Should I start Brian Thomas Jr. or Rashod Bateman in Week 8?

Where the draft room stands

Live drafts hold no current pick on Brian Thomas Jr., and the board ranks him 138th overall on the rest of his evidence.

Live drafts hold no current pick on Rashod Bateman, and the board ranks him 150th overall on the rest of his evidence.

The market-based projections

The market has Brian Thomas Jr. at 1.5 PPR points a game off 1 market across 1 market source. That is 30 percent of what a wide receiver's projection needs, so it is a fragment of one rather than a projection.

The market-based projection for Rashod Bateman is 1.3 PPR points a game off 1 market across 1 market source. That is 30 percent of what a wide receiver's projection needs, so it is a fragment of one rather than a projection.

Brian Thomas Jr.'s projection is not complete, so the two figures are not set against each other here.

This season so far

Through Week 6, Brian Thomas Jr. has been on the field for 43 percent of JAX snaps, drawn 11 percent of the targets and had 5 percent of the red zone chances.

He has taken 4 of the offence's 43 third down targets, had 1 of its 16 chances inside the five and seen 5 of its 23 two minute targets.

His 19 targets have averaged 11.5 air yards.

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.

In Week 6 against HOU he caught 0 of 2 targets for 0 yards and did not score.

Through Week 7, Rashod Bateman has been on the field for 70 percent of BAL snaps, drawn 13 percent of the targets and had 4 percent of the red zone chances.

He has taken 4 of the offence's 56 third down targets, had 1 of its 25 chances inside the five and seen 9 of its 44 two minute targets.

His 26 targets have averaged 14.0 air yards.

In Week 5 against ATL he caught 5 of 6 targets for 62 yards and did not score.

In Week 6 against CLE he caught 0 of 1 target for 0 yards and did not score.

In Week 7 against CIN he caught 2 of 4 targets for 33 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 Rashod Bateman played 13 games and scored 55.4 PPR points, 4.3 a game, finishing WR102.

He caught 19 of 38 targets for 224 yards and 2 touchdowns, with 8 red zone targets.

That came to 2.9 targets a game, a 50 percent catch rate and 11.8 yards a catch.

He was on the field for 69 percent of the snaps in the games he played.

Brian Thomas Jr. was available for 1 game more.

Head to head

In 2025 Brian Thomas Jr. scored 9.9 PPR points a game and Rashod Bateman 4.3, 5.7 a game between them.

Brian Thomas Jr. finished WR42 that year and Rashod Bateman WR102.

Brian Thomas Jr. had 53 more targets than Rashod Bateman, 91 to 38.

Brian Thomas Jr. had 483 more receiving yards than Rashod Bateman, 707 to 224.

This season Rashod Bateman holds the bigger snap share, 70 percent against 43 percent.

This season Rashod Bateman holds the bigger target share, 13 percent against 11 percent.

Byes and availability

Brian Thomas Jr. is off in Week 7 and Rashod Bateman in Week 13, so either can cover the other's bye.