Austin Hooper · David Njoku · 2026 week 9

Austin Hooper or David Njoku?

Wondering who you should start this week — Austin Hooper or David Njoku? The start/sit call and the numbers behind it are below, plus who wins a straight-up trade. Rebuilt nightly.

Start David Njoku — barelyThis one is a coin flip — the projections are within 0.3 points. The matchup leans David Njoku (BAL allow the 15th-most TE points), but you can defend either call.

Player	Wk 9	Proj (PPR)	Matchup	Form L3	Trade value	Status
Austin Hooper	vs CIN	3.8	10th	2.5	–	healthy
David Njoku START	@ BAL	4.1	15th	6.4	–	IR

TEs vs CIN recently: Greg Dulcich 5.7 pts (W5) · Josh Cuevas 3.5 pts (W7) · Gunnar Helm 9.6 pts (W8).

TEs vs BAL recently: Harold Fannin Jr. 0.9 pts (W6) · Drew Sample 8.4 pts (W7) · Dalton Kincaid 14.6 pts (W8).

🎓 The coach's read

Projections are 0.3 apart — too close to call on projection alone.
Austin Hooper faces CIN, 10th most generous to TEs.
David Njoku faces BAL, 15th most generous to TEs.
David Njoku is flagged OUT.

Who wins a straight-up trade?

Their trade values are effectively even — a one-for-one is a fair swap on the numbers.

Open in Start/Sit (any scoring) Open in the Trade Analyzer

More TE decisions

All numbers are the 2026 season, refreshed nightly.