Should I start Brian Thomas Jr. or George Kittle in Week 9?

Where the draft room stands

Live drafts hold no current pick on Brian Thomas Jr., and the board ranks him 147th overall on the rest of his evidence.

Live drafts hold no current pick on George Kittle, and the board ranks him 148th overall on the rest of his evidence.

The market-based projections

Brian Thomas Jr.'s market-based projection is 3.7 PPR points a game, built from 3 markets across 14 market sources. That is the 145th highest figure of the 225 players with a market-based projection.

The market-based projection for George Kittle is 4.3 PPR points a game off 1 market across 10 market sources. That is 30 percent of what a tight end's projection needs, so it is a fragment of one rather than a projection.

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

This season so far

Through Week 8, Brian Thomas Jr. has been on the field for 52 percent of JAX snaps, drawn 12 percent of the targets and had 25 percent of the red zone chances.

He has taken 1 of the offence's 5 third down targets.

His 2 targets have averaged 19.0 air yards.

In Week 8 against IND he caught 1 of 2 targets for 12 yards and scored 1 touchdown.

Through Week 7, George Kittle has been on the field for 78 percent of SF snaps, drawn 22 percent of the targets and had 15 percent of the red zone chances.

He has taken 7 of the offence's 50 third down targets, had 1 of its 24 chances inside the five and seen 8 of its 30 two minute targets.

His 46 targets have averaged 7.7 air yards.

In Week 5 against SEA he caught 5 of 6 targets for 24 yards and did not score.

In Week 6 against WAS he caught 5 of 8 targets for 69 yards and scored 1 touchdown.

In Week 7 against ATL he caught 8 of 10 targets for 88 yards and did not score.

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 George Kittle played 11 games and scored 161.5 PPR points, 14.7 a game, finishing TE13.

He caught 57 of 69 targets for 628 yards and 7 touchdowns, with 12 red zone targets.

That came to 6.3 targets a game, a 83 percent catch rate and 11.0 yards a catch.

He was on the field for 80 percent of the snaps in the games he played.

Brian Thomas Jr. was available for 3 games more.

Side by side

In 2025 George Kittle scored 14.7 PPR points a game and Brian Thomas Jr. 9.9, 4.8 a game between them.

Brian Thomas Jr. finished WR42 and George Kittle TE13, which are two different ladders.

Brian Thomas Jr. is a wide receiver and George Kittle a tight end, 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 George Kittle in Week 8, so either can cover the other's bye.

What would change the answer

George Kittle has only a partial projection, so the market half of this page is whole for only one of them.