Start Austin Hooper or Daniel Bellinger? Week 7

Our Week 7 call

Start Daniel Bellinger over Austin Hooper in Week 7.

Market-based projections have Daniel Bellinger at 2.2 points and Austin Hooper at 1.5, a gap of 0.8. That is inside the noise of a single catch, so treat it as close to a coin flip. Daniel Bellinger's number is scaled up from a partial market: not every stat the position needs is posted yet, so the rest is estimated from what is. Market coverage on Daniel Bellinger is 60 percent of what his position needs, so the market side of this carries proportionally less weight.

What the market projects

Player markets imply 1.5 fantasy points for Austin Hooper, with 100 percent of the markets a TE needs posted.

The market-based projection for Austin Hooper is 5 receiving yards, 0-1 receptions and 0.1 touchdowns (7, 8 and 13 market sources).

Player markets imply 2.2 fantasy points for Daniel Bellinger, with 60 percent of the markets a TE needs posted.

The market-based projection for Daniel Bellinger is 0.1 touchdowns (12 market sources).

That puts Daniel Bellinger 0.8 points ahead of Austin Hooper on the market projections.

Week 7 matchups

Austin Hooper and ATL host SF on Sunday at 1:00 PM ET.

SF allowed 9.4 fantasy points a game to TEs this season over 6 games, the 4th fewest in the league.

Tight ends caught passes for 42 yards and no touchdowns a game against SF.

Daniel Bellinger and TEN host CLE on Sunday at 1:00 PM ET.

CLE allowed 14.8 fantasy points a game to TEs this season over 6 games, the 13th most in the league.

Tight ends caught passes for 53 yards and 0.7 touchdowns a game against CLE.

By points allowed to the position, Daniel Bellinger has the softer matchup.

Injury status

Austin Hooper is not on the injury report.

Daniel Bellinger is not on the injury report.

Usage before Week 7

Through Week 6, Austin Hooper played 24 percent of ATL snaps, drew 5 percent of the targets, earned 2 percent of the air yards and had 2 percent of the red zone chances.

Austin Hooper, Week 3 against GB: 16 of 71 snaps, 2 targets and 2 catches for 11 yards, 1 touchdown.

Austin Hooper, Week 4 against NO: 13 of 57 snaps, 1 target and 1 catch for 9 yards.

Austin Hooper, Week 5 against BAL: 10 of 64 snaps, 0 targets and 0 catches for 0 yards.

Austin Hooper, Week 6 against CHI: 7 of 55 snaps, 1 target and 1 catch for 6 yards.

Through Week 6, Daniel Bellinger played 43 percent of TEN snaps, drew 5 percent of the targets, earned 1 percent of the air yards and had 2 percent of the red zone chances.

Daniel Bellinger, Week 3 against NYG: 24 of 60 snaps, 2 targets and 2 catches for 16 yards.

Daniel Bellinger, Week 4 against BAL: 33 of 64 snaps, 1 target and 1 catch for 2 yards.

Daniel Bellinger, Week 5 against HOU: 28 of 63 snaps, 2 targets and 1 catch for 5 yards.

Daniel Bellinger, Week 6 against IND: 22 of 46 snaps, 2 targets and 0 catches for 0 yards.

Their 2025 seasons

In 2025, Austin Hooper played 16 games for NE and scored 59.3 PPR points, 3.7 a game, finishing TE47.

He caught 21 of 26 targets for 263 yards and 2 touchdowns, with 5 red zone targets and 177 air yards.

He was on the field for 50 percent of the offense's snaps in the games he played.

In 2025, Daniel Bellinger played 16 games for NYG and scored 59.6 PPR points, 3.7 a game, finishing TE46.

He caught 19 of 26 targets for 286 yards and 2 touchdowns, with 6 red zone targets and 154 air yards.

He was on the field for 48 percent of the offense's snaps in the games he played.

Their other Week 7 calls

• Start Cole Kmet over Austin Hooper.
• Start Darnell Washington over Austin Hooper.
• Start Davis Allen over Austin Hooper.
• Start Davis Allen over Daniel Bellinger.
• Start Daniel Bellinger over Drew Sample.
• Start Foster Moreau over Daniel Bellinger.