Start Eli Raridon or Austin Hooper? Week 7

Our Week 7 call

Start Eli Raridon over Austin Hooper in Week 7.

Market-based projections have Eli Raridon at 3.6 points and Austin Hooper at 2.7, a gap of 0.9. That is inside the noise of a single catch, so treat it as close to a coin flip. No player market is posted for Eli Raridon this week yet, so his 3.6 is the average of his market-based projections in Weeks 4 and 5 (3.7 and 3.6); the call is rebuilt when his market posts. No player market is posted for Austin Hooper this week yet, so his 2.7 is the average of his market-based projections in Weeks 4 and 5 (3.6 and 1.9); the call is rebuilt when his market posts.

What the market projects

No Week 7 player market is posted for Eli Raridon yet. His market-based projections were 3.7 and 3.6 points in Weeks 4 and 5, an average of 3.6, which stands in until his Week 7 market posts.

No Week 7 player market is posted for Austin Hooper yet. His market-based projections were 3.6 and 1.9 points in Weeks 4 and 5, an average of 2.7, which stands in until his Week 7 market posts.

That puts Eli Raridon 0.9 points ahead of Austin Hooper on these projections.

Week 7 matchups

Eli Raridon and NE visit CHI on Thursday at 8:15 PM ET.

CHI allowed 7.7 fantasy points a game to TEs this season over 5 games, the 3rd fewest in the league.

Tight ends caught passes for 41 yards and no touchdowns a game against CHI.

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

SF allowed 8.2 fantasy points a game to TEs this season over 5 games, the 4th fewest in the league.

Tight ends caught passes for 36 yards and no touchdowns a game against SF.

By points allowed to the position, Austin Hooper has the softer matchup.

Injury status

Eli Raridon is not on the injury report.

Austin Hooper is not on the injury report.

Usage before Week 7

Through Week 6, Eli Raridon played 49 percent of NE snaps, drew 8 percent of the targets, earned 7 percent of the air yards and had 10 percent of the red zone chances.

Eli Raridon, Week 2 against PIT: 11 of 55 snaps, 1 target and 1 catch for 30 yards.

Eli Raridon, Week 4 against BUF: 44 of 76 snaps, 2 targets and 1 catch for 12 yards.

Eli Raridon, Week 5 against LV: 43 of 75 snaps, 5 targets and 5 catches for 57 yards.

Eli Raridon, Week 6 against NYJ: 3 targets and 1 catch for 11 yards.

Through Week 6, Austin Hooper played 26 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: 1 target and 1 catch for 6 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.

Their other Week 7 calls

• Start Eli Raridon over Cole Kmet.
• Start Darnell Washington over Eli Raridon.
• Start Eli Raridon over Davis Allen.
• Start Cole Kmet over Austin Hooper.
• Start Darnell Washington over Austin Hooper.
• Start Austin Hooper over Davis Allen.