Start Brenton Strange or T.J. Hockenson? Week 9

Our Week 9 call

Start Brenton Strange over T.J. Hockenson in Week 9.

Market-based projections have Brenton Strange at 8.9 points and T.J. Hockenson at 10.3, a gap of 1.5. Brenton Strange still gets the call because it also weighs where drafters take each player, ADP 202 against 224, and that outweighs a gap this size. No player market is posted for T.J. Hockenson this week yet, so his 10.3 is the average of his market-based projections in Weeks 7 and 8 (10.0 and 10.6); the call is rebuilt when his market posts.

What the market projects

No Week 9 player market is posted for T.J. Hockenson yet. His market-based projections were 10.0 and 10.6 points in Weeks 7 and 8, an average of 10.3, which stands in until his Week 9 market posts.

The market-based projection for T.J. Hockenson is 0.4 touchdowns (5 market sources).

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).

That puts T.J. Hockenson 1.5 points ahead of Brenton Strange on these projections.

Week 9 matchups

T.J. Hockenson and MIN host BUF on Monday at 8:15 PM ET.

BUF allowed 15.3 fantasy points a game to TEs this season over 6 games, the 12th most in the league.

Tight ends caught passes for 78 yards and 0.2 touchdowns a game against BUF.

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.

By points allowed to the position, T.J. Hockenson has the softer matchup.

Injury status

T.J. Hockenson is not on the injury report.

Brenton Strange is not on the injury report.

Usage before Week 9

Through Week 8, T.J. Hockenson played 63 percent of MIN snaps, drew 20 percent of the targets, earned 18 percent of the air yards and had 19 percent of the red zone chances.

T.J. Hockenson, Week 4 against MIA: 65 of 78 snaps, 13 targets and 13 catches for 119 yards.

T.J. Hockenson, Week 5 against NO: 2 of 71 snaps, 1 target and 1 catch for 7 yards.

T.J. Hockenson, Week 7 against IND: 45 of 59 snaps, 5 targets and 4 catches for 35 yards, 1 touchdown.

T.J. Hockenson, Week 8 against DET: 5 targets and 4 catches for 58 yards, 1 touchdown.

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.

Their 2025 seasons

In 2025, T.J. Hockenson played 15 games for MIN and scored 112.8 PPR points, 7.5 a game, finishing TE26.

He caught 51 of 66 targets for 438 yards and 3 touchdowns, with 11 red zone targets and 224 air yards.

He was on the field for 79 percent of the offense's snaps in the games he played.

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.

Their other Week 9 calls

• Start T.J. Hockenson over Cade Otton.
• Start Colston Loveland over T.J. Hockenson.
• Start Dallas Goedert over T.J. Hockenson.
• Start Brenton Strange over AJ Barner.
• Start Brenton Strange over Cade Otton.
• Start Brenton Strange over Chig Okonkwo.