Start Cooper Kupp or Tez Johnson? Week 9

Our Week 9 call

Start Tez Johnson over Cooper Kupp in Week 9.

Market-based projections have Tez Johnson at 6.8 points and Cooper Kupp at 6.5, a gap of 0.4. That is inside the noise of a single catch, so treat it as close to a coin flip. No player market is posted for Tez Johnson this week yet, so his 6.8 is the average of his market-based projections in Weeks 7 and 8 (6.6 and 7.1); the call is rebuilt when his market posts. No player market is posted for Cooper Kupp this week yet, so his 6.5 is the average of his market-based projections in Weeks 6, 7 and 8 (6.0, 6.3 and 7.1); the call is rebuilt when his market posts.

What the market projects

No Week 9 player market is posted for Tez Johnson yet. His market-based projections were 6.6 and 7.1 points in Weeks 7 and 8, an average of 6.8, which stands in until his Week 9 market posts.

No Week 9 player market is posted for Cooper Kupp yet. His market-based projections were 6.0, 6.3 and 7.1 points in Weeks 6, 7 and 8, an average of 6.5, which stands in until his Week 9 market posts.

That puts Tez Johnson 0.4 points ahead of Cooper Kupp on these projections.

Week 9 matchups

Tez Johnson and TB visit CHI on Sunday at 8:20 PM ET.

CHI allowed 30.5 fantasy points a game to WRs this season over 8 games, the 16th most in the league.

Receivers caught passes for 150 yards and a touchdown a game against CHI.

Cooper Kupp and SEA host ARI on Sunday at 4:25 PM ET.

ARI allowed 33.5 fantasy points a game to WRs this season over 8 games, the 13th most in the league.

Receivers caught passes for 152 yards and 1.4 touchdowns a game against ARI.

By points allowed to the position, Cooper Kupp has the softer matchup.

Injury status

Tez Johnson is not on the injury report.

Cooper Kupp is not on the injury report.

Usage before Week 9

Through Week 8, Tez Johnson played 39 percent of TB snaps, drew 7 percent of the targets, earned 19 percent of the air yards and had 5 percent of the red zone chances.

Tez Johnson, Week 5 against DAL: 28 of 72 snaps, 1 target and 1 catch for 64 yards.

Tez Johnson, Week 6 against PIT: 25 of 74 snaps, 3 targets and 2 catches for 7 yards.

Tez Johnson, Week 7 against CAR: 41 of 63 snaps, 1 carry for 14 yards, 2 targets and 2 catches for 33 yards, 1 touchdown.

Tez Johnson, Week 8 against ATL: 25 of 60 snaps, 0 targets and 0 catches for 0 yards.

Through Week 8, Cooper Kupp played 68 percent of SEA snaps, drew 12 percent of the targets, earned 14 percent of the air yards and had 7 percent of the red zone chances.

Cooper Kupp, Week 5 against SF: 51 of 63 snaps, 3 targets and 2 catches for 15 yards.

Cooper Kupp, Week 6 against DEN: 72 of 85 snaps, 10 targets and 5 catches for 50 yards.

Cooper Kupp, Week 7 against KC: 45 of 69 snaps, 2 targets and 2 catches for 20 yards.

Cooper Kupp, Week 8 against CHI: 3 targets and 1 catch for 7 yards, 1 touchdown.

Their 2025 seasons

In 2025, Tez Johnson played 16 games for TB and scored 92.4 PPR points, 5.8 a game, finishing WR67.

He caught 28 of 44 targets for 322 yards and 5 touchdowns, with 4 red zone targets and 212 air yards.

He was on the field for 47 percent of the offense's snaps in the games he played.

In 2025, Cooper Kupp played 16 games for SEA and scored 117.3 PPR points, 7.3 a game, finishing WR53.

He caught 47 of 70 targets for 593 yards and 2 touchdowns, with 12 red zone targets and 300 air yards.

He was on the field for 76 percent of the offense's snaps in the games he played.

Their other Week 9 calls

• Start Tez Johnson over Adonai Mitchell.
• Start Courtland Sutton over Tez Johnson.
• Start Darius Cooper over Tez Johnson.
• Start Cooper Kupp over Adonai Mitchell.
• Start Darius Cooper over Cooper Kupp.
• Start DeMario Douglas over Cooper Kupp.