Should I start Rashod Bateman or Puka Nacua in Week 8?

Where the draft room stands

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

Live drafts hold no current pick on Puka Nacua, and the board ranks him 65th overall on the rest of his evidence.

In 2QB drafts he goes at ADP 6.

The market-based projections

Rashod Bateman's market-based projection is 6.6 PPR points a game, built from 3 markets across 13 market sources. That is the 77th highest figure of the 204 players with a market-based projection.

The market-based projection for Puka Nacua is 5.1 PPR points a game off 1 market across 8 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 7

Through Week 7, Rashod Bateman has been on the field for 70 percent of BAL snaps, drawn 13 percent of the targets and had 4 percent of the red zone chances.

He has taken 4 of the offence's 56 third down targets, had 1 of its 25 chances inside the five and seen 9 of its 44 two minute targets.

His 26 targets have averaged 14.0 air yards.

In Week 5 against ATL he caught 5 of 6 targets for 62 yards and did not score.

In Week 6 against CLE he caught 0 of 1 target for 0 yards and did not score.

In Week 7 against CIN he caught 2 of 4 targets for 33 yards and did not score.

Through Week 7, Puka Nacua has been on the field for 85 percent of LAR snaps, drawn 32 percent of the targets and had 17 percent of the red zone chances.

He has taken 17 of the offence's 39 third down targets, had 3 of its 17 chances inside the five and seen 6 of its 22 two minute targets.

His 62 targets have averaged 8.9 air yards.

In Week 5 against BUF he carried 2 times for 9 yards, caught 17 of 24 targets for 138 yards and scored 1 touchdown.

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.

Their 2025 seasons

In 2025 Rashod Bateman played 13 games and scored 55.4 PPR points, 4.3 a game, finishing WR102.

He caught 19 of 38 targets for 224 yards and 2 touchdowns, with 8 red zone targets.

That came to 2.9 targets a game, a 50 percent catch rate and 11.8 yards a catch.

He was on the field for 69 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.

Puka Nacua was available for 3 games more.

Head to head

In 2025 Puka Nacua scored 23.4 PPR points a game and Rashod Bateman 4.3, 19.2 a game between them.

Rashod Bateman finished WR102 that year and Puka Nacua WR1.

Puka Nacua had 128 more targets than Rashod Bateman, 166 to 38.

Puka Nacua had 1491 more receiving yards than Rashod Bateman, 1715 to 224.

This season Puka Nacua holds the bigger snap share, 85 percent against 70 percent.

This season Puka Nacua holds the bigger target share, 32 percent against 13 percent.

Byes and availability

Rashod Bateman 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.