Start Brian Thomas Jr. or Jordan Watkins? Week 9

Our Week 9 call

Start Jordan Watkins over Brian Thomas Jr. in Week 9.

Market-based projections have Jordan Watkins at 4.0 points and Brian Thomas Jr. at 3.5, a gap of 0.5. That is inside the noise of a single catch, so treat it as close to a coin flip. No player market is posted for Jordan Watkins this week yet, so his 4.0 is the average of his market-based projections in Weeks 6 and 7 (2.8 and 5.2); the call is rebuilt when his market posts.

What the market projects

No Week 9 player market is posted for Jordan Watkins yet. His market-based projections were 2.8 and 5.2 points in Weeks 6 and 7, an average of 4.0, which stands in until his Week 9 market posts.

Player markets imply 3.5 fantasy points for Brian Thomas Jr., with 100 percent of the markets a WR needs posted.

The market-based projection for Brian Thomas Jr. is 11 receiving yards, 1-2 receptions and 0.2 touchdowns (9, 9 and 11 market sources).

That puts Jordan Watkins 0.5 points ahead of Brian Thomas Jr. on these projections.

Week 9 matchups

Jordan Watkins and SF host LV on Sunday at 4:25 PM ET.

LV allowed 31.4 fantasy points a game to WRs this season over 7 games, the 16th most in the league.

Receivers caught passes for 150 yards and 1.1 touchdowns a game against LV.

Brian Thomas Jr. and JAX visit BAL on Thursday at 8:15 PM ET.

BAL allowed 35.8 fantasy points a game to WRs this season over 7 games, the 7th most in the league.

Receivers caught passes for 182 yards and 0.6 touchdowns a game against BAL.

By points allowed to the position, Brian Thomas Jr. has the softer matchup.

Injury status

Jordan Watkins is not on the injury report.

Brian Thomas Jr. is not on the injury report.

Usage before Week 9

Through Week 7, Jordan Watkins played 52 percent of SF snaps, drew 6 percent of the targets, earned 11 percent of the air yards and had 0 percent of the red zone chances.

Jordan Watkins, Week 4 against DEN: 25 of 66 snaps, 0 targets and 0 catches for 0 yards.

Jordan Watkins, Week 5 against SEA: 22 of 60 snaps, 0 targets and 0 catches for 0 yards.

Jordan Watkins, Week 6 against WAS: 47 of 62 snaps, 1 target and 1 catch for 22 yards.

Jordan Watkins, Week 7 against ATL: 50 of 66 snaps, 6 targets and 3 catches for 56 yards.

Through Week 8, Brian Thomas Jr. drew 12 percent of the targets, earned 22 percent of the air yards and had 25 percent of the red zone chances.

Brian Thomas Jr., Week 8 against IND: 2 targets and 1 catch for 12 yards, 1 touchdown.

Their 2025 seasons

In 2025, Jordan Watkins played 4 games for SF and scored 4.6 PPR points, 1.2 a game.

He caught 2 of 3 targets for 26 yards and 0 touchdowns, with 0 red zone targets and 25 air yards.

He was on the field for 7 percent of the offense's snaps in the games he played.

In 2025, Brian Thomas Jr. played 14 games for JAX and scored 138.8 PPR points, 9.9 a game, finishing WR42.

He caught 48 of 91 targets for 707 yards and 2 touchdowns, with 6 red zone targets and 548 air yards.

He was on the field for 79 percent of the offense's snaps in the games he played.

Brian Thomas Jr., Week 18 of 2025 against TEN: 5 targets and 3 catches for 49 yards, 7.9 PPR points.

Brian Thomas Jr., Week 17 of 2025 against IND: 54 of 69 snaps, 7 targets and 4 catches for 39 yards, 7.9 PPR points.

Their other Week 9 calls

• Start Darnell Mooney over Jordan Watkins.
• Start Efton Chism III over Jordan Watkins.
• Start Isaac TeSlaa over Jordan Watkins.
• Start Darnell Mooney over Brian Thomas Jr..
• Start Brian Thomas Jr. over Ja'Kobi Lane.
• Start John Metchie III over Brian Thomas Jr..