Should I start Darren Waller or Mike Gesicki in Week 7?

The market-based projections

Darren Waller's market-based projection is 6.2 PPR points a game, built from 3 markets across 12 market sources. That is the 118th highest figure of the 215 players with a market-based projection.

Mike Gesicki's market-based projection is 6.2 PPR points a game, built from 3 markets across 13 market sources. That is the 119th highest figure of the 215 players with a market-based projection.

Where the draft room stands

Live drafts hold no current pick on Darren Waller, and the board ranks him 132nd overall on the rest of his evidence.

Live drafts hold no current pick on Mike Gesicki, and the board ranks him 133rd overall on the rest of his evidence.

This season so far

Through Week 6, Darren Waller has been on the field for 46 percent of CAR snaps, drawn 12 percent of the targets and had 8 percent of the red zone chances.

He has taken 7 of the offence's 40 third down targets, had 0 of its 11 chances inside the five and seen 7 of its 29 two minute targets.

His 21 targets have averaged 8.8 air yards.

In Week 3 against CLE he caught 5 of 8 targets for 51 yards and did not score.

In Week 4 against DET he caught 3 of 6 targets for 36 yards and did not score.

In Week 6 against PHI he caught 0 of 2 targets for 0 yards and did not score.

Through Week 5, Mike Gesicki has been on the field for 46 percent of CIN snaps, drawn 9 percent of the targets and had 8 percent of the red zone chances.

He has taken 4 of the offence's 46 third down targets, had 3 of its 12 chances inside the five and seen 8 of its 33 two minute targets.

His 17 targets have averaged 10.4 air yards.

In Week 3 against PIT he caught 3 of 3 targets for 37 yards and scored 1 touchdown.

In Week 4 against JAX he caught 3 of 5 targets for 40 yards and scored 1 touchdown.

In Week 5 against MIA he caught 1 of 2 targets for 4 yards and scored 1 touchdown.

Their 2025 seasons

In 2025 Darren Waller played 9 games and scored 88.7 PPR points, 9.9 a game, finishing TE33.

He caught 24 of 34 targets for 283 yards and 6 touchdowns, with 7 red zone targets.

That came to 3.8 targets a game, a 71 percent catch rate and 11.8 yards a catch.

He was on the field for 45 percent of the snaps in the games he played.

In 2025 Mike Gesicki played 13 games and scored 70.7 PPR points, 5.4 a game, finishing TE41.

He caught 28 of 42 targets for 307 yards and 2 touchdowns, with 7 red zone targets.

That came to 3.2 targets a game, a 67 percent catch rate and 11.0 yards a catch.

He was on the field for 38 percent of the snaps in the games he played.

Mike Gesicki was available for 4 games more.

Head to head

In 2025 Darren Waller scored 9.9 PPR points a game and Mike Gesicki 5.4, 4.4 a game between them.

Darren Waller finished TE33 that year and Mike Gesicki TE41.

Mike Gesicki had 8 more targets than Darren Waller, 42 to 34.

Mike Gesicki had 24 more receiving yards than Darren Waller, 307 to 283.

Their snap share this season is the same, 46 percent each.

This season Darren Waller holds the bigger target share, 12 percent against 9 percent.

Byes and availability

Darren Waller is off in Week 5 and Mike Gesicki in Week 6, so either can cover the other's bye.

What would change the answer

The market has them level, so the first line that moves is the whole answer.

The draft market is the half that is missing: when live drafts hold these two again they can order them differently from the projection, and this page will follow the drafts rather than the market-based projection when they do.