Start AJ Barner or Cade Otton? Week 8

Our Week 8 call

Start Cade Otton over AJ Barner in Week 8.

Market-based projections have Cade Otton at 8.1 points and AJ Barner at 6.6, a gap of 1.5. No player market is posted for Cade Otton this week yet, so his 8.1 is the average of his market-based projections in Weeks 5, 6 and 7 (7.7, 7.2 and 9.5); the call is rebuilt when his market posts. No player market is posted for AJ Barner this week yet, so his 6.6 is the average of his market-based projections in Weeks 5, 6 and 7 (6.0, 7.0 and 7.0); the call is rebuilt when his market posts.

What the market projects

No Week 8 player market is posted for Cade Otton yet. His market-based projections were 7.7, 7.2 and 9.5 points in Weeks 5, 6 and 7, an average of 8.1, which stands in until his Week 8 market posts.

No Week 8 player market is posted for AJ Barner yet. His market-based projections were 6.0, 7.0 and 7.0 points in Weeks 5, 6 and 7, an average of 6.6, which stands in until his Week 8 market posts.

The market-based projection for AJ Barner is 0.4 touchdowns (7 market sources).

That puts Cade Otton 1.5 points ahead of AJ Barner on these projections.

Week 8 matchups

Cade Otton and TB host ATL on Sunday at 1:00 PM ET.

ATL allowed 15.8 fantasy points a game to TEs this season over 7 games, the 10th most in the league.

Tight ends caught passes for 63 yards and 0.6 touchdowns a game against ATL.

AJ Barner and SEA host CHI on Monday at 8:15 PM ET.

CHI allowed 13.1 fantasy points a game to TEs this season over 7 games, the 16th most in the league.

Tight ends caught passes for 57 yards and 0.4 touchdowns a game against CHI.

By points allowed to the position, Cade Otton has the softer matchup.

Injury status

Cade Otton is not on the injury report.

AJ Barner is not on the injury report.

Usage before Week 8

Through Week 7, Cade Otton played 94 percent of TB snaps, drew 15 percent of the targets, earned 13 percent of the air yards and had 4 percent of the red zone chances.

Cade Otton, Week 4 against GB: 60 of 64 snaps, 6 targets and 4 catches for 37 yards.

Cade Otton, Week 5 against DAL: 66 of 72 snaps, 4 targets and 3 catches for 25 yards.

Cade Otton, Week 6 against PIT: 74 of 74 snaps, 2 targets and 1 catch for 4 yards.

Cade Otton, Week 7 against CAR: 56 of 63 snaps, 1 target and 0 catches for 0 yards.

Through Week 7, AJ Barner played 88 percent of SEA snaps, drew 13 percent of the targets, earned 4 percent of the air yards and had 13 percent of the red zone chances.

AJ Barner, Week 4 against LAC: 54 of 60 snaps, 3 targets and 1 catch for 12 yards.

AJ Barner, Week 5 against SF: 60 of 63 snaps, 5 targets and 3 catches for 20 yards.

AJ Barner, Week 6 against DEN: 79 of 85 snaps, 4 targets and 3 catches for 16 yards.

AJ Barner, Week 7 against KC: 55 of 69 snaps, 3 carries for 4 yards, 5 targets and 4 catches for 42 yards.

Their 2025 seasons

In 2025, Cade Otton played 16 games for TB and scored 122.2 PPR points, 7.6 a game, finishing TE22.

He caught 59 of 81 targets for 572 yards and 1 touchdown, with 5 red zone targets and 261 air yards.

He was on the field for 93 percent of the offense's snaps in the games he played.

In 2025, AJ Barner played 17 games for SEA and scored 147.3 PPR points, 8.7 a game, finishing TE14.

He caught 52 of 68 targets for 519 yards and 6 touchdowns, with 12 red zone targets and 248 air yards.

He was on the field for 78 percent of the offense's snaps in the games he played.

Their other Week 8 calls

• Start Brenton Strange over Cade Otton.
• Start Colston Loveland over Cade Otton.
• Start Dallas Goedert over Cade Otton.
• Start AJ Barner over Chig Okonkwo.
• Start AJ Barner over Colby Parkinson.
• Start AJ Barner over Darnell Washington.