Should I start Michael Wilson or Rico Dowdle in Week 7?

The market-based projections

Michael Wilson's market-based projection is 11.2 PPR points a game, built from 3 markets across 9 market sources. That is the 74th highest figure of the 213 players with a market-based projection.

Rico Dowdle's market-based projection is 7.7 PPR points a game, built from 5 markets across 13 market sources. That is the 103rd highest figure of the 213 players with a market-based projection.

Where the draft room stands

Live drafts hold no current pick on Michael Wilson, and the board ranks him 57th overall on the rest of his evidence.

Live drafts hold no current pick on Rico Dowdle, and the board ranks him 58th overall on the rest of his evidence.

This season through Week 6

Through Week 6, Michael Wilson has been on the field for 90 percent of ARI snaps, drawn 25 percent of the targets and had 13 percent of the red zone chances.

He has taken 15 of the offence's 63 third down targets, had 4 of its 19 chances inside the five and seen 14 of its 40 two minute targets.

His 58 targets have averaged 10.4 air yards.

In Week 4 against NYG he caught 7 of 13 targets for 95 yards and did not score.

In Week 5 against DET he caught 4 of 7 targets for 30 yards and did not score.

In Week 6 against LAR he caught 4 of 7 targets for 32 yards and did not score.

Through Week 6, Rico Dowdle has been on the field for 36 percent of PIT snaps, taken 35 percent of the carries, drawn 9 percent of the targets and had 19 percent of the red zone chances.

He has taken 1 of the offence's 30 third down targets, had 0 of its 4 chances inside the five and seen 1 of its 17 two minute targets.

His 11 targets have come 1 yards behind the line of scrimmage on average.

In Week 1 against ATL he carried 8 times for 15 yards, caught 2 of 5 targets for 6 yards and did not score.

In Week 2 against NE he carried 7 times for 22 yards, caught 2 of 2 targets for 22 yards and did not score.

In Week 6 against TB he carried 7 times for 40 yards, caught 3 of 4 targets for 9 yards and did not score.

Their 2025 seasons

In 2025 Michael Wilson played 17 games and scored 220.6 PPR points, 13.0 a game, finishing WR10.

He caught 78 of 126 targets for 1006 yards and 7 touchdowns, with 15 red zone targets.

That came to 7.4 targets a game, a 62 percent catch rate and 12.9 yards a catch.

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

In 2025 Rico Dowdle played 17 games and scored 216.3 PPR points, 12.7 a game, finishing RB18.

He carried 236 times for 1076 yards and 6 touchdowns, and caught 39 of 50 targets for 297 more yards.

That came to 13.9 carries a game at 4.6 yards a carry and 2.3 catches a game.

He was on the field for 56 percent of the snaps in the games he played.

Both were available for 17 games that season.

Side by side

In 2025 Michael Wilson scored 13.0 PPR points a game and Rico Dowdle 12.7, 0.3 a game between them.

Michael Wilson finished WR10 and Rico Dowdle RB18, which are two different ladders.

Michael Wilson is a wide receiver and Rico Dowdle a running back, so the question is which slot you fill first rather than which of them is better.

Byes and availability

Michael Wilson is off in Week 14 and Rico Dowdle in Week 9, so either can cover the other's bye.

What would change the answer

3.4 points a game is the entire case. The market restates it every week, and a line that moves moves the order with it.

The draft market is the half that is missing: when live drafts hold these two again they can order them differently from the projection, and this page will follow the drafts rather than the market-based projection when they do.