Start Jalen Nailor or Darnell Mooney? Week 9

Our Week 9 call

Start Jalen Nailor over Darnell Mooney in Week 9.

Market-based projections have Jalen Nailor at 4.7 points and Darnell Mooney at 4.3, 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 Jalen Nailor this week yet, so his 4.7 is the average of his market-based projections in Weeks 6, 7 and 8 (5.8, 4.0 and 4.3); the call is rebuilt when his market posts. No player market is posted for Darnell Mooney this week yet, so his 4.3 is the average of his market-based projections in Weeks 6 and 7 (4.5 and 4.0); the call is rebuilt when his market posts.

What the market projects

No Week 9 player market is posted for Jalen Nailor yet. His market-based projections were 5.9, 4.0 and 4.3 points in Weeks 6, 7 and 8, an average of 4.7, which stands in until his Week 9 market posts.

No Week 9 player market is posted for Darnell Mooney yet. His market-based projections were 4.5 and 4.0 points in Weeks 6 and 7, an average of 4.3, which stands in until his Week 9 market posts.

That puts Jalen Nailor 0.5 points ahead of Darnell Mooney on these projections.

Week 9 matchups

Jalen Nailor and LV visit SF on Sunday at 4:25 PM ET.

SF allowed 29.1 fantasy points a game to WRs this season over 7 games, the 11th fewest in the league.

Receivers caught passes for 130 yards and 0.9 touchdowns a game against SF.

Darnell Mooney and NYG visit PHI on Sunday at 1:00 PM ET.

PHI allowed 39.4 fantasy points a game to WRs this season over 8 games, the 2nd most in the league.

Receivers caught passes for 183 yards and 1.3 touchdowns a game against PHI.

By points allowed to the position, Darnell Mooney has the softer matchup.

Injury status

Jalen Nailor is not on the injury report.

Darnell Mooney is not on the injury report.

Usage before Week 9

Through Week 8, Jalen Nailor played 54 percent of LV snaps, drew 10 percent of the targets, earned 13 percent of the air yards and had 5 percent of the red zone chances.

Jalen Nailor, Week 4 against KC: 19 of 84 snaps, 0 targets and 0 catches for 0 yards.

Jalen Nailor, Week 6 against BUF: 42 of 66 snaps, 4 targets and 1 catch for 9 yards.

Jalen Nailor, Week 7 against LAR: 51 of 68 snaps, 5 targets and 2 catches for 14 yards.

Jalen Nailor, Week 8 against NYJ: 29 of 63 snaps, 4 targets and 4 catches for 38 yards, 1 touchdown.

Through Week 7, Darnell Mooney played 55 percent of NYG snaps, drew 9 percent of the targets, earned 13 percent of the air yards and had 0 percent of the red zone chances.

Darnell Mooney, Week 4 against ARI: 37 of 67 snaps, 2 targets and 0 catches for 0 yards.

Darnell Mooney, Week 5 against WAS: 58 of 89 snaps, 7 targets and 2 catches for 14 yards.

Darnell Mooney, Week 6 against NO: 28 of 77 snaps, 1 carry for 20 yards, 2 targets and 0 catches for 0 yards.

Darnell Mooney, Week 7 against HOU: 36 of 66 snaps, 1 carry for 3 yards, 3 targets and 1 catch for 4 yards.

Their 2025 seasons

In 2025, Jalen Nailor played 17 games for MIN and scored 100.7 PPR points, 5.9 a game, finishing WR61.

He caught 29 of 53 targets for 444 yards and 4 touchdowns, with 11 red zone targets and 332 air yards.

He was on the field for 65 percent of the offense's snaps in the games he played.

In 2025, Darnell Mooney played 15 games for ATL and scored 82.3 PPR points, 5.5 a game, finishing WR79.

He caught 32 of 72 targets for 443 yards and 1 touchdown, with 7 red zone targets and 370 air yards.

He was on the field for 82 percent of the offense's snaps in the games he played.

Their other Week 9 calls

• Start Jalen Nailor over Adonai Mitchell.
• Start Efton Chism III over Jalen Nailor.
• Start Isaac TeSlaa over Jalen Nailor.
• Start Darnell Mooney over Brian Thomas Jr..
• Start Efton Chism III over Darnell Mooney.
• Start Isaac TeSlaa over Darnell Mooney.