Start AJ Barner or Dalton Schultz? Week 9

Our Week 9 call

Start Dalton Schultz over AJ Barner in Week 9.

Market-based projections have Dalton Schultz at 8.0 points and AJ Barner at 7.4, a gap of 0.6. That is inside the noise of a single catch, so treat it as close to a coin flip. No player market is posted for Dalton Schultz this week yet, so his 8.0 is the average of his market-based projections in Weeks 6 and 7 (7.9 and 8.1); the call is rebuilt when his market posts. 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.

What the market projects

No Week 9 player market is posted for Dalton Schultz yet. His market-based projections were 7.9 and 8.1 points in Weeks 6 and 7, an average of 8.0, which stands in until his Week 9 market posts.

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.

That puts Dalton Schultz 0.6 points ahead of AJ Barner on these projections.

Week 9 matchups

Dalton Schultz and HOU visit LAC on Sunday at 4:05 PM ET.

LAC allowed 11.1 fantasy points a game to TEs this season over 6 games, the 10th fewest in the league.

Tight ends caught passes for 58 yards and 0.2 touchdowns a game against LAC.

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.

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

Injury status

Dalton Schultz is not on the injury report.

AJ Barner is not on the injury report.

Usage before Week 9

Through Week 7, Dalton Schultz played 58 percent of HOU snaps, drew 19 percent of the targets, earned 11 percent of the air yards and had 8 percent of the red zone chances.

Dalton Schultz, Week 4 against DAL: 35 of 55 snaps, 2 targets and 2 catches for 9 yards.

Dalton Schultz, Week 5 against TEN: 34 of 66 snaps, 4 targets and 3 catches for 30 yards.

Dalton Schultz, Week 6 against JAX: 25 of 63 snaps, 6 targets and 4 catches for 33 yards.

Dalton Schultz, Week 7 against NYG: 35 of 61 snaps, 6 targets and 5 catches for 45 yards.

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.

Their 2025 seasons

In 2025, Dalton Schultz played 17 games for HOU and scored 177.7 PPR points, 10.5 a game, finishing TE10.

He caught 82 of 106 targets for 777 yards and 3 touchdowns, with 11 red zone targets and 419 air yards.

He was on the field for 72 percent of the offense's snaps in the games he played.

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.

Their other Week 9 calls

• Start Brenton Strange over Dalton Schultz.
• Start Cade Otton over Dalton Schultz.
• Start Dalton Schultz over Charlie Kolar.
• Start Brenton Strange over AJ Barner.
• Start Cade Otton over AJ Barner.
• Start AJ Barner over Charlie Kolar.