Should I start Kaelon Black or A.J. Brown in Week 9?

Where the draft room stands

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

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

In 2QB drafts he goes at ADP 23.

The market-based projections

The market-based projection for Kaelon Black is 1.7 PPR points a game off 1 market across 6 market sources. 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.

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

This season through Week 7

Through Week 7, Kaelon Black has been on the field for 30 percent of SF snaps, taken 31 percent of the carries, drawn 3 percent of the targets and had 16 percent of the red zone chances.

He has taken 0 of the offence's 50 third down targets, had 3 of its 24 chances inside the five and seen 0 of its 30 two minute targets.

His 6 targets have come 2.0 yards behind the line of scrimmage on average.

In Week 5 against SEA he carried 6 times for 16 yards and did not score.

In Week 6 against WAS he carried 8 times for 34 yards, caught 1 of 1 target for 3 yards and did not score.

In Week 7 against ATL he carried 12 times for 63 yards, caught 1 of 3 targets for -4 yards and scored 1 touchdown.

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

Kaelon Black is a rookie, so there is no NFL season behind him to price him against.

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.

Side by side

Kaelon Black 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

Kaelon Black 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.