Start Eli Raridon or Jonnu Smith? Week 8

Our Week 8 call

Start Eli Raridon over Jonnu Smith in Week 8.

Market-based projections have Eli Raridon at 3.9 points and Jonnu Smith at 2.3, a gap of 1.6. 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. 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.

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.

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 Eli Raridon 1.6 points ahead of Jonnu Smith 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.

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, Eli Raridon has the softer matchup.

Injury status

Eli Raridon is not on the injury report.

Jonnu Smith 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, 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, 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 Tommy Tremble over Eli Raridon.
• Start Jonnu Smith over Brevyn Spann-Ford.
• Start Jonnu Smith over Daniel Bellinger.
• Start Jonnu Smith over Davis Allen.