Start Gunnar Helm or Eli Raridon? Week 8

Our Week 8 call

Start Gunnar Helm over Eli Raridon in Week 8.

Market-based projections have Gunnar Helm at 5.1 points and Eli Raridon at 3.9, a gap of 1.2. That is inside the noise of a single catch, so treat it as close to a coin flip. No player market is posted for Eli Raridon this week yet, so his 3.9 is the average of his market-based projections in Weeks 5, 6 and 7 (3.6, 4.0 and 4.2); the call is rebuilt when his market posts.

What the market projects

No Week 8 player market is posted for Eli Raridon yet. His market-based projections were 3.6, 4.0 and 4.2 points in Weeks 5, 6 and 7, an average of 3.9, which stands in until his Week 8 market posts.

The market-based projection for Eli Raridon is 0.2 touchdowns (13 market sources).

Player markets imply 5.1 fantasy points for Gunnar Helm, with 100 percent of the markets a TE needs posted.

The market-based projection for Gunnar Helm is 17 receiving yards, 2-3 receptions and 0.2 touchdowns (11, 9 and 13 market sources).

That puts Gunnar Helm 1.2 points ahead of Eli Raridon on these projections.

Week 8 matchups

Eli Raridon and NE visit MIA on Sunday at 4:25 PM ET.

MIA allowed 21.1 fantasy points a game to TEs this season over 6 games, the 3rd most in the league.

Tight ends caught passes for 75 yards and a touchdown a game against MIA.

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, Eli Raridon has the softer matchup.

Injury status

Eli Raridon is not on the injury report.

Gunnar Helm is not on the injury report.

Usage before Week 8

Through Week 7, Eli Raridon played 51 percent of NE snaps, drew 9 percent of the targets, earned 8 percent of the air yards and had 11 percent of the red zone chances.

Eli Raridon, Week 4 against BUF: 44 of 76 snaps, 2 targets and 1 catch for 12 yards.

Eli Raridon, Week 5 against LV: 43 of 75 snaps, 5 targets and 5 catches for 57 yards.

Eli Raridon, Week 6 against NYJ: 39 of 68 snaps, 3 targets and 1 catch for 11 yards.

Eli Raridon, Week 7 against CHI: 29 of 54 snaps, 4 targets and 3 catches for 56 yards, 1 touchdown.

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, 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 Eli Raridon over Dawson Knox.
• Start Eli Raridon over Jonnu Smith.
• Start Kenyon Sadiq over Eli Raridon.
• Start AJ Barner over Gunnar Helm.
• Start Gunnar Helm over Brevyn Spann-Ford.
• Start Chig Okonkwo over Gunnar Helm.