Should I start DeMario Douglas or Josh Downs in Week 9?

Where the draft room stands

Live drafts hold no current pick on DeMario Douglas, and the board ranks him 139th overall on the rest of his evidence.

Live drafts hold no current pick on Josh Downs, and the board ranks him 143rd overall on the rest of his evidence.

The market-based projections

The market-based projection for DeMario Douglas is 2.0 PPR points a game off 1 market across 10 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-based projection for Josh Downs is 1.8 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.

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

This season through Week 8

Through Week 8, DeMario Douglas has been on the field for 56 percent of NE snaps, drawn 16 percent of the targets and had 7 percent of the red zone chances.

He has taken 13 of the offence's 59 third down targets, had 0 of its 11 chances inside the five and seen 5 of its 31 two minute targets.

His 37 targets have averaged 10.6 air yards.

In Week 6 against NYJ he caught 7 of 8 targets for 86 yards and scored 1 touchdown.

In Week 7 against CHI he caught 3 of 4 targets for 23 yards and did not score.

In Week 8 against MIA he caught 3 of 3 targets for 76 yards and scored 1 touchdown.

Through Week 8, Josh Downs has been on the field for 81 percent of IND snaps, drawn 20 percent of the targets and had 11 percent of the red zone chances.

He has taken 16 of the offence's 64 third down targets, had 0 of its 21 chances inside the five and seen 5 of its 35 two minute targets.

His 51 targets have averaged 10.4 air yards.

In Week 6 against TEN he carried 1 time for 7 yards, caught 4 of 8 targets for 40 yards and did not score.

In Week 7 against MIN he caught 2 of 4 targets for 18 yards and did not score.

In Week 8 against JAX he caught 4 of 5 targets for 23 yards and scored 1 touchdown.

Their 2025 seasons

In 2025 DeMario Douglas played 17 games and scored 95.8 PPR points, 5.6 a game, finishing WR65.

He caught 31 of 46 targets for 447 yards and 3 touchdowns, with 7 red zone targets.

That came to 2.7 targets a game, a 67 percent catch rate and 14.4 yards a catch.

He was on the field for 26 percent of the snaps in the games he played.

In 2025 Josh Downs played 16 games and scored 136.4 PPR points, 8.5 a game, finishing WR44.

He caught 58 of 88 targets for 566 yards and 4 touchdowns, with 14 red zone targets.

That came to 5-6 targets a game, a 66 percent catch rate and 9.8 yards a catch.

He was on the field for 58 percent of the snaps in the games he played.

DeMario Douglas was available for 1 game more.

Head to head

In 2025 Josh Downs scored 8.5 PPR points a game and DeMario Douglas 5.6, 2.9 a game between them.

DeMario Douglas finished WR65 that year and Josh Downs WR44.

Josh Downs had 42 more targets than DeMario Douglas, 88 to 46.

Josh Downs had 119 more receiving yards than DeMario Douglas, 566 to 447.

This season Josh Downs holds the bigger snap share, 81 percent against 56 percent.

This season Josh Downs holds the bigger target share, 20 percent against 16 percent.

Byes and availability

DeMario Douglas is off in Week 11 and Josh Downs in Week 13, so either can cover the other's bye.