Should I start Alvin Kamara or A.J. Brown in Week 9?

Where the draft room stands

Live drafts hold no current pick on Alvin Kamara, and the board ranks him 126th overall on the rest of his evidence.

Live drafts hold no current pick on A.J. Brown, and the board ranks him 143rd overall on the rest of his evidence.

In 2QB drafts he goes at ADP 23.

The market-based projections

The market-based projection for Alvin Kamara is 2.6 PPR points a game off 1 market across 1 market source. That is 30 percent of what a running back's projection needs, so it is a fragment of one rather than a projection.

The market has A.J. Brown at 2.9 PPR points a game off 1 market across 3 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.

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

This season through Week 7

Through Week 7, Alvin Kamara has been on the field for 35 percent of NO snaps, taken 28 percent of the carries, drawn 13 percent of the targets and had 16 percent of the red zone chances.

He has taken 4 of the offence's 59 third down targets, had 2 of its 22 chances inside the five and seen 1 of its 23 two minute targets.

His 27 targets have averaged 0.4 air yards.

In Week 5 against MIN he carried 3 times for 12 yards, caught 2 of 2 targets for -6 yards and did not score.

In Week 6 against NYG he carried 7 times for 34 yards, caught 2 of 4 targets for 35 yards and scored 1 touchdown.

In Week 7 against PIT he carried 6 times for 5 yards, caught 7 of 7 targets for 57 yards and did not score.

Through Week 7, A.J. Brown has been on the field for 68 percent of NE snaps, drawn 22 percent of the targets and had 15 percent of the red zone chances.

He has taken 6 of the offence's 26 third down targets, had 0 of its 1 chance inside the five and seen 7 of its 21 two minute targets.

His 20 targets have averaged 13.4 air yards.

In Week 1 against SEA he caught 3 of 4 targets for 26 yards and did not score.

In Week 6 against NYJ he caught 3 of 10 targets for 27 yards and did not score.

In Week 7 against CHI he caught 3 of 6 targets for 48 yards and did not score.

Their 2025 seasons

In 2025 Alvin Kamara played 11 games and scored 100.7 PPR points, 9.2 a game, finishing RB46.

He carried 131 times for 471 yards and 1 touchdown, and caught 33 of 39 targets for 186 more yards.

That came to 11.9 carries a game at 3.6 yards a carry and 3.0 catches a game.

He was on the field for 63 percent of the snaps in the games he played.

In 2025 A.J. Brown played 15 games and scored 220.3 PPR points, 14.7 a game, finishing WR11.

He caught 78 of 121 targets for 1003 yards and 7 touchdowns, with 12 red zone targets.

That came to 8.1 targets a game, a 64 percent catch rate and 12.9 yards a catch.

He was on the field for 91 percent of the snaps in the games he played.

A.J. Brown was available for 4 games more.

Side by side

In 2025 A.J. Brown scored 14.7 PPR points a game and Alvin Kamara 9.2, 5.5 a game between them.

Alvin Kamara finished RB46 and A.J. Brown WR11, which are two different ladders.

Alvin Kamara is a running back and A.J. Brown a wide receiver, so the question is which slot you fill first rather than which of them is better.

Byes and availability

Alvin Kamara is off in Week 8 and A.J. Brown in Week 11, so either can cover the other's bye.

A.J. Brown is listed as questionable on the injury report.