Two players, one answer.
Bucky Irving vs James Cook III
Any league · Week 8 start/sit · Half PPR
Stats through week 8 of 2026 (in progress)
This week
Toss-up · 16.4 to 15.2 projected (Week 8, Half PPR)
Rest of season
James Cook III by 37% (Redraft half PPR)Dynasty
Bucky Irving by 8% (Dynasty Superflex)
Week 8 · Half PPR · 56% held up in 2025
A toss-up
On Sleeper's projections, James Cook III is projected 1.2 points ahead of Bucky Irving. In the 2025 season, a player projected that far ahead outscored the other 56% of the time. That's close to a coin flip: on these projections neither is the better start, and an injury report or a projection update before kickoff can tip it.
RB · BUF
James Cook III
16.4 projected
vs BAL · Sun 1:00 PM ET
18.1 a game this season · last 3: 15.3, 22.3, 22.8
RB · TB
Bucky Irving
15.2 projected
vs ATL · Sun 1:00 PM ET
14.4 a game this season · last 3: 30.5, 5.9, 23.5
- Bucky Irving has scored 20 a game over his last three, above his 14.4 season average.
What the call rests on
- James Cook III: Sleeper's projection, last changed Sun, Nov 1, 10:30 AM ET
- Bucky Irving: Sleeper's projection, last changed Sun, Nov 1, 10:30 AM ET
- Sleeper's projections read Sun, Nov 1, 10:33 AM ET.
- Injury statuses read Sun, Nov 1, 10:33 AM ET, with the projections (hourly). A fresh projection time doesn't mean every status is: game-day inactives, about 90 minutes before kickoff, can come after it.
| Same projections, scored | III | Irving |
|---|---|---|
| PPR | 17.3 | 16.7 |
| Half PPR | 16.4 | 15.2 |
| Standard | 15.5 | 13.7 |
What could change it before kickoff
- A projection update of 1.2 points or more in the other direction flips the call; Sleeper keeps adjusting its projections until kickoff, and this page reads them again at most an hour after it last did.
Open in Who should I start (your league, more players)
This week’s projections are Sleeper’s, scored with Half PPR settings. The percentage is how often a projected gap like this held up across the 2025 season; checked against 2026 games (not used to fit it), the stated chances so far run a few points high, so read a 60% call as nearer 55%.