Should I start George Pickens or A.J. Brown in Week 9?

Where the draft room stands

Live drafts hold no current pick on George Pickens, and the board ranks him 65th overall on the rest of his evidence.

Live drafts hold no current pick on A.J. Brown, and the board ranks him 83rd overall on the rest of his evidence.

In 2QB drafts he goes at ADP 23.

The market-based projections

The market-based projection for George Pickens is 4.2 PPR points a game off 1 market across 5 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.

The market has A.J. Brown at 2.9 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.

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

This season so far

Through Week 8, George Pickens has been on the field for 82 percent of DAL snaps, drawn 21 percent of the targets and had 7 percent of the red zone chances.

He has taken 23 of the offence's 69 third down targets, had 3 of its 31 chances inside the five and seen 11 of its 50 two minute targets.

His 62 targets have averaged 11.6 air yards.

In Week 6 against GB he caught 6 of 11 targets for 73 yards and did not score.

In Week 7 against PHI he caught 4 of 6 targets for 57 yards and scored 1 touchdown.

In Week 8 against ARI he caught 2 of 4 targets for 48 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 George Pickens played 17 games and scored 291.9 PPR points, 17.2 a game, finishing WR5.

He caught 93 of 137 targets for 1429 yards and 9 touchdowns, with 21 red zone targets.

That came to 8.1 targets a game, a 68 percent catch rate and 15.4 yards a catch.

He was on the field for 83 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.

George Pickens was available for 2 games more.

Head to head

In 2025 George Pickens scored 17.2 PPR points a game and A.J. Brown 14.7, 2.5 a game between them.

George Pickens finished WR5 that year and A.J. Brown WR11.

George Pickens had 16 more targets than A.J. Brown, 137 to 121.

George Pickens had 426 more receiving yards than A.J. Brown, 1429 to 1003.

This season George Pickens holds the bigger snap share, 82 percent against 68 percent.

This season A.J. Brown holds the bigger target share, 22 percent against 21 percent.

Byes and availability

George Pickens is off in Week 14 and A.J. Brown in Week 11, so either can cover the other's bye.

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