Zachariah Branch · Zavion Thomas · 2026 week 1

Zachariah Branch or Zavion Thomas?

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

Start Zavion Thomas — barelyThis one is a coin flip — the projections are within 0.7 points. The matchup leans Zavion Thomas (CAR allow the 25th-most WR points), but you can defend either call.

Player	Wk 1	Proj (PPR)	Matchup	Form L3	Trade value	Status
Zachariah Branch	@ PIT	2.6	8th · soft	–	12	healthy
Zavion Thomas START	@ CAR	3.3	25th · tough	–	–	healthy

WRs vs PIT recently: Kalif Raymond 12.2 pts (W16) · Jerry Jeudy 5.4 pts (W17) · Zay Flowers 25.8 pts (W18).

WRs vs CAR recently: Mike Evans 9.1 pts (W16) · Jaxon Smith-Njigba 7.2 pts (W17) · Mike Evans 3.4 pts (W18).

Who wins a straight-up trade?

Zachariah Branch carries the higher trade value — 12 against 0. In a one-for-one, the side receiving Zachariah Branch gets the most.

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

More WR decisions

Zachariah Branch or Jerry Jeudy?Zachariah Branch or Chris Bell?Zachariah Branch or Cooper Kupp?

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.