Start Josh Downs or Jaylen Waddle? Week 6

Our Week 6 call

Start Josh Downs over Jaylen Waddle in Week 6.

Market-based projections have Josh Downs at 11.7 points and Jaylen Waddle at 10.8, a gap of 0.9. That is inside the noise of a single catch, so treat it as close to a coin flip.

What the market projects

Player markets imply 11.7 fantasy points for Josh Downs, with 100 percent of the markets a WR needs posted.

The market-based projection for Josh Downs is 49 receiving yards, 4-5 receptions and 0.4 touchdowns (12, 10 and 13 market sources).

Player markets imply 10.8 fantasy points for Jaylen Waddle, with 100 percent of the markets a WR needs posted.

The market-based projection for Jaylen Waddle is 47 receiving yards, 4-5 receptions and 0.3 touchdowns (13, 11 and 12 market sources).

That puts Josh Downs 0.9 points ahead of Jaylen Waddle on the market projections.

Week 6 matchups

Jaylen Waddle and DEN host SEA on Thursday at 8:15 PM ET.

SEA allowed 24.3 fantasy points a game to WRs this season over 5 games, the 3rd fewest in the league.

Receivers caught passes for 109 yards and 0.8 touchdowns a game against SEA.

Injury status

Josh Downs is not on the injury report.

Jaylen Waddle is listed as questionable with a shoulder injury.

Usage before Week 6

Through Week 5, Josh Downs played 80 percent of IND snaps, drew 20 percent of the targets, earned 29 percent of the air yards and had 9 percent of the red zone chances.

Josh Downs, Week 2 against KC: 54 of 65 snaps, 9 targets and 7 catches for 72 yards.

Josh Downs, Week 3 against HOU: 48 of 71 snaps, 11 targets and 5 catches for 77 yards.

Josh Downs, Week 4 against WAS: 51 of 66 snaps, 4 targets and 3 catches for 16 yards.

Josh Downs, Week 5 against PIT: 60 of 71 snaps, 6 targets and 3 catches for 47 yards.

Through Week 5, Jaylen Waddle played 68 percent of DEN snaps, drew 21 percent of the targets, earned 35 percent of the air yards and had 8 percent of the red zone chances.

Jaylen Waddle, Week 2 against JAX: 38 of 62 snaps, 10 targets and 8 catches for 138 yards.

Jaylen Waddle, Week 3 against LAR: 49 of 67 snaps, 1 carry for 14 yards, 7 targets and 2 catches for 10 yards.

Jaylen Waddle, Week 4 against SF: 45 of 65 snaps, 6 targets and 5 catches for 35 yards, 1 touchdown.

Jaylen Waddle, Week 5 against LAC: 40 of 62 snaps, 1 carry for 9 yards, 5 targets and 2 catches for 19 yards.

Their 2025 seasons

In 2025, Josh Downs played 16 games for IND and scored 136.4 PPR points, 8.5 a game, finishing WR44.

He caught 58 of 88 targets for 566 yards and 4 touchdowns, with 14 red zone targets and 422 air yards.

He was on the field for 58 percent of the offense's snaps in the games he played.

In 2025, Jaylen Waddle played 16 games for MIA and scored 194.1 PPR points, 12.1 a game, finishing WR24.

He caught 64 of 100 targets for 910 yards and 6 touchdowns, with 11 red zone targets and 682 air yards.

He was on the field for 78 percent of the offense's snaps in the games he played.

Their other Week 6 calls

• Start Josh Downs over Adonai Mitchell.
• Start Carnell Tate over Josh Downs.
• Start Christian Watson over Josh Downs.
• Start Jaylen Waddle over Brian Thomas Jr..
• Start Carnell Tate over Jaylen Waddle.
• Start CeeDee Lamb over Jaylen Waddle.