Nico Collins or Darnell Washington: who should I start in Week 3?

Where the draft room stands

Drafters have formed no consensus on Nico Collins: he carries no ADP, and the board ranks him 165th overall on the rest of his evidence.

In 2QB drafts he goes at ADP 36.

Drafters have formed no consensus on Darnell Washington: he carries no ADP, and the board ranks him 166th overall on the rest of his evidence.

What the sportsbooks price

The books have Nico Collins at 2.8 PPR points a game off 1 market across 1 book. That is 30 percent of what a wide receiver's price needs, so it is a fragment of one rather than a projection.

The books have Darnell Washington at 2.4 PPR points a game off 2 markets across 14 books. That is 60 percent of what a tight end's price needs, so it is a fragment of one rather than a projection.

Nico Collins's price is not complete, so the two figures are not set against each other here.

This season so far

Through Week 1, Nico Collins has been on the field for 72 percent of HOU snaps, drawn 27 percent of the targets and had 22 percent of the red zone chances.

He has taken 2 of the offence's 7 third down targets, had 0 of its 3 chances inside the five and seen 3 of its 11 two minute targets.

His 10 targets have averaged 12.0 air yards.

In Week 1 against BUF he carried 1 time for 7 yards, caught 7 of 10 targets for 75 yards and scored 1 touchdown.

Through Week 2, Darnell Washington has been on the field for 58 percent of PIT snaps, drawn 5 percent of the targets and had 0 percent of the red zone chances.

He has taken 1 of the offence's 18 third down targets and seen 0 of its 9 two minute targets.

His 4 targets have averaged 2.5 air yards.

In Week 1 against ATL he caught 2 of 2 targets for 18 yards and did not score.

In Week 2 against NE he caught 1 of 2 targets for 7 yards and did not score.

Their 2025 seasons

In 2025 Nico Collins played 15 games and scored 226.2 PPR points, 15.1 a game, finishing WR8.

He caught 71 of 120 targets for 1117 yards and 6 touchdowns, with 16 red zone targets.

That came to 8.0 targets a game, a 59 percent catch rate and 15.7 yards a catch.

He was on the field for 77 percent of the snaps in the games he played.

In 2025 Darnell Washington played 16 games and scored 73.4 PPR points, 4.6 a game, finishing TE39.

He caught 31 of 43 targets for 364 yards and 1 touchdown, with 8 red zone targets.

That came to 2.7 targets a game, a 72 percent catch rate and 11.7 yards a catch.

He was on the field for 57 percent of the snaps in the games he played.

Darnell Washington was available for 1 game more.

Side by side

In 2025 Nico Collins scored 15.1 PPR points a game and Darnell Washington 4.6, 10.5 a game between them.

Nico Collins finished WR8 and Darnell Washington TE39, which are two different ladders.

Nico Collins is a wide receiver and Darnell Washington a tight end, so the question is which slot you fill first rather than which of them is better.

Byes and availability

Nico Collins is off in Week 8 and Darnell Washington in Week 9, so either can cover the other's bye.

Nico Collins is listed as questionable on the injury report.