Should I start Justin Jefferson or Sam LaPorta in Week 9?

Where the draft room stands

Live drafts hold no current pick on Justin Jefferson, and the board ranks him 88th overall on the rest of his evidence.

By format he goes standard: ADP 4; 2QB: ADP 15.

Live drafts hold no current pick on Sam LaPorta, and the board ranks him 89th 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 5 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 Sam LaPorta is 2.6 PPR points a game off 1 market across 5 market sources. That is 30 percent of what a tight end's projection needs, so it is a fragment of one rather than a 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 77 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, Sam LaPorta has been on the field for 89 percent of DET snaps, drawn 18 percent of the targets and had 12 percent of the red zone chances.

He has taken 8 of the offence's 60 third down targets, had 2 of its 22 chances inside the five and seen 4 of its 30 two minute targets.

His 44 targets have averaged 6.1 air yards.

In Week 5 against ARI he caught 5 of 5 targets for 88 yards and scored 1 touchdown.

In Week 7 against GB he caught 1 of 2 targets for 18 yards and did not score.

In Week 8 against MIN he carried 1 time for 2 yards, caught 3 of 5 targets for 33 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.

In 2025 Sam LaPorta played 9 games and scored 106.9 PPR points, 11.9 a game, finishing TE27.

He caught 40 of 49 targets for 489 yards and 3 touchdowns, with 4 red zone targets.

That came to 5.4 targets a game, a 82 percent catch rate and 12.2 yards a catch.

He was on the field for 90 percent of the snaps in the games he played.

Justin Jefferson was available for 8 games more.

Side by side

In 2025 they scored the same 11.9 PPR points a game.

Justin Jefferson finished WR21 and Sam LaPorta TE27, which are two different ladders.

Justin Jefferson is a wide receiver and Sam LaPorta 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 6, so a roster holding the pair has that one week to cover twice.