Should I start Dalton Schultz or Saquon Barkley in Week 9?

Where the draft room stands

Live drafts hold no current pick on Dalton Schultz, and the board ranks him 127th overall on the rest of his evidence.

Live drafts hold no current pick on Saquon Barkley, and the board ranks him 128th overall on the rest of his evidence.

By format he goes standard: ADP 3; 2QB: ADP 14.

The market-based projections

The market-based projection for Dalton Schultz is 2.0 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 Saquon Barkley is 3.1 PPR points a game off 1 market across 1 market source. That is 30 percent of what a running back's projection needs, so it is a fragment of one rather than a projection.

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

This season so far

Through Week 7, Dalton Schultz has been on the field for 58 percent of HOU snaps, drawn 19 percent of the targets and had 8 percent of the red zone chances.

He has taken 14 of the offence's 54 third down targets, had 1 of its 14 chances inside the five and seen 9 of its 41 two minute targets.

His 43 targets have averaged 5.6 air yards.

In Week 5 against TEN he caught 3 of 4 targets for 30 yards and did not score.

In Week 6 against JAX he caught 4 of 6 targets for 33 yards and did not score.

In Week 7 against NYG he caught 5 of 6 targets for 45 yards and did not score.

Through Week 8, Saquon Barkley has been on the field for 33 percent of PHI snaps, taken 36 percent of the carries, drawn 6 percent of the targets and had 20 percent of the red zone chances.

He has taken 1 of the offence's 53 third down targets, had 4 of its 13 chances inside the five and seen 0 of its 41 two minute targets.

His 10 targets have averaged 1.3 air yards.

In Week 4 against LAR he carried 2 times for 8 yards, caught 1 of 1 target for 2 yards and did not score.

In Week 7 against DAL he carried 7 times for 62 yards, caught 2 of 2 targets for 9 yards and scored 1 touchdown.

In Week 8 against WAS he carried 13 times for 30 yards, caught 1 of 1 target for 24 yards and scored 1 touchdown.

Their 2025 seasons

In 2025 Dalton Schultz played 17 games and scored 177.7 PPR points, 10.5 a game, finishing TE10.

He caught 82 of 106 targets for 777 yards and 3 touchdowns, with 11 red zone targets.

That came to 6.2 targets a game, a 77 percent catch rate and 10 yards a catch.

He was on the field for 72 percent of the snaps in the games he played.

In 2025 Saquon Barkley played 16 games and scored 232.3 PPR points, 14.5 a game, finishing RB14.

He carried 280 times for 1140 yards and 7 touchdowns, and caught 37 of 50 targets for 273 more yards.

That came to 17-18 carries a game at 4.1 yards a carry and 2.3 catches a game.

He was on the field for 78 percent of the snaps in the games he played.

Dalton Schultz was available for 1 game more.

Side by side

In 2025 Saquon Barkley scored 14.5 PPR points a game and Dalton Schultz 10.5, 4.1 a game between them.

Dalton Schultz finished TE10 and Saquon Barkley RB14, which are two different ladders.

Dalton Schultz is a tight end and Saquon Barkley a running back, so the question is which slot you fill first rather than which of them is better.

Byes and availability

Dalton Schultz is off in Week 8 and Saquon Barkley in Week 10, so either can cover the other's bye.