Should I start A.J. Brown or Darren Waller in Week 9?

Where the draft room stands

Live drafts hold no current pick on A.J. Brown, and the board ranks him 141st overall on the rest of his evidence.

In 2QB drafts he goes at ADP 23.

Live drafts hold no current pick on Darren Waller, and the board ranks him 142nd overall on the rest of his evidence.

The market-based projections

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.

Darren Waller's market-based projection is 4.8 PPR points a game, built from 3 markets across 12 market sources. That is the 110th highest figure of the 219 players with a market-based projection.

A.J. Brown's projection is not complete, so the two figures are not set against each other here.

This season so far

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.

Through Week 8, Darren Waller has been on the field for 48 percent of CAR snaps, drawn 10 percent of the targets and had 6 percent of the red zone chances.

He has taken 9 of the offence's 53 third down targets, had 0 of its 13 chances inside the five and seen 7 of its 34 two minute targets.

His 25 targets have averaged 9.4 air yards.

In Week 6 against PHI he caught 0 of 2 targets for 0 yards and did not score.

In Week 7 against TB he caught 1 of 2 targets for 50 yards and scored 1 touchdown.

In Week 8 against GB he caught 1 of 2 targets for 11 yards and did not score.

Their 2025 seasons

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.

In 2025 Darren Waller played 9 games and scored 88.7 PPR points, 9.9 a game, finishing TE33.

He caught 24 of 34 targets for 283 yards and 6 touchdowns, with 7 red zone targets.

That came to 3.8 targets a game, a 71 percent catch rate and 11.8 yards a catch.

He was on the field for 45 percent of the snaps in the games he played.

A.J. Brown was available for 6 games more.

Side by side

In 2025 A.J. Brown scored 14.7 PPR points a game and Darren Waller 9.9, 4.8 a game between them.

A.J. Brown finished WR11 and Darren Waller TE33, which are two different ladders.

A.J. Brown is a wide receiver and Darren Waller a tight end, so the question is which slot you fill first rather than which of them is better.

Byes and availability

A.J. Brown is off in Week 11 and Darren Waller in Week 5, so either can cover the other's bye.

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

What would change the answer

A.J. Brown has only a partial projection, so the market half of this page is whole for only one of them.