Start Chig Okonkwo or Michael Mayer? Week 8

Our Week 8 call

Start Michael Mayer over Chig Okonkwo in Week 8.

Market-based projections have Michael Mayer at 7.6 points and Chig Okonkwo at 6.6, 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 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. No player market is posted for Chig Okonkwo this week yet, so his 6.6 is the average of his market-based projections in Weeks 5 and 6 (6.6 and 6.6); the call is rebuilt when his market posts.

What the market projects

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.

No Week 8 player market is posted for Chig Okonkwo yet. His market-based projections were 6.6 and 6.6 points in Weeks 5 and 6, an average of 6.6, which stands in until his Week 8 market posts.

That puts Michael Mayer 1.0 points ahead of Chig Okonkwo on these projections.

Week 8 matchups

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.

Chig Okonkwo and WAS host PHI on Sunday at 8:20 PM ET.

PHI allowed 10.5 fantasy points a game to TEs this season over 7 games, the 7th fewest in the league.

Tight ends caught passes for 43 yards and 0.3 touchdowns a game against PHI.

By points allowed to the position, Chig Okonkwo has the softer matchup.

Injury status

Michael Mayer is not on the injury report.

Chig Okonkwo is not on the injury report.

Usage before Week 8

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.

Through Week 6, Chig Okonkwo played 65 percent of WAS snaps, drew 16 percent of the targets, earned 11 percent of the air yards and had 0 percent of the red zone chances.

Chig Okonkwo, Week 1 against PHI: 39 of 70 snaps, 3 targets and 2 catches for 16 yards.

Chig Okonkwo, Week 4 against IND: 37 of 64 snaps, 4 targets and 2 catches for 5 yards.

Chig Okonkwo, Week 5 against NYG: 44 of 62 snaps, 6 targets and 4 catches for 60 yards.

Chig Okonkwo, Week 6 against SF: 51 of 67 snaps, 7 targets and 7 catches for 69 yards.

Their 2025 seasons

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.

In 2025, Chig Okonkwo played 17 games for TEN and scored 124.0 PPR points, 7.3 a game, finishing TE21.

He caught 56 of 79 targets for 560 yards and 2 touchdowns, with 5 red zone targets and 218 air yards.

He was on the field for 62 percent of the offense's snaps in the games he played.

Their other Week 8 calls

• Start Michael Mayer over AJ Barner.
• Start Brenton Strange over Michael Mayer.
• Start Cade Otton over Michael Mayer.
• Start AJ Barner over Chig Okonkwo.
• Start Chig Okonkwo over Colby Parkinson.
• Start Chig Okonkwo over Darnell Washington.