Start Mike Gesicki or Dalton Schultz? Week 9

Our Week 9 call

Start Dalton Schultz over Mike Gesicki in Week 9.

Market-based projections have Dalton Schultz at 8.0 points and Mike Gesicki at 7.5, 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 Dalton Schultz this week yet, so his 8.0 is the average of his market-based projections in Weeks 6 and 7 (7.9 and 8.1); the call is rebuilt when his market posts.

What the market projects

No Week 9 player market is posted for Dalton Schultz yet. His market-based projections were 7.9 and 8.1 points in Weeks 6 and 7, an average of 8.0, which stands in until his Week 9 market posts.

Player markets imply 7.5 fantasy points for Mike Gesicki, with 100 percent of the markets a TE needs posted.

The market-based projection for Mike Gesicki is 29 receiving yards, 2-3 receptions and 0.4 touchdowns (7, 7 and 7 market sources).

That puts Dalton Schultz 0.5 points ahead of Mike Gesicki on these projections.

Week 9 matchups

Dalton Schultz and HOU visit 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.

Mike Gesicki and CIN visit ATL on Sunday at 9:30 AM ET.

ATL allowed 15.8 fantasy points a game to TEs this season over 7 games, the 10th most in the league.

Tight ends caught passes for 63 yards and 0.6 touchdowns a game against ATL.

By points allowed to the position, Mike Gesicki has the softer matchup.

Injury status

Dalton Schultz is not on the injury report.

Mike Gesicki is not on the injury report.

Usage before Week 9

Through Week 7, Dalton Schultz played 58 percent of HOU snaps, drew 19 percent of the targets, earned 11 percent of the air yards and had 8 percent of the red zone chances.

Dalton Schultz, Week 4 against DAL: 35 of 55 snaps, 2 targets and 2 catches for 9 yards.

Dalton Schultz, Week 5 against TEN: 34 of 66 snaps, 4 targets and 3 catches for 30 yards.

Dalton Schultz, Week 6 against JAX: 25 of 63 snaps, 6 targets and 4 catches for 33 yards.

Dalton Schultz, Week 7 against NYG: 35 of 61 snaps, 6 targets and 5 catches for 45 yards.

Through Week 8, Mike Gesicki played 45 percent of CIN snaps, drew 9 percent of the targets, earned 13 percent of the air yards and had 7 percent of the red zone chances.

Mike Gesicki, Week 4 against JAX: 47 of 76 snaps, 5 targets and 3 catches for 40 yards, 1 touchdown.

Mike Gesicki, Week 5 against MIA: 29 of 65 snaps, 2 targets and 1 catch for 4 yards, 1 touchdown.

Mike Gesicki, Week 7 against BAL: 20 of 53 snaps, 1 target and 1 catch for 6 yards, 1 touchdown.

Mike Gesicki, Week 8 against TEN: 6 targets and 4 catches for 76 yards, 1 touchdown.

Their 2025 seasons

In 2025, Dalton Schultz played 17 games for HOU and scored 177.7 PPR points, 10.5 a game, finishing TE10.

He caught 82 of 106 targets for 777 yards and 3 touchdowns, with 11 red zone targets and 419 air yards.

He was on the field for 72 percent of the offense's snaps in the games he played.

In 2025, Mike Gesicki played 13 games for CIN and scored 70.7 PPR points, 5.4 a game, finishing TE41.

He caught 28 of 42 targets for 307 yards and 2 touchdowns, with 7 red zone targets and 244 air yards.

He was on the field for 38 percent of the offense's snaps in the games he played.

Their other Week 9 calls

• Start Dalton Schultz over AJ Barner.
• Start Brenton Strange over Dalton Schultz.
• Start Cade Otton over Dalton Schultz.
• Start Mike Gesicki over AJ Barner.
• Start Brenton Strange over Mike Gesicki.
• Start Cade Otton over Mike Gesicki.