Start Darren Waller or Eli Raridon? Week 9

Our Week 9 call

Start Eli Raridon over Darren Waller in Week 9.

Market-based projections have Eli Raridon at 5.0 points and Darren Waller at 4.8, a gap of 0.2. That is inside the noise of a single catch, so treat it as close to a coin flip. No player market is posted for Eli Raridon this week yet, so his 5.0 is the average of his market-based projections in Weeks 6, 7 and 8 (4.0, 4.2 and 6.8); the call is rebuilt when his market posts.

What the market projects

No Week 9 player market is posted for Eli Raridon yet. His market-based projections were 4.0, 4.2 and 6.8 points in Weeks 6, 7 and 8, an average of 5.0, which stands in until his Week 9 market posts.

The market-based projection for Eli Raridon is 0.3 touchdowns (7 market sources).

Player markets imply 4.8 fantasy points for Darren Waller, with 100 percent of the markets a TE needs posted.

The market-based projection for Darren Waller is 19 receiving yards, 1-2 receptions and 0.2 touchdowns (10, 10 and 11 market sources).

That puts Eli Raridon 0.2 points ahead of Darren Waller on these projections.

Week 9 matchups

Eli Raridon and NE host GB on Sunday at 4:25 PM ET.

GB allowed 9.0 fantasy points a game to TEs this season over 8 games, the 2nd fewest in the league.

Tight ends caught passes for 35 yards and 0.3 touchdowns a game against GB.

Darren Waller and CAR host DEN on Sunday at 1:00 PM ET.

DEN allowed 16.8 fantasy points a game to TEs this season over 8 games, the 7th most in the league.

Tight ends caught passes for 68 yards and 0.6 touchdowns a game against DEN.

By points allowed to the position, Darren Waller has the softer matchup.

Injury status

Eli Raridon is not on the injury report.

Darren Waller is not on the injury report.

Usage before Week 9

Through Week 8, Eli Raridon played 56 percent of NE snaps, drew 10 percent of the targets, earned 8 percent of the air yards and had 10 percent of the red zone chances.

Eli Raridon, Week 5 against LV: 43 of 75 snaps, 5 targets and 5 catches for 57 yards.

Eli Raridon, Week 6 against NYJ: 39 of 68 snaps, 3 targets and 1 catch for 11 yards.

Eli Raridon, Week 7 against CHI: 29 of 54 snaps, 4 targets and 3 catches for 56 yards, 1 touchdown.

Eli Raridon, Week 8 against MIA: 55 of 60 snaps, 4 targets and 1 catch for 5 yards.

Through Week 8, Darren Waller played 48 percent of CAR snaps, drew 10 percent of the targets, earned 11 percent of the air yards and had 6 percent of the red zone chances.

Darren Waller, Week 4 against DET: 40 of 75 snaps, 6 targets and 3 catches for 36 yards.

Darren Waller, Week 6 against PHI: 36 of 79 snaps, 2 targets and 0 catches for 0 yards.

Darren Waller, Week 7 against TB: 25 of 56 snaps, 2 targets and 1 catch for 50 yards, 1 touchdown.

Darren Waller, Week 8 against GB: 45 of 73 snaps, 2 targets and 1 catch for 11 yards.

Their 2025 seasons

In 2025, Darren Waller played 9 games for MIA and scored 88.7 PPR points, 9.9 a game, finishing TE33.

He caught 24 of 34 targets for 283 yards and 6 touchdowns, with 7 red zone targets and 210 air yards.

He was on the field for 45 percent of the offense's snaps in the games he played.

Their other Week 9 calls

• Start AJ Barner over Eli Raridon.
• Start Charlie Kolar over Eli Raridon.
• Start Eli Raridon over Colby Parkinson.
• Start AJ Barner over Darren Waller.
• Start Cade Otton over Darren Waller.
• Start Charlie Kolar over Darren Waller.