Should I start DK Metcalf or Jaxon Smith-Njigba in Week 6?

Where the draft room stands

Live drafts hold no current pick on DK Metcalf, and the board ranks him 12th overall on the rest of his evidence.

Live drafts hold no current pick on Jaxon Smith-Njigba, and the board ranks him 76th overall on the rest of his evidence.

In 2QB drafts he goes at ADP 8.

The market-based projections

DK Metcalf's market-based projection is 12.9 PPR points a game, built from 3 markets across 6 market sources. That is the 10th highest figure of the 151 players with a market-based projection.

The market-based projection for Jaxon Smith-Njigba is 3.7 PPR points a game off 1 market across 5 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.

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

This season through Week 6

Through Week 6, DK Metcalf has been on the field for 95 percent of PIT snaps, drawn 24 percent of the targets and had 8 percent of the red zone chances.

He has taken 17 of the offence's 52 third down targets, had 1 of its 6 chances inside the five and seen 3 of its 34 two minute targets.

His 52 targets have averaged 12.1 air yards.

In Week 4 against CLE he caught 5 of 9 targets for 115 yards and did not score.

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.

Through Week 6, Jaxon Smith-Njigba has been on the field for 85 percent of SEA snaps, drawn 35 percent of the targets and had 20 percent of the red zone chances.

He has taken 22 of the offence's 52 third down targets, had 2 of its 17 chances inside the five and seen 12 of its 32 two minute targets.

His 66 targets have averaged 10.5 air yards.

In Week 4 against LAC he caught 5 of 6 targets for 76 yards and did not score.

In Week 5 against SF he carried 1 time for 16 yards, caught 5 of 8 targets for 102 yards and scored 1 touchdown.

In Week 6 against DEN he caught 12 of 16 targets for 134 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 Jaxon Smith-Njigba played 17 games and scored 359.9 PPR points, 21.2 a game, finishing WR2.

He caught 119 of 163 targets for 1793 yards and 10 touchdowns, with 17 red zone targets.

That came to 9.6 targets a game, a 73 percent catch rate and 15.1 yards a catch.

He was on the field for 78 percent of the snaps in the games he played.

Jaxon Smith-Njigba was available for 2 games more.

Head to head

In 2025 Jaxon Smith-Njigba scored 21.2 PPR points a game and DK Metcalf 12.5, 8.7 a game between them.

DK Metcalf finished WR26 that year and Jaxon Smith-Njigba WR2.

Jaxon Smith-Njigba had 64 more targets than DK Metcalf, 163 to 99.

Jaxon Smith-Njigba had 943 more receiving yards than DK Metcalf, 1793 to 850.

This season DK Metcalf holds the bigger snap share, 95 percent against 85 percent.

This season Jaxon Smith-Njigba holds the bigger target share, 35 percent against 24 percent.

Byes and availability

DK Metcalf is off in Week 9 and Jaxon Smith-Njigba in Week 11, so either can cover the other's bye.

What would change the answer

Jaxon Smith-Njigba has only a partial projection, so the market half of this page is whole for only one of them.