Darnell Washington vs Trey McBride: Who Should You Start?
Trey McBride and Darnell Washington are at different tiers heading into 2026. The Arizona Cardinals tight end averaged 14.9 PPG in 2025, a full 11.3 points per game ahead of Darnell Washington's 3.6 with the Pittsburgh Steelers. That kind of gap doesn't close on matchup alone.
Trey McBride carries a 11.3-point PPG advantage from the 2025 season. That baseline matters, but it is one input among several. Matchup difficulty, scoring trends, and injury reports move the needle week to week, which is why the best answer changes depending on when you are asking.
Trey McBride is the volume tight end in this matchup with 126 receptions for 1239 yards, while Darnell Washington profiles as a more touchdown-dependent spike play (1 scores on 31 catches). In weeks where Darnell Washington finds the end zone he out-scores Trey McBride, but the floor gap is real.
Darnell Washington has his bye in Week 9, and Trey McBride rests in Week 11. Managers rostering both need waiver wire depth at tight end for those two weeks, and that is exactly the kind of planning DraftCall's matchup engine surfaces automatically so you are not scrambling on a Sunday morning.
