Should I start Cooper Kupp or Josh Downs in Week 9?

Where the draft room stands

Live drafts hold no current pick on Cooper Kupp, and the board ranks him 141st overall on the rest of his evidence.

Live drafts hold no current pick on Josh Downs, and the board ranks him 146th overall on the rest of his evidence.

The market-based projections

The market-based projection for Cooper Kupp is 1.9 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 Josh Downs is 1.8 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.

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

This season through Week 8

Through Week 8, Cooper Kupp has been on the field for 68 percent of SEA snaps, drawn 12 percent of the targets and had 7 percent of the red zone chances.

He has taken 9 of the offence's 70 third down targets, had 0 of its 19 chances inside the five and seen 9 of its 43 two minute targets.

His 30 targets have averaged 8.4 air yards.

In Week 6 against DEN he caught 5 of 10 targets for 50 yards and did not score.

In Week 7 against KC he caught 2 of 2 targets for 20 yards and did not score.

In Week 8 against CHI he caught 1 of 3 targets for 7 yards and scored 1 touchdown.

Through Week 8, Josh Downs has been on the field for 81 percent of IND snaps, drawn 20 percent of the targets and had 11 percent of the red zone chances.

He has taken 16 of the offence's 64 third down targets, had 0 of its 21 chances inside the five and seen 5 of its 35 two minute targets.

His 51 targets have averaged 10.4 air yards.

In Week 6 against TEN he carried 1 time for 7 yards, caught 4 of 8 targets for 40 yards and did not score.

In Week 7 against MIN he caught 2 of 4 targets for 18 yards and did not score.

In Week 8 against JAX he caught 4 of 5 targets for 23 yards and scored 1 touchdown.

Their 2025 seasons

In 2025 Cooper Kupp played 16 games and scored 117.3 PPR points, 7.3 a game, finishing WR53.

He caught 47 of 70 targets for 593 yards and 2 touchdowns, with 12 red zone targets.

That came to 4.4 targets a game, a 67 percent catch rate and 12.6 yards a catch.

He was on the field for 76 percent of the snaps in the games he played.

In 2025 Josh Downs played 16 games and scored 136.4 PPR points, 8.5 a game, finishing WR44.

He caught 58 of 88 targets for 566 yards and 4 touchdowns, with 14 red zone targets.

That came to 5-6 targets a game, a 66 percent catch rate and 9.8 yards a catch.

He was on the field for 58 percent of the snaps in the games he played.

Both were available for 16 games that season.

Head to head

In 2025 Josh Downs scored 8.5 PPR points a game and Cooper Kupp 7.3, 1.2 a game between them.

Cooper Kupp finished WR53 that year and Josh Downs WR44.

Josh Downs had 18 more targets than Cooper Kupp, 88 to 70.

Cooper Kupp had 27 more receiving yards than Josh Downs, 593 to 566.

This season Josh Downs holds the bigger snap share, 81 percent against 68 percent.

This season Josh Downs holds the bigger target share, 20 percent against 12 percent.

Byes and availability

Cooper Kupp is off in Week 11 and Josh Downs in Week 13, so either can cover the other's bye.