Start Darren Waller or Mason Taylor? Week 9

Our Week 9 call

Start Darren Waller over Mason Taylor in Week 9.

Market-based projections have Darren Waller at 6.3 points and Mason Taylor at 5.2, a gap of 1.1. That is inside the noise of a single catch, so treat it as close to a coin flip. No player market is posted for Darren Waller this week yet, so his 6.3 is the average of his market-based projections in Weeks 6, 7 and 8 (6.5, 6.4 and 6.0); the call is rebuilt when his market posts. No player market is posted for Mason Taylor this week yet, so his 5.2 is the average of his market-based projections in Weeks 6, 7 and 8 (3.8, 5.5 and 6.3); the call is rebuilt when his market posts.

What the market projects

No Week 9 player market is posted for Darren Waller yet. His market-based projections were 6.5, 6.4 and 6.0 points in Weeks 6, 7 and 8, an average of 6.3, which stands in until his Week 9 market posts.

No Week 9 player market is posted for Mason Taylor yet. His market-based projections were 3.8, 5.5 and 6.3 points in Weeks 6, 7 and 8, an average of 5.2, which stands in until his Week 9 market posts.

That puts Darren Waller 1.1 points ahead of Mason Taylor on these projections.

Week 9 matchups

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

DEN allowed 16.0 fantasy points a game to TEs this season over 7 games, the 9th most in the league.

Tight ends caught passes for 65 yards and 0.6 touchdowns a game against DEN.

Mason Taylor and NYJ visit KC on Sunday at 1:00 PM ET.

KC allowed 18.5 fantasy points a game to TEs this season over 6 games, the 5th most in the league.

Tight ends caught passes for 71 yards and 0.7 touchdowns a game against KC.

By points allowed to the position, Mason Taylor has the softer matchup.

Injury status

Darren Waller is not on the injury report.

Mason Taylor 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, Mason Taylor played 57 percent of NYJ snaps, drew 13 percent of the targets, earned 13 percent of the air yards and had 10 percent of the red zone chances.

Mason Taylor, Week 5 against CLE: 41 of 70 snaps, 3 targets and 3 catches for 24 yards.

Mason Taylor, Week 6 against NE: 34 of 62 snaps, 6 targets and 4 catches for 33 yards.

Mason Taylor, Week 7 against MIA: 37 of 59 snaps, 6 targets and 5 catches for 62 yards, 2 touchdowns.

Mason Taylor, Week 8 against LV: 5 targets and 3 catches for 19 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, Mason Taylor played 13 games for NYJ and scored 88.9 PPR points, 6.8 a game, finishing TE32.

He caught 44 of 65 targets for 369 yards and 1 touchdown, with 7 red zone targets and 235 air yards.

He was on the field for 81 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 Darren Waller over Charlie Kolar.
• Start AJ Barner over Mason Taylor.
• Start Charlie Kolar over Mason Taylor.
• Start Mason Taylor over Colby Parkinson.