Should I start Devaughn Vele or Josh Downs in Week 10?

Where the draft room stands

Live drafts hold no current pick on Devaughn Vele, and the board ranks him 127th 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 Devaughn Vele is 1.9 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.

The market-based projection for Josh Downs is 1.7 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.

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

This season through Week 9

Through Week 9, Devaughn Vele has been on the field for 91 percent of NO snaps, drawn 18 percent of the targets and had 9 percent of the red zone chances.

He has taken 18 of the offence's 75 third down targets, had 3 of its 25 chances inside the five and seen 7 of its 47 two minute targets.

His 52 targets have averaged 9.9 air yards.

In Week 6 against NYG he caught 3 of 6 targets for 42 yards and did not score.

In Week 7 against PIT he caught 5 of 5 targets for 54 yards and scored 1 touchdown.

In Week 9 against CLE he caught 2 of 4 targets for 17 yards and did not score.

Through Week 9, Josh Downs has been on the field for 81 percent of IND snaps, drawn 20 percent of the targets and had 10 percent of the red zone chances.

He has taken 18 of the offence's 73 third down targets, had 0 of its 22 chances inside the five and seen 6 of its 44 two minute targets.

His 57 targets have averaged 9.6 air yards.

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.

In Week 9 against DAL he caught 3 of 6 targets for 24 yards and did not score.

Their 2025 seasons

In 2025 Devaughn Vele played 13 games and scored 66.3 PPR points, 5.1 a game, finishing WR95.

He caught 25 of 39 targets for 293 yards and 2 touchdowns, with 4 red zone targets.

That came to 3.0 targets a game, a 64 percent catch rate and 11.7 yards a catch.

He was on the field for 51 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.

Josh Downs was available for 3 games more.

Head to head

In 2025 Josh Downs scored 8.5 PPR points a game and Devaughn Vele 5.1, 3.4 a game between them.

Devaughn Vele finished WR95 that year and Josh Downs WR44.

Josh Downs had 49 more targets than Devaughn Vele, 88 to 39.

Josh Downs had 273 more receiving yards than Devaughn Vele, 566 to 293.

This season Devaughn Vele holds the bigger snap share, 91 percent against 81 percent.

This season Josh Downs holds the bigger target share, 20 percent against 18 percent.

Byes and availability

Devaughn Vele is off in Week 8 and Josh Downs in Week 13, so either can cover the other's bye.