Should I start Mark Andrews or Puka Nacua in Week 9?

Where the draft room stands

Live drafts hold no current pick on Mark Andrews, and the board ranks him 47th overall on the rest of his evidence.

Live drafts hold no current pick on Puka Nacua, and the board ranks him 49th overall on the rest of his evidence.

In 2QB drafts he goes at ADP 6.

The market-based projections

Mark Andrews's market-based projection is 5.6 PPR points a game, built from 3 markets across 12 market sources. That is the 41st highest figure of the 211 players with a market-based projection.

The market-based projection for Puka Nacua is 4.9 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.

Puka Nacua's projection is not complete, so the two figures are not set against each other here.

This season through Week 8

Through Week 8, Mark Andrews has been on the field for 64 percent of BAL snaps, drawn 18 percent of the targets and had 9 percent of the red zone chances.

He has taken 17 of the offence's 66 third down targets, had 2 of its 26 chances inside the five and seen 7 of its 47 two minute targets.

His 41 targets have averaged 6.6 air yards.

In Week 6 against CLE he caught 1 of 3 targets for 4 yards and did not score.

In Week 7 against CIN he caught 3 of 4 targets for 23 yards and did not score.

In Week 8 against BUF he caught 3 of 4 targets for 14 yards and did not score.

Through Week 8, Puka Nacua has been on the field for 86 percent of LAR snaps, drawn 34 percent of the targets and had 22 percent of the red zone chances.

He has taken 20 of the offence's 48 third down targets, had 3 of its 18 chances inside the five and seen 8 of its 26 two minute targets.

His 74 targets have averaged 7.7 air yards.

In Week 6 against ARI he caught 6 of 7 targets for 80 yards and did not score.

In Week 7 against LV he carried 2 times for 10 yards, caught 8 of 10 targets for 68 yards and scored 1 touchdown.

In Week 8 against LAC he caught 11 of 12 targets for 80 yards and scored 1 touchdown.

Their 2025 seasons

In 2025 Mark Andrews played 17 games and scored 131.0 PPR points, 7.7 a game, finishing TE16.

He caught 48 of 70 targets for 422 yards and 5 touchdowns, with 14 red zone targets.

That came to 4.1 targets a game, a 69 percent catch rate and 8.8 yards a catch.

He was on the field for 62 percent of the snaps in the games he played.

In 2025 Puka Nacua played 16 games and scored 375.0 PPR points, 23.4 a game, finishing WR1.

He caught 129 of 166 targets for 1715 yards and 10 touchdowns, with 16 red zone targets.

That came to 10.4 targets a game, a 78 percent catch rate and 13.3 yards a catch.

He was on the field for 68 percent of the snaps in the games he played.

Mark Andrews was available for 1 game more.

Side by side

In 2025 Puka Nacua scored 23.4 PPR points a game and Mark Andrews 7.7, 15.7 a game between them.

Mark Andrews finished TE16 and Puka Nacua WR1, which are two different ladders.

Mark Andrews is a tight end and Puka Nacua a wide receiver, so the question is which slot you fill first rather than which of them is better.

Byes and availability

Mark Andrews is off in Week 13 and Puka Nacua in Week 11, so either can cover the other's bye.

What would change the answer

Puka Nacua has only a partial projection, so the market half of this page is whole for only one of them.