Start Jake Ferguson or Chig Okonkwo? Week 9

Our Week 9 call

Start Jake Ferguson over Chig Okonkwo in Week 9.

Market-based projections have Jake Ferguson at 6.3 points and Chig Okonkwo at 8.0, a gap of 1.7. Jake Ferguson still gets the call because it also weighs where drafters take each player, ADP 141 against 230, and that outweighs a gap this size. No player market is posted for Jake Ferguson this week yet, so his 6.3 is the average of his market-based projections in Weeks 6, 7 and 8 (7.5, 6.1 and 5.1); the call is rebuilt when his market posts.

What the market projects

Player markets imply 8.0 fantasy points for Chig Okonkwo, with 100 percent of the markets a TE needs posted.

The market-based projection for Chig Okonkwo is 31 receiving yards, 3-4 receptions and 0.2 touchdowns (9, 10 and 9 market sources).

No Week 9 player market is posted for Jake Ferguson yet. His market-based projections were 7.6, 6.1 and 5.1 points in Weeks 6, 7 and 8, an average of 6.3, which stands in until his Week 9 market posts.

The market-based projection for Jake Ferguson is 0.3 touchdowns (8 market sources).

That puts Chig Okonkwo 1.7 points ahead of Jake Ferguson on these projections.

Week 9 matchups

Chig Okonkwo and WAS host LAR on Sunday at 1:00 PM ET.

LAR allowed 10.6 fantasy points a game to TEs this season over 8 games, the 7th fewest in the league.

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

Jake Ferguson and DAL visit IND on Sunday at 1:00 PM ET.

IND allowed 14.4 fantasy points a game to TEs this season over 8 games, the 12th most in the league.

Tight ends caught passes for 51 yards and 0.8 touchdowns a game against IND.

By points allowed to the position, Jake Ferguson has the softer matchup.

Injury status

Chig Okonkwo is not on the injury report.

Jake Ferguson is listed as questionable with a ankle injury.

Usage before Week 9

Through Week 8, Chig Okonkwo played 67 percent of WAS snaps, drew 16 percent of the targets, earned 13 percent of the air yards and had 3 percent of the red zone chances.

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.

Chig Okonkwo, Week 8 against PHI: 46 of 60 snaps, 4 targets and 2 catches for 32 yards.

Through Week 8, Jake Ferguson played 58 percent of DAL snaps, drew 9 percent of the targets, earned 5 percent of the air yards and had 5 percent of the red zone chances.

Jake Ferguson, Week 5 against TB: 50 of 60 snaps, 6 targets and 3 catches for 19 yards.

Jake Ferguson, Week 6 against GB: 42 of 78 snaps, 3 targets and 2 catches for 13 yards.

Jake Ferguson, Week 7 against PHI: 38 of 68 snaps, 1 target and 0 catches for 0 yards.

Jake Ferguson, Week 8 against ARI: 4 of 74 snaps, 0 targets and 0 catches for 0 yards.

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, Jake Ferguson played 17 games for DAL and scored 188.1 PPR points, 11.1 a game, finishing TE5.

He caught 82 of 102 targets for 600 yards and 8 touchdowns, with 23 red zone targets and 293 air yards.

He was on the field for 67 percent of the offense's snaps in the games he played.

Their other Week 9 calls

• Start Chig Okonkwo over AJ Barner.
• Start Brenton Strange over Chig Okonkwo.
• Start Cade Otton over Chig Okonkwo.
• Start AJ Barner over Jake Ferguson.
• Start Cade Otton over Jake Ferguson.
• Start Jake Ferguson over Charlie Kolar.