Should I start Jaylen Waddle or Makai Lemon in Week 8?

Updated Oct 28, 7:21 AM ET. Week 9 answers post Tuesday.

Latest

Oct 25, 7:43 PM ET: Jaylen Waddle: Listed Questionable (Undisclosed) (Sleeper injury feed)
Oct 21, 7:43 PM ET: Jaylen Waddle: Listed Questionable (Chest) (Sleeper injury feed)

Start Makai Lemon: 86 percent of the snaps and 18 percent of the targets over their last 3 games, against Jaylen Waddle's 62 percent of the snaps and 27 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 Makai Lemon for Jaylen Waddle?

Yes, on the rest of the season. Jaylen Waddle projects 109 market-implied PPR points from Week 8 through Week 17 (12.1 a game over 9 games), Makai Lemon 53 (5.9 a game over 9 games). Jaylen Waddle is listed questionable.

Parlae may earn a commission from price links.

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.

Jaylen Waddle

WR51 · DEN · bye 10

2026 vs anytime td line 1-6

Market-based projection: 12.1 pts a game Wk 7 price
Overall rank: 123

Makai Lemon

WR52 · PHI · bye 10

2026 vs anytime td line 1-6

Market-based projection: 10.0 pts a game Wk 7 price
Overall rank: 124

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

Sleeper ESPN Yahoo

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 size296 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 Jaylen Waddle, and the board ranks him 123rd overall on the rest of his evidence.

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

Live drafts hold no current pick on Makai Lemon, and the board ranks him 124th overall on the rest of his evidence.

The market-based projections

The market-based projection for Jaylen Waddle is 2.0 PPR points a game off 1 market across 8 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 Makai Lemon is 1.9 PPR points a game off 1 market across 3 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.

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

This season through Week 7

Through Week 7, 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 14 of the offence's 58 third down targets, had 0 of its 18 chances inside the five and seen 3 of its 25 two minute targets.

His 45 targets have averaged 10.1 air yards.

In Week 5 against LAC he carried 1 time for 9 yards, caught 2 of 5 targets for 19 yards and did not score.

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.

Through Week 7, Makai Lemon has been on the field for 76 percent of PHI snaps, drawn 16 percent of the targets and had 2 percent of the red zone chances.

He has taken 9 of the offence's 69 third down targets, had 1 of its 15 chances inside the five and seen 5 of its 37 two minute targets.

His 36 targets have averaged 5.1 air yards.

In Week 5 against JAX he caught 5 of 7 targets for 43 yards and did not score.

In Week 6 against CAR he caught 3 of 6 targets for 19 yards and did not score.

In Week 7 against DAL he caught 7 of 8 targets for 67 yards and scored 1 touchdown.

Their 2025 seasons

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.

Makai Lemon is a rookie, so there is no NFL season behind him to price him against.

Head to head

This season Makai Lemon holds the bigger snap share, 76 percent against 66 percent.

This season Jaylen Waddle holds the bigger target share, 23 percent against 16 percent.

Byes and availability

Both are off in Week 10, so a roster holding the pair has that one week to cover twice.

Jaylen Waddle is listed as questionable on the injury report.

Drop or keep

Should I drop Makai Lemon for Jaylen Waddle?
Yes, on the rest of the season. Jaylen Waddle projects 109 market-implied PPR points from Week 8 through Week 17 (12.1 a game over 9 games), Makai Lemon 53 (5.9 a game over 9 games). Jaylen Waddle is listed questionable.
Should I drop Jaylen Waddle for Makai Lemon?
No. Keep Jaylen Waddle: he projects 109 market-implied PPR points from Week 8 through Week 17 (12.1 a game over 9 games), Makai Lemon 53 (5.9 a game over 9 games). Jaylen Waddle is listed questionable.