Kenny Gainwell or Brian Thomas Jr.: who to draft first

What the sportsbooks price

The player markets price Kenny Gainwell at 7.8 PPR points a game, built from 5 markets across 16 books. That is the 129th highest figure of the 182 players the books price.

The player markets price Brian Thomas Jr. at 7.5 PPR points a game, built from 3 markets across 16 books. That is the 139th highest figure of the 182 players the books price.

Where the draft room stands

Drafters have formed no consensus on Kenny Gainwell: he carries no ADP, and the board ranks him 118th overall on the rest of his evidence.

In 2QB drafts he goes at ADP 136.

Drafters have formed no consensus on Brian Thomas Jr.: he carries no ADP, and the board ranks him 117th overall on the rest of his evidence.

In 2QB drafts he goes at ADP 91.

This season through Week 1

Through Week 1, Kenny Gainwell has been on the field for 46 percent of TB snaps, taken 26 percent of the carries, drawn 4 percent of the targets and had 0 percent of the red zone chances.

He has taken 0 of the offence's 6 third down targets and seen 0 of its 1 two minute target.

His 1 target have come 5.0 yards behind the line of scrimmage on average.

In Week 1 against CIN he carried 5 times for 15 yards, caught 1 of 1 target for 3 yards and did not score.

Through Week 1, Brian Thomas Jr. has been on the field for 35 percent of JAX snaps, drawn 14 percent of the targets and had 0 percent of the red zone chances.

He has taken 0 of the offence's 2 third down targets and had 0 of its 1 chance inside the five.

His 3 targets have averaged 14.7 air yards.

In Week 1 against CLE he caught 3 of 3 targets for 40 yards and did not score.

Their 2025 seasons

In 2025 Kenny Gainwell played 17 games and scored 222.3 PPR points, 13.1 a game, finishing RB16.

He carried 114 times for 537 yards and 5 touchdowns, and caught 73 of 85 targets for 486 more yards.

That came to 6.7 carries a game at 4.7 yards a carry and 4.3 catches a game.

He was on the field for 49 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 6.5 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.

Kenny Gainwell was available for 3 games more.

Side by side

In 2025 Kenny Gainwell scored 13.1 PPR points a game and Brian Thomas Jr. 9.9, 3.2 a game between them.

Kenny Gainwell finished RB16 and Brian Thomas Jr. WR42, which are two different ladders.

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

Byes and availability

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

What would change the answer

0.3 points a game is the entire case. The books restate 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 price, and this page will follow the sample rather than the books when it does.