Start Khalil Shakir or Courtland Sutton? Week 8

Updated Oct 27, 8:11 PM ET. Locks at kickoff, graded after. Week 9 answer posts Tuesday.

Start Courtland Sutton over Khalil Shakir

Sutton projects lower, 8.9 to 9.5, and still gets the call because it also weighs where drafters take each player: ADP 60 for Sutton, 103 for Shakir.

Start

Courtland Sutton

WR · DEN · vs KC

Market projects: 8.9; recent weeks avg
KC D vs WR: 23.7; 2nd fewest to WRs (2026)
Upside: Limited; 39 of 100 at WR
Snap share: 77%; Through Week 7
Target share: 17%; Through Week 7

Sit

Khalil Shakir

WR · BUF · vs BAL

Market projects: 9.5; fantasy pts
BAL D vs WR: 35.8; 7th most to WRs (2026)
Upside: High; 94 of 100 at WR
Snap share: 63%; Through Week 6
Target share: 20%; Through Week 6

Should I drop Courtland Sutton for Khalil Shakir?

Yes, on the rest of the season. Khalil Shakir projects 95 market-implied PPR points from Week 8 through Week 17 (9.5 a game over 10 games), Courtland Sutton 80 (8.9 a game over 9 games). For Week 8 the call starts Courtland Sutton over Khalil Shakir. So make the move after his Week 8 game.

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Our Week 8 call

Start Courtland Sutton over Khalil Shakir in Week 8.

Market-based projections have Courtland Sutton at 8.9 points and Khalil Shakir at 9.5, a gap of 0.7. That is inside the noise of a single catch, so treat it as close to a coin flip. Courtland Sutton still gets the call because it also weighs where drafters take each player, ADP 60 against 103, and that outweighs a gap this size. No player market is posted for Courtland Sutton this week yet, so his 8.9 is the average of his market-based projections in Weeks 5, 6 and 7 (9.4, 8.3 and 8.9); the call is rebuilt when his market posts.

What the market projects

Player markets imply 9.5 fantasy points for Khalil Shakir, with 100 percent of the markets a WR needs posted.

The market-based projection for Khalil Shakir is 39 receiving yards, 3-4 receptions and 0.3 touchdowns (8, 6 and 10 market sources).

No Week 8 player market is posted for Courtland Sutton yet. His market-based projections were 9.4, 8.3 and 8.9 points in Weeks 5, 6 and 7, an average of 8.9, which stands in until his Week 8 market posts.

The market-based projection for Courtland Sutton is 0.3 touchdowns (6 market sources).

That puts Khalil Shakir 0.7 points ahead of Courtland Sutton on these projections.

Week 8 matchups

Khalil Shakir and BUF host BAL on Sunday at 1:00 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.

Courtland Sutton and DEN host KC on Sunday at 4:25 PM ET.

KC allowed 23.7 fantasy points a game to WRs this season over 6 games, the 2nd fewest in the league.

Receivers caught passes for 122 yards and 0.2 touchdowns a game against KC.

By points allowed to the position, Khalil Shakir has the softer matchup.

Injury status

Khalil Shakir is not on the injury report.

Courtland Sutton is not on the injury report.

Usage before Week 8

Through Week 6, Khalil Shakir played 63 percent of BUF snaps, drew 20 percent of the targets, earned 13 percent of the air yards and had 11 percent of the red zone chances.

Khalil Shakir, Week 3 against LAC: 48 of 66 snaps, 3 targets and 1 catch for 6 yards.

Khalil Shakir, Week 4 against NE: 45 of 59 snaps, 8 targets and 7 catches for 82 yards.

Khalil Shakir, Week 5 against LAR: 44 of 64 snaps, 3 targets and 3 catches for 80 yards.

Khalil Shakir, Week 6 against LV: 41 of 68 snaps, 6 targets and 4 catches for 34 yards, 1 touchdown.

Through Week 7, Courtland Sutton played 77 percent of DEN snaps, drew 17 percent of the targets, earned 29 percent of the air yards and had 15 percent of the red zone chances.

Courtland Sutton, Week 4 against SF: 48 of 65 snaps, 6 targets and 1 catch for 4 yards.

Courtland Sutton, Week 5 against LAC: 50 of 62 snaps, 3 targets and 2 catches for 18 yards, 1 touchdown.

Courtland Sutton, Week 6 against SEA: 46 of 60 snaps, 3 targets and 2 catches for 19 yards.

Courtland Sutton, Week 7 against ARI: 43 of 61 snaps, 5 targets and 3 catches for 45 yards.

Their 2025 seasons

In 2025, Khalil Shakir played 16 games for BUF and scored 166.4 PPR points, 10.4 a game, finishing WR36.

He caught 72 of 95 targets for 719 yards and 4 touchdowns, with 13 red zone targets and 178 air yards.

He was on the field for 60 percent of the offense's snaps in the games he played.

In 2025, Courtland Sutton played 17 games for DEN and scored 219.7 PPR points, 12.9 a game, finishing WR13.

He caught 74 of 124 targets for 1017 yards and 7 touchdowns, with 17 red zone targets and 795 air yards.

He was on the field for 86 percent of the offense's snaps in the games he played.

Their other Week 8 calls

Locks at kickoff, graded after. When the start/sit engine grades week 8, the call and the result appear on the public record, wrong ones included.

Drop or keep

Should I drop Courtland Sutton for Khalil Shakir?
Yes, on the rest of the season. Khalil Shakir projects 95 market-implied PPR points from Week 8 through Week 17 (9.5 a game over 10 games), Courtland Sutton 80 (8.9 a game over 9 games). For Week 8 the call starts Courtland Sutton over Khalil Shakir. So make the move after his Week 8 game.
Should I drop Khalil Shakir for Courtland Sutton?
No. Keep Khalil Shakir: he projects 95 market-implied PPR points from Week 8 through Week 17 (9.5 a game over 10 games), Courtland Sutton 80 (8.9 a game over 9 games). For Week 8 the call starts Courtland Sutton over Khalil Shakir.

Should I drop Courtland Sutton?Should I drop Khalil Shakir?