Start Michael Mayer or Mason Taylor? Week 9

Our Week 9 call

Start Michael Mayer over Mason Taylor in Week 9.

Market-based projections have Michael Mayer at 7.2 points and Mason Taylor at 5.2, a gap of 2.0. No player market is posted for Michael Mayer this week yet, so his 7.2 is the average of his market-based projections in Weeks 6, 7 and 8 (6.9, 8.1 and 6.5); 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 Michael Mayer yet. His market-based projections were 6.9, 8.1 and 6.5 points in Weeks 6, 7 and 8, an average of 7.2, 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 Michael Mayer 2.0 points ahead of Mason Taylor on these projections.

Week 9 matchups

Michael Mayer and LV visit SF on Sunday at 4:25 PM ET.

SF allowed 12.0 fantasy points a game to TEs this season over 7 games, the 12th fewest in the league.

Tight ends caught passes for 44 yards and 0.3 touchdowns a game against SF.

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

Michael Mayer is not on the injury report.

Mason Taylor is not on the injury report.

Usage before Week 9

Through Week 8, Michael Mayer played 81 percent of LV snaps, drew 15 percent of the targets, earned 9 percent of the air yards and had 3 percent of the red zone chances.

Michael Mayer, Week 5 against NE: 39 of 60 snaps, 1 target and 1 catch for 2 yards.

Michael Mayer, Week 6 against BUF: 52 of 66 snaps, 9 targets and 7 catches for 95 yards.

Michael Mayer, Week 7 against LAR: 56 of 68 snaps, 3 targets and 3 catches for 32 yards.

Michael Mayer, Week 8 against NYJ: 6 targets and 5 catches for 53 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, Michael Mayer played 13 games for LV and scored 73.8 PPR points, 5.7 a game, finishing TE38.

He caught 35 of 50 targets for 328 yards and 1 touchdown, with 6 red zone targets and 132 air yards.

He was on the field for 57 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 Michael Mayer.
• Start Brenton Strange over Michael Mayer.
• Start Cade Otton over Michael Mayer.
• Start AJ Barner over Mason Taylor.
• Start Charlie Kolar over Mason Taylor.
• Start Mason Taylor over Colby Parkinson.