RB · GB | |
|---|---|---|
| Projection (Week 8, avg of sources) | 16.9 | 15.9 |
| Floor (lowest source) | 16.1 | 14.2 |
| Ceiling (highest source) | 18.8 | 17.1 |
| StatChasers projection | 16.7 (RB8) | 16.7 (RB9) |
| Opponent | vs BAL | vs CAR |
| Opponent vs. position | 5th-toughest (18.5 pts/g allowed) | 2nd-softest (28.7 pts/g allowed) |
| Recent usage | 69% carry share (last 3) | 34% 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 15.9 for Josh Jacobs vs CAR: a 1.0-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 15.9 for Josh Jacobs.
The sources range from 16.1 to 18.8 for Cook III and from 14.2 to 17.1 for Jacobs. The ranges overlap, so Jacobs 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 14.2 for Josh Jacobs.
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 17.1 for Josh Jacobs.
Start the higher ceiling when you are the underdog and need points more than safety.
James Cook III plays BAL and Josh Jacobs plays CAR in Week 8.
By fantasy points allowed to each position, Cook III faces the 5th-toughest defense against RBs and Jacobs faces the 2nd-softest defense against RBs, so Josh Jacobs 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 Josh Jacobs 34% 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 Josh Jacobs 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 Josh Jacobs by 6.
A source with no number for a player is left out of the average rather than counted as a zero.