Brian Thomas Jr. or Bucky Irving: who should I start in Week 6?

Where the draft room stands

Drafters have formed no consensus on Brian Thomas Jr.: he carries no ADP, and the board ranks him 110th overall on the rest of his evidence.

Drafters have formed no consensus on Bucky Irving: he carries no ADP, and the board ranks him 111th overall on the rest of his evidence.

The market-based projections

Brian Thomas Jr.'s market-based projection is 4.3 PPR points a game, built from 3 markets across 13 market sources. That is the 102nd highest figure of the 146 players with a market-based projection.

The market-based projection for Bucky Irving is 2.3 PPR points a game off 1 market across 9 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.

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

This season through Week 5

Through Week 5, Brian Thomas Jr. has been on the field for 48 percent of JAX snaps, drawn 12 percent of the targets and had 7 percent of the red zone chances.

He has taken 4 of the offence's 35 third down targets, had 1 of its 11 chances inside the five and seen 4 of its 18 two minute targets.

His 17 targets have averaged 10.9 air yards.

In Week 3 against NE he caught 1 of 1 target for 8 yards and did not score.

In Week 4 against CIN he caught 2 of 2 targets for 17 yards and scored 1 touchdown.

In Week 5 against PHI he caught 0 of 3 targets for 0 yards and did not score.

Through Week 5, Bucky Irving has been on the field for 61 percent of TB snaps, taken 58 percent of the carries, drawn 12 percent of the targets and had 38 percent of the red zone chances.

He has taken 3 of the offence's 40 third down targets, had 2 of its 6 chances inside the five and seen 0 of its 29 two minute targets.

His 18 targets have come 1.8 yards behind the line of scrimmage on average.

In Week 3 against MIN he carried 15 times for 46 yards, caught 2 of 4 targets for 12 yards and did not score.

In Week 4 against GB he carried 16 times for 61 yards and did not score.

In Week 5 against DAL he carried 21 times for 165 yards, caught 2 of 3 targets for 10 yards and scored 2 touchdowns.

Their 2025 seasons

In 2025 Brian Thomas Jr. played 14 games and scored 138.8 PPR points, 9.9 a game, finishing WR42.

He caught 48 of 91 targets for 707 yards and 2 touchdowns, with 6 red zone targets.

That came to 6-7 targets a game, a 53 percent catch rate and 14.7 yards a catch.

He was on the field for 79 percent of the snaps in the games he played.

In 2025 Bucky Irving played 10 games and scored 138.5 PPR points, 13.9 a game, finishing RB34.

He carried 173 times for 588 yards and 1 touchdown, and caught 30 of 35 targets for 277 more yards.

That came to 17.3 carries a game at 3.4 yards a carry and 3.0 catches a game.

He was on the field for 62 percent of the snaps in the games he played.

Brian Thomas Jr. was available for 4 games more.

Side by side

In 2025 Bucky Irving scored 13.9 PPR points a game and Brian Thomas Jr. 9.9, 3.9 a game between them.

Brian Thomas Jr. finished WR42 and Bucky Irving RB34, which are two different ladders.

Brian Thomas Jr. is a wide receiver and Bucky Irving a running back, so the question is which slot you fill first rather than which of them is better.

Byes and availability

Brian Thomas Jr. is off in Week 7 and Bucky Irving in Week 10, so either can cover the other's bye.

What would change the answer

Bucky Irving is only part priced, so the market half of this page is whole for only one of them.