Start Elijah Higgins or Colby Parkinson? Week 9

Our Week 9 call

Start Colby Parkinson over Elijah Higgins in Week 9.

Market-based projections have Colby Parkinson at 5.3 points and Elijah Higgins at 4.8, a gap of 0.6. 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 6 and 7 (4.0 and 6.7); the call is rebuilt when his market posts.

What the market projects

No Week 9 player market is posted for Colby Parkinson yet. His market-based projections were 4.0 and 6.7 points in Weeks 6 and 7, an average of 5.4, which stands in until his Week 9 market posts.

The market-based projection for Colby Parkinson is 0.3 touchdowns (9 market sources).

Player markets imply 4.8 fantasy points for Elijah Higgins, with 100 percent of the markets a TE needs posted.

The market-based projection for Elijah Higgins is 17 receiving yards, 2-3 receptions and 0.1 touchdowns (7, 8 and 8 market sources).

That puts Colby Parkinson 0.6 points ahead of Elijah Higgins on these projections.

Week 9 matchups

Colby Parkinson and LAR visit WAS on Sunday at 1:00 PM ET.

WAS allowed 20.7 fantasy points a game to TEs this season over 7 games, the 2nd most in the league.

Tight ends caught passes for 75 yards and 1.1 touchdowns a game against WAS.

Elijah Higgins and ARI visit SEA on Sunday at 4:25 PM ET.

SEA allowed 10.2 fantasy points a game to TEs this season over 8 games, the 5th fewest in the league.

Tight ends caught passes for 38 yards and 0.3 touchdowns a game against SEA.

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

Injury status

Colby Parkinson is listed as questionable with a ribs injury.

Elijah Higgins is not on the injury report.

Usage before Week 9

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.

Through Week 8, Elijah Higgins played 39 percent of ARI snaps, drew 6 percent of the targets, earned 2 percent of the air yards and had 2 percent of the red zone chances.

Elijah Higgins, Week 5 against DET: 39 of 73 snaps, 3 targets and 3 catches for 57 yards.

Elijah Higgins, Week 6 against LAR: 32 of 72 snaps, 3 targets and 3 catches for 28 yards.

Elijah Higgins, Week 7 against DEN: 39 of 81 snaps, 3 targets and 3 catches for 17 yards.

Elijah Higgins, Week 8 against DAL: 26 of 81 snaps, 4 targets and 2 catches for 10 yards.

Their 2025 seasons

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.

In 2025, Elijah Higgins played 17 games for ARI and scored 58.1 PPR points, 3.4 a game, finishing TE48.

He caught 30 of 37 targets for 301 yards and 0 touchdowns, with 4 red zone targets and 92 air yards.

He was on the field for 41 percent of the offense's snaps in the games he played.

Their other Week 9 calls

• Start AJ Barner over Colby Parkinson.
• Start Charlie Kolar over Colby Parkinson.
• Start Chig Okonkwo over Colby Parkinson.
• Start AJ Barner over Elijah Higgins.
• Start Charlie Kolar over Elijah Higgins.
• Start Chig Okonkwo over Elijah Higgins.