Skip to main content

Should I start Jonathan Taylor or George Kittle in Week 9?

Updated Nov 3, 10:11 AM ET.

Start George Kittle: 90 percent of the snaps and 25 percent of the targets over their last 3 games, against Jonathan Taylor's 71 percent of the snaps and 54 percent of the carries. 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 George Kittle for Jonathan Taylor?

Yes, on the rest of the season. Jonathan Taylor projects 147 market-implied PPR points from Week 9 through Week 17 (18.4 a game over 8 games), George Kittle 124 (13.8 a game over 9 games).

Parlae may earn a commission from price links.

Advertisement

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.

RB18 · IND · bye 13

2026 vs carries line 5-3

Market-based projection
12.5 pts a game Wk 8 price
Overall rank
57

TE9 · SF · bye 8

2026 vs anytime td line 4-3

Overall rank
58

Make this call for your own roster

Sync your league and My Team sets this week's lineup for your actual roster, spot by spot. Free, no account.

Sync my league

Or get it by email

Tuesday 7am ET: one email with what moved on the board and who is worth a claim.

Free. One a week, one tap to stop.

The gap

  • Board size301 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 Jonathan Taylor, and the board ranks him 57th overall on the rest of his evidence.

In 2QB drafts he goes at ADP 4.

Live drafts hold no current pick on George Kittle, and the board ranks him 58th overall on the rest of his evidence.

The market-based projections

The market-based projection for Jonathan Taylor is 5.0 PPR points a game off 1 market across 1 market source. That is 30 percent of what a running back's projection needs, so it is a fragment of one rather than a projection.

The market-based projection for George Kittle is 4.6 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.

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

This season so far

Through Week 8, Jonathan Taylor has been on the field for 78 percent of IND snaps, taken 67 percent of the carries, drawn 12 percent of the targets and had 47 percent of the red zone chances.

He has taken 4 of the offence's 64 third down targets, had 15 of its 21 chances inside the five and seen 4 of its 35 two minute targets.

His 31 targets have come 1.4 yards behind the line of scrimmage on average.

In Week 6 against TEN he carried 21 times for 94 yards, caught 2 of 4 targets for 57 yards and scored 1 touchdown.

In Week 7 against MIN he carried 18 times for 95 yards, caught 2 of 3 targets for 15 yards and scored 1 touchdown.

In Week 8 against JAX he carried 8 times for 23 yards, caught 4 of 5 targets for 24 yards and did not score.

Through Week 7, George Kittle has been on the field for 78 percent of SF snaps, drawn 22 percent of the targets and had 15 percent of the red zone chances.

He has taken 7 of the offence's 50 third down targets, had 1 of its 24 chances inside the five and seen 8 of its 30 two minute targets.

His 46 targets have averaged 7.7 air yards.

In Week 5 against SEA he caught 5 of 6 targets for 24 yards and did not score.

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.

Their 2025 seasons

In 2025 Jonathan Taylor played 17 games and scored 362.3 PPR points, 21.3 a game, finishing RB4.

He carried 323 times for 1585 yards and 18 touchdowns, and caught 46 of 55 targets for 378 more yards.

That came to 19.0 carries a game at 4.9 yards a carry and 2.7 catches a game.

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

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.

Jonathan Taylor was available for 6 games more.

Side by side

In 2025 Jonathan Taylor scored 21.3 PPR points a game and George Kittle 14.7, 6.6 a game between them.

Jonathan Taylor finished RB4 and George Kittle TE13, which are two different ladders.

Jonathan Taylor is a running back and George Kittle a tight end, so the question is which slot you fill first rather than which of them is better.

Byes and availability

Jonathan Taylor is off in Week 13 and George Kittle in Week 8, so either can cover the other's bye.

Drop or keep

  • Should I drop George Kittle for Jonathan Taylor?

    Yes, on the rest of the season. Jonathan Taylor projects 147 market-implied PPR points from Week 9 through Week 17 (18.4 a game over 8 games), George Kittle 124 (13.8 a game over 9 games).

  • Should I drop Jonathan Taylor for George Kittle?

    No. Keep Jonathan Taylor: he projects 147 market-implied PPR points from Week 9 through Week 17 (18.4 a game over 8 games), George Kittle 124 (13.8 a game over 9 games).

Should I drop Jonathan Taylor?

Both players in full

Week 9 on the board

Next duels