Start Darnell Washington or Gunnar Helm? Week 7

Updated Oct 19, 9:31 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 Gunnar Helm

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

Gunnar Helm

TE · TEN · vs CLE

Market projects: 4.9; recent weeks avg
CLE D vs TE: 14.6; 13th most to TEs (2026)
Snap share: 77%; Through Week 5
Target share: 9%; Through Week 5

Should I drop Gunnar Helm 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), Gunnar Helm 52 (5.2 a game over 10 games). For Week 7 the call starts Darnell Washington over Gunnar Helm.

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Our Week 7 call

Start Darnell Washington over Gunnar Helm in Week 7.

Market-based projections have Darnell Washington at 5.9 points and Gunnar Helm at 4.9, a gap of 0.9. That is inside the noise of a single catch, so treat it as close to a coin flip. 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 Gunnar Helm this week yet, so his 4.9 is the average of his market-based projections in Weeks 4 and 5 (4.9 and 5.0); 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 Gunnar Helm yet. His market-based projections were 4.9 and 5.0 points in Weeks 4 and 5, an average of 4.9, which stands in until his Week 7 market posts.

That puts Darnell Washington 0.9 points ahead of Gunnar Helm 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.

Gunnar Helm and TEN host CLE on Sunday at 1:00 PM ET.

CLE allowed 14.6 fantasy points a game to TEs this season over 5 games, the 13th most in the league.

Tight ends caught passes for 54 yards and 0.6 touchdowns a game against CLE.

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

Injury status

Darnell Washington is not on the injury report.

Gunnar Helm 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 5, Gunnar Helm played 77 percent of TEN snaps, drew 9 percent of the targets, earned 5 percent of the air yards and had 7 percent of the red zone chances.

Gunnar Helm, Week 2 against PHI: 46 of 53 snaps, 2 targets and 2 catches for 13 yards.

Gunnar Helm, Week 3 against NYG: 49 of 60 snaps, 4 targets and 2 catches for 14 yards.

Gunnar Helm, Week 4 against BAL: 46 of 64 snaps, 1 target and 1 catch for 5 yards.

Gunnar Helm, Week 5 against HOU: 45 of 63 snaps, 1 target and 0 catches for 0 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, Gunnar Helm played 16 games for TEN and scored 91.7 PPR points, 5.7 a game, finishing TE31.

He caught 44 of 55 targets for 357 yards and 2 touchdowns, with 7 red zone targets and 198 air yards.

He was on the field for 53 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 Gunnar Helm 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), Gunnar Helm 52 (5.2 a game over 10 games). For Week 7 the call starts Darnell Washington over Gunnar Helm.
Should I drop Darnell Washington for Gunnar Helm?
No. Keep Darnell Washington: he projects 59 market-implied PPR points from Week 7 through Week 17 (5.9 a game over 10 games), Gunnar Helm 52 (5.2 a game over 10 games). For Week 7 the call starts Darnell Washington over Gunnar Helm.