Start Tyler Higbee or Darnell Washington? Week 7

Updated Oct 19, 7:56 AM ET. Locks at kickoff, graded after. Week 8 answer posts Tuesday.

Early kickoff: 9:30 AM ET, set your lineup before then.

Start Tyler Higbee over Darnell Washington

Start

Tyler Higbee

TE · LAR · at LV

Market projects: 7.7; recent weeks avg
LV D vs TE: 18.9; 6th most to TEs (2026)
Snap share: 53%; Through Week 6
Target share: 12%; Through Week 6

Sit

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

Should I drop Darnell Washington for Tyler Higbee?

Yes, on the rest of the season. Tyler Higbee projects 75 market-implied PPR points from Week 7 through Week 17 (7.5 a game over 10 games), Darnell Washington 59 (5.9 a game over 10 games). For Week 7 the call starts Tyler Higbee over Darnell Washington.

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Our Week 7 call

Start Tyler Higbee over Darnell Washington in Week 7.

Market-based projections have Tyler Higbee at 7.7 points and Darnell Washington at 5.9, a gap of 1.8. No player market is posted for Tyler Higbee this week yet, so his 7.7 is the average of his market-based projections in Weeks 4 and 5 (8.2 and 7.1); the call is rebuilt when his market posts. 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.

What the market projects

No Week 7 player market is posted for Tyler Higbee yet. His market-based projections were 8.2 and 7.1 points in Weeks 4 and 5, an average of 7.7, which stands in until his Week 7 market posts.

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.

That puts Tyler Higbee 1.8 points ahead of Darnell Washington on these projections.

Week 7 matchups

Tyler Higbee and LAR visit LV on Sunday at 4:25 PM ET.

LV allowed 18.9 fantasy points a game to TEs this season over 5 games, the 6th most in the league.

Tight ends caught passes for 57 yards and 1.2 touchdowns a game against LV.

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.

By points allowed to the position, Tyler Higbee has the softer matchup.

Injury status

Tyler Higbee is not on the injury report.

Darnell Washington is not on the injury report.

Usage before Week 7

Through Week 6, Tyler Higbee played 53 percent of LAR snaps, drew 12 percent of the targets, earned 11 percent of the air yards and had 4 percent of the red zone chances.

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.

Tyler Higbee, Week 5 against BUF: 55 of 82 snaps, 6 targets and 5 catches for 83 yards.

Tyler Higbee, Week 6 against ARI: 4 targets and 4 catches for 22 yards.

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.

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 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 Darnell Washington for Tyler Higbee?
Yes, on the rest of the season. Tyler Higbee projects 75 market-implied PPR points from Week 7 through Week 17 (7.5 a game over 10 games), Darnell Washington 59 (5.9 a game over 10 games). For Week 7 the call starts Tyler Higbee over Darnell Washington.
Should I drop Tyler Higbee for Darnell Washington?
No. Keep Tyler Higbee: he projects 75 market-implied PPR points from Week 7 through Week 17 (7.5 a game over 10 games), Darnell Washington 59 (5.9 a game over 10 games). For Week 7 the call starts Tyler Higbee over Darnell Washington.