Start AJ Barner or Michael Mayer? Week 9

Our Week 9 call

Start AJ Barner over Michael Mayer in Week 9.

Market-based projections have AJ Barner at 7.4 points and Michael Mayer at 7.2, a gap of 0.2. 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 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 Michael Mayer this week yet, so his 7.2 is the average of his market-based projections in Weeks 6, 7 and 8 (6.9, 8.1 and 6.5); 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 Michael Mayer yet. His market-based projections were 6.9, 8.1 and 6.5 points in Weeks 6, 7 and 8, an average of 7.2, which stands in until his Week 9 market posts.

That puts AJ Barner 0.2 points ahead of Michael Mayer 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.

Michael Mayer and LV visit SF on Sunday at 4:25 PM ET.

SF allowed 12.0 fantasy points a game to TEs this season over 7 games, the 12th fewest in the league.

Tight ends caught passes for 44 yards and 0.3 touchdowns a game against SF.

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

Injury status

AJ Barner is not on the injury report.

Michael Mayer 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, Michael Mayer played 81 percent of LV snaps, drew 15 percent of the targets, earned 9 percent of the air yards and had 3 percent of the red zone chances.

Michael Mayer, Week 5 against NE: 39 of 60 snaps, 1 target and 1 catch for 2 yards.

Michael Mayer, Week 6 against BUF: 52 of 66 snaps, 9 targets and 7 catches for 95 yards.

Michael Mayer, Week 7 against LAR: 56 of 68 snaps, 3 targets and 3 catches for 32 yards.

Michael Mayer, Week 8 against NYJ: 6 targets and 5 catches for 53 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, Michael Mayer played 13 games for LV and scored 73.8 PPR points, 5.7 a game, finishing TE38.

He caught 35 of 50 targets for 328 yards and 1 touchdown, with 6 red zone targets and 132 air yards.

He was on the field for 57 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 Brenton Strange over Michael Mayer.
• Start Cade Otton over Michael Mayer.
• Start Michael Mayer over Charlie Kolar.