Should I start Josh Downs or Makai Lemon in Week 7?

Where the draft room stands

Live drafts hold no current pick on Josh Downs, and the board ranks him 199th overall on the rest of his evidence.

Live drafts hold no current pick on Makai Lemon, and the board ranks him 200th overall on the rest of his evidence.

The market-based projections

The market-based projection for Josh Downs is 1.3 PPR points a game off 1 market across 13 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 1.3 PPR points a game off 1 market across 12 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 Downs's projection is not complete, so the two figures are not set against each other here.

This season through Week 6

Through Week 6, Josh Downs has been on the field for 81 percent of IND snaps, drawn 21 percent of the targets and had 11 percent of the red zone chances.

He has taken 13 of the offence's 49 third down targets, had 0 of its 19 chances inside the five and seen 3 of its 25 two minute targets.

His 42 targets have averaged 10.7 air yards.

In Week 4 against WAS he caught 3 of 4 targets for 16 yards and did not score.

In Week 5 against PIT he caught 3 of 6 targets for 47 yards and did not score.

In Week 6 against TEN he carried 1 time for 7 yards, caught 4 of 8 targets for 40 yards and did not score.

Through Week 6, Makai Lemon has been on the field for 72 percent of PHI snaps, drawn 15 percent of the targets and had 0 percent of the red zone chances.

He has taken 6 of the offence's 58 third down targets, had 0 of its 12 chances inside the five and seen 2 of its 29 two minute targets.

His 28 targets have averaged 5.2 air yards.

In Week 4 against LAR he caught 3 of 6 targets for 27 yards and did not score.

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.

Their 2025 seasons

In 2025 Josh Downs played 16 games and scored 136.4 PPR points, 8.5 a game, finishing WR44.

He caught 58 of 88 targets for 566 yards and 4 touchdowns, with 14 red zone targets.

That came to 5-6 targets a game, a 66 percent catch rate and 9.8 yards a catch.

He was on the field for 58 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 Josh Downs holds the bigger snap share, 81 percent against 72 percent.

This season Josh Downs holds the bigger target share, 21 percent against 15 percent.

Byes and availability

Josh Downs is off in Week 13 and Makai Lemon in Week 10, so either can cover the other's bye.