Start Keenan Allen or Ladd McConkey? Week 9

Our Week 9 call

Start Ladd McConkey over Keenan Allen in Week 9.

Market-based projections have Ladd McConkey at 9.6 points and Keenan Allen at 10.2, a gap of 0.5. That is inside the noise of a single catch, so treat it as close to a coin flip. Ladd McConkey still gets the call because it also weighs where drafters take each player, ADP 42 against 142, and that outweighs a gap this size. No player market is posted for Ladd McConkey this week yet, so his 9.6 is the average of his market-based projections in Weeks 6 and 8 (9.0 and 10.3); the call is rebuilt when his market posts. No player market is posted for Keenan Allen this week yet, so his 10.2 is the average of his market-based projections in Weeks 6, 7 and 8 (11.2, 10.1 and 9.2); the call is rebuilt when his market posts.

What the market projects

No Week 9 player market is posted for Keenan Allen yet. His market-based projections were 11.2, 10.1 and 9.2 points in Weeks 6, 7 and 8, an average of 10.2, which stands in until his Week 9 market posts.

No Week 9 player market is posted for Ladd McConkey yet. His market-based projections were 9.0 and 10.3 points in Weeks 6 and 8, an average of 9.6, which stands in until his Week 9 market posts.

That puts Keenan Allen 0.5 points ahead of Ladd McConkey on these projections.

Week 9 matchups

Keenan Allen and IND host DAL on Sunday at 1:00 PM ET.

DAL allowed 35.5 fantasy points a game to WRs this season over 7 games, the 10th most in the league.

Receivers caught passes for 163 yards and a touchdown a game against DAL.

Ladd McConkey and LAC host HOU on Sunday at 4:05 PM ET.

HOU allowed 37.3 fantasy points a game to WRs this season over 7 games, the 5th most in the league.

Receivers caught passes for 187 yards and 0.9 touchdowns a game against HOU.

By points allowed to the position, Ladd McConkey has the softer matchup.

Injury status

Keenan Allen is not on the injury report.

Ladd McConkey is not on the injury report.

Usage before Week 9

Through Week 8, Keenan Allen played 60 percent of IND snaps, drew 22 percent of the targets, earned 20 percent of the air yards and had 7 percent of the red zone chances.

Keenan Allen, Week 5 against PIT: 32 of 71 snaps, 9 targets and 5 catches for 45 yards.

Keenan Allen, Week 6 against TEN: 59 of 83 snaps, 11 targets and 8 catches for 82 yards.

Keenan Allen, Week 7 against MIN: 30 of 58 snaps, 3 targets and 3 catches for 31 yards.

Keenan Allen, Week 8 against JAX: 7 targets and 7 catches for 67 yards.

Through Week 8, Ladd McConkey played 46 percent of LAC snaps, drew 13 percent of the targets, earned 21 percent of the air yards and had 4 percent of the red zone chances.

Ladd McConkey, Week 3 against BUF: 61 of 69 snaps, 5 targets and 4 catches for 66 yards.

Ladd McConkey, Week 4 against SEA: 24 of 71 snaps, 2 targets and 0 catches for 0 yards.

Ladd McConkey, Week 6 against KC: 8 of 68 snaps, 1 target and 1 catch for 17 yards.

Ladd McConkey, Week 8 against LAR: 6 targets and 4 catches for 86 yards.

Their 2025 seasons

In 2025, Keenan Allen played 17 games for LAC and scored 182.7 PPR points, 10.7 a game, finishing WR29.

He caught 81 of 122 targets for 777 yards and 4 touchdowns, with 15 red zone targets and 546 air yards.

He was on the field for 55 percent of the offense's snaps in the games he played.

In 2025, Ladd McConkey played 16 games for LAC and scored 180.9 PPR points, 11.3 a game, finishing WR30.

He caught 66 of 106 targets for 789 yards and 6 touchdowns, with 14 red zone targets and 479 air yards.

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

Their other Week 9 calls

• Start Chris Godwin Jr. over Keenan Allen.
• Start Courtland Sutton over Keenan Allen.
• Start Keenan Allen over Denzel Boston.
• Start Ladd McConkey over Chris Godwin Jr..
• Start Ladd McConkey over Courtland Sutton.
• Start Ladd McConkey over Darius Cooper.