Start Juwan Johnson or Chig Okonkwo? Week 9

Our Week 9 call

Start Juwan Johnson over Chig Okonkwo in Week 9.

Market-based projections have Juwan Johnson at 9.3 points and Chig Okonkwo at 7.5, a gap of 1.8. No player market is posted for Juwan Johnson this week yet, so his 9.3 is the average of his market-based projections in Weeks 6 and 7 (10.3 and 8.2); the call is rebuilt when his market posts. No player market is posted for Chig Okonkwo this week yet, so his 7.5 is the average of his market-based projections in Weeks 6 and 8 (6.6 and 8.3); the call is rebuilt when his market posts. Drafters take Juwan Johnson at ADP 173 and Chig Okonkwo at 230.

What the market projects

No Week 9 player market is posted for Juwan Johnson yet. His market-based projections were 10.3 and 8.2 points in Weeks 6 and 7, an average of 9.3, which stands in until his Week 9 market posts.

No Week 9 player market is posted for Chig Okonkwo yet. His market-based projections were 6.6 and 8.3 points in Weeks 6 and 8, an average of 7.5, which stands in until his Week 9 market posts.

That puts Juwan Johnson 1.8 points ahead of Chig Okonkwo on these projections.

Week 9 matchups

Juwan Johnson and NO 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.

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

LAR allowed 10.2 fantasy points a game to TEs this season over 7 games, the 5th fewest in the league.

Tight ends caught passes for 42 yards and 0.1 touchdowns a game against LAR.

By points allowed to the position, Juwan Johnson has the softer matchup.

Injury status

Juwan Johnson is not on the injury report.

Chig Okonkwo is not on the injury report.

Usage before Week 9

Through Week 7, Juwan Johnson played 66 percent of NO snaps, drew 14 percent of the targets, earned 9 percent of the air yards and had 12 percent of the red zone chances.

Juwan Johnson, Week 4 against ATL: 58 of 74 snaps, 8 targets and 6 catches for 59 yards.

Juwan Johnson, Week 5 against MIN: 29 of 45 snaps, 5 targets and 4 catches for 16 yards.

Juwan Johnson, Week 6 against NYG: 42 of 72 snaps, 2 targets and 0 catches for 0 yards.

Juwan Johnson, Week 7 against PIT: 32 of 57 snaps, 3 targets and 1 catch for 7 yards.

Through Week 8, Chig Okonkwo played 65 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: 4 targets and 2 catches for 32 yards.

Their 2025 seasons

In 2025, Juwan Johnson played 17 games for NO and scored 179.9 PPR points, 10.6 a game, finishing TE8.

He caught 77 of 102 targets for 889 yards and 3 touchdowns, with 8 red zone targets and 527 air yards.

He was on the field for 76 percent of the offense's snaps in the games he played.

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.

Their other Week 9 calls

• Start Juwan Johnson over AJ Barner.
• Start Brenton Strange over Juwan Johnson.
• Start Juwan Johnson over Cade Otton.
• Start Chig Okonkwo over AJ Barner.
• Start Brenton Strange over Chig Okonkwo.
• Start Cade Otton over Chig Okonkwo.