Should I start Josh Downs or Mason Taylor in Week 8?

Where the draft room stands

Live drafts hold no current pick on Josh Downs, and the board ranks him 127th overall on the rest of his evidence.

Live drafts hold no current pick on Mason Taylor, and the board ranks him 129th overall on the rest of his evidence.

The market-based projections

The market-based projection for Josh Downs is 1.7 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.

The market-based projection for Mason Taylor is 1.8 PPR points a game off 1 market across 1 market source. That is 30 percent of what a tight end'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 7

Through Week 7, Josh Downs has been on the field for 81 percent of IND snaps, drawn 20 percent of the targets and had 10 percent of the red zone chances.

He has taken 15 of the offence's 56 third down targets, had 0 of its 19 chances inside the five and seen 4 of its 30 two minute targets.

His 46 targets have averaged 10.7 air yards.

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.

In Week 7 against MIN he caught 2 of 4 targets for 18 yards and did not score.

Through Week 7, Mason Taylor has been on the field for 56 percent of NYJ snaps, drawn 12 percent of the targets and had 11 percent of the red zone chances.

He has taken 5 of the offence's 40 third down targets, had 0 of its 8 chances inside the five and seen 3 of its 19 two minute targets.

His 18 targets have averaged 7.5 air yards.

In Week 5 against CLE he caught 3 of 3 targets for 24 yards and did not score.

In Week 6 against NE he caught 4 of 6 targets for 33 yards and did not score.

In Week 7 against MIA he caught 5 of 6 targets for 62 yards and scored 2 touchdowns.

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.

In 2025 Mason Taylor played 13 games and scored 88.9 PPR points, 6.8 a game, finishing TE32.

He caught 44 of 65 targets for 369 yards and 1 touchdown, with 7 red zone targets.

That came to 5.0 targets a game, a 68 percent catch rate and 8.4 yards a catch.

He was on the field for 81 percent of the snaps in the games he played.

Josh Downs was available for 3 games more.

Side by side

In 2025 Josh Downs scored 8.5 PPR points a game and Mason Taylor 6.8, 1.7 a game between them.

Josh Downs finished WR44 and Mason Taylor TE32, which are two different ladders.

Josh Downs is a wide receiver and Mason Taylor a tight end, so the question is which slot you fill first rather than which of them is better.

Byes and availability

Both are off in Week 13, so a roster holding the pair has that one week to cover twice.