Start Tyler Higbee or Darnell Washington? Week 5

Our Week 5 call

Start Tyler Higbee over Darnell Washington in Week 5.

Market-based projections have Tyler Higbee at 7.2 points and Darnell Washington at 6.4, a gap of 0.8. That is inside the noise of a single catch, so treat it as close to a coin flip.

What the market projects

Player markets imply 7.2 fantasy points for Tyler Higbee, with 100 percent of the markets a TE needs posted.

The market has Tyler Higbee at 25.5 receiving yards and 2.5 receptions, with a 30% chance to score a touchdown (3, 4 and 14 market sources).

Player markets imply 6.4 fantasy points for Darnell Washington, with 100 percent of the markets a TE needs posted.

The market has Darnell Washington at 22.5 receiving yards and 2.5 receptions, with a 23% chance to score a touchdown (13, 14 and 13 market sources).

That puts Tyler Higbee 0.8 points ahead of Darnell Washington on the market projections.

Injury status

Tyler Higbee is not on the injury report.

Darnell Washington is not on the injury report.

Usage before Week 5

Through Week 4, Tyler Higbee played 49 percent of LAR snaps, drew 12 percent of the targets, earned 10 percent of the air yards and had 6 percent of the red zone chances.

Tyler Higbee, Week 1 against SF: 12 of 61 snaps, 2 targets and 2 catches for 12 yards.

Tyler Higbee, Week 2 against NYG: 16 of 62 snaps, 0 targets and 0 catches for 0 yards.

Tyler Higbee, Week 3 against DEN: 61 of 86 snaps, 11 targets and 8 catches for 62 yards, 1 touchdown.

Tyler Higbee, Week 4 against PHI: 55 of 84 snaps, 6 targets and 5 catches for 67 yards.

Through Week 4, Darnell Washington played 66 percent of PIT snaps, drew 9 percent of the targets, earned 5 percent of the air yards and had 8 percent of the red zone chances.

Darnell Washington, Week 1 against ATL: 43 of 67 snaps, 2 targets and 2 catches for 18 yards.

Darnell Washington, Week 2 against NE: 37 of 70 snaps, 2 targets and 1 catch for 7 yards.

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.

Their 2025 seasons

In 2025, Tyler Higbee played 10 games for LAR and scored 71.1 PPR points, 7.1 a game, finishing TE40.

He caught 25 of 36 targets for 281 yards and 3 touchdowns, with 8 red zone targets and 141 air yards.

He was on the field for 54 percent of the offense's snaps in the games he played.

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.

Their other Week 5 calls

• Start Tyler Higbee over AJ Barner.
• Start Cade Otton over Tyler Higbee.
• Start Chig Okonkwo over Tyler Higbee.
• Start AJ Barner over Darnell Washington.
• Start Cade Otton over Darnell Washington.
• Start Chig Okonkwo over Darnell Washington.