Should I start Justin Jefferson or Josh Cuevas in Week 9?
Updated Nov 3, 3:26 PM ET. Week 10 answers post Tuesday.
Start Justin Jefferson: 92 percent of the snaps and 28 percent of the targets over their last 3 games, against Josh Cuevas's 29 percent of the snaps and 11 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.
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Your next move
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Both players' season market-based projection, their usage this season and their last full season's numbers.
WR42 · MIN · bye 6
2026 vs anytime td line 3-3
- Market-based projection
- 16.6 pts a game Wk 8 price
- Overall rank
- 108
TE15 · BAL · bye unlisted
- Market-based projection
- 2.6 pts a game
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The gap
- Board size302 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 Justin Jefferson, and the board ranks him 108th overall on the rest of his evidence.
By format he goes standard: ADP 4; 2QB: ADP 15.
Live drafts hold no current pick on Josh Cuevas, and the board ranks him 109th overall on the rest of his evidence.
The market-based projections
The market-based projection for Justin Jefferson is 2.7 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.
Josh Cuevas's market-based projection is 2.6 PPR points a game, built from 3 markets across 13 market sources. That is the 110th highest figure of the 213 players with a market-based 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 80 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, Josh Cuevas has been on the field for 23 percent of BAL snaps, drawn 6 percent of the targets and had 2 percent of the red zone chances.
He has taken 1 of the offence's 66 third down targets, had 1 of its 26 chances inside the five and seen 1 of its 47 two minute targets.
His 13 targets have averaged 5.5 air yards.
In Week 6 against CLE he caught 4 of 5 targets for 44 yards and scored 1 touchdown.
In Week 7 against CIN he caught 2 of 3 targets for 35 yards and did not score.
In Week 8 against BUF he caught 1 of 2 targets for 15 yards and did not score.
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.
Josh Cuevas is a rookie, so there is no NFL season behind him to price him against.
Side by side
Justin Jefferson is a wide receiver and Josh Cuevas a tight end, so the question is which slot you fill first rather than which of them is better.
Byes and availability
Justin Jefferson is off in Week 6. No bye is listed for Josh Cuevas.
What would change the answer
Justin Jefferson has only a partial projection, so the market half of this page is whole for only one of them.
Both players in full
Week 9 on the board
- Is Justin Jefferson playing Week 9?
- Is Josh Cuevas playing Week 9?
- Vikings depth chart
- Ravens depth chart
- Week 9 WR rankings
- Week 9 TE rankings
- Week 9 fantasy rankings
- Week 9 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 9
- Waiver wire pickups
- Fantasy sleepers
- Rest of season rankings
- Week 9 kicker rankings
- Week 9 defense rankings
