Start Cole Kmet or Theo Johnson? Week 7

Our Week 7 call

Start Cole Kmet over Theo Johnson in Week 7.

Theo Johnson is listed out on the injury report, so this is not a close call: start Cole Kmet.

What the market projects

Player markets imply 3.2 fantasy points for Cole Kmet, with 100 percent of the markets a TE needs posted.

The market-based projection for Cole Kmet is 9 receiving yards, 1-2 receptions and 0.2 touchdowns (8, 10 and 13 market sources).

No Week 7 player market is posted for Theo Johnson yet. His market-based projections were 2.0, 2.0 and 4.9 points in Weeks 4, 5 and 6, an average of 3.0, which stands in until his Week 7 market posts.

That puts Cole Kmet 0.3 points ahead of Theo Johnson on these projections.

Week 7 matchups

Cole Kmet and CHI host NE on Thursday at 8:15 PM ET.

NE allowed 10.2 fantasy points a game to TEs this season over 6 games, the 7th fewest in the league.

Tight ends caught passes for 47 yards and 0.2 touchdowns a game against NE.

Theo Johnson and NYG visit HOU on Sunday at 1:00 PM ET.

HOU allowed 10.6 fantasy points a game to TEs this season over 6 games, the 11th fewest in the league.

Tight ends caught passes for 47 yards and 0.2 touchdowns a game against HOU.

By points allowed to the position, Theo Johnson has the softer matchup.

Injury status

Cole Kmet is not on the injury report.

Theo Johnson is listed as out with a neck injury.

Usage before Week 7

Through Week 6, Cole Kmet played 63 percent of CHI snaps, drew 6 percent of the targets, earned 5 percent of the air yards and had 1 percent of the red zone chances.

Cole Kmet, Week 3 against PHI: 43 of 72 snaps, 1 target and 0 catches for 0 yards.

Cole Kmet, Week 4 against NYJ: 68 of 93 snaps, 2 targets and 2 catches for 13 yards.

Cole Kmet, Week 5 against GB: 29 of 69 snaps, 2 targets and 1 catch for 8 yards.

Cole Kmet, Week 6 against ATL: 57 of 77 snaps, 2 targets and 2 catches for 3 yards.

Through Week 5, Theo Johnson played 36 percent of NYG snaps, drew 6 percent of the targets, earned 6 percent of the air yards and had 3 percent of the red zone chances.

Theo Johnson, Week 2 against LAR: 16 of 58 snaps, 4 targets and 0 catches for 0 yards.

Theo Johnson, Week 3 against TEN: 11 of 64 snaps, 0 targets and 0 catches for 0 yards.

Theo Johnson, Week 4 against ARI: 22 of 67 snaps, 1 target and 1 catch for 11 yards, 1 touchdown.

Theo Johnson, Week 5 against WAS: 43 of 89 snaps, 3 targets and 2 catches for 35 yards.

Their 2025 seasons

In 2025, Cole Kmet played 16 games for CHI and scored 78.7 PPR points, 4.9 a game, finishing TE36.

He caught 30 of 48 targets for 347 yards and 2 touchdowns, with 6 red zone targets and 198 air yards.

He was on the field for 69 percent of the offense's snaps in the games he played.

In 2025, Theo Johnson played 15 games for NYG and scored 127.8 PPR points, 8.5 a game, finishing TE18.

He caught 45 of 74 targets for 528 yards and 5 touchdowns, with 13 red zone targets and 341 air yards.

He was on the field for 87 percent of the offense's snaps in the games he played.

Their other Week 7 calls

• Start Cole Kmet over Austin Hooper.
• Start Darnell Washington over Cole Kmet.
• Start Cole Kmet over Davis Allen.
• Start Daniel Bellinger over Theo Johnson.
• Start Drew Sample over Theo Johnson.
• Start Elijah Higgins over Theo Johnson.