Start A.J. Brown or Josh Downs? Week 6

Our Week 6 call

Start A.J. Brown over Josh Downs in Week 6.

Market-based projections have A.J. Brown at 11.8 points and Josh Downs at 12.3, a gap of 0.4. That is inside the noise of a single catch, so treat it as close to a coin flip. A.J. Brown still gets the call because it also weighs where drafters take each player, ADP 17 against 96, and that outweighs a gap this size.

What the market projects

Player markets imply 12.3 fantasy points for Josh Downs, with 100 percent of the markets a WR needs posted.

The market-based projection for Josh Downs is 52 receiving yards, 4-5 receptions and 0.4 touchdowns (14, 12 and 14 market sources).

Player markets imply 11.8 fantasy points for A.J. Brown, with 100 percent of the markets a WR needs posted.

The market-based projection for A.J. Brown is 52 receiving yards, 3-4 receptions and 0-1 touchdowns (12, 10 and 12 market sources).

That puts Josh Downs 0.4 points ahead of A.J. Brown on the market projections.

Week 6 matchups

Josh Downs and IND host TEN on Sunday at 1:00 PM ET.

TEN allowed 35.9 fantasy points a game to WRs this season over 5 games, the 11th most in the league.

Receivers caught passes for 174 yards and 0.8 touchdowns a game against TEN.

A.J. Brown and NE host NYJ on Sunday at 1:00 PM ET.

NYJ allowed 28.5 fantasy points a game to WRs this season over 5 games, the 10th fewest in the league.

Receivers caught passes for 129 yards and 0.8 touchdowns a game against NYJ.

By points allowed to the position, Josh Downs has the softer matchup.

Injury status

Josh Downs is not on the injury report.

A.J. Brown is not on the injury report.

Usage before Week 6

Through Week 5, Josh Downs played 80 percent of IND snaps, drew 20 percent of the targets, earned 29 percent of the air yards and had 9 percent of the red zone chances.

Josh Downs, Week 2 against KC: 54 of 65 snaps, 9 targets and 7 catches for 72 yards.

Josh Downs, Week 3 against HOU: 48 of 71 snaps, 11 targets and 5 catches for 77 yards.

Josh Downs, Week 4 against WAS: 51 of 66 snaps, 4 targets and 3 catches for 16 yards.

Josh Downs, Week 5 against PIT: 60 of 71 snaps, 6 targets and 3 catches for 47 yards.

Through Week 1, A.J. Brown played 44 percent of NE snaps, drew 13 percent of the targets, earned 9 percent of the air yards and had 0 percent of the red zone chances.

A.J. Brown, Week 1 against SEA: 31 of 71 snaps, 4 targets and 3 catches for 26 yards.

Their 2025 seasons

In 2025, Josh Downs played 16 games for IND and scored 136.4 PPR points, 8.5 a game, finishing WR44.

He caught 58 of 88 targets for 566 yards and 4 touchdowns, with 14 red zone targets and 422 air yards.

He was on the field for 58 percent of the offense's snaps in the games he played.

In 2025, A.J. Brown played 15 games for PHI and scored 220.3 PPR points, 14.7 a game, finishing WR11.

He caught 78 of 121 targets for 1003 yards and 7 touchdowns, with 12 red zone targets and 735 air yards.

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

A.J. Brown, Week 17 of 2025 against BUF: 48 of 54 snaps, 7 targets and 5 catches for 68 yards, 11.8 PPR points.

A.J. Brown, Week 16 of 2025 against WAS: 61 of 70 snaps, 12 targets and 9 catches for 95 yards, 18.5 PPR points.

Their other Week 6 calls

• Start Josh Downs over Adonai Mitchell.
• Start Josh Downs over Carnell Tate.
• Start Christian Watson over Josh Downs.
• Start A.J. Brown over Carnell Tate.
• Start A.J. Brown over Denzel Boston.
• Start A.J. Brown over Devaughn Vele.