Start Mark Andrews or Elijah Higgins? Week 9

Our Week 9 call

Start Mark Andrews over Elijah Higgins in Week 9.

Market-based projections have Mark Andrews at 5.6 points and Elijah Higgins at 4.8, a gap of 0.8. That is inside the noise of a single catch, so treat it as close to a coin flip.

What the market projects

Player markets imply 4.8 fantasy points for Elijah Higgins, with 100 percent of the markets a TE needs posted.

The market-based projection for Elijah Higgins is 17 receiving yards, 2-3 receptions and 0.1 touchdowns (7, 8 and 8 market sources).

Player markets imply 5.6 fantasy points for Mark Andrews, with 100 percent of the markets a TE needs posted.

The market-based projection for Mark Andrews is 20 receiving yards, 2-3 receptions and 0.2 touchdowns (14, 12 and 14 market sources).

That puts Mark Andrews 0.8 points ahead of Elijah Higgins on the market projections.

Week 9 matchups

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.

Mark Andrews and BAL host JAX on Thursday at 8:15 PM ET.

JAX allowed 11.0 fantasy points a game to TEs this season over 7 games, the 8th fewest in the league.

Tight ends caught passes for 32 yards and 0.6 touchdowns a game against JAX.

By points allowed to the position, Mark Andrews has the softer matchup.

Injury status

Elijah Higgins is not on the injury report.

Mark Andrews is not on the injury report.

Usage before Week 9

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.

Through Week 8, Mark Andrews played 64 percent of BAL snaps, drew 18 percent of the targets, earned 15 percent of the air yards and had 9 percent of the red zone chances.

Mark Andrews, Week 5 against ATL: 55 of 76 snaps, 6 targets and 4 catches for 28 yards.

Mark Andrews, Week 6 against CLE: 41 of 57 snaps, 3 targets and 1 catch for 4 yards.

Mark Andrews, Week 7 against CIN: 38 of 67 snaps, 4 targets and 3 catches for 23 yards.

Mark Andrews, Week 8 against BUF: 29 of 51 snaps, 4 targets and 3 catches for 14 yards.

Their 2025 seasons

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.

In 2025, Mark Andrews played 17 games for BAL and scored 131.0 PPR points, 7.7 a game, finishing TE16.

He caught 48 of 70 targets for 422 yards and 5 touchdowns, with 14 red zone targets and 321 air yards.

He was on the field for 62 percent of the offense's snaps in the games he played.

Their other Week 9 calls

• Start AJ Barner over Elijah Higgins.
• Start Charlie Kolar over Elijah Higgins.
• Start Chig Okonkwo over Elijah Higgins.
• Start AJ Barner over Mark Andrews.
• Start Cade Otton over Mark Andrews.
• Start Mark Andrews over Charlie Kolar.