Should I start AJ Barner or J.K. Dobbins in Week 8?

Where the draft room stands

Live drafts hold no current pick on AJ Barner, and the board ranks him 105th overall on the rest of his evidence.

Live drafts hold no current pick on J.K. Dobbins, and the board ranks him 107th overall on the rest of his evidence.

The market-based projections

The market-based projection for AJ Barner is 2.1 PPR points a game off 1 market across 7 market sources. That is 30 percent of what a tight end's projection needs, so it is a fragment of one rather than a projection.

The market has J.K. Dobbins at 3.0 PPR points a game off 1 market across 7 market sources. That is 30 percent of what a running back's projection needs, so it is a fragment of one rather than a projection.

AJ Barner's projection is not complete, so the two figures are not set against each other here.

This season through Week 7

Through Week 7, AJ Barner has been on the field for 88 percent of SEA snaps, drawn 13 percent of the targets and had 13 percent of the red zone chances.

He has taken 3 of the offence's 62 third down targets, had 3 of its 19 chances inside the five and seen 7 of its 38 two minute targets.

His 29 targets have averaged 2.1 air yards.

In Week 5 against SF he caught 3 of 5 targets for 20 yards and did not score.

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.

Through Week 7, J.K. Dobbins has been on the field for 41 percent of DEN snaps, taken 52 percent of the carries, drawn 5 percent of the targets and had 27 percent of the red zone chances.

He has taken 0 of the offence's 58 third down targets, had 8 of its 18 chances inside the five and seen 0 of its 25 two minute targets.

His 9 targets have come 1.1 yards behind the line of scrimmage on average.

In Week 5 against LAC he carried 18 times for 68 yards, caught 2 of 2 targets for 6 yards and scored 1 touchdown.

In Week 6 against SEA he carried 17 times for 41 yards, caught 3 of 3 targets for 5 yards and scored 1 touchdown.

In Week 7 against ARI he carried 6 times for 23 yards and scored 1 touchdown.

Their 2025 seasons

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.

In 2025 J.K. Dobbins played 10 games and scored 115.9 PPR points, 11.6 a game, finishing RB43.

He carried 153 times for 772 yards and 4 touchdowns, and caught 11 of 14 targets for 37 more yards.

That came to 15.3 carries a game at 5.0 yards a carry and 1.1 catches a game.

He was on the field for 51 percent of the snaps in the games he played.

AJ Barner was available for 7 games more.

Side by side

In 2025 J.K. Dobbins scored 11.6 PPR points a game and AJ Barner 8.7, 2.9 a game between them.

AJ Barner finished TE14 and J.K. Dobbins RB43, which are two different ladders.

AJ Barner is a tight end and J.K. Dobbins a running back, so the question is which slot you fill first rather than which of them is better.

Byes and availability

AJ Barner is off in Week 11 and J.K. Dobbins in Week 10, so either can cover the other's bye.