Start A.J. Brown or Josh Downs? Week 7

Our Week 7 call

Start A.J. Brown over Josh Downs in Week 7.

Market-based projections have A.J. Brown at 14.1 points and Josh Downs at 14.2, a gap of 0.0. That is inside the noise of a single catch, so treat it as close to a coin flip. No player market is posted for Josh Downs this week yet, so his 14.2 is the average of his market-based projections in Weeks 4 and 5 (16.3 and 12.0); the call is rebuilt when his market posts. Drafters take A.J. Brown at ADP 17 and Josh Downs at 96.

What the market projects

No Week 7 player market is posted for Josh Downs yet. His market-based projections were 16.3 and 12.0 points in Weeks 4 and 5, an average of 14.2, which stands in until his Week 7 market posts.

Player markets imply 14.1 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 70 receiving yards, 4-5 receptions and 0.4 touchdowns (12, 9 and 12 market sources).

That puts Josh Downs 0.0 points ahead of A.J. Brown on these projections.

Week 7 matchups

Josh Downs and IND visit MIN on Sunday at 1:00 PM ET.

MIN allowed 27.1 fantasy points a game to WRs this season over 5 games, the 5th fewest in the league.

Receivers caught passes for 133 yards and 0.6 touchdowns a game against MIN.

A.J. Brown and NE visit CHI on Thursday at 8:15 PM ET.

CHI allowed 31.6 fantasy points a game to WRs this season over 5 games, the 15th most in the league.

Receivers caught passes for 160 yards and a touchdown a game against CHI.

By points allowed to the position, A.J. Brown has the softer matchup.

Injury status

Josh Downs is not on the injury report.

A.J. Brown is listed as questionable with a ankle injury.

Usage before Week 7

Through Week 6, Josh Downs played 80 percent of IND snaps, drew 21 percent of the targets, earned 26 percent of the air yards and had 11 percent of the red zone chances.

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.

Josh Downs, Week 6 against TEN: 1 carry for 7 yards, 8 targets and 4 catches for 40 yards.

Through Week 6, A.J. Brown played 44 percent of NE snaps, drew 23 percent of the targets, earned 24 percent of the air yards and had 19 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.

A.J. Brown, Week 6 against NYJ: 10 targets and 3 catches for 27 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.

Their other Week 7 calls

• Start Carnell Tate over Josh Downs.
• Start CeeDee Lamb over Josh Downs.
• Start Chris Olave over Josh Downs.
• Start A.J. Brown over Carnell Tate.
• Start CeeDee Lamb over A.J. Brown.
• Start Chris Olave over A.J. Brown.