Start Darren Waller or AJ Barner? Week 8

Our Week 8 call

Start AJ Barner over Darren Waller in Week 8.

Market-based projections have AJ Barner at 6.6 points and Darren Waller at 5.9, a gap of 0.8. That is inside the noise of a single catch, so treat it as close to a coin flip. No player market is posted for AJ Barner this week yet, so his 6.6 is the average of his market-based projections in Weeks 5, 6 and 7 (6.0, 7.0 and 7.0); the call is rebuilt when his market posts.

What the market projects

No Week 8 player market is posted for AJ Barner yet. His market-based projections were 6.0, 7.0 and 7.0 points in Weeks 5, 6 and 7, an average of 6.6, which stands in until his Week 8 market posts.

The market-based projection for AJ Barner is 0.4 touchdowns (7 market sources).

Player markets imply 5.9 fantasy points for Darren Waller, with 100 percent of the markets a TE needs posted.

The market-based projection for Darren Waller is 20 receiving yards, 2-3 receptions and 0.2 touchdowns (12, 13 and 13 market sources).

That puts AJ Barner 0.8 points ahead of Darren Waller on these projections.

Week 8 matchups

AJ Barner and SEA host CHI on Monday at 8:15 PM ET.

CHI allowed 13.1 fantasy points a game to TEs this season over 7 games, the 16th most in the league.

Tight ends caught passes for 57 yards and 0.4 touchdowns a game against CHI.

Darren Waller and CAR visit GB on Thursday at 8:15 PM ET.

GB allowed 9.0 fantasy points a game to TEs this season over 7 games, the 2nd fewest in the league.

Tight ends caught passes for 33 yards and 0.3 touchdowns a game against GB.

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

Injury status

AJ Barner is not on the injury report.

Darren Waller is not on the injury report.

Usage before Week 8

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 7, Darren Waller played 46 percent of CAR snaps, drew 11 percent of the targets, earned 11 percent of the air yards and had 7 percent of the red zone chances.

Darren Waller, Week 3 against CLE: 39 of 77 snaps, 8 targets and 5 catches for 51 yards.

Darren Waller, Week 4 against DET: 40 of 75 snaps, 6 targets and 3 catches for 36 yards.

Darren Waller, Week 6 against PHI: 36 of 79 snaps, 2 targets and 0 catches for 0 yards.

Darren Waller, Week 7 against TB: 25 of 56 snaps, 2 targets and 1 catch for 50 yards, 1 touchdown.

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, Darren Waller played 9 games for MIA 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 and 210 air yards.

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

Their other Week 8 calls

• Start Cade Otton over AJ Barner.
• Start AJ Barner over Chig Okonkwo.
• Start AJ Barner over Colby Parkinson.
• Start Chig Okonkwo over Darren Waller.
• Start Darren Waller over Colby Parkinson.
• Start Darnell Washington over Darren Waller.