Start Zay Flowers or Ladd McConkey? Week 9

Our Week 9 call

Start Zay Flowers over Ladd McConkey in Week 9.

Market-based projections have Zay Flowers at 9.4 points and Ladd McConkey at 10.1, a gap of 0.8. That is inside the noise of a single catch, so treat it as close to a coin flip. Zay Flowers still gets the call because it also weighs where drafters take each player, ADP 23 against 42, and that outweighs a gap this size.

What the market projects

Player markets imply 10.1 fantasy points for Ladd McConkey, with 100 percent of the markets a WR needs posted.

The market-based projection for Ladd McConkey is 49 receiving yards, 3-4 receptions and 0.3 touchdowns (7, 7 and 7 market sources).

Player markets imply 9.4 fantasy points for Zay Flowers, with 100 percent of the markets a WR needs posted.

The market-based projection for Zay Flowers is 44 receiving yards, 3-4 receptions and 0.2 touchdowns (12, 10 and 13 market sources).

That puts Ladd McConkey 0.8 points ahead of Zay Flowers on the market projections.

Week 9 matchups

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 4th most in the league.

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

Zay Flowers and BAL host JAX on Thursday at 8:15 PM ET.

JAX allowed 36.9 fantasy points a game to WRs this season over 7 games, the 6th most in the league.

Receivers caught passes for 196 yards and 0.6 touchdowns a game against JAX.

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

Injury status

Ladd McConkey is not on the injury report.

Zay Flowers is not on the injury report.

Usage before Week 9

Through Week 8, Ladd McConkey played 53 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: 55 of 61 snaps, 6 targets and 4 catches for 86 yards.

Through Week 8, Zay Flowers played 67 percent of BAL snaps, drew 30 percent of the targets, earned 33 percent of the air yards and had 11 percent of the red zone chances.

Zay Flowers, Week 5 against ATL: 62 of 76 snaps, 1 carry for 13 yards, 9 targets and 8 catches for 53 yards.

Zay Flowers, Week 6 against CLE: 50 of 57 snaps, 1 carry for 1 yards, 11 targets and 6 catches for 66 yards.

Zay Flowers, Week 7 against CIN: 57 of 67 snaps, 11 targets and 8 catches for 137 yards, 1 touchdown.

Zay Flowers, Week 8 against BUF: 42 of 51 snaps, 5 targets and 0 catches for 0 yards.

Their 2025 seasons

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.

In 2025, Zay Flowers played 17 games for BAL and scored 243.3 PPR points, 14.3 a game, finishing WR7.

He caught 86 of 118 targets for 1211 yards and 5 touchdowns, with 10 red zone targets and 753 air yards.

He was on the field for 86 percent of the offense's snaps in the games he played.

Their other Week 9 calls

• Start Ladd McConkey over Chris Godwin Jr..
• Start Ladd McConkey over Courtland Sutton.
• Start Ladd McConkey over Darius Cooper.
• Start Zay Flowers over Chris Godwin Jr..
• Start Zay Flowers over Courtland Sutton.
• Start Zay Flowers over Darius Cooper.