Should I start Jalen Royals or Brian Thomas Jr. in Week 6?
Both players' season market-based projection, their usage this season and their last full season's numbers, with the draft market's own figures wherever it still has them.
Week 6 verdict
Start Jalen Royals over Brian Thomas Jr.
- Market projects
- 5.2
- fantasy pts
- Snap share
- 31%
- Through Week 4
- Target share
- 5%
- Through Week 4
- Market projects
- 4.4
- fantasy pts
Jalen Royals's market-based projection is 0.9 points a game ahead of Brian Thomas Jr.'s this season, and that is the order this page leads on. Neither is in the consensus draft sample any more, so there is no current draft order to give between them: the market-based projection is the live read on these two.
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WR47 · KC · bye unlisted
2026 vs anytime td line 1-3
- Market-based projection
- 5.2 pts a game
- Draft pick
- no consensus
WR49 · JAX · bye 7
2026 vs anytime td line 1-4
- Market-based projection
- 4.4 pts a game
- Draft pick
- no consensus
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Also deciding this week
The gap
- Pick differencenot comparable without a consensus on both
- Price difference0.9 points a game
- Board size229 draftable players
Consensus average draft position has stopped updating on these two, so the figures that depend on it are left out rather than printed stale. The verdict line above restates the market price and nothing else.
The market-based projections
Jalen Royals's market-based projection is 5.2 PPR points a game, built from 3 markets across 13 market sources. That is the 125th highest figure of the 168 players with a market-based projection.
Brian Thomas Jr.'s market-based projection is 4.4 PPR points a game, built from 3 markets across 13 market sources. That is the 129th highest figure of the 168 players with a market-based projection.
Where the draft room stands
Drafters have formed no consensus on Jalen Royals: he carries no ADP, and the board ranks him 139th overall on the rest of his evidence.
Drafters have formed no consensus on Brian Thomas Jr.: he carries no ADP, and the board ranks him 148th overall on the rest of his evidence.
This season so far
Through Week 4, Jalen Royals has been on the field for 31 percent of KC snaps, drawn 5 percent of the targets and had 3 percent of the red zone chances.
He has taken 1 of the offence's 25 third down targets, had 1 of its 12 chances inside the five and seen 0 of its 12 two minute targets.
His 5 targets have averaged 5.8 air yards.
In Week 2 against IND he caught 2 of 2 targets for 6 yards and scored 1 touchdown.
In Week 3 against MIA he caught 1 of 1 target for 11 yards and did not score.
In Week 4 against LV he caught 0 of 2 targets for 0 yards and did not score.
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.
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Their 2025 seasons
In 2025 Jalen Royals played 7 games and scored 2.4 PPR points, 0.3 a game.
He caught 2 of 3 targets for 4 yards and 0 touchdowns, with 0 red zone targets.
That came to 0.4 targets a game, a 67 percent catch rate and 2.0 yards a catch.
He was on the field for 9 percent of the snaps in the games he played.
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.
Brian Thomas Jr. was available for 7 games more.
Head to head
In 2025 Brian Thomas Jr. scored 9.9 PPR points a game and Jalen Royals 0.3, 9.6 a game between them.
Brian Thomas Jr. had 88 more targets than Jalen Royals, 91 to 3.
Brian Thomas Jr. had 703 more receiving yards than Jalen Royals, 707 to 4.
This season Brian Thomas Jr. holds the bigger snap share, 48 percent against 31 percent.
This season Brian Thomas Jr. holds the bigger target share, 12 percent against 5 percent.
Byes and availability
Brian Thomas Jr. is off in Week 7. No bye is listed for Jalen Royals.
What would change the answer
0.9 points a game is the entire case. The market restates it every week, and a line that moves moves the order with it.
The draft market is the half that is missing: when the consensus sample holds these two again it can order them differently from the projection, and this page will follow the sample rather than the market-based projection when it does.
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