Emari Demercado · Tahj Brooks · 2026 week 1

Emari Demercado or Tahj Brooks?

Wondering who you should start this week — Emari Demercado or Tahj Brooks? The start/sit call and the numbers behind it are below, plus who wins a straight-up trade. Rebuilt nightly.

Start Emari Demercado — barelyThis one is a coin flip — the projections are within 1.4 points. The matchup leans Emari Demercado (IND allow the 22nd-most RB points), but you can defend either call.

Player	Wk 1	Proj (PPR)	Matchup	Form L3	Trade value	Status
Emari Demercado START	vs IND	2.6	22nd	4.6	–	healthy
Tahj Brooks	vs TB	1.2	16th	1.4	–	healthy

RBs vs IND recently: Christian McCaffrey 26.6 pts (W16) · Travis Etienne 9.2 pts (W17) · British Brooks 6.3 pts (W18).

RBs vs TB recently: Rico Dowdle 4.3 pts (W16) · De'Von Achane 11.2 pts (W17) · Chuba Hubbard 1.7 pts (W18).

Who wins a straight-up trade?

Their trade values are effectively even — a one-for-one is a fair swap on the numbers.

Open in Start/Sit (any scoring) Open in the Trade Analyzer

More RB decisions

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Game logs, matchup ranks and form are the 2025 season — 2026 hasn’t kicked off. Projections, schedule and trade values are current 2026 numbers, refreshed nightly.