Should I start Juwan Johnson or Cooper Kupp in Week 9?

Where the draft room stands

Live drafts hold no current pick on Juwan Johnson, and the board ranks him 137th overall on the rest of his evidence.

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

The market-based projections

The market-based projection for Juwan Johnson is 1.9 PPR points a game off 1 market across 1 market source. That is 30 percent of what a tight end's projection needs, so it is a fragment of one rather than a projection.

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.

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

This season so far

Through Week 7, Juwan Johnson has been on the field for 66 percent of NO snaps, drawn 14 percent of the targets and had 12 percent of the red zone chances.

He has taken 13 of the offence's 68 third down targets, had 2 of its 23 chances inside the five and seen 11 of its 38 two minute targets.

His 37 targets have averaged 4.6 air yards.

In Week 5 against MIN he caught 4 of 5 targets for 16 yards and did not score.

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

In Week 7 against PIT he caught 1 of 3 targets for 7 yards and did not score.

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.

Their 2025 seasons

In 2025 Juwan Johnson played 17 games and scored 179.9 PPR points, 10.6 a game, finishing TE8.

He caught 77 of 102 targets for 889 yards and 3 touchdowns, with 8 red zone targets.

That came to 6.0 targets a game, a 75 percent catch rate and 12 yards a catch.

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

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.

Juwan Johnson was available for 1 game more.

Side by side

In 2025 Juwan Johnson scored 10.6 PPR points a game and Cooper Kupp 7.3, 3.3 a game between them.

Juwan Johnson finished TE8 and Cooper Kupp WR53, which are two different ladders.

Juwan Johnson is a tight end and Cooper Kupp a wide receiver, so the question is which slot you fill first rather than which of them is better.

Byes and availability

Juwan Johnson is off in Week 8 and Cooper Kupp in Week 11, so either can cover the other's bye.