Start AJ Barner or Charlie Kolar? Week 9

Our Week 9 call

Start AJ Barner over Charlie Kolar in Week 9.

Market-based projections have AJ Barner at 7.4 points and Charlie Kolar at 5.5, a gap of 1.8. No player market is posted for AJ Barner this week yet, so his 7.4 is the average of his market-based projections in Weeks 6, 7 and 8 (7.0, 7.0 and 8.2); the call is rebuilt when his market posts. No player market is posted for Charlie Kolar this week yet, so his 5.5 is the average of his market-based projections in Weeks 6 and 8 (5.8 and 5.3); the call is rebuilt when his market posts.

What the market projects

No Week 9 player market is posted for AJ Barner yet. His market-based projections were 7.0, 7.0 and 8.2 points in Weeks 6, 7 and 8, an average of 7.4, which stands in until his Week 9 market posts.

No Week 9 player market is posted for Charlie Kolar yet. His market-based projections were 5.8 and 5.3 points in Weeks 6 and 8, an average of 5.6, which stands in until his Week 9 market posts.

That puts AJ Barner 1.8 points ahead of Charlie Kolar on these projections.

Week 9 matchups

AJ Barner and SEA host ARI on Sunday at 4:25 PM ET.

ARI allowed 16.6 fantasy points a game to TEs this season over 7 games, the 7th most in the league.

Tight ends caught passes for 60 yards and 0.7 touchdowns a game against ARI.

Charlie Kolar and LAC host HOU on Sunday at 4:05 PM ET.

HOU allowed 10.1 fantasy points a game to TEs this season over 7 games, the 4th fewest in the league.

Tight ends caught passes for 46 yards and 0.1 touchdowns a game against HOU.

By points allowed to the position, AJ Barner has the softer matchup.

Injury status

AJ Barner is not on the injury report.

Charlie Kolar is not on the injury report.

Usage before Week 9

Through Week 7, AJ Barner played 88 percent of SEA snaps, drew 13 percent of the targets, earned 4 percent of the air yards and had 13 percent of the red zone chances.

AJ Barner, Week 4 against LAC: 54 of 60 snaps, 3 targets and 1 catch for 12 yards.

AJ Barner, Week 5 against SF: 60 of 63 snaps, 5 targets and 3 catches for 20 yards.

AJ Barner, Week 6 against DEN: 79 of 85 snaps, 4 targets and 3 catches for 16 yards.

AJ Barner, Week 7 against KC: 55 of 69 snaps, 3 carries for 4 yards, 5 targets and 4 catches for 42 yards.

Through Week 8, Charlie Kolar played 65 percent of LAC snaps, drew 12 percent of the targets, earned 9 percent of the air yards and had 7 percent of the red zone chances.

Charlie Kolar, Week 2 against LV: 42 of 68 snaps, 3 targets and 3 catches for 21 yards.

Charlie Kolar, Week 5 against DEN: 51 of 67 snaps, 4 targets and 3 catches for 37 yards.

Charlie Kolar, Week 6 against KC: 45 of 68 snaps, 6 targets and 3 catches for 20 yards.

Charlie Kolar, Week 8 against LAR: 4 targets and 1 catch for 20 yards.

Their 2025 seasons

In 2025, AJ Barner played 17 games for SEA and scored 147.3 PPR points, 8.7 a game, finishing TE14.

He caught 52 of 68 targets for 519 yards and 6 touchdowns, with 12 red zone targets and 248 air yards.

He was on the field for 78 percent of the offense's snaps in the games he played.

In 2025, Charlie Kolar played 17 games for BAL and scored 36.2 PPR points, 2.1 a game, finishing TE62.

He caught 10 of 15 targets for 142 yards and 2 touchdowns, with 3 red zone targets and 90 air yards.

He was on the field for 40 percent of the offense's snaps in the games he played.

Their other Week 9 calls

• Start Brenton Strange over AJ Barner.
• Start Cade Otton over AJ Barner.
• Start Chig Okonkwo over AJ Barner.
• Start Chig Okonkwo over Charlie Kolar.
• Start Charlie Kolar over Colby Parkinson.
• Start Dalton Schultz over Charlie Kolar.