Start Cade Otton or Darnell Washington? Week 7

Updated Oct 19, 2:16 PM ET. Locks at kickoff, graded after. Week 8 answer posts Tuesday.

Early kickoff: 9:30 AM ET, set your lineup before then.

Start Cade Otton over Darnell Washington

Start

Cade Otton

TE · TB · at CAR

Market projects: 7.7; recent weeks avg
CAR D vs TE: 16.6; 9th most to TEs (2026)
Snap share: 93%; Through Week 6
Target share: 16%; Through Week 6

Sit

Darnell Washington

TE · PIT · at NO

Market projects: 5.9; recent weeks avg
NO D vs TE: 16.7; 7th most to TEs (2026)
Snap share: 65%; Through Week 6
Target share: 10%; Through Week 6

Should I drop Darnell Washington for Cade Otton?

Yes, on the rest of the season. Cade Otton projects 77 market-implied PPR points from Week 7 through Week 17 (7.7 a game over 10 games), Darnell Washington 59 (5.9 a game over 10 games). For Week 7 the call starts Cade Otton over Darnell Washington.

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Our Week 7 call

Start Cade Otton over Darnell Washington in Week 7.

Market-based projections have Cade Otton at 7.7 points and Darnell Washington at 5.9, a gap of 1.8. No player market is posted for Cade Otton this week yet, so his 7.7 is the average of his market-based projections in Weeks 4 and 5 (7.7 and 7.7); the call is rebuilt when his market posts. No player market is posted for Darnell Washington this week yet, so his 5.9 is the average of his market-based projections in Weeks 4 and 5 (5.6 and 6.2); the call is rebuilt when his market posts.

What the market projects

No Week 7 player market is posted for Cade Otton yet. His market-based projections were 7.7 and 7.7 points in Weeks 4 and 5, an average of 7.7, which stands in until his Week 7 market posts.

No Week 7 player market is posted for Darnell Washington yet. His market-based projections were 5.6 and 6.2 points in Weeks 4 and 5, an average of 5.9, which stands in until his Week 7 market posts.

That puts Cade Otton 1.8 points ahead of Darnell Washington on these projections.

Week 7 matchups

Cade Otton and TB visit CAR on Sunday at 1:00 PM ET.

CAR allowed 16.6 fantasy points a game to TEs this season over 4 games, the 9th most in the league.

Tight ends caught passes for 53 yards and a touchdown a game against CAR.

Darnell Washington and PIT visit NO on Sunday at 9:30 AM ET.

NO allowed 16.7 fantasy points a game to TEs this season over 5 games, the 7th most in the league.

Tight ends caught passes for 71 yards and 0.4 touchdowns a game against NO.

By points allowed to the position, Darnell Washington has the softer matchup.

Injury status

Cade Otton is not on the injury report.

Darnell Washington is not on the injury report.

Usage before Week 7

Through Week 6, Cade Otton played 93 percent of TB snaps, drew 16 percent of the targets, earned 12 percent of the air yards and had 4 percent of the red zone chances.

Cade Otton, Week 3 against MIN: 65 of 69 snaps, 6 targets and 3 catches for 56 yards.

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: 2 targets and 1 catch for 4 yards.

Through Week 6, Darnell Washington played 65 percent of PIT snaps, drew 10 percent of the targets, earned 6 percent of the air yards and had 13 percent of the red zone chances.

Darnell Washington, Week 3 against CIN: 47 of 62 snaps, 4 targets and 3 catches for 67 yards.

Darnell Washington, Week 4 against CLE: 51 of 72 snaps, 5 targets and 3 catches for 27 yards, 1 touchdown.

Darnell Washington, Week 5 against IND: 38 of 60 snaps, 3 targets and 2 catches for 12 yards.

Darnell Washington, Week 6 against TB: 6 targets and 4 catches for 25 yards, 1 touchdown.

Their 2025 seasons

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.

In 2025, Darnell Washington played 16 games for PIT and scored 73.4 PPR points, 4.6 a game, finishing TE39.

He caught 31 of 43 targets for 364 yards and 1 touchdown, with 8 red zone targets and 135 air yards.

He was on the field for 57 percent of the offense's snaps in the games he played.

Their other Week 7 calls

Locks at kickoff, graded after. When the start/sit engine grades week 7, the call and the result appear on the public record, wrong ones included.

Drop or keep

Should I drop Darnell Washington for Cade Otton?
Yes, on the rest of the season. Cade Otton projects 77 market-implied PPR points from Week 7 through Week 17 (7.7 a game over 10 games), Darnell Washington 59 (5.9 a game over 10 games). For Week 7 the call starts Cade Otton over Darnell Washington.
Should I drop Cade Otton for Darnell Washington?
No. Keep Cade Otton: he projects 77 market-implied PPR points from Week 7 through Week 17 (7.7 a game over 10 games), Darnell Washington 59 (5.9 a game over 10 games). For Week 7 the call starts Cade Otton over Darnell Washington.