Two players, one answer.
DeVonta Smith vs Tony Pollard
Any league · Week 8 start/sit · PPR
Stats through week 7 of 2026
This week
Toss-up · 12.2 to 11.4 projected (Week 8, PPR)
Rest of season
DeVonta Smith by 29% (redraft PPR)Dynasty
DeVonta Smith by 60% (Dynasty Superflex)
Week 8 · PPR · 54% held up in 2025
A toss-up
On Sleeper's projections, Tony Pollard is projected 0.8 points ahead of DeVonta Smith. In the 2025 season, a player projected that far ahead outscored the other 54% 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 · TEN
Tony Pollard
12.2 projected
@ CIN · Sun 1:00 PM ET
12.5 a game this season · last 3: 5.2, 7.6, 36.5
WR · PHI
DeVonta Smith
11.4 projected
@ WAS · Sun 8:20 PM ETQuestionable
17.3 a game this season · last 3: 27.7, 12.5, 20.5
- DeVonta Smith is questionable. The projection assumes he plays; if he's ruled out, the next player up is the call.
What the call rests on
- Tony Pollard: Sleeper's projection, last changed Wed, Oct 28, 12:30 PM ET
- DeVonta Smith: Sleeper's projection, last changed Wed, Oct 28, 12:30 PM ET
- Sleeper's projections read Wed, Oct 28, 12:33 PM ET.
- Injury statuses read Wed, Oct 28, 12:33 PM 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 | Pollard | Smith |
|---|---|---|
| PPR | 12.2 | 11.4 |
| Half PPR | 11.4 | 9.4 |
| Standard | 10.5 | 7.4 |
What could change it before kickoff
- DeVonta Smith's status (questionable): if he's ruled out, Tony Pollard is the start.
- A projection update of 0.8 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.
- Tony Pollard plays first (Sun 1:00 PM ET); once his game starts most platforms lock him in or out, before DeVonta Smith's late news is known.
Open in Who should I start (your league, more players)
This week’s projections are Sleeper’s, scored with 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%.