Jake Ferguson or Xavier Worthy: Who Should You Start?

The call

• 17% target share on a 67% snap share is legitimate TE1 usage; he's the pass-catching hub at the position for Dallas, not a rotational piece.
• Reported injuries to Schoonmaker and Michael Trigg push even more snaps and routes his way, protecting his floor.
• Game script cooperates: a 1.5-point spread and a 25.0 implied team total mean Dallas throws in a competitive game rather than sitting on a lead.
• Risk is touchdown-dependence — at 9.8 projected points he's a floor start rather than a ceiling swing, so he's TE12-level rather than a set-and-forget top option.

The call

• The role is real but not big: WR-2 on the depth chart with a 71% snap share and only a 16% target share over 14 games — that is flex volume, not a locked-in starter's workload.
• The number backs that up. A 9.5-point projection and a WR49 consensus rank sit at or just below typical 12-team PPR replacement level, so he only gets in as a third or fourth receiver.
• Game script is neutral-to-thin: a 22.5 implied team total with a -2.5 spread points to a close, moderate-scoring game rather than the pass-heavy blowout chase that lifts a low-target-share deep threat.
• Yahoo Sports (2026-09-10) reported a shoulder issue but a full practice and no expected missed time, and the sheet lists no designation — health isn't the tiebreaker here. If your bench alternative is a locked-in target hog, sit him; if you need ceiling, the big-play role plays up.