Start Colby Parkinson or Gunnar Helm? Week 8

Our Week 8 call

Start Colby Parkinson over Gunnar Helm in Week 8.

Market-based projections have Colby Parkinson at 5.3 points and Gunnar Helm at 4.6, a gap of 0.8. That is inside the noise of a single catch, so treat it as close to a coin flip. No player market is posted for Colby Parkinson this week yet, so his 5.3 is the average of his market-based projections in Weeks 5, 6 and 7 (5.3, 4.0 and 6.7); the call is rebuilt when his market posts. No player market is posted for Gunnar Helm this week yet, so his 4.6 is the average of his market-based projections in Weeks 5, 6 and 7 (5.0, 4.9 and 3.9); the call is rebuilt when his market posts.

What the market projects

No Week 8 player market is posted for Colby Parkinson yet. His market-based projections were 5.3, 4.0 and 6.7 points in Weeks 5, 6 and 7, an average of 5.3, which stands in until his Week 8 market posts.

No Week 8 player market is posted for Gunnar Helm yet. His market-based projections were 5.0, 4.9 and 3.9 points in Weeks 5, 6 and 7, an average of 4.6, which stands in until his Week 8 market posts.

That puts Colby Parkinson 0.8 points ahead of Gunnar Helm on these projections.

Week 8 matchups

Colby Parkinson and LAR host LAC on Sunday at 4:05 PM ET.

LAC allowed 11.1 fantasy points a game to TEs this season over 6 games, the 10th fewest in the league.

Tight ends caught passes for 58 yards and 0.2 touchdowns a game against LAC.

Gunnar Helm and TEN visit CIN on Sunday at 1:00 PM ET.

CIN allowed 15.7 fantasy points a game to TEs this season over 6 games, the 11th most in the league.

Tight ends caught passes for 85 yards and no touchdowns a game against CIN.

By points allowed to the position, Gunnar Helm has the softer matchup.

Injury status

Colby Parkinson is not on the injury report.

Gunnar Helm is not on the injury report.

Usage before Week 8

Through Week 7, Colby Parkinson played 63 percent of LAR snaps, drew 9 percent of the targets, earned 2 percent of the air yards and had 8 percent of the red zone chances.

Colby Parkinson, Week 3 against DEN: 37 of 86 snaps, 1 target and 0 catches for 0 yards.

Colby Parkinson, Week 5 against BUF: 53 of 82 snaps, 2 targets and 1 catch for 3 yards.

Colby Parkinson, Week 6 against ARI: 36 of 58 snaps, 6 targets and 5 catches for 31 yards, 1 touchdown.

Colby Parkinson, Week 7 against LV: 50 of 72 snaps, 6 targets and 5 catches for 48 yards.

Through Week 7, Gunnar Helm played 78 percent of TEN snaps, drew 9 percent of the targets, earned 6 percent of the air yards and had 5 percent of the red zone chances.

Gunnar Helm, Week 4 against BAL: 46 of 64 snaps, 1 target and 1 catch for 5 yards.

Gunnar Helm, Week 5 against HOU: 45 of 63 snaps, 1 target and 0 catches for 0 yards.

Gunnar Helm, Week 6 against IND: 33 of 46 snaps, 0 targets and 0 catches for 0 yards.

Gunnar Helm, Week 7 against CLE: 53 of 63 snaps, 4 targets and 3 catches for 24 yards.

Their 2025 seasons

In 2025, Colby Parkinson played 15 games for LAR and scored 129.8 PPR points, 8.7 a game, finishing TE17.

He caught 43 of 56 targets for 408 yards and 8 touchdowns, with 20 red zone targets and 137 air yards.

He was on the field for 59 percent of the offense's snaps in the games he played.

In 2025, Gunnar Helm played 16 games for TEN and scored 91.7 PPR points, 5.7 a game, finishing TE31.

He caught 44 of 55 targets for 357 yards and 2 touchdowns, with 7 red zone targets and 198 air yards.

He was on the field for 53 percent of the offense's snaps in the games he played.

Their other Week 8 calls

• Start AJ Barner over Colby Parkinson.
• Start Chig Okonkwo over Colby Parkinson.
• Start Darnell Washington over Colby Parkinson.
• Start Chig Okonkwo over Gunnar Helm.
• Start Darnell Washington over Gunnar Helm.
• Start Darren Waller over Gunnar Helm.