Start Darren Waller or Elijah Higgins? Week 9

Our Week 9 call

Start Darren Waller over Elijah Higgins in Week 9.

Market-based projections have Darren Waller at 4.8 points and Elijah Higgins at 4.1, a gap of 0.7. That is inside the noise of a single catch, so treat it as close to a coin flip. No player market is posted for Elijah Higgins this week yet, so his 4.1 is the average of his market-based projections in Weeks 6, 7 and 8 (3.6, 3.4 and 5.2); the call is rebuilt when his market posts.

What the market projects

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).

No Week 9 player market is posted for Elijah Higgins yet. His market-based projections were 3.6, 3.4 and 5.2 points in Weeks 6, 7 and 8, an average of 4.1, which stands in until his Week 9 market posts.

That puts Darren Waller 0.7 points ahead of Elijah Higgins on these projections.

Week 9 matchups

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.

Elijah Higgins and ARI visit SEA on Sunday at 4:25 PM ET.

SEA allowed 10.2 fantasy points a game to TEs this season over 8 games, the 5th fewest in the league.

Tight ends caught passes for 38 yards and 0.3 touchdowns a game against SEA.

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

Injury status

Darren Waller is not on the injury report.

Elijah Higgins is not on the injury report.

Usage before Week 9

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.

Through Week 8, Elijah Higgins played 39 percent of ARI snaps, drew 6 percent of the targets, earned 2 percent of the air yards and had 2 percent of the red zone chances.

Elijah Higgins, Week 5 against DET: 39 of 73 snaps, 3 targets and 3 catches for 57 yards.

Elijah Higgins, Week 6 against LAR: 32 of 72 snaps, 3 targets and 3 catches for 28 yards.

Elijah Higgins, Week 7 against DEN: 39 of 81 snaps, 3 targets and 3 catches for 17 yards.

Elijah Higgins, Week 8 against DAL: 26 of 81 snaps, 4 targets and 2 catches for 10 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.

In 2025, Elijah Higgins played 17 games for ARI and scored 58.1 PPR points, 3.4 a game, finishing TE48.

He caught 30 of 37 targets for 301 yards and 0 touchdowns, with 4 red zone targets and 92 air yards.

He was on the field for 41 percent of the offense's snaps in the games he played.

Their other Week 9 calls

• Start AJ Barner over Darren Waller.
• Start Cade Otton over Darren Waller.
• Start Charlie Kolar over Darren Waller.
• Start Evan Engram over Elijah Higgins.
• Start Tommy Tremble over Elijah Higgins.