Samaje Perine
5.5 projected
The hole in the lineup. Five touches last week.
No games since Thursday night and nobody on your roster was in it, so Week 9 is still a blank scoreboard. Everything in this report is something you can still act on before Sunday's 9:30 AM kickoff.
LordHaveMRSA
0.00
honeybadgerr1
0.00
Week 9 - nothing played yet. Both teams 3-5. Your first player on the field is Samaje Perine, Sunday 9:30 AM ET in Berlin.
J.K. Dobbins
Free agent
The cheapest way to upgrade that spot. Rostered in 77% of leagues elsewhere.
DeMario Douglas
8.9 projected
On your bench. Four touchdowns in four weeks.
1. Where the matchup stands
You are 3-5, ninth of twelve, 819.22 points scored against 853.00 allowed. Week 9 is against honeybadgerr1, also 3-5 but sitting eighth on 865.60 points - he has scored more than you with the same record, so this is a coin flip between two teams that have both been unlucky and mediocre in roughly equal measure.
Nobody on either roster played Thursday night, when the Jacksonville Jaguars beat the Baltimore Ravens 33-10. The byes this week are the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Tennessee Titans, and you have nobody on either, so your full lineup is available.
One wrinkle worth knowing: honeybadgerr1 starts Blake Corum (Los Angeles Rams) at running back. Corum took 11 carries to Kyren Williams' 16 in Week 8, which means every carry Corum steals from your Kyren Williams scores for your opponent. You are rooting for a Rams blowout, not a close one.
2. Last report's unfinished business
Week 8: you lost 100.06 to 112.80
Tre Tucker (Las Vegas Raiders) started and scored 0.00 points - one target, no catches. DeMario Douglas (New England Patriots) sat on your bench and scored 16.60. That 16.6-point swing was the entire margin of defeat and then some. The same two players are in the same two spots this week.
Samaje Perine was not a bad week, he is a bad plan
He put up 2.90 points in Week 8 on four carries for ten yards and one catch, on 26 snaps. Week 7 was four touches. He is Chase Brown's change-of-pace back in Cincinnati and nothing more. He is rostered in 11% of leagues for a reason, and he is in your starting lineup because the rest of your running back room is in a hospital, not because he earned it.
3. Recommended Week 9 lineup
| Slot | Player | Call |
|---|---|---|
| QB | Drake Maye (New England Patriots) | Start. 20.3 projected, 5th-best quarterback this week. Right shoulder on the report but he practiced fully Wednesday and Thursday with no game designation. |
| RB | Kyren Williams (Los Angeles Rams) | Start. 15.6 projected, 7th-best running back, at the Washington Commanders. |
| RB | Samaje Perine (Cincinnati Bengals) OR a waiver add | Start him only if you do nothing. 5.5 projected, 48th-best running back. See the waiver section - this is the one roster move that matters today. |
| WR | Puka Nacua (Los Angeles Rams) | Start. 19.8 projected, 2nd-best receiver this week. Eleven catches on twelve targets in Week 8. |
| WR | DeMario Douglas (New England Patriots) | SWAP HIM IN for Tre Tucker. 8.9 projected to Tucker's 8.3, four touchdowns in four weeks, and with A.J. Brown (knee and ankle) likely out again he is New England's de facto number one receiver. |
| TE | Trey McBride (Arizona Cardinals) | Start. 11.9 projected, 3rd-best tight end, even though Seattle allows the 4th-fewest points to tight ends and Gardner Minshew is now throwing him the ball. |
| FLEX | D.J. Moore (Buffalo Bills) | Hold for now, decide Monday. He plays Monday night at Minnesota, so you have 48 hours. If he is ruled out, Xavier Worthy (Kansas City Chiefs) at 8.0 projected is the replacement. |
The Tre Tucker call is close and I want to be straight about it: the expert consensus still ranks Tucker 30th among receivers to Douglas' 33rd. But the projections flip it, Tucker drew one target against a San Francisco defense that shut him out last week, and the consensus note on him this week is literally to sit him. Douglas is the play. Spelling out one bit of jargon up front - a projection is the consensus guess at a player's points, and ECR, or expert consensus ranking, is where the voting experts place him against everyone else at his position.
4. Injuries on your roster
Dameon Pierce (Philadelphia Eagles) - injured reserve, drop him
Philadelphia put him on injured reserve and he will miss at least four more weeks. He is a dead roster spot on a team that cannot field a second running back. He is your drop to make room for a waiver add today. No sentiment required - he had 7.7 points a game at his best.
Cam Skattebo (New York Giants) - doubtful, hamstring
Did not practice Wednesday or Thursday, limited Friday, and both the Giants and the league's own report list him doubtful for Philadelphia. Treat him as out. Keep him - he is worth more in three weeks than anyone you would add in his place.
D.J. Moore and Keon Coleman (Buffalo Bills) - both shoulder, both limited
Limited practice Thursday and Friday for both, with no game designation yet; Buffalo's official statuses land Saturday. They play Monday night at Minnesota, which is the one piece of good luck here - you get the whole weekend to see how it shakes out. Moore scored 16.60 in Week 8, so he is worth waiting on.
Zonovan Knight (Arizona Cardinals) - out
Ruled out. Behind Pierce on the list of players to cut, but on it.
5. Waivers - the one move that matters
| Player | Why | Bid |
|---|---|---|
| J.K. Dobbins (Denver Broncos) | Start him over Perine this week. 7.7 projected to Perine's 5.5, and Denver plays at the Carolina Panthers, who have given up the 10th-highest explosive-run rate over their last five games. Be clear-eyed: the rookie Jonah Coleman has taken his job, Dobbins played 22% of the snaps and averaged 6.5 carries over the last two weeks, and he is a touchdown-dependent flex. He is also rostered in 77% of leagues everywhere else and is somehow sitting free in yours. | $4-6 |
| Justice Hill (Baltimore Ravens) | The better stash, but no help this week - Baltimore already played Thursday. He went 9 carries for 85 yards and a touchdown while Derrick Henry ground out 57 yards on 17. If Baltimore keeps feeding him he is a starter in two weeks. Grab him if you have a second spot after cutting Pierce and Knight. | $3-5 |
| Corey Kiner (New England Patriots) | Last resort only. 3.4 projected, 7 carries for 38 yards in Week 8, and he only matters if Rhamondre Stevenson misses time. Mentioned so you know the floor of this pool, not as a recommendation. | $0-1 |
Your running back room is Kyren Williams and a vacant lot. Perine, Skattebo doubtful, Knight out, Pierce on injured reserve. The free agent pool is thin, so this is damage control rather than a windfall - but doing nothing means starting a 48th-ranked running back. FAAB is the $100 season-long budget you bid pickups with; you should be spending single digits here, not double.
6. What to do today
Three clicks before 9:30 AM Sunday
One: drop Dameon Pierce (Philadelphia Eagles), claim J.K. Dobbins (Denver Broncos), and start him at the second running back slot over Samaje Perine (Cincinnati Bengals). Two: move DeMario Douglas (New England Patriots) into the lineup for Tre Tucker (Las Vegas Raiders). Three: leave the flex alone and check Buffalo's injury status Monday afternoon for D.J. Moore (Buffalo Bills), with Xavier Worthy (Kansas City Chiefs) ready if Moore is out.