Should I start DeVonta Smith or T.J. Hockenson in Week 7?

Where the draft room stands

Live drafts hold no current pick on DeVonta Smith, and the board ranks him 100th overall on the rest of his evidence.

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

Live drafts hold no current pick on T.J. Hockenson, and the board ranks him 102nd overall on the rest of his evidence.

The market-based projections

The market-based projection for DeVonta Smith is 2.4 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 T.J. Hockenson at 2.9 PPR points a game off 1 market across 1 market source. That is 30 percent of what a tight end'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 93 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 5, T.J. Hockenson has been on the field for 60 percent of MIN snaps, drawn 21 percent of the targets and had 15 percent of the red zone chances.

He has taken 10 of the offence's 51 third down targets, had 0 of its 2 chances inside the five and seen 3 of its 13 two minute targets.

His 27 targets have averaged 6.6 air yards.

In Week 3 against TB he caught 2 of 4 targets for 11 yards and did not score.

In Week 4 against MIA he caught 13 of 13 targets for 119 yards and did not score.

In Week 5 against NO he caught 1 of 1 target for 7 yards and did not score.

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.

In 2025 T.J. Hockenson played 15 games and scored 112.8 PPR points, 7.5 a game, finishing TE26.

He caught 51 of 66 targets for 438 yards and 3 touchdowns, with 11 red zone targets.

That came to 4.4 targets a game, a 77 percent catch rate and 8.6 yards a catch.

He was on the field for 79 percent of the snaps in the games he played.

DeVonta Smith was available for 2 games more.

Side by side

In 2025 DeVonta Smith scored 11.9 PPR points a game and T.J. Hockenson 7.5, 4.4 a game between them.

DeVonta Smith finished WR20 and T.J. Hockenson TE26, which are two different ladders.

DeVonta Smith is a wide receiver and T.J. Hockenson a tight end, so the question is which slot you fill first rather than which of them is better.

Byes and availability

DeVonta Smith is off in Week 10 and T.J. Hockenson in Week 6, so either can cover the other's bye.

T.J. Hockenson is listed as out on the injury report.