Start Brenton Strange or Michael Mayer? Week 8

Our Week 8 call

Start Brenton Strange over Michael Mayer in Week 8.

Market-based projections have Brenton Strange at 8.6 points and Michael Mayer at 7.6, a gap of 1.0. That is inside the noise of a single catch, so treat it as close to a coin flip. No player market is posted for Brenton Strange this week yet, so his 8.6 is the average of his market-based projections in Weeks 5 and 6 (8.3 and 8.8); the call is rebuilt when his market posts. No player market is posted for Michael Mayer this week yet, so his 7.6 is the average of his market-based projections in Weeks 5, 6 and 7 (7.8, 6.9 and 8.1); the call is rebuilt when his market posts.

What the market projects

No Week 8 player market is posted for Brenton Strange yet. His market-based projections were 8.3 and 8.8 points in Weeks 5 and 6, an average of 8.6, which stands in until his Week 8 market posts.

The market-based projection for Brenton Strange is 0.4 touchdowns (7 market sources).

No Week 8 player market is posted for Michael Mayer yet. His market-based projections were 7.8, 6.9 and 8.1 points in Weeks 5, 6 and 7, an average of 7.6, which stands in until his Week 8 market posts.

That puts Brenton Strange 1.0 points ahead of Michael Mayer on these projections.

Week 8 matchups

Brenton Strange and JAX host IND on Sunday at 1:00 PM ET.

IND allowed 13.7 fantasy points a game to TEs this season over 7 games, the 13th most in the league.

Tight ends caught passes for 45 yards and 0.7 touchdowns a game against IND.

Michael Mayer and LV visit NYJ on Sunday at 1:00 PM ET.

NYJ allowed 10.4 fantasy points a game to TEs this season over 7 games, the 6th fewest in the league.

Tight ends caught passes for 48 yards and 0.1 touchdowns a game against NYJ.

By points allowed to the position, Brenton Strange has the softer matchup.

Injury status

Brenton Strange is not on the injury report.

Michael Mayer is not on the injury report.

Usage before Week 8

Through Week 6, Brenton Strange played 79 percent of JAX snaps, drew 19 percent of the targets, earned 17 percent of the air yards and had 5 percent of the red zone chances.

Brenton Strange, Week 3 against NE: 48 of 62 snaps, 5 targets and 3 catches for 32 yards.

Brenton Strange, Week 4 against CIN: 53 of 61 snaps, 8 targets and 7 catches for 95 yards.

Brenton Strange, Week 5 against PHI: 58 of 72 snaps, 8 targets and 7 catches for 68 yards.

Brenton Strange, Week 6 against HOU: 54 of 71 snaps, 7 targets and 5 catches for 44 yards.

Through Week 7, Michael Mayer played 81 percent of LV snaps, drew 15 percent of the targets, earned 8 percent of the air yards and had 3 percent of the red zone chances.

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.

Michael Mayer, Week 7 against LAR: 56 of 68 snaps, 3 targets and 3 catches for 32 yards.

Their 2025 seasons

In 2025, Brenton Strange played 12 games for JAX and scored 118.0 PPR points, 9.8 a game, finishing TE23.

He caught 46 of 60 targets for 540 yards and 3 touchdowns, with 9 red zone targets and 293 air yards.

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

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.

Their other Week 8 calls

• Start Brenton Strange over Cade Otton.
• Start Colston Loveland over Brenton Strange.
• Start Dallas Goedert over Brenton Strange.
• Start Michael Mayer over AJ Barner.
• Start Cade Otton over Michael Mayer.
• Start Michael Mayer over Chig Okonkwo.