Start Darren Waller or Oronde Gadsden? Week 8

Our Week 8 call

Start Oronde Gadsden over Darren Waller in Week 8.

Market-based projections have Oronde Gadsden at 6.0 points and Darren Waller at 5.9, a gap of 0.1. That is inside the noise of a single catch, so treat it as close to a coin flip. No player market is posted for Oronde Gadsden this week yet, so his 6.0 is the average of his market-based projections in Weeks 5 and 6 (8.2 and 3.8); the call is rebuilt when his market posts.

What the market projects

No Week 8 player market is posted for Oronde Gadsden yet. His market-based projections were 8.2 and 3.8 points in Weeks 5 and 6, an average of 6.0, which stands in until his Week 8 market posts.

Player markets imply 5.9 fantasy points for Darren Waller, with 100 percent of the markets a TE needs posted.

The market-based projection for Darren Waller is 20 receiving yards, 2-3 receptions and 0.2 touchdowns (12, 13 and 13 market sources).

That puts Oronde Gadsden 0.1 points ahead of Darren Waller on these projections.

Week 8 matchups

Oronde Gadsden and LAC visit LAR on Sunday at 4:05 PM ET.

LAR allowed 10.2 fantasy points a game to TEs this season over 7 games, the 5th fewest in the league.

Tight ends caught passes for 42 yards and 0.1 touchdowns a game against LAR.

Darren Waller and CAR visit GB on Thursday at 8:15 PM ET.

GB allowed 9.0 fantasy points a game to TEs this season over 7 games, the 2nd fewest in the league.

Tight ends caught passes for 33 yards and 0.3 touchdowns a game against GB.

By points allowed to the position, Oronde Gadsden has the softer matchup.

Injury status

Oronde Gadsden is not on the injury report.

Darren Waller is not on the injury report.

Usage before Week 8

Through Week 6, Oronde Gadsden played 48 percent of LAC snaps, drew 12 percent of the targets, earned 12 percent of the air yards and had 13 percent of the red zone chances.

Oronde Gadsden, Week 3 against BUF: 39 of 69 snaps, 3 targets and 0 catches for 0 yards.

Oronde Gadsden, Week 4 against SEA: 39 of 71 snaps, 1 carry for 2 yards, 8 targets and 5 catches for 36 yards.

Oronde Gadsden, Week 5 against DEN: 39 of 67 snaps, 1 target and 0 catches for 0 yards.

Oronde Gadsden, Week 6 against KC: 33 of 68 snaps, 5 targets and 3 catches for 17 yards.

Through Week 7, Darren Waller played 46 percent of CAR snaps, drew 11 percent of the targets, earned 11 percent of the air yards and had 7 percent of the red zone chances.

Darren Waller, Week 3 against CLE: 39 of 77 snaps, 8 targets and 5 catches for 51 yards.

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.

Their 2025 seasons

In 2025, Oronde Gadsden played 15 games for LAC and scored 131.4 PPR points, 8.8 a game, finishing TE15.

He caught 49 of 69 targets for 664 yards and 3 touchdowns, with 14 red zone targets and 443 air yards.

He was on the field for 63 percent of the offense's snaps in the games he played.

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 8 calls

• Start AJ Barner over Oronde Gadsden.
• Start Chig Okonkwo over Oronde Gadsden.
• Start Oronde Gadsden over Colby Parkinson.
• Start AJ Barner over Darren Waller.
• Start Chig Okonkwo over Darren Waller.
• Start Darren Waller over Colby Parkinson.