Should I start Justin Jefferson or Jaylen Waddle in Week 9?

Where the draft room stands

Live drafts hold no current pick on Justin Jefferson, and the board ranks him 88th overall on the rest of his evidence.

By format he goes standard: ADP 4; 2QB: ADP 15.

Live drafts hold no current pick on Jaylen Waddle, and the board ranks him 95th overall on the rest of his evidence.

By format he goes standard: ADP 15; 2QB: ADP 36.

The market-based projections

The market-based projection for Justin Jefferson is 2.7 PPR points a game off 1 market across 5 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.

The market-based projection for Jaylen Waddle is 2.6 PPR points a game off 1 market across 5 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.

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

This season through Week 8

Through Week 8, Justin Jefferson has been on the field for 77 percent of MIN snaps, drawn 27 percent of the targets and had 19 percent of the red zone chances.

He has taken 18 of the offence's 56 third down targets, had 1 of its 4 chances inside the five and seen 3 of its 12 two minute targets.

His 40 targets have averaged 10.0 air yards.

In Week 5 against NO he carried 1 time for -11 yards, caught 6 of 7 targets for 79 yards and scored 1 touchdown.

In Week 7 against IND he caught 4 of 7 targets for 44 yards and did not score.

In Week 8 against DET he caught 5 of 9 targets for 33 yards and scored 1 touchdown.

Through Week 8, Jaylen Waddle has been on the field for 66 percent of DEN snaps, drawn 23 percent of the targets and had 8 percent of the red zone chances.

He has taken 16 of the offence's 66 third down targets, had 1 of its 26 chances inside the five and seen 4 of its 26 two minute targets.

His 51 targets have averaged 9.8 air yards.

In Week 6 against SEA he caught 4 of 7 targets for 24 yards and did not score.

In Week 7 against ARI he caught 4 of 7 targets for 48 yards and did not score.

In Week 8 against KC he caught 3 of 6 targets for 39 yards and scored 1 touchdown.

Their 2025 seasons

In 2025 Justin Jefferson played 17 games and scored 201.5 PPR points, 11.9 a game, finishing WR21.

He caught 84 of 141 targets for 1048 yards and 2 touchdowns, with 17 red zone targets.

That came to 8.3 targets a game, a 60 percent catch rate and 13 yards a catch.

He was on the field for 95 percent of the snaps in the games he played.

In 2025 Jaylen Waddle played 16 games and scored 194.1 PPR points, 12.1 a game, finishing WR24.

He caught 64 of 100 targets for 910 yards and 6 touchdowns, with 11 red zone targets.

That came to 6.3 targets a game, a 64 percent catch rate and 14.2 yards a catch.

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

Justin Jefferson was available for 1 game more.

Head to head

In 2025 Jaylen Waddle scored 12.1 PPR points a game and Justin Jefferson 11.9, 0.3 a game between them.

Justin Jefferson finished WR21 that year and Jaylen Waddle WR24.

Justin Jefferson had 41 more targets than Jaylen Waddle, 141 to 100.

Justin Jefferson had 138 more receiving yards than Jaylen Waddle, 1048 to 910.

This season Justin Jefferson holds the bigger snap share, 77 percent against 66 percent.

This season Justin Jefferson holds the bigger target share, 27 percent against 23 percent.

Byes and availability

Justin Jefferson is off in Week 6 and Jaylen Waddle in Week 10, so either can cover the other's bye.