Should I start Rashod Bateman or Michael Mayer in Week 7?

Where the draft room stands

Live drafts hold no current pick on Rashod Bateman, and the board ranks him 122nd overall on the rest of his evidence.

Live drafts hold no current pick on Michael Mayer, and the board ranks him 123rd overall on the rest of his evidence.

The market-based projections

The market-based projection for Rashod Bateman is 2.1 PPR points a game off 1 market across 1 market source. That is 30 percent of what a wide receiver's projection needs, so it is a fragment of one rather than a projection.

The market-based projection for Michael Mayer is 1.7 PPR points a game off 1 market across 1 market source. That is 30 percent of what a tight end's projection needs, so it is a fragment of one rather than a projection.

Rashod Bateman's projection is not complete, so the two figures are not set against each other here.

This season through Week 6

Through Week 6, Rashod Bateman has been on the field for 77 percent of BAL snaps, drawn 13 percent of the targets and had 5 percent of the red zone chances.

He has taken 3 of the offence's 46 third down targets, had 1 of its 25 chances inside the five and seen 9 of its 41 two minute targets.

His 22 targets have averaged 12.4 air yards.

In Week 4 against TEN he caught 2 of 2 targets for 46 yards and did not score.

In Week 5 against ATL he caught 5 of 6 targets for 62 yards and did not score.

In Week 6 against CLE he caught 0 of 1 target for 0 yards and did not score.

Through Week 6, Michael Mayer has been on the field for 82 percent of LV snaps, drawn 16 percent of the targets and had 3 percent of the red zone chances.

He has taken 6 of the offence's 61 third down targets, had 1 of its 15 chances inside the five and seen 9 of its 36 two minute targets.

His 34 targets have averaged 4.5 air yards.

In Week 4 against KC he caught 8 of 10 targets for 82 yards and did not score.

In Week 5 against NE he caught 1 of 1 target for 2 yards and did not score.

In Week 6 against BUF he caught 7 of 9 targets for 95 yards and did not score.

Their 2025 seasons

In 2025 Rashod Bateman played 13 games and scored 55.4 PPR points, 4.3 a game, finishing WR102.

He caught 19 of 38 targets for 224 yards and 2 touchdowns, with 8 red zone targets.

That came to 2.9 targets a game, a 50 percent catch rate and 11.8 yards a catch.

He was on the field for 69 percent of the snaps in the games he played.

In 2025 Michael Mayer played 13 games 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.

That came to 3.8 targets a game, a 70 percent catch rate and 9.4 yards a catch.

He was on the field for 57 percent of the snaps in the games he played.

Both were available for 13 games that season.

Side by side

In 2025 Michael Mayer scored 5.7 PPR points a game and Rashod Bateman 4.3, 1.4 a game between them.

Rashod Bateman finished WR102 and Michael Mayer TE38, which are two different ladders.

Rashod Bateman is a wide receiver and Michael Mayer a tight end, so the question is which slot you fill first rather than which of them is better.

Byes and availability

Both are off in Week 13, so a roster holding the pair has that one week to cover twice.

Rashod Bateman is listed as out on the injury report.