Should I start Mike Evans or Deebo Samuel Sr. in Week 9?

Where the draft room stands

Live drafts hold no current pick on Mike Evans, and the board ranks him 125th overall on the rest of his evidence.

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

The market-based projections

The market-based projection for Mike Evans is 4.0 PPR points a game off 1 market across 8 market sources. 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 has Deebo Samuel Sr. at 3.9 PPR points a game off 1 market across 7 market sources. That is 30 percent of what a wide receiver's projection needs, so it is a fragment of one rather than a projection.

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

This season so far

Through Week 6, Mike Evans has been on the field for 55 percent of SF snaps, drawn 23 percent of the targets and had 9 percent of the red zone chances.

He has taken 19 of the offence's 43 third down targets, had 2 of its 19 chances inside the five and seen 9 of its 25 two minute targets.

His 39 targets have averaged 14.6 air yards.

In Week 4 against DEN he caught 5 of 8 targets for 76 yards and did not score.

In Week 5 against SEA he caught 7 of 10 targets for 113 yards and scored 1 touchdown.

In Week 6 against WAS he caught 3 of 5 targets for 94 yards and did not score.

Through Week 5, Deebo Samuel Sr. has been on the field for 57 percent of SF snaps, drawn 15 percent of the targets and had 10 percent of the red zone chances.

He has taken 2 of the offence's 35 third down targets, had 2 of its 14 chances inside the five and seen 2 of its 21 two minute targets.

His 20 targets have averaged 2.6 air yards.

In Week 3 against ARI he carried 2 times for 14 yards and did not score.

In Week 4 against DEN he carried 3 times for 44 yards, caught 5 of 6 targets for 26 yards and scored 1 touchdown.

In Week 5 against SEA he carried 2 times for 4 yards, caught 2 of 3 targets for 21 yards and did not score.

Their 2025 seasons

In 2025 Mike Evans played 8 games and scored 84.8 PPR points, 10.6 a game, finishing WR76.

He caught 30 of 61 targets for 368 yards and 3 touchdowns, with 8 red zone targets.

That came to 7.6 targets a game, a 49 percent catch rate and 12.3 yards a catch.

He was on the field for 65 percent of the snaps in the games he played.

In 2025 Deebo Samuel Sr. played 16 games and scored 188.2 PPR points, 11.8 a game, finishing WR25.

He caught 72 of 99 targets for 727 yards and 5 touchdowns, with 11 red zone targets.

That came to 6.2 targets a game, a 73 percent catch rate and 10.1 yards a catch.

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

Deebo Samuel Sr. was available for 8 games more.

Head to head

In 2025 Deebo Samuel Sr. scored 11.8 PPR points a game and Mike Evans 10.6, 1.2 a game between them.

Mike Evans finished WR76 that year and Deebo Samuel Sr. WR25.

Deebo Samuel Sr. had 38 more targets than Mike Evans, 99 to 61.

Deebo Samuel Sr. had 359 more receiving yards than Mike Evans, 727 to 368.

This season Deebo Samuel Sr. holds the bigger snap share, 57 percent against 55 percent.

This season Mike Evans holds the bigger target share, 23 percent against 15 percent.

Byes and availability

Both are off in Week 8, so a roster holding the pair has that one week to cover twice.

Mike Evans is listed as questionable on the injury report.

Deebo Samuel Sr. is listed as questionable on the injury report.