Should I start Chase Brown or DK Metcalf in Week 8?

Where the draft room stands

Live drafts hold no current pick on Chase Brown, and the board ranks him 57th overall on the rest of his evidence.

By format he goes standard: ADP 5; 2QB: ADP 19.

Live drafts hold no current pick on DK Metcalf, and the board ranks him 59th overall on the rest of his evidence.

The market-based projections

The market-based projection for Chase Brown is 4.0 PPR points a game off 1 market across 7 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 DK Metcalf is 2.9 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.

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

This season through Week 7

Through Week 7, Chase Brown has been on the field for 71 percent of CIN snaps, taken 63 percent of the carries, drawn 15 percent of the targets and had 27 percent of the red zone chances.

He has taken 7 of the offence's 53 third down targets, had 4 of its 15 chances inside the five and seen 9 of its 36 two minute targets.

His 33 targets have come 0.8 yards behind the line of scrimmage on average.

In Week 4 against JAX he carried 9 times for 10 yards, caught 11 of 11 targets for 71 yards and did not score.

In Week 5 against MIA he carried 13 times for 39 yards, caught 3 of 4 targets for 21 yards and did not score.

In Week 7 against BAL he carried 11 times for 39 yards, caught 4 of 5 targets for 19 yards and did not score.

Through Week 7, DK Metcalf has been on the field for 95 percent of PIT snaps, drawn 24 percent of the targets and had 9 percent of the red zone chances.

He has taken 19 of the offence's 58 third down targets, had 1 of its 7 chances inside the five and seen 5 of its 41 two minute targets.

His 58 targets have averaged 12.7 air yards.

In Week 5 against IND he carried 1 time for 11 yards, caught 3 of 4 targets for 12 yards and did not score.

In Week 6 against TB he caught 11 of 15 targets for 93 yards and did not score.

In Week 7 against NO he caught 2 of 6 targets for 56 yards and did not score.

Their 2025 seasons

In 2025 Chase Brown played 17 games and scored 282.6 PPR points, 16.6 a game, finishing RB7.

He carried 232 times for 1019 yards and 6 touchdowns, and caught 69 of 88 targets for 437 more yards.

That came to 13.6 carries a game at 4.4 yards a carry and 4.1 catches a game.

He was on the field for 67 percent of the snaps in the games he played.

In 2025 DK Metcalf played 15 games and scored 187.2 PPR points, 12.5 a game, finishing WR26.

He caught 59 of 99 targets for 850 yards and 6 touchdowns, with 13 red zone targets.

That came to 6.6 targets a game, a 60 percent catch rate and 14.4 yards a catch.

He was on the field for 87 percent of the snaps in the games he played.

Chase Brown was available for 2 games more.

Side by side

In 2025 Chase Brown scored 16.6 PPR points a game and DK Metcalf 12.5, 4.1 a game between them.

Chase Brown finished RB7 and DK Metcalf WR26, which are two different ladders.

Chase Brown is a running back and DK Metcalf a wide receiver, so the question is which slot you fill first rather than which of them is better.

Byes and availability

Chase Brown is off in Week 6 and DK Metcalf in Week 9, so either can cover the other's bye.