Should I start Tyler Warren or DeVonta Smith in Week 8?

Updated Oct 27, 5:51 PM ET. Week 9 answers post Tuesday.

Latest

Oct 24, 4:13 PM ET: DeVonta Smith: Questionable to Out (Hamstring) (Sleeper injury feed)
Oct 24, 4:13 PM ET: Dontayvion Wicks: Questionable to Out (Ankle) (Sleeper injury feed)
Oct 23, 2:27 PM ET: Colts' Tyler Warren to miss second game with groin injury (ESPN)

Start Tyler Warren: 91 percent of the snaps and 22 percent of the targets over their last 3 games, against DeVonta Smith's 84 percent of the snaps and 34 percent of the targets. No market projection is posted on either of them this week, so this is a usage call, and a lower confidence one than a call made on a projection. What follows is what each of them has done.

Should I drop Tyler Warren for DeVonta Smith?

Yes, on the rest of the season. DeVonta Smith projects 129 market-implied PPR points from Week 8 through Week 17 (14.3 a game over 9 games), Tyler Warren 104 (11.6 a game over 9 games). Tyler Warren is listed out. DeVonta Smith is listed out.

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Your next move

More fantasy football tools and rankings, all built from the same board.

Neither man carries a season projection right now, so this is their usage this season and their last full season's numbers, side by side.

Tyler Warren

TE13 · IND · bye 13

2026 vs anytime td line 3-2

Overall rank: 90

DeVonta Smith

WR38 · PHI · bye 10

2026 vs anytime td line 2-2

Market-based projection: 14.5 pts a game Wk 7 price
Overall rank: 101

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The gap

Board size293 draftable players

Draft data is not current for these two, so the figures that depend on it are left out. The call above comes from each player's usage.

Where the draft room stands

Live drafts hold no current pick on Tyler Warren, and the board ranks him 90th overall on the rest of his evidence.

Live drafts hold no current pick on DeVonta Smith, and the board ranks him 101st overall on the rest of his evidence.

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

The market-based projections

The market-based projection for Tyler Warren is 2.3 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.

The market-based projection for DeVonta Smith is 2.3 PPR points a game off 1 market across 3 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.

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

This season so far

Through Week 5, Tyler Warren has been on the field for 91 percent of IND snaps, drawn 22 percent of the targets and had 11 percent of the red zone chances.

He has taken 6 of the offence's 41 third down targets, had 2 of its 16 chances inside the five and seen 3 of its 16 two minute targets.

His 36 targets have averaged 4.0 air yards.

In Week 3 against HOU he carried 1 time for 2 yards, caught 9 of 10 targets for 55 yards and did not score.

In Week 4 against WAS he caught 5 of 5 targets for 41 yards and did not score.

In Week 5 against PIT he carried 1 time for 1 yards, caught 7 of 9 targets for 83 yards and scored 1 touchdown.

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.

Their 2025 seasons

In 2025 Tyler Warren played 17 games and scored 188.5 PPR points, 11.1 a game, finishing TE4.

He caught 76 of 112 targets for 817 yards and 4 touchdowns, with 19 red zone targets.

That came to 6.6 targets a game, a 68 percent catch rate and 10.8 yards a catch.

He was on the field for 84 percent of the snaps in the games he played.

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.

Both were available for 17 games that season.

Side by side

In 2025 DeVonta Smith scored 11.9 PPR points a game and Tyler Warren 11.1, 0.8 a game between them.

Tyler Warren finished TE4 and DeVonta Smith WR20, which are two different ladders.

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

Byes and availability

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

Tyler Warren is listed as out on the injury report.

DeVonta Smith is listed as out on the injury report.

Drop or keep

Should I drop Tyler Warren for DeVonta Smith?
Yes, on the rest of the season. DeVonta Smith projects 129 market-implied PPR points from Week 8 through Week 17 (14.3 a game over 9 games), Tyler Warren 104 (11.6 a game over 9 games). Tyler Warren is listed out. DeVonta Smith is listed out.
Should I drop DeVonta Smith for Tyler Warren?
No. Keep DeVonta Smith: he projects 129 market-implied PPR points from Week 8 through Week 17 (14.3 a game over 9 games), Tyler Warren 104 (11.6 a game over 9 games). DeVonta Smith is listed out. Tyler Warren is listed out.