Start AJ Barner or Colby Parkinson? Week 9

Our Week 9 call

Start AJ Barner over Colby Parkinson in Week 9.

Market-based projections have AJ Barner at 6.9 points and Colby Parkinson at 5.3, a gap of 1.6. No player market is posted for Colby Parkinson this week yet, so his 5.3 is the average of his market-based projections in Weeks 6 and 7 (4.0 and 6.7); the call is rebuilt when his market posts.

What the market projects

Player markets imply 6.9 fantasy points for AJ Barner, with 100 percent of the markets a TE needs posted.

The market-based projection for AJ Barner is 25 receiving yards, 2-3 receptions and 0.3 touchdowns (7, 7 and 8 market sources).

No Week 9 player market is posted for Colby Parkinson yet. His market-based projections were 4.0 and 6.7 points in Weeks 6 and 7, an average of 5.4, which stands in until his Week 9 market posts.

The market-based projection for Colby Parkinson is 0.3 touchdowns (9 market sources).

That puts AJ Barner 1.6 points ahead of Colby Parkinson on these projections.

Week 9 matchups

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

ARI allowed 16.1 fantasy points a game to TEs this season over 8 games, the 9th most in the league.

Tight ends caught passes for 56 yards and 0.6 touchdowns a game against ARI.

Colby Parkinson and LAR visit WAS on Sunday at 1:00 PM ET.

WAS allowed 20.7 fantasy points a game to TEs this season over 7 games, the 2nd most in the league.

Tight ends caught passes for 75 yards and 1.1 touchdowns a game against WAS.

By points allowed to the position, Colby Parkinson has the softer matchup.

Injury status

AJ Barner is not on the injury report.

Colby Parkinson is listed as questionable with a ribs injury.

Usage before Week 9

Through Week 8, AJ Barner played 89 percent of SEA snaps, drew 14 percent of the targets, earned 4 percent of the air yards and had 12 percent of the red zone chances.

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.

AJ Barner, Week 8 against CHI: 60 of 63 snaps, 5 targets and 2 catches for 23 yards.

Through Week 7, Colby Parkinson played 63 percent of LAR snaps, drew 9 percent of the targets, earned 2 percent of the air yards and had 8 percent of the red zone chances.

Colby Parkinson, Week 3 against DEN: 37 of 86 snaps, 1 target and 0 catches for 0 yards.

Colby Parkinson, Week 5 against BUF: 53 of 82 snaps, 2 targets and 1 catch for 3 yards.

Colby Parkinson, Week 6 against ARI: 36 of 58 snaps, 6 targets and 5 catches for 31 yards, 1 touchdown.

Colby Parkinson, Week 7 against LV: 50 of 72 snaps, 6 targets and 5 catches for 48 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, Colby Parkinson played 15 games for LAR and scored 129.8 PPR points, 8.7 a game, finishing TE17.

He caught 43 of 56 targets for 408 yards and 8 touchdowns, with 20 red zone targets and 137 air yards.

He was on the field for 59 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 AJ Barner over Charlie Kolar.
• Start Charlie Kolar over Colby Parkinson.
• Start Chig Okonkwo over Colby Parkinson.
• Start Colby Parkinson over Eli Raridon.