Darren Waller · Gunnar Helm · 2026 week 1

Darren Waller or Gunnar Helm?

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

Start Darren Waller — barelyThis one is a coin flip — the projections are within 0.8 points. The matchup leans Darren Waller (CHI allow the 18th-most TE points), but you can defend either call.

Player	Wk 1	Proj (PPR)	Matchup	Form L3	Trade value	Status
Darren Waller START	vs CHI	8.0	18th	11.8	–	healthy
Gunnar Helm	vs NYJ	7.2	5th · soft	6.3	–	healthy

TEs vs CHI recently: Luke Musgrave 3.8 pts (W16) · Jake Tonges 12 pts (W17) · Anthony Firkser 0.2 pts (W18).

TEs vs NYJ recently: Taysom Hill 11.3 pts (W16) · Hunter Henry 10.9 pts (W17) · Dawson Knox 8.4 pts (W18).

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

Darren Waller or Colby Parkinson?Darren Waller or Mike Gesicki?Darren Waller or Pat Freiermuth?Gunnar Helm or Mike Gesicki?Gunnar Helm or Pat Freiermuth?

Game logs, matchup ranks and form are the 2025 season — 2026 hasn’t kicked off. Projections, schedule and trade values are current 2026 numbers, refreshed nightly.