Start Darren Waller or Oronde Gadsden? Week 9

Our Week 9 call

Start Darren Waller over Oronde Gadsden in Week 9.

Market-based projections have Darren Waller at 4.8 points and Oronde Gadsden at 3.9, a gap of 0.9. 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 3.9 is the average of his market-based projections in Weeks 6 and 8 (3.8 and 4.1); 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 (8, 8 and 10 market sources).

No Week 9 player market is posted for Oronde Gadsden yet. His market-based projections were 3.8 and 4.1 points in Weeks 6 and 8, an average of 3.9, which stands in until his Week 9 market posts.

That puts Darren Waller 0.9 points ahead of Oronde Gadsden 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.

Oronde Gadsden and LAC host HOU on Sunday at 4:05 PM ET.

HOU allowed 10.1 fantasy points a game to TEs this season over 7 games, the 4th fewest in the league.

Tight ends caught passes for 46 yards and 0.1 touchdowns a game against HOU.

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

Injury status

Darren Waller is not on the injury report.

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

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.

Oronde Gadsden, Week 8 against LAR: 29 of 61 snaps, 5 targets and 5 catches for 52 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, 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.

Their other Week 9 calls

• Start AJ Barner over Darren Waller.
• Start Cade Otton over Darren Waller.
• Start Charlie Kolar over Darren Waller.
• Start Tommy Tremble over Oronde Gadsden.