Should I start Josh Downs or Rashid Shaheed in Week 8?

Where the draft room stands

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

Live drafts hold no current pick on Rashid Shaheed, and the board ranks him 133rd overall on the rest of his evidence.

In 2QB drafts he goes at ADP 50.

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 Rashid Shaheed 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.

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 82 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, Rashid Shaheed has been on the field for 49 percent of SEA snaps, drawn 14 percent of the targets and had 6 percent of the red zone chances.

He has taken 11 of the offence's 62 third down targets, had 1 of its 19 chances inside the five and seen 4 of its 38 two minute targets.

His 30 targets have averaged 11.1 air yards.

In Week 5 against SF he caught 2 of 4 targets for 23 yards and did not score.

In Week 6 against DEN he carried 1 time for 2 yards, caught 5 of 8 targets for 66 yards and did not score.

In Week 7 against KC he caught 2 of 3 targets for 1 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.

In 2025 Rashid Shaheed played 18 games and scored 156.6 PPR points, 8.7 a game, finishing WR39.

He caught 59 of 92 targets for 687 yards and 2 touchdowns, with 6 red zone targets.

That came to 5.1 targets a game, a 64 percent catch rate and 11.6 yards a catch.

He was on the field for 61 percent of the snaps in the games he played.

Rashid Shaheed was available for 2 games more.

Head to head

In 2025 Rashid Shaheed scored 8.7 PPR points a game and Josh Downs 8.5, 0.2 a game between them.

Josh Downs finished WR44 that year and Rashid Shaheed WR39.

Rashid Shaheed had 4 more targets than Josh Downs, 92 to 88.

Rashid Shaheed had 121 more receiving yards than Josh Downs, 687 to 566.

This season Josh Downs holds the bigger snap share, 82 percent against 49 percent.

This season Josh Downs holds the bigger target share, 20 percent against 14 percent.

Byes and availability

Josh Downs is off in Week 13 and Rashid Shaheed in Week 11, so either can cover the other's bye.

Rashid Shaheed is listed as out on the injury report.