Start T.J. Hockenson or Cade Otton? Week 7

Our Week 7 call

Start T.J. Hockenson over Cade Otton in Week 7.

Market-based projections have T.J. Hockenson at 9.9 points and Cade Otton at 9.4, a gap of 0.5. That is inside the noise of a single catch, so treat it as close to a coin flip.

What the market projects

Player markets imply 9.9 fantasy points for T.J. Hockenson, with 100 percent of the markets a TE needs posted.

The market-based projection for T.J. Hockenson is 37 receiving yards, 4-5 receptions and 0.3 touchdowns (11, 9 and 12 market sources).

Player markets imply 9.4 fantasy points for Cade Otton, with 100 percent of the markets a TE needs posted.

The market-based projection for Cade Otton is 41 receiving yards, 3-4 receptions and 0.3 touchdowns (8, 6 and 13 market sources).

That puts T.J. Hockenson 0.5 points ahead of Cade Otton on the market projections.

Week 7 matchups

T.J. Hockenson and MIN host IND on Sunday at 1:00 PM ET.

IND allowed 13.3 fantasy points a game to TEs this season over 6 games, the 15th most in the league.

Tight ends caught passes for 44 yards and 0.7 touchdowns a game against IND.

Cade Otton and TB visit CAR on Sunday at 1:00 PM ET.

CAR allowed 16.0 fantasy points a game to TEs this season over 5 games, the 9th most in the league.

Tight ends caught passes for 56 yards and 0.8 touchdowns a game against CAR.

By points allowed to the position, Cade Otton has the softer matchup.

Injury status

T.J. Hockenson is listed as questionable with a concussion injury.

Cade Otton is not on the injury report.

Usage before Week 7

Through Week 5, T.J. Hockenson played 60 percent of MIN snaps, drew 21 percent of the targets, earned 19 percent of the air yards and had 15 percent of the red zone chances.

T.J. Hockenson, Week 2 against CHI: 36 of 52 snaps, 4 targets and 3 catches for 29 yards.

T.J. Hockenson, Week 3 against TB: 50 of 59 snaps, 4 targets and 2 catches for 11 yards.

T.J. Hockenson, Week 4 against MIA: 65 of 78 snaps, 13 targets and 13 catches for 119 yards.

T.J. Hockenson, Week 5 against NO: 2 of 71 snaps, 1 target and 1 catch for 7 yards.

Through Week 6, Cade Otton played 95 percent of TB snaps, drew 16 percent of the targets, earned 12 percent of the air yards and had 4 percent of the red zone chances.

Cade Otton, Week 3 against MIN: 65 of 69 snaps, 6 targets and 3 catches for 56 yards.

Cade Otton, Week 4 against GB: 60 of 64 snaps, 6 targets and 4 catches for 37 yards.

Cade Otton, Week 5 against DAL: 66 of 72 snaps, 4 targets and 3 catches for 25 yards.

Cade Otton, Week 6 against PIT: 74 of 74 snaps, 2 targets and 1 catch for 4 yards.

Their 2025 seasons

In 2025, T.J. Hockenson played 15 games for MIN and scored 112.8 PPR points, 7.5 a game, finishing TE26.

He caught 51 of 66 targets for 438 yards and 3 touchdowns, with 11 red zone targets and 224 air yards.

He was on the field for 79 percent of the offense's snaps in the games he played.

In 2025, Cade Otton played 16 games for TB and scored 122.2 PPR points, 7.6 a game, finishing TE22.

He caught 59 of 81 targets for 572 yards and 1 touchdown, with 5 red zone targets and 261 air yards.

He was on the field for 93 percent of the offense's snaps in the games he played.

Their other Week 7 calls

• Start Brock Bowers over T.J. Hockenson.
• Start Colston Loveland over T.J. Hockenson.
• Start Dallas Goedert over T.J. Hockenson.
• Start Cade Otton over AJ Barner.
• Start Cade Otton over Colby Parkinson.
• Start Colston Loveland over Cade Otton.