Should I start DeVonta Smith or Omar Cooper Jr. in Week 8?

Where the draft room stands

Live drafts hold no current pick on DeVonta Smith, and the board ranks him 87th overall on the rest of his evidence.

By format he goes standard: ADP 11; 2QB: ADP 28.

Live drafts hold no current pick on Omar Cooper Jr., and the board ranks him 96th overall on the rest of his evidence.

The market-based projections

The market-based projection for DeVonta Smith is 2.3 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 has Omar Cooper Jr. at 2.2 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.

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

This season so far

Through Week 6, DeVonta Smith has been on the field for 86 percent of PHI snaps, drawn 33 percent of the targets and had 11 percent of the red zone chances.

He has taken 15 of the offence's 41 third down targets, had 0 of its 8 chances inside the five and seen 10 of its 18 two minute targets.

His 41 targets have averaged 12.2 air yards.

In Week 2 against TEN he caught 10 of 13 targets for 117 yards and scored 1 touchdown.

In Week 3 against CHI he caught 6 of 8 targets for 65 yards and did not score.

In Week 6 against CAR he caught 7 of 14 targets for 75 yards and scored 1 touchdown.

Through Week 7, Omar Cooper Jr. has been on the field for 64 percent of NYJ snaps, drawn 17 percent of the targets and had 8 percent of the red zone chances.

He has taken 2 of the offence's 9 third down targets and had 1 of its 3 chances inside the five.

His 5 targets have averaged 10.2 air yards.

In Week 7 against MIA he caught 5 of 5 targets for 115 yards and scored 1 touchdown.

Their 2025 seasons

In 2025 DeVonta Smith played 17 games and scored 201.8 PPR points, 11.9 a game, finishing WR20.

He caught 77 of 113 targets for 1008 yards and 4 touchdowns, with 10 red zone targets.

That came to 6.6 targets a game, a 68 percent catch rate and 13.1 yards a catch.

He was on the field for 89 percent of the snaps in the games he played.

Omar Cooper Jr. is a rookie, so there is no NFL season behind him to price him against.

Head to head

This season DeVonta Smith holds the bigger snap share, 86 percent against 64 percent.

This season DeVonta Smith holds the bigger target share, 33 percent against 17 percent.

Byes and availability

DeVonta Smith is off in Week 10 and Omar Cooper Jr. in Week 13, so either can cover the other's bye.

DeVonta Smith is listed as out on the injury report.