Start Harold Fannin Jr. or AJ Barner? Week 8

Updated Oct 29, 6:11 AM ET. Locks at kickoff, graded after. Week 9 answer posts Tuesday.

Start Harold Fannin Jr. over AJ Barner

Start

Harold Fannin Jr.

TE · CLE · at PIT

Market projects: 8.5; fantasy pts
PIT D vs TE: 10.9; 9th fewest to TEs (2026)
Upside: Rising; 68 of 100 at TE
Snap share: 83%; Through Week 7
Target share: 26%; Through Week 7

Sit

AJ Barner

TE · SEA · vs CHI

Market projects: 6.6; recent weeks avg
CHI D vs TE: 13.1; 16th most to TEs (2026)
Upside: High; 96 of 100 at TE
Snap share: 88%; Through Week 7
Target share: 13%; Through Week 7

Should I drop AJ Barner for Harold Fannin Jr.?

Yes, on the rest of the season. Harold Fannin Jr. projects 83 market-implied PPR points from Week 8 through Week 17 (9.2 a game over 9 games), AJ Barner 60 (6.7 a game over 9 games). For Week 8 the call starts Harold Fannin Jr. over AJ Barner.

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Harold Fannin Jr. rookie cards

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Our Week 8 call

Start Harold Fannin Jr. over AJ Barner in Week 8.

Market-based projections have Harold Fannin Jr. at 8.5 points and AJ Barner at 6.6, a gap of 1.9. 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

Player markets imply 8.5 fantasy points for Harold Fannin Jr., with 100 percent of the markets a TE needs posted.

The market-based projection for Harold Fannin Jr. is 34 receiving yards, 3-4 receptions and 0.3 touchdowns (8, 8 and 10 market sources).

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 (9 market sources).

That puts Harold Fannin Jr. 1.9 points ahead of AJ Barner on these projections.

Week 8 matchups

Harold Fannin Jr. and CLE visit PIT on Sunday at 1:00 PM ET.

PIT allowed 10.9 fantasy points a game to TEs this season over 7 games, the 9th fewest in the league.

Tight ends caught passes for 42 yards and 0.3 touchdowns a game against PIT.

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, AJ Barner has the softer matchup.

Injury status

Harold Fannin Jr. is not on the injury report.

AJ Barner is not on the injury report.

Usage before Week 8

Through Week 7, Harold Fannin Jr. played 83 percent of CLE snaps, drew 26 percent of the targets, earned 13 percent of the air yards and had 0 percent of the red zone chances.

Harold Fannin Jr., Week 7 against TEN: 58 of 70 snaps, 9 targets and 6 catches for 91 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, Harold Fannin Jr. played 16 games for CLE and scored 186.4 PPR points, 11.7 a game, finishing TE6.

He caught 72 of 107 targets for 731 yards and 6 touchdowns, with 10 red zone targets and 379 air yards.

He was on the field for 76 percent of the offense's snaps in the games he played.

Harold Fannin Jr., Week 17 of 2025 against PIT: 12 of 52 snaps, 2 targets and 2 catches for 30 yards, 1 touchdown, 11.0 PPR points.

Harold Fannin Jr., Week 16 of 2025 against BUF: 57 of 66 snaps, 1 carry for 1 yards, 6 targets and 4 catches for 34 yards, 2 touchdowns, 19.5 PPR points.

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

Locks at kickoff, graded after. When the start/sit engine grades week 8, the call and the result appear on the public record, wrong ones included.

Drop or keep

Should I drop AJ Barner for Harold Fannin Jr.?
Yes, on the rest of the season. Harold Fannin Jr. projects 83 market-implied PPR points from Week 8 through Week 17 (9.2 a game over 9 games), AJ Barner 60 (6.7 a game over 9 games). For Week 8 the call starts Harold Fannin Jr. over AJ Barner.
Should I drop Harold Fannin Jr. for AJ Barner?
No. Keep Harold Fannin Jr.: he projects 83 market-implied PPR points from Week 8 through Week 17 (9.2 a game over 9 games), AJ Barner 60 (6.7 a game over 9 games). For Week 8 the call starts Harold Fannin Jr. over AJ Barner.