Too close to call: James Cook III (16.9) and Justin Jefferson (16.9) project within 0.0 PPR points of each other in Week 8, and James Cook III faces the 5th-toughest defense against RBs.
Updated Oct 30, 7:29 AM ET
| James Cook III RB · BUF | Justin Jefferson WR · MIN | |
|---|---|---|
| Projection (Week 8, avg of sources) | 16.9 | 16.9 |
| Floor (lowest source) | 16.1 | 13.9 |
| Ceiling (highest source) | 18.8 | 18.4 |
| StatChasers projection | 16.7 (RB8) | 17.5 (WR8) |
| Opponent | vs BAL | vs DET |
| Opponent vs. position | 5th-toughest (18.5 pts/g allowed) | 3rd-softest (39.2 pts/g allowed) |
| Recent usage | 69% carry share (last 3) | 21% target share (last 3) |
| Position | RB | WR |
| Our call | START · Strong RB1 | START · Strong WR1 |
Settle every start/sit call with projections, matchup, recent usage and floor-versus-ceiling for your exact scoring settings.
It is a coin flip. James Cook III projects for 16.9 PPR points and Justin Jefferson for 16.9, within 0.0 of each other.
Break the tie with the floor if you are favored this week, and with the ceiling if you need a big game to win.
They are projected almost level: 16.9 PPR points for James Cook III and 16.9 for Justin Jefferson.
The sources range from 16.1 to 18.8 for Cook III and from 13.9 to 18.4 for Jefferson. Either result is well inside both ranges.
James Cook III is the safer start: even the most cautious projection source has Cook III at 16.1 PPR points, against 13.9 for Justin Jefferson.
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 18.4 for Justin Jefferson.
Start the higher ceiling when you are the underdog and need points more than safety.
James Cook III plays BAL and Justin Jefferson plays DET in Week 8.
By fantasy points allowed to each position, Cook III faces the 5th-toughest defense against RBs and Jefferson faces the 3rd-softest defense against WRs, so Justin Jefferson 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 Justin Jefferson 21% of his team's targets.
These numbers are in PPR. Full PPR adds a point per catch, so it helps whichever player sees more targets, which here is Justin Jefferson.
Switch between PPR, Half PPR and Standard on the board above to rescore both players from the same sources.
Neither James Cook III nor Justin Jefferson 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 Justin Jefferson by 5.
A source with no number for a player is left out of the average rather than counted as a zero.