Should I start Josh Downs or AJ Barner in Week 10?

Where the draft room stands

Live drafts hold no current pick on Josh Downs, and the board ranks him 112th overall on the rest of his evidence.

Live drafts hold no current pick on AJ Barner, and the board ranks him 139th overall on the rest of his evidence.

The market-based projections

The market-based projection for Josh Downs is 1.7 PPR points a game off 1 market across 1 market source. That is 30 percent of what a wide receiver's projection needs, so it is a fragment of one rather than a projection.

The market-based projection for AJ Barner is 1.9 PPR points a game off 1 market across 1 market source. That is 30 percent of what a tight end's projection needs, so it is a fragment of one rather than a projection.

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

This season through Week 9

Through Week 9, Josh Downs has been on the field for 81 percent of IND snaps, drawn 20 percent of the targets and had 10 percent of the red zone chances.

He has taken 18 of the offence's 73 third down targets, had 0 of its 22 chances inside the five and seen 6 of its 44 two minute targets.

His 57 targets have averaged 9.6 air yards.

In Week 7 against MIN he caught 2 of 4 targets for 18 yards and did not score.

In Week 8 against JAX he caught 4 of 5 targets for 23 yards and scored 1 touchdown.

In Week 9 against DAL he caught 3 of 6 targets for 24 yards and did not score.

Through Week 9, AJ Barner has been on the field for 87 percent of SEA snaps, drawn 14 percent of the targets and had 15 percent of the red zone chances.

He has taken 6 of the offence's 78 third down targets, had 5 of its 21 chances inside the five and seen 8 of its 49 two minute targets.

His 38 targets have averaged 2.6 air yards.

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.

In Week 9 against ARI he carried 3 times for 3 yards, caught 2 of 4 targets for 7 yards and scored 2 touchdowns.

Their 2025 seasons

In 2025 Josh Downs played 16 games and scored 136.4 PPR points, 8.5 a game, finishing WR44.

He caught 58 of 88 targets for 566 yards and 4 touchdowns, with 14 red zone targets.

That came to 5-6 targets a game, a 66 percent catch rate and 9.8 yards a catch.

He was on the field for 58 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.

AJ Barner was available for 1 game more.

Side by side

In 2025 AJ Barner scored 8.7 PPR points a game and Josh Downs 8.5, 0.1 a game between them.

Josh Downs finished WR44 and AJ Barner TE14, which are two different ladders.

Josh Downs 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

Josh Downs is off in Week 13 and AJ Barner in Week 11, so either can cover the other's bye.