Start Darren Waller or Charlie Kolar? Week 9

Our Week 9 call

Start Darren Waller over Charlie Kolar in Week 9.

Market-based projections have Darren Waller at 6.3 points and Charlie Kolar at 5.5, a gap of 0.8. That is inside the noise of a single catch, so treat it as close to a coin flip. No player market is posted for Darren Waller this week yet, so his 6.3 is the average of his market-based projections in Weeks 6, 7 and 8 (6.5, 6.4 and 6.0); the call is rebuilt when his market posts. No player market is posted for Charlie Kolar this week yet, so his 5.5 is the average of his market-based projections in Weeks 6 and 8 (5.8 and 5.3); the call is rebuilt when his market posts.

What the market projects

No Week 9 player market is posted for Darren Waller yet. His market-based projections were 6.5, 6.4 and 6.0 points in Weeks 6, 7 and 8, an average of 6.3, which stands in until his Week 9 market posts.

No Week 9 player market is posted for Charlie Kolar yet. His market-based projections were 5.8 and 5.3 points in Weeks 6 and 8, an average of 5.6, which stands in until his Week 9 market posts.

That puts Darren Waller 0.8 points ahead of Charlie Kolar on these projections.

Week 9 matchups

Darren Waller and CAR host DEN on Sunday at 1:00 PM ET.

DEN allowed 16.0 fantasy points a game to TEs this season over 7 games, the 9th most in the league.

Tight ends caught passes for 65 yards and 0.6 touchdowns a game against DEN.

Charlie Kolar and LAC host HOU on Sunday at 4:05 PM ET.

HOU allowed 10.1 fantasy points a game to TEs this season over 7 games, the 4th fewest in the league.

Tight ends caught passes for 46 yards and 0.1 touchdowns a game against HOU.

By points allowed to the position, Darren Waller has the softer matchup.

Injury status

Darren Waller is not on the injury report.

Charlie Kolar is not on the injury report.

Usage before Week 9

Through Week 8, Darren Waller played 48 percent of CAR snaps, drew 10 percent of the targets, earned 11 percent of the air yards and had 6 percent of the red zone chances.

Darren Waller, Week 4 against DET: 40 of 75 snaps, 6 targets and 3 catches for 36 yards.

Darren Waller, Week 6 against PHI: 36 of 79 snaps, 2 targets and 0 catches for 0 yards.

Darren Waller, Week 7 against TB: 25 of 56 snaps, 2 targets and 1 catch for 50 yards, 1 touchdown.

Darren Waller, Week 8 against GB: 45 of 73 snaps, 2 targets and 1 catch for 11 yards.

Through Week 8, Charlie Kolar played 65 percent of LAC snaps, drew 12 percent of the targets, earned 9 percent of the air yards and had 7 percent of the red zone chances.

Charlie Kolar, Week 2 against LV: 42 of 68 snaps, 3 targets and 3 catches for 21 yards.

Charlie Kolar, Week 5 against DEN: 51 of 67 snaps, 4 targets and 3 catches for 37 yards.

Charlie Kolar, Week 6 against KC: 45 of 68 snaps, 6 targets and 3 catches for 20 yards.

Charlie Kolar, Week 8 against LAR: 4 targets and 1 catch for 20 yards.

Their 2025 seasons

In 2025, Darren Waller played 9 games for MIA and scored 88.7 PPR points, 9.9 a game, finishing TE33.

He caught 24 of 34 targets for 283 yards and 6 touchdowns, with 7 red zone targets and 210 air yards.

He was on the field for 45 percent of the offense's snaps in the games he played.

In 2025, Charlie Kolar played 17 games for BAL and scored 36.2 PPR points, 2.1 a game, finishing TE62.

He caught 10 of 15 targets for 142 yards and 2 touchdowns, with 3 red zone targets and 90 air yards.

He was on the field for 40 percent of the offense's snaps in the games he played.

Their other Week 9 calls

• Start AJ Barner over Darren Waller.
• Start Cade Otton over Darren Waller.
• Start Chig Okonkwo over Darren Waller.
• Start AJ Barner over Charlie Kolar.
• Start Chig Okonkwo over Charlie Kolar.
• Start Charlie Kolar over Colby Parkinson.