Start Darnell Washington or Cole Kmet? Week 7

Updated Oct 19, 4:11 PM ET. Locks at kickoff, graded after. Week 8 answer posts Tuesday.

Early kickoff: 9:30 AM ET, set your lineup before then.

Start Darnell Washington over Cole Kmet

Start

Darnell Washington

TE · PIT · at NO

Market projects: 5.9; recent weeks avg
NO D vs TE: 16.7; 7th most to TEs (2026)
Snap share: 65%; Through Week 6
Target share: 10%; Through Week 6

Sit

Cole Kmet

TE · CHI · vs NE

Market projects: 3.2; recent weeks avg
NE D vs TE: 9.9; 11th fewest to TEs (2026)
Snap share: 61%; Through Week 6
Target share: 6%; Through Week 6

Should I drop Cole Kmet for Darnell Washington?

Yes, on the rest of the season. Darnell Washington projects 59 market-implied PPR points from Week 7 through Week 17 (5.9 a game over 10 games), Cole Kmet 35 (3.5 a game over 10 games). For Week 7 the call starts Darnell Washington over Cole Kmet.

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Our Week 7 call

Start Darnell Washington over Cole Kmet in Week 7.

Market-based projections have Darnell Washington at 5.9 points and Cole Kmet at 3.2, a gap of 2.7. No player market is posted for Darnell Washington this week yet, so his 5.9 is the average of his market-based projections in Weeks 4 and 5 (5.6 and 6.2); the call is rebuilt when his market posts. No player market is posted for Cole Kmet this week yet, so his 3.2 is the average of his market-based projections in Weeks 4 and 5 (3.1 and 3.3); the call is rebuilt when his market posts.

What the market projects

No Week 7 player market is posted for Darnell Washington yet. His market-based projections were 5.6 and 6.2 points in Weeks 4 and 5, an average of 5.9, which stands in until his Week 7 market posts.

No Week 7 player market is posted for Cole Kmet yet. His market-based projections were 3.1 and 3.3 points in Weeks 4 and 5, an average of 3.2, which stands in until his Week 7 market posts.

That puts Darnell Washington 2.7 points ahead of Cole Kmet on these projections.

Week 7 matchups

Darnell Washington and PIT visit NO on Sunday at 9:30 AM ET.

NO allowed 16.7 fantasy points a game to TEs this season over 5 games, the 7th most in the league.

Tight ends caught passes for 71 yards and 0.4 touchdowns a game against NO.

Cole Kmet and CHI host NE on Thursday at 8:15 PM ET.

NE allowed 9.9 fantasy points a game to TEs this season over 5 games, the 11th fewest in the league.

Tight ends caught passes for 45 yards and 0.2 touchdowns a game against NE.

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

Injury status

Darnell Washington is not on the injury report.

Cole Kmet is not on the injury report.

Usage before Week 7

Through Week 6, Darnell Washington played 65 percent of PIT snaps, drew 10 percent of the targets, earned 6 percent of the air yards and had 13 percent of the red zone chances.

Darnell Washington, Week 3 against CIN: 47 of 62 snaps, 4 targets and 3 catches for 67 yards.

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: 6 targets and 4 catches for 25 yards, 1 touchdown.

Through Week 6, Cole Kmet played 61 percent of CHI snaps, drew 6 percent of the targets, earned 5 percent of the air yards and had 1 percent of the red zone chances.

Cole Kmet, Week 3 against PHI: 43 of 72 snaps, 1 target and 0 catches for 0 yards.

Cole Kmet, Week 4 against NYJ: 68 of 93 snaps, 2 targets and 2 catches for 13 yards.

Cole Kmet, Week 5 against GB: 29 of 69 snaps, 2 targets and 1 catch for 8 yards.

Cole Kmet, Week 6 against ATL: 2 targets and 2 catches for 3 yards.

Their 2025 seasons

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.

In 2025, Cole Kmet played 16 games for CHI and scored 78.7 PPR points, 4.9 a game, finishing TE36.

He caught 30 of 48 targets for 347 yards and 2 touchdowns, with 6 red zone targets and 198 air yards.

He was on the field for 69 percent of the offense's snaps in the games he played.

Their other Week 7 calls

Locks at kickoff, graded after. When the start/sit engine grades week 7, the call and the result appear on the public record, wrong ones included.

Drop or keep

Should I drop Cole Kmet for Darnell Washington?
Yes, on the rest of the season. Darnell Washington projects 59 market-implied PPR points from Week 7 through Week 17 (5.9 a game over 10 games), Cole Kmet 35 (3.5 a game over 10 games). For Week 7 the call starts Darnell Washington over Cole Kmet.
Should I drop Darnell Washington for Cole Kmet?
No. Keep Darnell Washington: he projects 59 market-implied PPR points from Week 7 through Week 17 (5.9 a game over 10 games), Cole Kmet 35 (3.5 a game over 10 games). For Week 7 the call starts Darnell Washington over Cole Kmet.