Joe Royer or Oronde Gadsden: Who Should You Start?

Gadsden Edges Royer in a Clash of Two Unstartable Tight Ends

Royer isn't just buried by a low-scoring Cleveland offense — he's carrying a questionable tag on top of a role that barely existed to begin with, and a 7.5-point underdog script leaves little for a non-featured TE to work with. Gadsden, by contrast, is fully healthy and playing in a game his team is implied to blow open, and his bio as a big-bodied seam mismatch gives him a real, if thin, path to targets. Neither is startable this week, but the gap is wider than the point totals suggest: Royer's floor includes the possibility he doesn't play at all, while Gadsden's floor is just a quiet route-runner day. If you're desperate and forced to plug one in, Gadsden's health and game script make him the far safer bad option.

What flips it: A trending-toward-out report on Gadsden combined with Royer clearing his questionable tag reverses the call.

AI editor

Joe Royer

TECLEvs JAX

0.50.71.0 Projected Points

Sit· high

Oronde Gadsden

TE25LACvs ARI

3.03.94.8 Projected Points

Sit

Why Joe Royer

Sit· high

1.0 projected points as a questionable, non-featured TE on a team implied for just 16.5 in a 7.5-point underdog spot — unstartable.

The questionable tag means a real chance he's inactive, not just quiet, stacked on an already non-factor role.
Cleveland's heavy underdog script squeezes what little offensive snaps a non-featured TE would see.

The call

A 1.0-point PPR projection puts Royer well outside the startable TE range; he's a depth-chart body, not a target earner.
Questionable tag adds availability risk on top of an already minimal role — you can't stake a lineup spot on it.
Team implied total of just 16.5 with a 7.5-point spread caps the entire passing game's ceiling, and Royer is last in line for those looks.
Any waiver-wire TE with a defined route role is the better play this week.

Why Oronde Gadsden

Sit

Starting TE in pass-catching role. Big-bodied seam-stretching mismatch target with meaningful target share.

Sit — TE25 consensus, projects TE35 this week: 28.5 implied team total, 14% target share in 2025.

A big-bodied seam threat with genuine target share, which is rare for a TE valued this low.
Full health plus a blowout-favorite script gives him more paths to garbage-time work than Royer's role allows.

Head-to-head stats

Metric	Joe Royer	Oronde Gadsden
Projected points	0.50.71.0	3.03.94.8
Consensus rank	—	TE25
Opponent vs position	JAXno ranking yet	ARIno ranking yet
Target share	—	14%(2025)
Reception share	—	15%(2025)
Implied total · spread	16.5+7.5	28.5-11.5
Depth chart	TE4	TE3
Snap share	—	63%(2025)
Injury designation	Q	—