Derrick Henry or Jaxon Smith-Njigba: 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 17 books. That is the 11th highest figure of the 183 players the books price.

The player markets price Jaxon Smith-Njigba at 17.6 PPR points a game, built from 3 markets across 17 books. That is the 16th highest figure of the 183 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 Jaxon Smith-Njigba: he carries no ADP, and the board ranks him 7th overall on the rest of his evidence.

In 2QB drafts he goes at ADP 10.

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, Jaxon Smith-Njigba has been on the field for 90 percent of SEA snaps, drawn 46 percent of the targets and had 50 percent of the red zone chances.

He has taken 4 of the offence's 7 third down targets and seen 1 of its 3 two minute targets.

His 11 targets have averaged 6.9 air yards.

In Week 1 against NE he caught 8 of 11 targets for 122 yards and scored 1 touchdown.

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.

What would change the answer

0.8 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.