Should I start George Pickens or AJ Barner in Week 9?

The market-based projections

George Pickens's market-based projection is 13.9 PPR points a game, built from 3 markets across 9 market sources. That is the 47th highest figure of the 219 players with a market-based projection.

AJ Barner's market-based projection is 6.9 PPR points a game, built from 3 markets across 8 market sources. That is the 95th highest figure of the 219 players with a market-based projection.

Where the draft room stands

Live drafts hold no current pick on George Pickens, and the board ranks him 33rd overall on the rest of his evidence.

Live drafts hold no current pick on AJ Barner, and the board ranks him 117th overall on the rest of his evidence.

This season through Week 8

Through Week 8, George Pickens has been on the field for 78 percent of DAL snaps, drawn 21 percent of the targets and had 7 percent of the red zone chances.

He has taken 23 of the offence's 69 third down targets, had 3 of its 31 chances inside the five and seen 11 of its 50 two minute targets.

His 62 targets have averaged 11.6 air yards.

In Week 6 against GB he caught 6 of 11 targets for 73 yards and did not score.

In Week 7 against PHI he caught 4 of 6 targets for 57 yards and scored 1 touchdown.

In Week 8 against ARI he caught 2 of 4 targets for 48 yards and did not score.

Through Week 8, AJ Barner has been on the field for 89 percent of SEA snaps, drawn 14 percent of the targets and had 12 percent of the red zone chances.

He has taken 5 of the offence's 70 third down targets, had 3 of its 19 chances inside the five and seen 7 of its 43 two minute targets.

His 34 targets have averaged 2.1 air yards.

In Week 6 against DEN he caught 3 of 4 targets for 16 yards and did not score.

In Week 7 against KC he carried 3 times for 4 yards, caught 4 of 5 targets for 42 yards and did not score.

In Week 8 against CHI he caught 2 of 5 targets for 23 yards and did not score.

Their 2025 seasons

In 2025 George Pickens played 17 games and scored 291.9 PPR points, 17.2 a game, finishing WR5.

He caught 93 of 137 targets for 1429 yards and 9 touchdowns, with 21 red zone targets.

That came to 8.1 targets a game, a 68 percent catch rate and 15.4 yards a catch.

He was on the field for 83 percent of the snaps in the games he played.

In 2025 AJ Barner played 17 games and scored 147.3 PPR points, 8.7 a game, finishing TE14.

He caught 52 of 68 targets for 519 yards and 6 touchdowns, with 12 red zone targets.

That came to 4.0 targets a game, a 76 percent catch rate and 10.0 yards a catch.

He was on the field for 78 percent of the snaps in the games he played.

Both were available for 17 games that season.

Side by side

In 2025 George Pickens scored 17.2 PPR points a game and AJ Barner 8.7, 8.5 a game between them.

George Pickens finished WR5 and AJ Barner TE14, which are two different ladders.

George Pickens is a wide receiver and AJ Barner a tight end, so the question is which slot you fill first rather than which of them is better.

Byes and availability

George Pickens is off in Week 14 and AJ Barner in Week 11, so either can cover the other's bye.

What would change the answer

7.0 points a game is the entire case. The market restates it every week, and a line that moves moves the order with it.

The draft market is the half that is missing: when live drafts hold these two again they can order them differently from the projection, and this page will follow the drafts rather than the market-based projection when they do.