Darren Waller or Oronde Gadsden: who to draft first

What the sportsbooks price

The player markets price Darren Waller at 5.6 PPR points a game, built from 3 markets across 14 books. That is the 163rd highest figure of the 182 players the books price.

The player markets price Oronde Gadsden at 4.4 PPR points a game, built from 3 markets across 14 books. That is the 168th highest figure of the 182 players the books price.

Where the draft room stands

Drafters have formed no consensus on Darren Waller: he carries no ADP, and the board ranks him 145th overall on the rest of his evidence.

Drafters have formed no consensus on Oronde Gadsden: he carries no ADP, and the board ranks him 152nd overall on the rest of his evidence.

This season through Week 1

Through Week 1, Darren Waller has been on the field for 35 percent of CAR snaps, drawn 6 percent of the targets and had 0 percent of the red zone chances.

He has taken 0 of the offence's 5 third down targets, had 0 of its 3 chances inside the five and seen 1 of its 3 two minute targets.

His 2 targets have averaged 4.0 air yards.

In Week 1 against CHI he caught 2 of 2 targets for 28 yards and did not score.

Through Week 1, Oronde Gadsden has been on the field for 18 percent of LAC snaps, drawn 7 percent of the targets and had 0 percent of the red zone chances.

He has taken 0 of the offence's 6 third down targets and seen 1 of its 1 two minute target.

His 2 targets have averaged 3.5 air yards.

In Week 1 against ARI he caught 2 of 2 targets for 32 yards and did not score.

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 Oronde Gadsden played 15 games and scored 131.4 PPR points, 8.8 a game, finishing TE15.

He caught 49 of 69 targets for 664 yards and 3 touchdowns, with 14 red zone targets.

That came to 4.6 targets a game, a 71 percent catch rate and 13.6 yards a catch.

He was on the field for 63 percent of the snaps in the games he played.

Oronde Gadsden was available for 6 games more.

Head to head

In 2025 Darren Waller scored 9.9 PPR points a game and Oronde Gadsden 8.8, 1.1 a game between them.

Darren Waller finished TE33 that year and Oronde Gadsden TE15.

Oronde Gadsden had 35 more targets than Darren Waller, 69 to 34.

Oronde Gadsden had 381 more receiving yards than Darren Waller, 664 to 283.

This season Darren Waller holds the bigger snap share, 35 percent against 18 percent.

This season Oronde Gadsden holds the bigger target share, 7 percent against 6 percent.

Byes and availability

Darren Waller is off in Week 5 and Oronde Gadsden in Week 7, so either can cover the other's bye.

What would change the answer

1.2 points a game is the entire case. The books restate it every week, and a line that moves moves the order with it.

The draft market is the half that is missing: when the consensus sample holds these two again it can order them differently from the price, and this page will follow the sample rather than the books when it does.