Darren Waller or Makai Lemon: who should I start in Week 3?

What the sportsbooks price

The player markets price Darren Waller at 6.1 PPR points a game, built from 3 markets across 15 books. That is the 156th highest figure of the 186 players the books price.

The player markets price Makai Lemon at 6.0 PPR points a game, built from 3 markets across 15 books. That is the 158th highest figure of the 186 players the books price.

Where the draft room stands

Drafters have formed no consensus on Darren Waller: he carries no ADP, and the board ranks him 147th overall on the rest of his evidence.

Drafters have formed no consensus on Makai Lemon: he carries no ADP, and the board ranks him 146th overall on the rest of his evidence.

In 2QB drafts he goes at ADP 142.

This season through Week 2

Through Week 2, Darren Waller has been on the field for 40 percent of CAR snaps, drawn 8 percent of the targets and had 7 percent of the red zone chances.

He has taken 1 of the offence's 15 third down targets, had 0 of its 7 chances inside the five and seen 3 of its 7 two minute targets.

His 5 targets have averaged 6.8 air yards.

In Week 1 against CHI he caught 2 of 2 targets for 28 yards and did not score.

In Week 2 against ATL he caught 3 of 3 targets for 33 yards and scored 2 touchdowns.

Through Week 2, Makai Lemon has been on the field for 63 percent of PHI snaps, drawn 9 percent of the targets and had 0 percent of the red zone chances.

He has taken 1 of the offence's 21 third down targets, had 0 of its 2 chances inside the five and seen 0 of its 12 two minute targets.

His 5 targets have averaged 2.6 air yards.

In Week 1 against WAS he caught 3 of 4 targets for -5 yards and did not score.

In Week 2 against TEN he carried 1 time for -5 yards, caught 1 of 1 target for 14 yards and did not score.

Their 2025 seasons

In 2025 Darren Waller played 9 games and scored 88.7 PPR points, 9.9 a game, finishing TE33.

He caught 24 of 34 targets for 283 yards and 6 touchdowns, with 7 red zone targets.

That came to 3.8 targets a game, a 71 percent catch rate and 11.8 yards a catch.

He was on the field for 45 percent of the snaps in the games he played.

Makai Lemon is a rookie, so there is no NFL season behind him to price him against.

Side by side

Darren Waller is a tight end and Makai Lemon a wide receiver, so the question is which slot you fill first rather than which of them is better.

Byes and availability

Darren Waller is off in Week 5 and Makai Lemon in Week 10, so either can cover the other's bye.

What would change the answer

0.1 points a game is the entire case. The books restate it every week, and a line that moves moves the order with it.

The draft market is the half that is missing: when the consensus sample holds these two again it can order them differently from the price, and this page will follow the sample rather than the books when it does.