Start Tee Higgins or George Pickens? Week 9

Our Week 9 call

Start George Pickens over Tee Higgins in Week 9.

Market-based projections have George Pickens at 14.6 points and Tee Higgins at 16.3, a gap of 1.7. George Pickens still gets the call because it also weighs where drafters take each player, ADP 20 against 37, and that outweighs a gap this size. No player market is posted for George Pickens this week yet, so his 14.6 is the average of his market-based projections in Weeks 6, 7 and 8 (15.4, 13.6 and 14.8); the call is rebuilt when his market posts.

What the market projects

Player markets imply 16.3 fantasy points for Tee Higgins, with 100 percent of the markets a WR needs posted.

The market-based projection for Tee Higgins is 73 receiving yards, 5-6 receptions and 0.6 touchdowns (8, 8 and 7 market sources).

No Week 9 player market is posted for George Pickens yet. His market-based projections were 15.4, 13.6 and 14.8 points in Weeks 6, 7 and 8, an average of 14.6, which stands in until his Week 9 market posts.

The market-based projection for George Pickens is 0.7 touchdowns (5 market sources).

That puts Tee Higgins 1.7 points ahead of George Pickens on these projections.

Week 9 matchups

Tee Higgins and CIN visit ATL on Sunday at 9:30 AM ET.

ATL allowed 30.1 fantasy points a game to WRs this season over 8 games, the 15th fewest in the league.

Receivers caught passes for 149 yards and 0-1 touchdowns a game against ATL.

George Pickens and DAL visit IND on Sunday at 1:00 PM ET.

IND allowed 27.4 fantasy points a game to WRs this season over 8 games, the 6th fewest in the league.

Receivers caught passes for 130 yards and 0.8 touchdowns a game against IND.

By points allowed to the position, Tee Higgins has the softer matchup.

Injury status

Tee Higgins is not on the injury report.

George Pickens is not on the injury report.

Usage before Week 9

Through Week 8, Tee Higgins played 80 percent of CIN snaps, drew 23 percent of the targets, earned 41 percent of the air yards and had 7 percent of the red zone chances.

Tee Higgins, Week 4 against JAX: 60 of 76 snaps, 16 targets and 11 catches for 157 yards.

Tee Higgins, Week 5 against MIA: 45 of 65 snaps, 4 targets and 2 catches for 22 yards.

Tee Higgins, Week 7 against BAL: 46 of 53 snaps, 7 targets and 6 catches for 148 yards, 1 touchdown.

Tee Higgins, Week 8 against TEN: 65 of 74 snaps, 11 targets and 10 catches for 155 yards, 2 touchdowns.

Through Week 8, George Pickens played 78 percent of DAL snaps, drew 21 percent of the targets, earned 31 percent of the air yards and had 7 percent of the red zone chances.

George Pickens, Week 5 against TB: 53 of 60 snaps, 13 targets and 9 catches for 130 yards, 1 touchdown.

George Pickens, Week 6 against GB: 69 of 78 snaps, 11 targets and 6 catches for 73 yards.

George Pickens, Week 7 against PHI: 41 of 68 snaps, 6 targets and 4 catches for 57 yards, 1 touchdown.

George Pickens, Week 8 against ARI: 42 of 74 snaps, 4 targets and 2 catches for 48 yards.

Their 2025 seasons

In 2025, Tee Higgins played 15 games for CIN and scored 211.6 PPR points, 14.1 a game, finishing WR15.

He caught 59 of 98 targets for 846 yards and 11 touchdowns, with 14 red zone targets and 680 air yards.

He was on the field for 80 percent of the offense's snaps in the games he played.

In 2025, George Pickens played 17 games for DAL and scored 291.9 PPR points, 17.2 a game, finishing WR5.

He caught 93 of 137 targets for 1429 yards and 9 touchdowns, with 21 red zone targets and 950 air yards.

He was on the field for 83 percent of the offense's snaps in the games he played.

Their other Week 9 calls

• Start Amon-Ra St. Brown over Tee Higgins.
• Start CeeDee Lamb over Tee Higgins.
• Start Chris Olave over Tee Higgins.
• Start George Pickens over A.J. Brown.
• Start Chris Olave over George Pickens.
• Start George Pickens over Christian Watson.