Should I start Joe Burrow or Jaxon Smith-Njigba in Week 8?
Updated Nov 3, 12:11 AM ET. Week 9 answers post Tuesday.
Start Joe Burrow: 98 percent of the snaps and 0 percent of the targets over their last 3 games, against Jaxon Smith-Njigba's 85 percent of the snaps and 36 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 Joe Burrow for Jaxon Smith-Njigba?
Not on these numbers alone. Joe Burrow projects 154 market-implied PPR points from Week 9 through Week 17 (17.1 a game over 9 games) and Jaxon Smith-Njigba 159 (19.9 a game over 8 games), too close to separate, so the roster spot decides it.
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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.
QB1 · CIN · bye 6
2026 vs pass yds line 4-3
- Overall rank
- 2
WR1 · SEA · bye 11
2026 vs anytime td line 5-2
- Market-based projection
- 21.5 pts a game Wk 8 price
- Overall rank
- 3
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The gap
- Board size297 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 Joe Burrow, and the board ranks him 2nd overall on the rest of his evidence.
Live drafts hold no current pick on Jaxon Smith-Njigba, and the board ranks him 3rd overall on the rest of his evidence.
In 2QB drafts he goes at ADP 8.
The market-based projections
The market-based projection for Joe Burrow is 22.6 PPR points a game off 3 markets across 7 market sources. That is 70 percent of what a quarterback's projection needs, so it is a fragment of one rather than a projection.
No season market is posted for Jaxon Smith-Njigba, so the only market valuing him on this page is the draft room.
This season so far
Through Week 8, Joe Burrow has been on the field for 99 percent of CIN snaps, dropped back 289 times and thrown 7.6 air yards an attempt.
He has been sacked or hit on 51 of 289 dropbacks and scrambled 9 times.
In Week 5 against MIA he completed 23 of 32 passes for 190 yards, threw 4 touchdowns and 0 interceptions and ran 2 times for 12 yards.
In Week 7 against BAL he completed 22 of 30 passes for 292 yards, threw 4 touchdowns and 0 interceptions and ran 2 times for 12 yards.
In Week 8 against TEN he completed 38 of 48 passes for 462 yards, threw 5 touchdowns and 3 interceptions and ran 3 times for 10 yards.
Through Week 7, Jaxon Smith-Njigba has been on the field for 83 percent of SEA snaps, drawn 36 percent of the targets and had 19 percent of the red zone chances.
He has taken 28 of the offence's 62 third down targets, had 2 of its 19 chances inside the five and seen 15 of its 38 two minute targets.
His 78 targets have averaged 10.4 air yards.
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.
In Week 7 against KC he carried 2 times for 13 yards, caught 9 of 12 targets for 150 yards and scored 1 touchdown.
Their 2025 seasons
In 2025 Joe Burrow played 8 games and scored 139.5 PPR points, 17.4 a game, finishing QB29.
He threw for 1809 yards on 259 attempts with 17 touchdowns and 5 interceptions, and ran for 41 yards and 0 touchdowns.
That came to 32.4 attempts a game at 7.0 yards an attempt.
He was on the field for 86 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 9 games more.
Side by side
In 2025 Jaxon Smith-Njigba scored 21.2 PPR points a game and Joe Burrow 17.4, 3.7 a game between them.
Joe Burrow finished QB29 and Jaxon Smith-Njigba WR2, which are two different ladders.
Joe Burrow is a quarterback 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
Joe Burrow is off in Week 6 and Jaxon Smith-Njigba in Week 11, so either can cover the other's bye.
Drop or keep
Should I drop Joe Burrow for Jaxon Smith-Njigba?
Not on these numbers alone. Joe Burrow projects 154 market-implied PPR points from Week 9 through Week 17 (17.1 a game over 9 games) and Jaxon Smith-Njigba 159 (19.9 a game over 8 games), too close to separate, so the roster spot decides it.
Should I drop Jaxon Smith-Njigba for Joe Burrow?
Not on these numbers alone. Jaxon Smith-Njigba projects 159 market-implied PPR points from Week 9 through Week 17 (19.9 a game over 8 games) and Joe Burrow 154 (17.1 a game over 9 games), too close to separate, so the roster spot decides it.
Both players in full
Week 8 on the board
- Is Joe Burrow playing Week 8?
- Is Jaxon Smith-Njigba playing Week 8?
- Bengals depth chart
- Seahawks depth chart
- Week 8 QB rankings
- Week 8 WR rankings
- Week 8 fantasy rankings
- Week 8 start or sit
- Week 9 waiver wire
- Week 9 trade value chart
- Trade deadline buy low, sell high
- Fantasy football rankings
- Start 'em sit 'em Week 8
- Waiver wire pickups
- Fantasy sleepers
- Rest of season rankings
- Week 8 kicker rankings
- Week 8 defense rankings
