Start Daniel Bellinger or Jonnu Smith? Week 8

Our Week 8 call

Start Jonnu Smith over Daniel Bellinger in Week 8.

Market-based projections have Jonnu Smith at 2.3 points and Daniel Bellinger at 1.9, a gap of 0.4. That is inside the noise of a single catch, so treat it as close to a coin flip. No player market is posted for Jonnu Smith this week yet, so his 2.3 is the average of his market-based projections in Weeks 5 and 6 (2.8 and 1.9); the call is rebuilt when his market posts. No player market is posted for Daniel Bellinger this week yet, so his 1.9 is the average of his market-based projections in Weeks 5 and 7 (1.6 and 2.3); the call is rebuilt when his market posts.

What the market projects

No Week 8 player market is posted for Daniel Bellinger yet. His market-based projections were 1.6 and 2.3 points in Weeks 5 and 7, an average of 1.9, which stands in until his Week 8 market posts.

No Week 8 player market is posted for Jonnu Smith yet. His market-based projections were 2.8 and 1.9 points in Weeks 5 and 6, an average of 2.3, which stands in until his Week 8 market posts.

The market-based projection for Jonnu Smith is 0.1 touchdowns (13 market sources).

That puts Jonnu Smith 0.4 points ahead of Daniel Bellinger on these projections.

Week 8 matchups

Daniel Bellinger 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.

Jonnu Smith and GB host CAR on Thursday at 8:15 PM ET.

CAR allowed 13.5 fantasy points a game to TEs this season over 6 games, the 15th most in the league.

Tight ends caught passes for 46 yards and 0.7 touchdowns a game against CAR.

By points allowed to the position, Daniel Bellinger has the softer matchup.

Injury status

Daniel Bellinger is not on the injury report.

Jonnu Smith is not on the injury report.

Usage before Week 8

Through Week 7, Daniel Bellinger played 44 percent of TEN snaps, drew 6 percent of the targets, earned 3 percent of the air yards and had 2 percent of the red zone chances.

Daniel Bellinger, Week 4 against BAL: 33 of 64 snaps, 1 target and 1 catch for 2 yards.

Daniel Bellinger, Week 5 against HOU: 28 of 63 snaps, 2 targets and 1 catch for 5 yards.

Daniel Bellinger, Week 6 against IND: 22 of 46 snaps, 2 targets and 0 catches for 0 yards.

Daniel Bellinger, Week 7 against CLE: 30 of 63 snaps, 2 targets and 1 catch for 4 yards.

Through Week 7, Jonnu Smith played 28 percent of GB snaps, drew 3 percent of the targets, earned 3 percent of the air yards and had 1 percent of the red zone chances.

Jonnu Smith, Week 4 against TB: 13 of 60 snaps, 1 target and 1 catch for 19 yards.

Jonnu Smith, Week 5 against CHI: 21 of 61 snaps, 0 targets and 0 catches for 0 yards.

Jonnu Smith, Week 6 against DAL: 9 of 75 snaps, 0 targets and 0 catches for 0 yards.

Jonnu Smith, Week 7 against DET: 17 of 67 snaps, 1 target and 1 catch for 9 yards.

Their 2025 seasons

In 2025, Daniel Bellinger played 16 games for NYG and scored 59.6 PPR points, 3.7 a game, finishing TE46.

He caught 19 of 26 targets for 286 yards and 2 touchdowns, with 6 red zone targets and 154 air yards.

He was on the field for 48 percent of the offense's snaps in the games he played.

In 2025, Jonnu Smith played 17 games for PIT and scored 85.2 PPR points, 5.0 a game, finishing TE35.

He caught 38 of 54 targets for 222 yards and 2 touchdowns, with 7 red zone targets and 43 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 Jonnu Smith over Brevyn Spann-Ford.
• Start Jonnu Smith over Davis Allen.
• Start Dawson Knox over Jonnu Smith.