Start Brian Thomas Jr. or Treylon Burks? Week 9

Our Week 9 call

Start Brian Thomas Jr. over Treylon Burks in Week 9.

Market-based projections have Brian Thomas Jr. at 3.5 points and Treylon Burks at 3.5, a gap of 0.1. That is inside the noise of a single catch, so treat it as close to a coin flip. No player market is posted for Treylon Burks this week yet, so his 3.5 is the average of his market-based projections in Weeks 6 and 8 (2.0 and 4.9); the call is rebuilt when his market posts.

What the market projects

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).

No Week 9 player market is posted for Treylon Burks yet. His market-based projections were 2.0 and 4.9 points in Weeks 6 and 8, an average of 3.5, which stands in until his Week 9 market posts.

That puts Brian Thomas Jr. 0.1 points ahead of Treylon Burks on these projections.

Week 9 matchups

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.

Treylon Burks and WAS host LAR on Sunday at 1:00 PM ET.

LAR allowed 26.8 fantasy points a game to WRs this season over 7 games, the 5th fewest in the league.

Receivers caught passes for 106 yards and 1.1 touchdowns a game against LAR.

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

Injury status

Brian Thomas Jr. is not on the injury report.

Treylon Burks is not on the injury report.

Usage before Week 9

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.

Through Week 8, Treylon Burks played 50 percent of WAS snaps, drew 12 percent of the targets, earned 22 percent of the air yards and had 8 percent of the red zone chances.

Treylon Burks, Week 4 against IND: 38 of 64 snaps, 3 targets and 1 catch for 47 yards, 1 touchdown.

Treylon Burks, Week 5 against NYG: 45 of 62 snaps, 5 targets and 2 catches for 26 yards.

Treylon Burks, Week 6 against SF: 37 of 67 snaps, 6 targets and 4 catches for 66 yards.

Treylon Burks, Week 8 against PHI: 5 targets and 3 catches for 81 yards.

Their 2025 seasons

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.

In 2025, Treylon Burks played 8 games for WAS and scored 29.0 PPR points, 3.6 a game, finishing WR138.

He caught 10 of 22 targets for 130 yards and 1 touchdown, with 4 red zone targets and 96 air yards.

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

Their other Week 9 calls

• Start Darnell Mooney over Brian Thomas Jr..
• Start Brian Thomas Jr. over Ja'Kobi Lane.
• Start John Metchie III over Brian Thomas Jr..
• Start Ja'Kobi Lane over Treylon Burks.
• Start John Metchie III over Treylon Burks.
• Start Jordan Watkins over Treylon Burks.