Start AJ Barner or Michael Mayer? Week 7

Our Week 7 call

Start Michael Mayer over AJ Barner in Week 7.

Market-based projections have Michael Mayer at 7.0 points and AJ Barner at 6.8, a gap of 0.2. That is inside the noise of a single catch, so treat it as close to a coin flip. No player market is posted for Michael Mayer this week yet, so his 7.0 is the average of his market-based projections in Weeks 4, 5 and 6 (6.2, 7.8 and 6.9); the call is rebuilt when his market posts.

What the market projects

No Week 7 player market is posted for Michael Mayer yet. His market-based projections were 6.2, 7.8 and 6.9 points in Weeks 4, 5 and 6, an average of 7.0, which stands in until his Week 7 market posts.

The market-based projection for Michael Mayer is 0.3 touchdowns (3 market sources).

Player markets imply 6.8 fantasy points for AJ Barner, with 100 percent of the markets a TE needs posted.

The market-based projection for AJ Barner is 25 receiving yards, 2-3 receptions and 0.3 touchdowns (11, 11 and 12 market sources).

That puts Michael Mayer 0.2 points ahead of AJ Barner on these projections.

Week 7 matchups

Michael Mayer and LV host LAR on Sunday at 4:25 PM ET.

LAR allowed 8.3 fantasy points a game to TEs this season over 6 games, the 2nd fewest in the league.

Tight ends caught passes for 30 yards and 0.2 touchdowns a game against LAR.

AJ Barner and SEA host KC on Sunday at 8:20 PM ET.

KC allowed 20.0 fantasy points a game to TEs this season over 5 games, the 3rd most in the league.

Tight ends caught passes for 73 yards and 0.8 touchdowns a game against KC.

By points allowed to the position, AJ Barner has the softer matchup.

Injury status

Michael Mayer is not on the injury report.

AJ Barner is not on the injury report.

Usage before Week 7

Through Week 6, Michael Mayer played 81 percent of LV snaps, drew 16 percent of the targets, earned 8 percent of the air yards and had 3 percent of the red zone chances.

Michael Mayer, Week 3 against NO: 61 of 70 snaps, 3 targets and 3 catches for 32 yards, 1 touchdown.

Michael Mayer, Week 4 against KC: 74 of 84 snaps, 10 targets and 8 catches for 82 yards.

Michael Mayer, Week 5 against NE: 39 of 60 snaps, 1 target and 1 catch for 2 yards.

Michael Mayer, Week 6 against BUF: 52 of 66 snaps, 9 targets and 7 catches for 95 yards.

Through Week 6, AJ Barner played 90 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 3 against WAS: 61 of 67 snaps, 9 targets and 5 catches for 69 yards.

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.

Their 2025 seasons

In 2025, Michael Mayer played 13 games for LV 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 and 132 air yards.

He was on the field for 57 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 7 calls

• Start Cade Otton over Michael Mayer.
• Start Michael Mayer over Colby Parkinson.
• Start Dalton Schultz over Michael Mayer.
• Start Cade Otton over AJ Barner.
• Start AJ Barner over Colby Parkinson.
• Start Dalton Schultz over AJ Barner.