Should I start AJ Barner or Omar Cooper Jr. in Week 8?

Where the draft room stands

Live drafts hold no current pick on AJ Barner, and the board ranks him 98th overall on the rest of his evidence.

Live drafts hold no current pick on Omar Cooper Jr., and the board ranks him 99th overall on the rest of his evidence.

The market-based projections

The market-based projection for AJ Barner is 2.2 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.

The market has Omar Cooper Jr. at 2.1 PPR points a game off 1 market across 6 market sources. That is 30 percent of what a wide receiver'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, Omar Cooper Jr. has been on the field for 64 percent of NYJ snaps, drawn 17 percent of the targets and had 8 percent of the red zone chances.

He has taken 2 of the offence's 9 third down targets and had 1 of its 3 chances inside the five.

His 5 targets have averaged 10.2 air yards.

In Week 7 against MIA he caught 5 of 5 targets for 115 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.

Omar Cooper Jr. is a rookie, so there is no NFL season behind him to price him against.

Side by side

AJ Barner is a tight end and Omar Cooper Jr. a wide receiver, 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 Omar Cooper Jr. in Week 13, so either can cover the other's bye.