Start Brian Thomas Jr. or Xavier Hutchinson? Week 9
Updated Nov 3, 4:41 AM ET. Locks at kickoff, graded after. Week 10 answer posts Tuesday.
Start Xavier Hutchinson over Brian Thomas Jr.
- Market projects
- 3.7
- recent weeks avg
- LAC D vs WR
- 30.3
- 16th fewest to WRs (2026)
- Snap share
- 55%
- Through Week 7
- Target share
- 17%
- Through Week 7
- Market projects
- 3.5
- fantasy pts
- BAL D vs WR
- 35.0
- 8th most to WRs (2026)
- Snap share
- 52%
- Through Week 8
- Target share
- 12%
- Through Week 8
Should I drop Xavier Hutchinson for Brian Thomas Jr.?
Yes, on the rest of the season. Brian Thomas Jr. projects 59 market-implied PPR points from Week 9 through Week 17 (6.5 a game over 9 games), Xavier Hutchinson 34 (3.8 a game over 9 games). For Week 9 the call starts Xavier Hutchinson over Brian Thomas Jr. So make the move after his Week 9 game.
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Our Week 9 call
Start Xavier Hutchinson over Brian Thomas Jr. in Week 9.
Market-based projections have Xavier Hutchinson at 3.7 points and Brian Thomas Jr. at 3.5, a gap of 0.2. That is inside the noise of a single catch, so treat it as close to a coin flip. No player market is posted for Xavier Hutchinson this week yet, so his 3.7 is the average of his market-based projections in Weeks 6 and 7 (3.7 and 3.7); the call is rebuilt when his market posts.
What the market projects
No Week 9 player market is posted for Xavier Hutchinson yet. His market-based projections were 3.7 and 3.7 points in Weeks 6 and 7, an average of 3.7, 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 Xavier Hutchinson 0.2 points ahead of Brian Thomas Jr. on these projections.
Week 9 matchups
Xavier Hutchinson and HOU visit LAC on Sunday at 4:05 PM ET.
LAC allowed 30.3 fantasy points a game to WRs this season over 7 games, the 16th fewest in the league.
Receivers caught passes for 133 yards and 0.9 touchdowns a game against LAC.
Brian Thomas Jr. and JAX visit BAL on Thursday at 8:15 PM ET.
BAL allowed 35.0 fantasy points a game to WRs this season over 8 games, the 8th most in the league.
Receivers caught passes for 178 yards and 0.6 touchdowns a game against BAL.
By points allowed to the position, Brian Thomas Jr. has the softer matchup.
Injury status
Xavier Hutchinson is not on the injury report.
Brian Thomas Jr. is not on the injury report.
Usage before Week 9
Through Week 7, Xavier Hutchinson played 55 percent of HOU snaps, drew 17 percent of the targets, earned 20 percent of the air yards and had 8 percent of the red zone chances.
Xavier Hutchinson, Week 4 against DAL: 17 of 55 snaps, 5 targets and 3 catches for 46 yards.
Xavier Hutchinson, Week 5 against TEN: 27 of 66 snaps, 5 targets and 4 catches for 65 yards.
Xavier Hutchinson, Week 6 against JAX: 34 of 63 snaps, 3 targets and 2 catches for 10 yards.
Xavier Hutchinson, Week 7 against NYG: 34 of 61 snaps, 2 carries for 12 yards, 6 targets and 3 catches for 17 yards, 1 touchdown.
Through Week 8, Brian Thomas Jr. played 52 percent of JAX snaps, 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: 28 of 54 snaps, 2 targets and 1 catch for 12 yards, 1 touchdown.
Their 2025 seasons
In 2025, Xavier Hutchinson played 17 games for HOU and scored 98.0 PPR points, 5.8 a game, finishing WR64.
He caught 35 of 57 targets for 428 yards and 3 touchdowns, with 6 red zone targets and 282 air yards.
He was on the field for 57 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
Locks at kickoff, graded after. When the start/sit engine grades week 9, the call and the result appear on the public record, wrong ones included.
Drop or keep
Should I drop Xavier Hutchinson for Brian Thomas Jr.?
Yes, on the rest of the season. Brian Thomas Jr. projects 59 market-implied PPR points from Week 9 through Week 17 (6.5 a game over 9 games), Xavier Hutchinson 34 (3.8 a game over 9 games). For Week 9 the call starts Xavier Hutchinson over Brian Thomas Jr. So make the move after his Week 9 game.
Should I drop Brian Thomas Jr. for Xavier Hutchinson?
No. Keep Brian Thomas Jr.: he projects 59 market-implied PPR points from Week 9 through Week 17 (6.5 a game over 9 games), Xavier Hutchinson 34 (3.8 a game over 9 games). For Week 9 the call starts Xavier Hutchinson over Brian Thomas Jr.
Should I drop Brian Thomas Jr.?
Week 9 on the board
- Is Brian Thomas Jr. playing Week 9?
- Is Xavier Hutchinson playing Week 9?
- Jaguars depth chart
- Texans depth chart
- Week 9 WR rankings
- Week 9 fantasy rankings
- Week 9 start or sit
- Week 9 waiver wire
- Week 9 trade value chart
- Trade deadline buy low, sell high
- Fantasy football rankings
- Start 'em sit 'em Week 9
- Waiver wire pickups
- Fantasy sleepers
- Rest of season rankings
- Week 9 kicker rankings
- Week 9 defense rankings