Should I start Derrick Henry or Jaxon Smith-Njigba in Week 10?

Where the draft room stands

Live drafts hold no current pick on Derrick Henry, and the board ranks him 47th overall on the rest of his evidence.

Live drafts hold no current pick on Jaxon Smith-Njigba, and the board ranks him 49th overall on the rest of his evidence.

In 2QB drafts he goes at ADP 8.

The market-based projections

The market-based projection for Derrick Henry is 6.1 PPR points a game off 1 market across 1 market source. That is 30 percent of what a running back's projection needs, so it is a fragment of one rather than a projection.

The market-based projection for Jaxon Smith-Njigba is 4.3 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.

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

This season through Week 9

Through Week 9, Derrick Henry has been on the field for 55 percent of BAL snaps, taken 68 percent of the carries, drawn 6 percent of the targets and had 51 percent of the red zone chances.

He has taken 1 of the offence's 72 third down targets, had 16 of its 26 chances inside the five and seen 0 of its 49 two minute targets.

His 14 targets have come 2.4 yards behind the line of scrimmage on average.

In Week 7 against CIN he carried 17 times for 45 yards, caught 1 of 2 targets for 4 yards and did not score.

In Week 8 against BUF he carried 11 times for 53 yards, caught 2 of 2 targets for 7 yards and scored 1 touchdown.

In Week 9 against JAX he carried 17 times for 57 yards and did not score.

Through Week 9, Jaxon Smith-Njigba has been on the field for 84 percent of SEA snaps, drawn 36 percent of the targets and had 16 percent of the red zone chances.

He has taken 32 of the offence's 78 third down targets, had 2 of its 21 chances inside the five and seen 21 of its 49 two minute targets.

His 99 targets have averaged 10.1 air yards.

In Week 7 against KC he carried 2 times for 13 yards, caught 9 of 12 targets for 150 yards and scored 1 touchdown.

In Week 8 against CHI he caught 6 of 11 targets for 118 yards and scored 1 touchdown.

In Week 9 against ARI he caught 7 of 10 targets for 51 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 Jaxon Smith-Njigba played 17 games and scored 359.9 PPR points, 21.2 a game, finishing WR2.

He caught 119 of 163 targets for 1793 yards and 10 touchdowns, with 17 red zone targets.

That came to 9.6 targets a game, a 73 percent catch rate and 15.1 yards a catch.

He was on the field for 78 percent of the snaps in the games he played.

Both were available for 17 games that season.

Side by side

In 2025 Jaxon Smith-Njigba scored 21.2 PPR points a game and Derrick Henry 16.4, 4.7 a game between them.

Derrick Henry finished RB8 and Jaxon Smith-Njigba WR2, which are two different ladders.

Derrick Henry is a running back and Jaxon Smith-Njigba 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 Jaxon Smith-Njigba in Week 11, so either can cover the other's bye.