Start Xavier Worthy or Jalen Coker? Week 9

Our Week 9 call

Start Jalen Coker over Xavier Worthy in Week 9.

Market-based projections have Jalen Coker at 11.8 points and Xavier Worthy at 10.5, a gap of 1.3. 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 Worthy this week yet, so his 10.5 is the average of his market-based projections in Weeks 6, 7 and 8 (12.0, 11.4 and 8.0); the call is rebuilt when his market posts. Drafters take Jalen Coker at ADP 126 and Xavier Worthy at 109.

What the market projects

Player markets imply 11.8 fantasy points for Jalen Coker, with 100 percent of the markets a WR needs posted.

The market-based projection for Jalen Coker is 51 receiving yards, 4-5 receptions and 0.4 touchdowns (3, 3 and 6 market sources).

No Week 9 player market is posted for Xavier Worthy yet. His market-based projections were 12.0, 11.4 and 8.0 points in Weeks 6, 7 and 8, an average of 10.5, which stands in until his Week 9 market posts.

That puts Jalen Coker 1.3 points ahead of Xavier Worthy on these projections.

Week 9 matchups

Jalen Coker and CAR host DEN on Sunday at 1:00 PM ET.

DEN allowed 27.9 fantasy points a game to WRs this season over 8 games, the 7th fewest in the league.

Receivers caught passes for 130 yards and 0-1 touchdowns a game against DEN.

Xavier Worthy and KC host NYJ on Sunday at 1:00 PM ET.

NYJ allowed 28.5 fantasy points a game to WRs this season over 8 games, the 9th fewest in the league.

Receivers caught passes for 121 yards and 1.1 touchdowns a game against NYJ.

By points allowed to the position, Xavier Worthy has the softer matchup.

Injury status

Jalen Coker is not on the injury report.

Xavier Worthy is not on the injury report.

Usage before Week 9

Through Week 8, Jalen Coker played 70 percent of CAR snaps, drew 21 percent of the targets, earned 25 percent of the air yards and had 11 percent of the red zone chances.

Jalen Coker, Week 3 against CLE: 28 of 77 snaps, 4 targets and 2 catches for 18 yards.

Jalen Coker, Week 6 against PHI: 59 of 79 snaps, 13 targets and 6 catches for 97 yards.

Jalen Coker, Week 7 against TB: 37 of 56 snaps, 4 targets and 1 catch for 9 yards.

Jalen Coker, Week 8 against GB: 63 of 73 snaps, 5 targets and 2 catches for 35 yards, 1 touchdown.

Through Week 8, Xavier Worthy played 84 percent of KC snaps, drew 19 percent of the targets, earned 26 percent of the air yards and had 9 percent of the red zone chances.

Xavier Worthy, Week 4 against LV: 45 of 60 snaps, 7 targets and 4 catches for 70 yards.

Xavier Worthy, Week 6 against LAC: 51 of 61 snaps, 7 targets and 7 catches for 73 yards.

Xavier Worthy, Week 7 against SEA: 46 of 53 snaps, 6 targets and 3 catches for 11 yards.

Xavier Worthy, Week 8 against DEN: 65 of 69 snaps, 6 targets and 3 catches for 13 yards.

Their 2025 seasons

In 2025, Jalen Coker played 11 games for CAR and scored 90.4 PPR points, 8.2 a game, finishing WR69.

He caught 33 of 43 targets for 394 yards and 3 touchdowns, with 3 red zone targets and 292 air yards.

He was on the field for 68 percent of the offense's snaps in the games he played.

In 2025, Xavier Worthy played 14 games for KC and scored 109.9 PPR points, 7.9 a game, finishing WR59.

He caught 42 of 73 targets for 532 yards and 1 touchdown, with 6 red zone targets and 339 air yards.

He was on the field for 70 percent of the offense's snaps in the games he played.

Their other Week 9 calls

• Start Jalen Coker over A.J. Brown.
• Start Christian Watson over Jalen Coker.
• Start Jalen Coker over Devaughn Vele.
• Start Xavier Worthy over Denzel Boston.
• Start Xavier Worthy over Devaughn Vele.
• Start DJ Moore over Xavier Worthy.