Two players, one answer.

AJ Barner vs Khalil Shakir

Any league · Week 8 start/sit · PPR

Stats through week 8 of 2026 (in progress)

AJ Barner · Khalil Shakir

Week 8 · PPR · 54% held up in 2025

A toss-up

On Sleeper's projections, Khalil Shakir is projected 0.8 points ahead of AJ Barner. In the 2025 season, a player projected that far ahead outscored the other 54% of the time. That's close to a coin flip: on these projections neither is the better start, and an injury report or a projection update before kickoff can tip it.

WR · BUF

Khalil Shakir

9.2 projected

vs BAL · Sun 1:00 PM ET

9.2 a game this season · last 3: 13.2, 11, 13.4

TE · SEA

AJ Barner

8.4 projected

vs CHI · Mon 8:15 PM ET

6.2 a game this season · last 3: 5, 4.6, 8.6

What the call rests on

  • Khalil Shakir: Sleeper's projection, last changed Fri, Oct 30, 6:00 PM ET
  • AJ Barner: Sleeper's projection, last changed Fri, Oct 30, 6:00 PM ET
  • Sleeper's projections read Fri, Oct 30, 6:02 PM ET.
  • Injury statuses read Fri, Oct 30, 6:02 PM ET, with the projections (hourly). A fresh projection time doesn't mean every status is: game-day inactives, about 90 minutes before kickoff, can come after it.
Same projections, scoredShakirBarner
PPR9.28.4
Half PPR7.36.8
Standard5.55.2

What could change it before kickoff

  • A projection update of 0.8 points or more in the other direction flips the call; Sleeper keeps adjusting its projections until kickoff, and this page reads them again at most an hour after it last did.
  • Khalil Shakir plays first (Sun 1:00 PM ET); once his game starts most platforms lock him in or out, before AJ Barner's late news is known.

Open in Who should I start (your league, more players)

This week’s projections are Sleeper’s, scored with PPR settings. The percentage is how often a projected gap like this held up across the 2025 season; checked against 2026 games (not used to fit it), the stated chances so far run a few points high, so read a 60% call as nearer 55%.