Should I start Saquon Barkley or George Pickens in Week 8?

Where the draft room stands

Live drafts hold no current pick on Saquon Barkley, and the board ranks him 89th overall on the rest of his evidence.

By format he goes standard: ADP 3; 2QB: ADP 14.

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

The market-based projections

The market-based projection for Saquon Barkley is 3.8 PPR points a game off 1 market across 3 market sources. 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 Pickens is 3.4 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.

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

This season through Week 7

Through Week 7, Saquon Barkley has been on the field for 33 percent of PHI snaps, taken 34 percent of the carries, drawn 6 percent of the targets and had 17 percent of the red zone chances.

He has taken 1 of the offence's 44 third down targets, had 2 of its 11 chances inside the five and seen 0 of its 32 two minute targets.

His 9 targets have come 0.6 yards behind the line of scrimmage on average.

In Week 3 against CHI he carried 15 times for 82 yards, caught 1 of 2 targets for -2 yards and did not score.

In Week 4 against LAR he carried 2 times for 8 yards, caught 1 of 1 target for 2 yards and did not score.

In Week 7 against DAL he carried 7 times for 62 yards, caught 2 of 2 targets for 9 yards and scored 1 touchdown.

Through Week 7, George Pickens has been on the field for 82 percent of DAL snaps, drawn 22 percent of the targets and had 8 percent of the red zone chances.

He has taken 22 of the offence's 63 third down targets, had 3 of its 26 chances inside the five and seen 11 of its 48 two minute targets.

His 58 targets have averaged 11.1 air yards.

In Week 5 against TB he caught 9 of 13 targets for 130 yards and scored 1 touchdown.

In Week 6 against GB he caught 6 of 11 targets for 73 yards and did not score.

In Week 7 against PHI he caught 4 of 6 targets for 57 yards and scored 1 touchdown.

Their 2025 seasons

In 2025 Saquon Barkley played 16 games and scored 232.3 PPR points, 14.5 a game, finishing RB14.

He carried 280 times for 1140 yards and 7 touchdowns, and caught 37 of 50 targets for 273 more yards.

That came to 17-18 carries a game at 4.1 yards a carry and 2.3 catches a game.

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

In 2025 George Pickens played 17 games and scored 291.9 PPR points, 17.2 a game, finishing WR5.

He caught 93 of 137 targets for 1429 yards and 9 touchdowns, with 21 red zone targets.

That came to 8.1 targets a game, a 68 percent catch rate and 15.4 yards a catch.

He was on the field for 83 percent of the snaps in the games he played.

George Pickens was available for 1 game more.

Side by side

In 2025 George Pickens scored 17.2 PPR points a game and Saquon Barkley 14.5, 2.7 a game between them.

Saquon Barkley finished RB14 and George Pickens WR5, which are two different ladders.

Saquon Barkley is a running back and George Pickens a wide receiver, so the question is which slot you fill first rather than which of them is better.

Byes and availability

Saquon Barkley is off in Week 10 and George Pickens in Week 14, so either can cover the other's bye.

Saquon Barkley is listed as questionable on the injury report.