Should I start Brian Thomas Jr. or Rashee Rice in Week 9?

Where the draft room stands

Live drafts hold no current pick on Brian Thomas Jr., and the board ranks him 72nd overall on the rest of his evidence.

Live drafts hold no current pick on Rashee Rice, and the board ranks him 76th overall on the rest of his evidence.

The market-based projections

Brian Thomas Jr.'s market-based projection is 3.5 PPR points a game, built from 3 markets across 11 market sources. That is the 54th highest figure of the 175 players with a market-based projection.

The market-based projection for Rashee Rice is 3.3 PPR points a game off 1 market across 5 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.

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

This season through Week 8

Through Week 8, Brian Thomas Jr. has 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 8, Rashee Rice has been on the field for 64 percent of KC snaps, drawn 16 percent of the targets and had 9 percent of the red zone chances.

He has taken 5 of the offence's 42 third down targets, had 0 of its 17 chances inside the five and seen 4 of its 22 two minute targets.

His 25 targets have averaged 6.1 air yards.

In Week 3 against MIA he caught 7 of 9 targets for 88 yards and did not score.

In Week 4 against LV he was not given the ball.

In Week 8 against DEN he caught 7 of 8 targets for 53 yards and scored 1 touchdown.

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 Rashee Rice played 8 games and scored 150.1 PPR points, 18.8 a game, finishing WR40.

He caught 53 of 78 targets for 571 yards and 5 touchdowns, with 18 red zone targets.

That came to 9.8 targets a game, a 68 percent catch rate and 10.8 yards a catch.

He was on the field for 73 percent of the snaps in the games he played.

Brian Thomas Jr. was available for 6 games more.

Head to head

In 2025 Rashee Rice scored 18.8 PPR points a game and Brian Thomas Jr. 9.9, 8.8 a game between them.

Brian Thomas Jr. finished WR42 that year and Rashee Rice WR40.

Brian Thomas Jr. had 13 more targets than Rashee Rice, 91 to 78.

Brian Thomas Jr. had 136 more receiving yards than Rashee Rice, 707 to 571.

This season Rashee Rice holds the bigger target share, 16 percent against 12 percent.

Byes and availability

Brian Thomas Jr. is off in Week 7 and Rashee Rice in Week 5, so either can cover the other's bye.

What would change the answer

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