Start T.J. Hockenson or Cade Otton? Week 8

Our Week 8 call

Start T.J. Hockenson over Cade Otton in Week 8.

Market-based projections have T.J. Hockenson at 9.9 points and Cade Otton at 8.1, a gap of 1.8. No player market is posted for Cade Otton this week yet, so his 8.1 is the average of his market-based projections in Weeks 5, 6 and 7 (7.7, 7.2 and 9.5); the call is rebuilt when his market posts.

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 (10, 8 and 12 market sources).

No Week 8 player market is posted for Cade Otton yet. His market-based projections were 7.7, 7.2 and 9.5 points in Weeks 5, 6 and 7, an average of 8.1, which stands in until his Week 8 market posts.

That puts T.J. Hockenson 1.8 points ahead of Cade Otton on these projections.

Week 8 matchups

T.J. Hockenson and MIN visit DET on Sunday at 1:00 PM ET.

DET allowed 29.4 fantasy points a game to TEs this season over 6 games, the most in the league.

Tight ends caught passes for 100 yards and 1.7 touchdowns a game against DET.

Cade Otton and TB host ATL on Sunday at 1:00 PM ET.

ATL allowed 15.8 fantasy points a game to TEs this season over 7 games, the 10th most in the league.

Tight ends caught passes for 63 yards and 0.6 touchdowns a game against ATL.

By points allowed to the position, T.J. Hockenson has the softer matchup.

Injury status

T.J. Hockenson is not on the injury report.

Cade Otton is not on the injury report.

Usage before Week 8

Through Week 7, T.J. Hockenson played 63 percent of MIN snaps, drew 21 percent of the targets, earned 19 percent of the air yards and had 18 percent of the red zone chances.

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.

T.J. Hockenson, Week 7 against IND: 45 of 59 snaps, 5 targets and 4 catches for 35 yards, 1 touchdown.

Through Week 7, Cade Otton played 94 percent of TB snaps, drew 15 percent of the targets, earned 13 percent of the air yards and had 4 percent of the red zone chances.

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.

Cade Otton, Week 7 against CAR: 56 of 63 snaps, 1 target and 0 catches for 0 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 8 calls

• Start T.J. Hockenson over Brenton Strange.
• Start Brock Bowers over T.J. Hockenson.
• Start Colston Loveland over T.J. Hockenson.
• Start Cade Otton over AJ Barner.
• Start Brenton Strange over Cade Otton.
• Start Colston Loveland over Cade Otton.