Should I start DK Metcalf or Jahan Dotson in Week 8?

Updated Oct 27, 11:11 PM ET. Week 9 answers post Tuesday.

Start DK Metcalf: 93 percent of the snaps and 25 percent of the targets over their last 3 games, against Jahan Dotson's 68 percent of the snaps and 12 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 Jahan Dotson for DK Metcalf?

Yes, on the rest of the season. DK Metcalf projects 104 market-implied PPR points from Week 8 through Week 17 (11.5 a game over 9 games), Jahan Dotson 47 (5.2 a game over 9 games).

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Both players' season market-based projection, their usage this season and their last full season's numbers.

DK Metcalf

WR29 · PIT · bye 9

2026 vs anytime td line 1-6

Market-based projection: 13.0 pts a game Wk 7 price
Overall rank: 58

Jahan Dotson

WR31 · ATL · bye 11

2026 vs anytime td line 2-5

Market-based projection: 5.2 pts a game

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The gap

Board size295 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 DK Metcalf, and the board ranks him 58th overall on the rest of his evidence.

Live drafts hold no current pick on Jahan Dotson, and the board ranks him 62nd overall on the rest of his evidence.

The market-based projections

The market-based projection for DK Metcalf is 5.8 PPR points a game off 1 market across 2 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.

Jahan Dotson's market-based projection is 5.2 PPR points a game, built from 3 markets across 6 market sources. That is the 77th highest figure of the 200 players with a market-based projection.

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

This season through Week 7

Through Week 7, DK Metcalf has been on the field for 95 percent of PIT snaps, drawn 24 percent of the targets and had 9 percent of the red zone chances.

He has taken 19 of the offence's 58 third down targets, had 1 of its 7 chances inside the five and seen 5 of its 41 two minute targets.

His 58 targets have averaged 12.7 air yards.

In Week 5 against IND he carried 1 time for 11 yards, caught 3 of 4 targets for 12 yards and did not score.

In Week 6 against TB he caught 11 of 15 targets for 93 yards and did not score.

In Week 7 against NO he caught 2 of 6 targets for 56 yards and did not score.

Through Week 7, Jahan Dotson has been on the field for 67 percent of ATL snaps, drawn 13 percent of the targets and had 7 percent of the red zone chances.

He has taken 9 of the offence's 55 third down targets, had 1 of its 15 chances inside the five and seen 4 of its 25 two minute targets.

His 25 targets have averaged 16.9 air yards.

In Week 5 against BAL he caught 2 of 4 targets for 54 yards and did not score.

In Week 6 against CHI he caught 3 of 5 targets for 87 yards and scored 1 touchdown.

In Week 7 against SF he caught 1 of 3 targets for 6 yards and did not score.

Their 2025 seasons

In 2025 DK Metcalf played 15 games and scored 187.2 PPR points, 12.5 a game, finishing WR26.

He caught 59 of 99 targets for 850 yards and 6 touchdowns, with 13 red zone targets.

That came to 6.6 targets a game, a 60 percent catch rate and 14.4 yards a catch.

He was on the field for 87 percent of the snaps in the games he played.

In 2025 Jahan Dotson played 17 games and scored 50.2 PPR points, 3.0 a game, finishing WR109.

He caught 18 of 36 targets for 262 yards and 1 touchdown, with 3 red zone targets.

That came to 2.1 targets a game, a 50 percent catch rate and 14.6 yards a catch.

He was on the field for 55 percent of the snaps in the games he played.

Jahan Dotson was available for 2 games more.

Head to head

In 2025 DK Metcalf scored 12.5 PPR points a game and Jahan Dotson 3.0, 9.5 a game between them.

DK Metcalf finished WR26 that year and Jahan Dotson WR109.

DK Metcalf had 63 more targets than Jahan Dotson, 99 to 36.

DK Metcalf had 588 more receiving yards than Jahan Dotson, 850 to 262.

This season DK Metcalf holds the bigger snap share, 95 percent against 67 percent.

This season DK Metcalf holds the bigger target share, 24 percent against 13 percent.

Byes and availability

DK Metcalf is off in Week 9 and Jahan Dotson in Week 11, so either can cover the other's bye.

What would change the answer

DK Metcalf has only a partial projection, so the market half of this page is whole for only one of them.

Drop or keep

Should I drop Jahan Dotson for DK Metcalf?
Yes, on the rest of the season. DK Metcalf projects 104 market-implied PPR points from Week 8 through Week 17 (11.5 a game over 9 games), Jahan Dotson 47 (5.2 a game over 9 games).
Should I drop DK Metcalf for Jahan Dotson?
No. Keep DK Metcalf: he projects 104 market-implied PPR points from Week 8 through Week 17 (11.5 a game over 9 games), Jahan Dotson 47 (5.2 a game over 9 games).