Start Tyler Higbee or Darnell Washington? Week 8

Our Week 8 call

Start Tyler Higbee over Darnell Washington in Week 8.

Market-based projections have Tyler Higbee at 8.1 points and Darnell Washington at 6.5, a gap of 1.6. No player market is posted for Tyler Higbee this week yet, so his 8.1 is the average of his market-based projections in Weeks 5, 6 and 7 (7.1, 7.7 and 9.4); the call is rebuilt when his market posts. 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.

What the market projects

No Week 8 player market is posted for Tyler Higbee yet. His market-based projections were 7.1, 7.7 and 9.4 points in Weeks 5, 6 and 7, an average of 8.1, which stands in until his Week 8 market posts.

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.

That puts Tyler Higbee 1.6 points ahead of Darnell Washington on these projections.

Week 8 matchups

Tyler Higbee and LAR host LAC on Sunday at 4:05 PM ET.

LAC allowed 11.1 fantasy points a game to TEs this season over 6 games, the 10th fewest in the league.

Tight ends caught passes for 58 yards and 0.2 touchdowns a game against LAC.

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.

By points allowed to the position, Darnell Washington 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 8

Through Week 7, Tyler Higbee played 59 percent of LAR snaps, drew 12 percent of the targets, earned 12 percent of the air yards and had 3 percent of the red zone chances.

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: 48 of 58 snaps, 4 targets and 4 catches for 22 yards.

Tyler Higbee, Week 7 against LV: 53 of 72 snaps, 3 targets and 2 catches for 14 yards.

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.

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 8 calls

• Start Tyler Higbee over AJ Barner.
• Start Brenton Strange over Tyler Higbee.
• Start Cade Otton over Tyler Higbee.
• Start AJ Barner over Darnell Washington.
• Start Chig Okonkwo over Darnell Washington.
• Start Darnell Washington over Colby Parkinson.