Should I start Kimani Vidal or Jaxon Smith-Njigba in Week 9?

Where the draft room stands

Live drafts hold no current pick on Kimani Vidal, and the board ranks him 51st overall on the rest of his evidence.

Live drafts hold no current pick on Jaxon Smith-Njigba, and the board ranks him 52nd overall on the rest of his evidence.

In 2QB drafts he goes at ADP 8.

The market-based projections

The market-based projection for Kimani Vidal is 5.9 PPR points a game off 2 markets across 4 market sources. That is 70 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 Jaxon Smith-Njigba is 5.5 PPR points a game off 1 market across 1 market source. That is 30 percent of what a wide receiver's projection needs, so it is a fragment of one rather than a projection.

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

This season through Week 8

Through Week 8, Kimani Vidal has been on the field for 29 percent of LAC snaps, taken 15 percent of the carries, drawn 7 percent of the targets and had 8 percent of the red zone chances.

He has taken 3 of the offence's 68 third down targets, had 0 of its 7 chances inside the five and seen 3 of its 28 two minute targets.

His 14 targets have averaged 0.0 air yards.

In Week 5 against DEN he carried 8 times for 57 yards, caught 1 of 2 targets for -1 yards and scored 1 touchdown.

In Week 6 against KC he carried 7 times for 21 yards, caught 3 of 4 targets for 19 yards and did not score.

In Week 8 against LAR he carried 8 times for 23 yards, caught 2 of 2 targets for 7 yards and did not score.

Through Week 8, Jaxon Smith-Njigba has been on the field for 83 percent of SEA snaps, drawn 36 percent of the targets and had 17 percent of the red zone chances.

He has taken 30 of the offence's 70 third down targets, had 2 of its 19 chances inside the five and seen 18 of its 43 two minute targets.

His 89 targets have averaged 10.5 air yards.

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.

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

Their 2025 seasons

In 2025 Kimani Vidal played 13 games and scored 117.9 PPR points, 9.1 a game, finishing RB42.

He carried 155 times for 643 yards and 3 touchdowns, and caught 16 of 22 targets for 136 more yards.

That came to 11.9 carries a game at 4.1 yards a carry and 1.2 catches a game.

He was on the field for 58 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 4 games more.

Side by side

In 2025 Jaxon Smith-Njigba scored 21.2 PPR points a game and Kimani Vidal 9.1, 12.1 a game between them.

Kimani Vidal finished RB42 and Jaxon Smith-Njigba WR2, which are two different ladders.

Kimani Vidal is a running back 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

Kimani Vidal is off in Week 7 and Jaxon Smith-Njigba in Week 11, so either can cover the other's bye.