Should I start George Kittle or Jaxon Smith-Njigba in Week 10?

Where the draft room stands

Live drafts hold no current pick on George Kittle, and the board ranks him 38th overall on the rest of his evidence.

Live drafts hold no current pick on Jaxon Smith-Njigba, and the board ranks him 39th overall on the rest of his evidence.

In 2QB drafts he goes at ADP 8.

The market-based projections

The market-based projection for George Kittle is 4.6 PPR points a game off 1 market across 5 market sources. 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 Jaxon Smith-Njigba is 4.4 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.

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

This season through Week 9

Through Week 9, George Kittle has been on the field for 78 percent of SF snaps, drawn 23 percent of the targets and had 14 percent of the red zone chances.

He has taken 9 of the offence's 57 third down targets, had 1 of its 28 chances inside the five and seen 8 of its 30 two minute targets.

His 53 targets have averaged 8.2 air yards.

In Week 6 against WAS he caught 5 of 8 targets for 69 yards and scored 1 touchdown.

In Week 7 against ATL he caught 8 of 10 targets for 88 yards and did not score.

In Week 9 against LV he caught 4 of 7 targets for 58 yards and did not score.

Through Week 9, Jaxon Smith-Njigba has been on the field for 84 percent of SEA snaps, drawn 36 percent of the targets and had 16 percent of the red zone chances.

He has taken 32 of the offence's 78 third down targets, had 2 of its 21 chances inside the five and seen 21 of its 49 two minute targets.

His 99 targets have averaged 10.1 air yards.

In Week 7 against KC he carried 2 times for 13 yards, caught 9 of 12 targets for 150 yards and scored 1 touchdown.

In Week 8 against CHI he caught 6 of 11 targets for 118 yards and scored 1 touchdown.

In Week 9 against ARI he caught 7 of 10 targets for 51 yards and did not score.

Their 2025 seasons

In 2025 George Kittle played 11 games and scored 161.5 PPR points, 14.7 a game, finishing TE13.

He caught 57 of 69 targets for 628 yards and 7 touchdowns, with 12 red zone targets.

That came to 6.3 targets a game, a 83 percent catch rate and 11.0 yards a catch.

He was on the field for 80 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 6 games more.

Side by side

In 2025 Jaxon Smith-Njigba scored 21.2 PPR points a game and George Kittle 14.7, 6.5 a game between them.

George Kittle finished TE13 and Jaxon Smith-Njigba WR2, which are two different ladders.

George Kittle is a tight end and Jaxon Smith-Njigba a wide receiver, so the question is which slot you fill first rather than which of them is better.

Byes and availability

George Kittle is off in Week 8 and Jaxon Smith-Njigba in Week 11, so either can cover the other's bye.