Start Darius Cooper or Tez Johnson? Week 9

Our Week 9 call

Start Darius Cooper over Tez Johnson in Week 9.

Market-based projections have Darius Cooper at 7.8 points and Tez Johnson at 6.8, a gap of 1.0. That is inside the noise of a single catch, so treat it as close to a coin flip. No player market is posted for Darius Cooper this week yet, so his 7.8 is the average of his market-based projections in Weeks 7 and 8 (9.2 and 6.5); the call is rebuilt when his market posts. No player market is posted for Tez Johnson this week yet, so his 6.8 is the average of his market-based projections in Weeks 7 and 8 (6.6 and 7.1); the call is rebuilt when his market posts.

What the market projects

No Week 9 player market is posted for Darius Cooper yet. His market-based projections were 9.2 and 6.5 points in Weeks 7 and 8, an average of 7.8, which stands in until his Week 9 market posts.

No Week 9 player market is posted for Tez Johnson yet. His market-based projections were 6.6 and 7.1 points in Weeks 7 and 8, an average of 6.8, which stands in until his Week 9 market posts.

That puts Darius Cooper 1.0 points ahead of Tez Johnson on these projections.

Week 9 matchups

Darius Cooper and PHI host NYG on Sunday at 1:00 PM ET.

NYG allowed 31.3 fantasy points a game to WRs this season over 7 games, the 15th most in the league.

Receivers caught passes for 127 yards and 1.3 touchdowns a game against NYG.

Tez Johnson and TB visit CHI on Sunday at 8:20 PM ET.

CHI allowed 30.5 fantasy points a game to WRs this season over 8 games, the 16th most in the league.

Receivers caught passes for 150 yards and a touchdown a game against CHI.

By points allowed to the position, Darius Cooper has the softer matchup.

Injury status

Darius Cooper is not on the injury report.

Tez Johnson is not on the injury report.

Usage before Week 9

Through Week 8, Darius Cooper played 64 percent of PHI snaps, drew 10 percent of the targets, earned 15 percent of the air yards and had 7 percent of the red zone chances.

Darius Cooper, Week 5 against JAX: 53 of 62 snaps, 3 targets and 2 catches for 71 yards, 1 touchdown.

Darius Cooper, Week 6 against CAR: 39 of 64 snaps, 2 targets and 1 catch for 9 yards.

Darius Cooper, Week 7 against DAL: 61 of 62 snaps, 3 targets and 1 catch for 17 yards.

Darius Cooper, Week 8 against WAS: 66 of 69 snaps, 6 targets and 2 catches for 19 yards.

Through Week 8, Tez Johnson played 39 percent of TB snaps, drew 7 percent of the targets, earned 19 percent of the air yards and had 5 percent of the red zone chances.

Tez Johnson, Week 5 against DAL: 28 of 72 snaps, 1 target and 1 catch for 64 yards.

Tez Johnson, Week 6 against PIT: 25 of 74 snaps, 3 targets and 2 catches for 7 yards.

Tez Johnson, Week 7 against CAR: 41 of 63 snaps, 1 carry for 14 yards, 2 targets and 2 catches for 33 yards, 1 touchdown.

Tez Johnson, Week 8 against ATL: 25 of 60 snaps, 0 targets and 0 catches for 0 yards.

Their 2025 seasons

In 2025, Darius Cooper played 13 games for PHI and scored 18.2 PPR points, 1.4 a game.

He caught 9 of 11 targets for 92 yards and 0 touchdowns, with 0 red zone targets and 70 air yards.

He was on the field for 19 percent of the offense's snaps in the games he played.

In 2025, Tez Johnson played 16 games for TB and scored 92.4 PPR points, 5.8 a game, finishing WR67.

He caught 28 of 44 targets for 322 yards and 5 touchdowns, with 4 red zone targets and 212 air yards.

He was on the field for 47 percent of the offense's snaps in the games he played.

Their other Week 9 calls

• Start Chris Godwin Jr. over Darius Cooper.
• Start Darius Cooper over Cooper Kupp.
• Start Courtland Sutton over Darius Cooper.
• Start Tez Johnson over Adonai Mitchell.
• Start Tez Johnson over Cooper Kupp.
• Start Courtland Sutton over Tez Johnson.