Should I start Bucky Irving or Tee Higgins in Week 8?

Where the draft room stands

Live drafts hold no current pick on Bucky Irving, and the board ranks him 46th overall on the rest of his evidence.

Live drafts hold no current pick on Tee Higgins, and the board ranks him 47th overall on the rest of his evidence.

The market-based projections

The market-based projection for Bucky Irving is 4.8 PPR points a game off 1 market across 6 market sources. That is 30 percent of what a running back's projection needs, so it is a fragment of one rather than a projection.

The market-based projection for Tee Higgins is 3.9 PPR points a game off 1 market across 7 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.

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

This season through Week 7

Through Week 7, Bucky Irving has been on the field for 64 percent of TB snaps, taken 59 percent of the carries, drawn 12 percent of the targets and had 40 percent of the red zone chances.

He has taken 4 of the offence's 57 third down targets, had 5 of its 13 chances inside the five and seen 1 of its 44 two minute targets.

His 23 targets have come 2.0 yards behind the line of scrimmage on average.

In Week 5 against DAL he carried 21 times for 165 yards, caught 2 of 3 targets for 10 yards and scored 2 touchdowns.

In Week 6 against PIT he carried 19 times for 46 yards, caught 2 of 3 targets for 3 yards and did not score.

In Week 7 against CAR he carried 24 times for 106 yards, caught 1 of 2 targets for 4 yards and scored 2 touchdowns.

Through Week 7, Tee Higgins has been on the field for 78 percent of CIN snaps, drawn 23 percent of the targets and had 5 percent of the red zone chances.

He has taken 12 of the offence's 53 third down targets, had 0 of its 15 chances inside the five and seen 7 of its 36 two minute targets.

His 50 targets have averaged 14.2 air yards.

In Week 4 against JAX he caught 11 of 16 targets for 157 yards and did not score.

In Week 5 against MIA he caught 2 of 4 targets for 22 yards and did not score.

In Week 7 against BAL he caught 6 of 7 targets for 148 yards and scored 1 touchdown.

Their 2025 seasons

In 2025 Bucky Irving played 10 games and scored 138.5 PPR points, 13.9 a game, finishing RB34.

He carried 173 times for 588 yards and 1 touchdown, and caught 30 of 35 targets for 277 more yards.

That came to 17.3 carries a game at 3.4 yards a carry and 3.0 catches a game.

He was on the field for 62 percent of the snaps in the games he played.

In 2025 Tee Higgins played 15 games and scored 211.6 PPR points, 14.1 a game, finishing WR15.

He caught 59 of 98 targets for 846 yards and 11 touchdowns, with 14 red zone targets.

That came to 6-7 targets a game, a 60 percent catch rate and 14.3 yards a catch.

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

Tee Higgins was available for 5 games more.

Side by side

In 2025 Tee Higgins scored 14.1 PPR points a game and Bucky Irving 13.9, 0.3 a game between them.

Bucky Irving finished RB34 and Tee Higgins WR15, which are two different ladders.

Bucky Irving is a running back and Tee Higgins a wide receiver, so the question is which slot you fill first rather than which of them is better.

Byes and availability

Bucky Irving is off in Week 10 and Tee Higgins in Week 6, so either can cover the other's bye.