Start Drew Sample or Noah Fant? Week 10

Our Week 10 call

Start Drew Sample over Noah Fant in Week 10.

Market-based projections have Drew Sample at 2.8 points and Noah Fant at 2.6, 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 Noah Fant this week yet, so his 2.6 is the average of his market-based projections in Weeks 7 and 9 (3.5 and 1.8); the call is rebuilt when his market posts.

What the market projects

Player markets imply 2.8 fantasy points for Drew Sample, with 100 percent of the markets a TE needs posted.

The market-based projection for Drew Sample is 0.1 touchdowns (11 market sources).

No Week 10 player market is posted for Noah Fant yet. His market-based projections were 3.5 and 1.8 points in Weeks 7 and 9, an average of 2.6, which stands in until his Week 10 market posts.

That puts Drew Sample 0.2 points ahead of Noah Fant on these projections.

Week 10 matchups

Drew Sample and CIN host PIT on Sunday at 8:20 PM ET.

PIT allowed 12.7 fantasy points a game to TEs this season over 8 games, the 13th fewest in the league.

Tight ends caught passes for 57 yards and 0.3 touchdowns a game against PIT.

Noah Fant and NO host CAR on Sunday at 1:00 PM ET.

CAR allowed 14.0 fantasy points a game to TEs this season over 7 games, the 14th most in the league.

Tight ends caught passes for 47 yards and 0.7 touchdowns a game against CAR.

By points allowed to the position, Noah Fant has the softer matchup.

Injury status

Drew Sample is not on the injury report.

Noah Fant is not on the injury report.

Usage before Week 10

Through Week 9, Drew Sample played 51 percent of CIN snaps, drew 3 percent of the targets, earned 0 percent of the air yards and had 3 percent of the red zone chances.

Drew Sample, Week 5 against MIA: 34 of 65 snaps, 1 target and 1 catch for 5 yards.

Drew Sample, Week 7 against BAL: 29 of 53 snaps, 2 targets and 2 catches for 24 yards, 1 touchdown.

Drew Sample, Week 8 against TEN: 29 of 74 snaps, 0 targets and 0 catches for 0 yards.

Drew Sample, Week 9 against ATL: 38 of 57 snaps, 0 targets and 0 catches for 0 yards.

Through Week 9, Noah Fant played 50 percent of NO snaps, drew 7 percent of the targets, earned 4 percent of the air yards and had 6 percent of the red zone chances.

Noah Fant, Week 5 against MIN: 30 of 45 snaps, 1 target and 1 catch for 7 yards.

Noah Fant, Week 6 against NYG: 42 of 72 snaps, 1 target and 0 catches for 0 yards.

Noah Fant, Week 7 against PIT: 26 of 57 snaps, 2 targets and 2 catches for 11 yards.

Noah Fant, Week 9 against CLE: 35 of 75 snaps, 2 targets and 1 catch for 12 yards.

Their 2025 seasons

In 2025, Drew Sample played 17 games for CIN and scored 31.9 PPR points, 1.9 a game, finishing TE64.

He caught 15 of 20 targets for 106 yards and 1 touchdown, with 1 red zone target and -3 air yards.

He was on the field for 52 percent of the offense's snaps in the games he played.

In 2025, Noah Fant played 15 games for CIN and scored 74.8 PPR points, 5.0 a game, finishing TE37.

He caught 34 of 41 targets for 288 yards and 3 touchdowns, with 4 red zone targets and 114 air yards.

He was on the field for 39 percent of the offense's snaps in the games he played.

Their other Week 10 calls

• Start Drew Sample over Daniel Bellinger.
• Start Davis Allen over Drew Sample.
• Start Dawson Knox over Drew Sample.
• Start Noah Fant over Theo Johnson.