Start Darren Waller or Colby Parkinson? Week 8

Our Week 8 call

Start Darren Waller over Colby Parkinson in Week 8.

Market-based projections have Darren Waller at 5.9 points and Colby Parkinson at 5.3, a gap of 0.5. That is inside the noise of a single catch, so treat it as close to a coin flip. No player market is posted for Colby Parkinson this week yet, so his 5.3 is the average of his market-based projections in Weeks 5, 6 and 7 (5.3, 4.0 and 6.7); the call is rebuilt when his market posts.

What the market projects

Player markets imply 5.9 fantasy points for Darren Waller, with 100 percent of the markets a TE needs posted.

The market-based projection for Darren Waller is 20 receiving yards, 2-3 receptions and 0.2 touchdowns (12, 13 and 13 market sources).

No Week 8 player market is posted for Colby Parkinson yet. His market-based projections were 5.3, 4.0 and 6.7 points in Weeks 5, 6 and 7, an average of 5.3, which stands in until his Week 8 market posts.

That puts Darren Waller 0.5 points ahead of Colby Parkinson on these projections.

Week 8 matchups

Darren Waller and CAR visit GB on Thursday at 8:15 PM ET.

GB allowed 9.0 fantasy points a game to TEs this season over 7 games, the 2nd fewest in the league.

Tight ends caught passes for 33 yards and 0.3 touchdowns a game against GB.

Colby Parkinson and LAR host LAC on Sunday at 4:05 PM ET.

LAC allowed 11.1 fantasy points a game to TEs this season over 6 games, the 10th fewest in the league.

Tight ends caught passes for 58 yards and 0.2 touchdowns a game against LAC.

By points allowed to the position, Colby Parkinson has the softer matchup.

Injury status

Darren Waller is not on the injury report.

Colby Parkinson is not on the injury report.

Usage before Week 8

Through Week 7, Darren Waller played 46 percent of CAR snaps, drew 11 percent of the targets, earned 11 percent of the air yards and had 7 percent of the red zone chances.

Darren Waller, Week 3 against CLE: 39 of 77 snaps, 8 targets and 5 catches for 51 yards.

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.

Through Week 7, Colby Parkinson played 63 percent of LAR snaps, drew 9 percent of the targets, earned 2 percent of the air yards and had 8 percent of the red zone chances.

Colby Parkinson, Week 3 against DEN: 37 of 86 snaps, 1 target and 0 catches for 0 yards.

Colby Parkinson, Week 5 against BUF: 53 of 82 snaps, 2 targets and 1 catch for 3 yards.

Colby Parkinson, Week 6 against ARI: 36 of 58 snaps, 6 targets and 5 catches for 31 yards, 1 touchdown.

Colby Parkinson, Week 7 against LV: 50 of 72 snaps, 6 targets and 5 catches for 48 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, Colby Parkinson played 15 games for LAR and scored 129.8 PPR points, 8.7 a game, finishing TE17.

He caught 43 of 56 targets for 408 yards and 8 touchdowns, with 20 red zone targets and 137 air yards.

He was on the field for 59 percent of the offense's snaps in the games he played.

Their other Week 8 calls

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