Start Brenton Strange or Cade Otton? Week 9

Our Week 9 call

Start Brenton Strange over Cade Otton in Week 9.

Market-based projections have Brenton Strange at 8.9 points and Cade Otton at 8.4, a gap of 0.4. That is inside the noise of a single catch, so treat it as close to a coin flip. No player market is posted for Cade Otton this week yet, so his 8.4 is the average of his market-based projections in Weeks 6, 7 and 8 (7.2, 9.5 and 8.6); the call is rebuilt when his market posts.

What the market projects

Player markets imply 8.9 fantasy points for Brenton Strange, with 100 percent of the markets a TE needs posted.

The market-based projection for Brenton Strange is 35 receiving yards, 3-4 receptions and 0.3 touchdowns (12, 11 and 11 market sources).

No Week 9 player market is posted for Cade Otton yet. His market-based projections were 7.2, 9.5 and 8.6 points in Weeks 6, 7 and 8, an average of 8.4, which stands in until his Week 9 market posts.

That puts Brenton Strange 0.4 points ahead of Cade Otton on these projections.

Week 9 matchups

Brenton Strange and JAX visit BAL on Thursday at 8:15 PM ET.

BAL allowed 12.3 fantasy points a game to TEs this season over 7 games, the 13th fewest in the league.

Tight ends caught passes for 39 yards and 0.7 touchdowns a game against BAL.

Cade Otton and TB visit CHI on Sunday at 8:20 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.

By points allowed to the position, Cade Otton has the softer matchup.

Injury status

Brenton Strange is not on the injury report.

Cade Otton is not on the injury report.

Usage before Week 9

Through Week 8, Brenton Strange played 79 percent of JAX snaps, drew 18 percent of the targets, earned 16 percent of the air yards and had 5 percent of the red zone chances.

Brenton Strange, Week 4 against CIN: 53 of 61 snaps, 8 targets and 7 catches for 95 yards.

Brenton Strange, Week 5 against PHI: 58 of 72 snaps, 8 targets and 7 catches for 68 yards.

Brenton Strange, Week 6 against HOU: 54 of 71 snaps, 7 targets and 5 catches for 44 yards.

Brenton Strange, Week 8 against IND: 2 targets and 2 catches for 55 yards.

Through Week 7, Cade Otton played 94 percent of TB snaps, drew 15 percent of the targets, earned 13 percent of the air yards and had 4 percent of the red zone chances.

Cade Otton, Week 4 against GB: 60 of 64 snaps, 6 targets and 4 catches for 37 yards.

Cade Otton, Week 5 against DAL: 66 of 72 snaps, 4 targets and 3 catches for 25 yards.

Cade Otton, Week 6 against PIT: 74 of 74 snaps, 2 targets and 1 catch for 4 yards.

Cade Otton, Week 7 against CAR: 56 of 63 snaps, 1 target and 0 catches for 0 yards.

Their 2025 seasons

In 2025, Brenton Strange played 12 games for JAX and scored 118.0 PPR points, 9.8 a game, finishing TE23.

He caught 46 of 60 targets for 540 yards and 3 touchdowns, with 9 red zone targets and 293 air yards.

He was on the field for 76 percent of the offense's snaps in the games he played.

In 2025, Cade Otton played 16 games for TB and scored 122.2 PPR points, 7.6 a game, finishing TE22.

He caught 59 of 81 targets for 572 yards and 1 touchdown, with 5 red zone targets and 261 air yards.

He was on the field for 93 percent of the offense's snaps in the games he played.

Their other Week 9 calls

• Start Brenton Strange over AJ Barner.
• Start Brenton Strange over Chig Okonkwo.
• Start Colston Loveland over Brenton Strange.
• Start Cade Otton over AJ Barner.
• Start Cade Otton over Chig Okonkwo.
• Start Colston Loveland over Cade Otton.