Start Luther Burden III or Tetairoa McMillan? Week 9

Our Week 9 call

Start Tetairoa McMillan over Luther Burden III in Week 9.

Market-based projections have Tetairoa McMillan at 14.6 points and Luther Burden III at 14.8, a gap of 0.3. That is inside the noise of a single catch, so treat it as close to a coin flip. Tetairoa McMillan still gets the call because it also weighs where drafters take each player, ADP 30 against 51, and that outweighs a gap this size.

What the market projects

Player markets imply 14.8 fantasy points for Luther Burden III, with 100 percent of the markets a WR needs posted.

The market-based projection for Luther Burden III is 67 receiving yards, 5-6 receptions and 0-1 touchdowns (10, 8 and 8 market sources).

Player markets imply 14.6 fantasy points for Tetairoa McMillan, with 100 percent of the markets a WR needs posted.

The market-based projection for Tetairoa McMillan is 67 receiving yards, 5-6 receptions and 0.4 touchdowns (11, 10 and 12 market sources).

That puts Luther Burden III 0.3 points ahead of Tetairoa McMillan on the market projections.

Week 9 matchups

Luther Burden III and CHI host TB on Sunday at 8:20 PM ET.

TB allowed 28.0 fantasy points a game to WRs this season over 8 games, the 8th fewest in the league.

Receivers caught passes for 131 yards and 0.6 touchdowns a game against TB.

Tetairoa McMillan 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.

By points allowed to the position, Luther Burden III has the softer matchup.

Injury status

Luther Burden III is not on the injury report.

Tetairoa McMillan is not on the injury report.

Usage before Week 9

Through Week 8, Luther Burden III played 61 percent of CHI snaps, drew 20 percent of the targets, earned 13 percent of the air yards and had 14 percent of the red zone chances.

Luther Burden III, Week 7 against NE: 42 of 69 snaps, 1 carry for 7 yards, 4 targets and 4 catches for 130 yards, 1 touchdown.

Luther Burden III, Week 8 against SEA: 9 targets and 7 catches for 56 yards, 1 touchdown.

Through Week 8, Tetairoa McMillan played 83 percent of CAR snaps, drew 26 percent of the targets, earned 31 percent of the air yards and had 11 percent of the red zone chances.

Tetairoa McMillan, Week 4 against DET: 67 of 75 snaps, 16 targets and 14 catches for 192 yards, 2 touchdowns.

Tetairoa McMillan, Week 6 against PHI: 60 of 79 snaps, 9 targets and 6 catches for 86 yards.

Tetairoa McMillan, Week 7 against TB: 38 of 56 snaps, 6 targets and 4 catches for 40 yards.

Tetairoa McMillan, Week 8 against GB: 65 of 73 snaps, 11 targets and 6 catches for 58 yards.

Their 2025 seasons

In 2025, Luther Burden III played 15 games for CHI and scored 127.9 PPR points, 8.5 a game, finishing WR48.

He caught 47 of 60 targets for 652 yards and 2 touchdowns, with 4 red zone targets and 318 air yards.

He was on the field for 39 percent of the offense's snaps in the games he played.

Luther Burden III, Week 18 of 2025 against DET: 1 carry for 10 yards, 4 targets and 3 catches for 35 yards, 7.5 PPR points.

In 2025, Tetairoa McMillan played 17 games for CAR and scored 211.4 PPR points, 12.4 a game, finishing WR16.

He caught 70 of 122 targets for 1014 yards and 7 touchdowns, with 15 red zone targets and 745 air yards.

He was on the field for 87 percent of the offense's snaps in the games he played.

Their other Week 9 calls

• Start Luther Burden III over A.J. Brown.
• Start Chris Olave over Luther Burden III.
• Start Luther Burden III over Christian Watson.
• Start Tetairoa McMillan over A.J. Brown.
• Start CeeDee Lamb over Tetairoa McMillan.
• Start Chris Olave over Tetairoa McMillan.