Start Darnell Washington or Gunnar Helm? Week 8

Our Week 8 call

Start Darnell Washington over Gunnar Helm in Week 8.

Market-based projections have Darnell Washington at 6.5 points and Gunnar Helm at 4.6, a gap of 1.9. No player market is posted for Darnell Washington this week yet, so his 6.5 is the average of his market-based projections in Weeks 5, 6 and 7 (6.2, 6.5 and 6.7); the call is rebuilt when his market posts. No player market is posted for Gunnar Helm this week yet, so his 4.6 is the average of his market-based projections in Weeks 5, 6 and 7 (5.0, 4.9 and 3.9); the call is rebuilt when his market posts.

What the market projects

No Week 8 player market is posted for Darnell Washington yet. His market-based projections were 6.2, 6.5 and 6.7 points in Weeks 5, 6 and 7, an average of 6.5, which stands in until his Week 8 market posts.

No Week 8 player market is posted for Gunnar Helm yet. His market-based projections were 5.0, 4.9 and 3.9 points in Weeks 5, 6 and 7, an average of 4.6, which stands in until his Week 8 market posts.

That puts Darnell Washington 1.9 points ahead of Gunnar Helm on these projections.

Week 8 matchups

Darnell Washington and PIT host CLE on Sunday at 1:00 PM ET.

CLE allowed 13.6 fantasy points a game to TEs this season over 7 games, the 14th most in the league.

Tight ends caught passes for 49 yards and 0.6 touchdowns a game against CLE.

Gunnar Helm and TEN visit CIN on Sunday at 1:00 PM ET.

CIN allowed 15.7 fantasy points a game to TEs this season over 6 games, the 11th most in the league.

Tight ends caught passes for 85 yards and no touchdowns a game against CIN.

By points allowed to the position, Gunnar Helm 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 8

Through Week 7, Darnell Washington played 65 percent of PIT snaps, drew 9 percent of the targets, earned 6 percent of the air yards and had 13 percent of the red zone chances.

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: 56 of 79 snaps, 6 targets and 4 catches for 25 yards, 1 touchdown.

Darnell Washington, Week 7 against NO: 36 of 64 snaps, 1 target and 1 catch for 4 yards, 1 touchdown.

Through Week 7, Gunnar Helm played 78 percent of TEN snaps, drew 9 percent of the targets, earned 6 percent of the air yards and had 5 percent of the red zone chances.

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.

Gunnar Helm, Week 6 against IND: 33 of 46 snaps, 0 targets and 0 catches for 0 yards.

Gunnar Helm, Week 7 against CLE: 53 of 63 snaps, 4 targets and 3 catches for 24 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 8 calls

• Start AJ Barner over Darnell Washington.
• Start Chig Okonkwo over Darnell Washington.
• Start Darnell Washington over Colby Parkinson.
• Start Chig Okonkwo over Gunnar Helm.
• Start Colby Parkinson over Gunnar Helm.
• Start Darren Waller over Gunnar Helm.