Start Brenton Strange or Mike Gesicki? Week 9

Our Week 9 call

Start Brenton Strange over Mike Gesicki in Week 9.

Market-based projections have Brenton Strange at 8.9 points and Mike Gesicki 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.

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).

Player markets imply 7.5 fantasy points for Mike Gesicki, with 100 percent of the markets a TE needs posted.

The market-based projection for Mike Gesicki is 29 receiving yards, 2-3 receptions and 0.4 touchdowns (7, 7 and 7 market sources).

That puts Brenton Strange 1.4 points ahead of Mike Gesicki on the market 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.

Mike Gesicki and CIN visit ATL on Sunday at 9:30 AM ET.

ATL allowed 15.8 fantasy points a game to TEs this season over 7 games, the 10th most in the league.

Tight ends caught passes for 63 yards and 0.6 touchdowns a game against ATL.

By points allowed to the position, Mike Gesicki has the softer matchup.

Injury status

Brenton Strange is not on the injury report.

Mike Gesicki 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, Mike Gesicki played 45 percent of CIN snaps, drew 9 percent of the targets, earned 13 percent of the air yards and had 7 percent of the red zone chances.

Mike Gesicki, Week 4 against JAX: 47 of 76 snaps, 5 targets and 3 catches for 40 yards, 1 touchdown.

Mike Gesicki, Week 5 against MIA: 29 of 65 snaps, 2 targets and 1 catch for 4 yards, 1 touchdown.

Mike Gesicki, Week 7 against BAL: 20 of 53 snaps, 1 target and 1 catch for 6 yards, 1 touchdown.

Mike Gesicki, Week 8 against TEN: 6 targets and 4 catches for 76 yards, 1 touchdown.

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, Mike Gesicki played 13 games for CIN and scored 70.7 PPR points, 5.4 a game, finishing TE41.

He caught 28 of 42 targets for 307 yards and 2 touchdowns, with 7 red zone targets and 244 air yards.

He was on the field for 38 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 Brenton Strange over Chig Okonkwo.
• Start Mike Gesicki over AJ Barner.
• Start Cade Otton over Mike Gesicki.
• Start Mike Gesicki over Charlie Kolar.