Start Brenton Strange or Chig Okonkwo? Week 9

Our Week 9 call

Start Brenton Strange over Chig Okonkwo in Week 9.

Market-based projections have Brenton Strange at 8.9 points and Chig Okonkwo at 7.5, a gap of 1.4. That is inside the noise of a single catch, so treat it as close to a coin flip. No player market is posted for Chig Okonkwo this week yet, so his 7.5 is the average of his market-based projections in Weeks 6 and 8 (6.6 and 8.3); the call is rebuilt when his market posts. Drafters take Brenton Strange at ADP 202 and Chig Okonkwo at 230.

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 Chig Okonkwo yet. His market-based projections were 6.6 and 8.3 points in Weeks 6 and 8, an average of 7.5, which stands in until his Week 9 market posts.

That puts Brenton Strange 1.4 points ahead of Chig Okonkwo 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.

Chig Okonkwo and WAS host LAR on Sunday at 1:00 PM ET.

LAR allowed 10.2 fantasy points a game to TEs this season over 7 games, the 5th fewest in the league.

Tight ends caught passes for 42 yards and 0.1 touchdowns a game against LAR.

By points allowed to the position, Brenton Strange has the softer matchup.

Injury status

Brenton Strange is not on the injury report.

Chig Okonkwo 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 8, Chig Okonkwo played 65 percent of WAS snaps, drew 16 percent of the targets, earned 13 percent of the air yards and had 3 percent of the red zone chances.

Chig Okonkwo, Week 4 against IND: 37 of 64 snaps, 4 targets and 2 catches for 5 yards.

Chig Okonkwo, Week 5 against NYG: 44 of 62 snaps, 6 targets and 4 catches for 60 yards.

Chig Okonkwo, Week 6 against SF: 51 of 67 snaps, 7 targets and 7 catches for 69 yards.

Chig Okonkwo, Week 8 against PHI: 4 targets and 2 catches for 32 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, Chig Okonkwo played 17 games for TEN and scored 124.0 PPR points, 7.3 a game, finishing TE21.

He caught 56 of 79 targets for 560 yards and 2 touchdowns, with 5 red zone targets and 218 air yards.

He was on the field for 62 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 Cade Otton.
• Start Colston Loveland over Brenton Strange.
• Start Chig Okonkwo over AJ Barner.
• Start Cade Otton over Chig Okonkwo.
• Start Chig Okonkwo over Charlie Kolar.