Should I start DeMario Douglas or T.J. Hockenson in Week 9?

Where the draft room stands

Live drafts hold no current pick on DeMario Douglas, and the board ranks him 106th overall on the rest of his evidence.

Live drafts hold no current pick on T.J. Hockenson, and the board ranks him 108th overall on the rest of his evidence.

The market-based projections

The market-based projection for DeMario Douglas is 2.5 PPR points a game off 1 market across 6 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 T.J. Hockenson at 2.3 PPR points a game off 1 market across 5 market sources. That is 30 percent of what a tight end'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 55 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, T.J. Hockenson has been on the field for 63 percent of MIN snaps, drawn 20 percent of the targets and had 19 percent of the red zone chances.

He has taken 15 of the offence's 68 third down targets, had 1 of its 4 chances inside the five and seen 3 of its 15 two minute targets.

His 37 targets have averaged 7.4 air yards.

In Week 5 against NO he caught 1 of 1 target for 7 yards and did not score.

In Week 7 against IND he caught 4 of 5 targets for 35 yards and scored 1 touchdown.

In Week 8 against DET he caught 4 of 5 targets for 58 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 T.J. Hockenson played 15 games and scored 112.8 PPR points, 7.5 a game, finishing TE26.

He caught 51 of 66 targets for 438 yards and 3 touchdowns, with 11 red zone targets.

That came to 4.4 targets a game, a 77 percent catch rate and 8.6 yards a catch.

He was on the field for 79 percent of the snaps in the games he played.

DeMario Douglas was available for 2 games more.

Side by side

In 2025 T.J. Hockenson scored 7.5 PPR points a game and DeMario Douglas 5.6, 1.9 a game between them.

DeMario Douglas finished WR65 and T.J. Hockenson TE26, which are two different ladders.

DeMario Douglas is a wide receiver and T.J. Hockenson a tight end, so the question is which slot you fill first rather than which of them is better.

Byes and availability

DeMario Douglas is off in Week 11 and T.J. Hockenson in Week 6, so either can cover the other's bye.