Start Darnell Washington or Chig Okonkwo? Week 8

Our Week 8 call

Start Chig Okonkwo over Darnell Washington in Week 8.

Market-based projections have Chig Okonkwo at 6.6 points and Darnell Washington at 6.5, a gap of 0.2. 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 6.6 is the average of his market-based projections in Weeks 5 and 6 (6.6 and 6.6); the call is rebuilt when his market posts. No player market is posted for Darnell Washington this week yet, so his 6.5 is the average of his market-based projections in Weeks 5, 6 and 7 (6.2, 6.5 and 6.7); the call is rebuilt when his market posts.

What the market projects

No Week 8 player market is posted for Chig Okonkwo yet. His market-based projections were 6.6 and 6.6 points in Weeks 5 and 6, an average of 6.6, which stands in until his Week 8 market posts.

No Week 8 player market is posted for Darnell Washington yet. His market-based projections were 6.2, 6.5 and 6.7 points in Weeks 5, 6 and 7, an average of 6.5, which stands in until his Week 8 market posts.

That puts Chig Okonkwo 0.2 points ahead of Darnell Washington on these projections.

Week 8 matchups

Chig Okonkwo and WAS host PHI on Sunday at 8:20 PM ET.

PHI allowed 10.5 fantasy points a game to TEs this season over 7 games, the 7th fewest in the league.

Tight ends caught passes for 43 yards and 0.3 touchdowns a game against PHI.

Darnell Washington and PIT host CLE on Sunday at 1:00 PM ET.

CLE allowed 13.6 fantasy points a game to TEs this season over 7 games, the 14th most in the league.

Tight ends caught passes for 49 yards and 0.6 touchdowns a game against CLE.

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

Injury status

Chig Okonkwo is not on the injury report.

Darnell Washington is not on the injury report.

Usage before Week 8

Through Week 6, Chig Okonkwo played 65 percent of WAS snaps, drew 16 percent of the targets, earned 11 percent of the air yards and had 0 percent of the red zone chances.

Chig Okonkwo, Week 1 against PHI: 39 of 70 snaps, 3 targets and 2 catches for 16 yards.

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.

Through Week 7, Darnell Washington played 65 percent of PIT snaps, drew 9 percent of the targets, earned 6 percent of the air yards and had 13 percent of the red zone chances.

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: 56 of 79 snaps, 6 targets and 4 catches for 25 yards, 1 touchdown.

Darnell Washington, Week 7 against NO: 36 of 64 snaps, 1 target and 1 catch for 4 yards, 1 touchdown.

Their 2025 seasons

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.

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 8 calls

• Start AJ Barner over Chig Okonkwo.
• Start Chig Okonkwo over Colby Parkinson.
• Start Chig Okonkwo over Darren Waller.
• Start AJ Barner over Darnell Washington.
• Start Darnell Washington over Colby Parkinson.
• Start Darnell Washington over Darren Waller.