Derrick Henry or Ja'Marr Chase: who should I start?

What the sportsbooks price

The player markets price Derrick Henry at 18.4 PPR points a game, built from 5 markets across 18 books. That is the 11th highest figure of the 179 players the books price.

The player markets price Ja'Marr Chase at 17.6 PPR points a game, built from 5 markets across 18 books. That is the 15th highest figure of the 179 players the books price.

Where the draft room stands

Drafters have formed no consensus on Derrick Henry: he carries no ADP, and the board ranks him 5th overall on the rest of his evidence.

In 2QB drafts he goes at ADP 11.

Drafters have formed no consensus on Ja'Marr Chase: he carries no ADP, and the board ranks him 7th overall on the rest of his evidence.

In 2QB drafts he goes at ADP 6.

This season through Week 1

Through Week 1, Derrick Henry has been on the field for 54 percent of BAL snaps, taken 71 percent of the carries, drawn 4 percent of the targets and had 55 percent of the red zone chances.

He has taken 0 of the offence's 6 third down targets, had 2 of its 4 chances inside the five and seen 0 of its 4 two minute targets.

His 1 target have come 1.0 yards behind the line of scrimmage on average.

In Week 1 against IND he carried 24 times for 144 yards, caught 1 of 1 target for 19 yards and scored 3 touchdowns.

Through Week 1, Ja'Marr Chase has been on the field for 94 percent of CIN snaps, drawn 12 percent of the targets and had 7 percent of the red zone chances.

He has taken 1 of the offence's 8 third down targets, had 0 of its 6 chances inside the five and seen 0 of its 7 two minute targets.

His 4 targets have averaged 8.5 air yards.

In Week 1 against TB he caught 2 of 4 targets for 12 yards and did not score.

Their 2025 seasons

In 2025 Derrick Henry played 17 games and scored 279.5 PPR points, 16.4 a game, finishing RB8.

He carried 307 times for 1595 yards and 16 touchdowns, and caught 15 of 21 targets for 150 more yards.

That came to 18.1 carries a game at 5.2 yards a carry and 0.9 catches a game.

He was on the field for 54 percent of the snaps in the games he played.

In 2025 Ja'Marr Chase played 16 games and scored 313.6 PPR points, 19.6 a game, finishing WR4.

He caught 125 of 185 targets for 1412 yards and 8 touchdowns, with 21 red zone targets.

That came to 11.6 targets a game, a 68 percent catch rate and 11.3 yards a catch.

He was on the field for 94 percent of the snaps in the games he played.

Derrick Henry was available for 1 game more.

Side by side

In 2025 Ja'Marr Chase scored 19.6 PPR points a game and Derrick Henry 16.4, 3.2 a game between them.

Derrick Henry finished RB8 and Ja'Marr Chase WR4, which are two different ladders.

Derrick Henry is a running back and Ja'Marr Chase a wide receiver, so the question is which slot you fill first rather than which of them is better.

Byes and availability

Derrick Henry is off in Week 13 and Ja'Marr Chase in Week 6, so either can cover the other's bye.

What would change the answer

0.9 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.