Should I start Trey McBride or Saquon Barkley in Week 9?

Where the draft room stands

Live drafts hold no current pick on Trey McBride, and the board ranks him 100th overall on the rest of his evidence.

In 2QB drafts he goes at ADP 31.

Live drafts hold no current pick on Saquon Barkley, and the board ranks him 101st overall on the rest of his evidence.

By format he goes standard: ADP 3; 2QB: ADP 14.

The market-based projections

The market-based projection for Trey McBride is 2.8 PPR points a game off 1 market across 1 market source. That is 30 percent of what a tight end's projection needs, so it is a fragment of one rather than a projection.

The market-based projection for Saquon Barkley is 3.2 PPR points a game off 1 market across 1 market source. That is 30 percent of what a running back's projection needs, so it is a fragment of one rather than a projection.

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

This season through Week 8

Through Week 8, Trey McBride has been on the field for 91 percent of ARI snaps, drawn 27 percent of the targets and had 18 percent of the red zone chances.

He has taken 23 of the offence's 88 third down targets, had 4 of its 29 chances inside the five and seen 13 of its 57 two minute targets.

His 86 targets have averaged 6.0 air yards.

In Week 6 against LAR he caught 7 of 9 targets for 53 yards and did not score.

In Week 7 against DEN he caught 10 of 13 targets for 111 yards and scored 1 touchdown.

In Week 8 against DAL he caught 7 of 8 targets for 72 yards and scored 1 touchdown.

Through Week 8, Saquon Barkley has been on the field for 33 percent of PHI snaps, taken 36 percent of the carries, drawn 6 percent of the targets and had 20 percent of the red zone chances.

He has taken 1 of the offence's 53 third down targets, had 4 of its 13 chances inside the five and seen 0 of its 41 two minute targets.

His 10 targets have averaged 1.3 air yards.

In Week 4 against LAR he carried 2 times for 8 yards, caught 1 of 1 target for 2 yards and did not score.

In Week 7 against DAL he carried 7 times for 62 yards, caught 2 of 2 targets for 9 yards and scored 1 touchdown.

In Week 8 against WAS he carried 13 times for 30 yards, caught 1 of 1 target for 24 yards and scored 1 touchdown.

Their 2025 seasons

In 2025 Trey McBride played 17 games and scored 315.9 PPR points, 18.6 a game, finishing TE1.

He caught 126 of 169 targets for 1239 yards and 11 touchdowns, with 32 red zone targets.

That came to 9.9 targets a game, a 75 percent catch rate and 9.8 yards a catch.

He was on the field for 91 percent of the snaps in the games he played.

In 2025 Saquon Barkley played 16 games and scored 232.3 PPR points, 14.5 a game, finishing RB14.

He carried 280 times for 1140 yards and 7 touchdowns, and caught 37 of 50 targets for 273 more yards.

That came to 17-18 carries a game at 4.1 yards a carry and 2.3 catches a game.

He was on the field for 78 percent of the snaps in the games he played.

Trey McBride was available for 1 game more.

Side by side

In 2025 Trey McBride scored 18.6 PPR points a game and Saquon Barkley 14.5, 4.1 a game between them.

Trey McBride finished TE1 and Saquon Barkley RB14, which are two different ladders.

Trey McBride is a tight end and Saquon Barkley a running back, so the question is which slot you fill first rather than which of them is better.

Byes and availability

Trey McBride is off in Week 14 and Saquon Barkley in Week 10, so either can cover the other's bye.