Start John Metchie III or Elic Ayomanor? Week 8

Our Week 8 call

Start Elic Ayomanor over John Metchie III in Week 8.

Market-based projections have Elic Ayomanor at 4.0 points and John Metchie III at 3.7, a gap of 0.3. That is inside the noise of a single catch, so treat it as close to a coin flip. No player market is posted for Elic Ayomanor this week yet, so his 4.0 is the average of his market-based projections in Weeks 5, 6 and 7 (3.8, 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 Elic Ayomanor yet. His market-based projections were 3.8, 4.0 and 4.2 points in Weeks 5, 6 and 7, an average of 4.0, which stands in until his Week 8 market posts.

Player markets imply 3.7 fantasy points for John Metchie III, with 100 percent of the markets a WR needs posted.

The market-based projection for John Metchie III is 16 receiving yards, 1-2 receptions and 0.1 touchdowns (9, 10 and 13 market sources).

That puts Elic Ayomanor 0.3 points ahead of John Metchie III on these projections.

Week 8 matchups

Elic Ayomanor and TEN visit CIN on Sunday at 1:00 PM ET.

CIN allowed 31.4 fantasy points a game to WRs this season over 6 games, the 15th most in the league.

Receivers caught passes for 138 yards and a touchdown a game against CIN.

John Metchie III and CAR visit GB on Thursday at 8:15 PM ET.

GB allowed 35.7 fantasy points a game to WRs this season over 7 games, the 9th most in the league.

Receivers caught passes for 157 yards and 0.9 touchdowns a game against GB.

By points allowed to the position, John Metchie III has the softer matchup.

Injury status

Elic Ayomanor is not on the injury report.

John Metchie III is not on the injury report.

Usage before Week 8

Through Week 7, Elic Ayomanor played 65 percent of TEN snaps, drew 11 percent of the targets, earned 16 percent of the air yards and had 14 percent of the red zone chances.

Elic Ayomanor, Week 4 against BAL: 40 of 64 snaps, 1 target and 1 catch for 22 yards.

Elic Ayomanor, Week 5 against HOU: 33 of 63 snaps, 2 targets and 1 catch for 17 yards.

Elic Ayomanor, Week 6 against IND: 28 of 46 snaps, 2 targets and 1 catch for 3 yards.

Elic Ayomanor, Week 7 against CLE: 56 of 63 snaps, 7 targets and 3 catches for 44 yards.

Through Week 7, John Metchie III played 46 percent of CAR snaps, drew 14 percent of the targets, earned 10 percent of the air yards and had 0 percent of the red zone chances.

John Metchie III, Week 7 against TB: 26 of 56 snaps, 4 targets and 2 catches for 20 yards.

Their 2025 seasons

In 2025, Elic Ayomanor played 16 games for TEN and scored 116.5 PPR points, 7.3 a game, finishing WR55.

He caught 41 of 89 targets for 515 yards and 4 touchdowns, with 8 red zone targets and 400 air yards.

He was on the field for 79 percent of the offense's snaps in the games he played.

In 2025, John Metchie III played 16 games for NYJ and scored 71.9 PPR points, 4.5 a game, finishing WR87.

He caught 33 of 48 targets for 274 yards and 2 touchdowns, with 5 red zone targets and 134 air yards.

He was on the field for 43 percent of the offense's snaps in the games he played.

John Metchie III, Week 18 of 2025 against BUF: 4 targets and 3 catches for 20 yards, 5.0 PPR points.

John Metchie III, Week 17 of 2025 against NE: 47 of 61 snaps, 3 targets and 3 catches for 41 yards, 7.1 PPR points.

Their other Week 8 calls

• Start Brian Thomas Jr. over Elic Ayomanor.
• Start Elic Ayomanor over Cody White.
• Start Efton Chism III over Elic Ayomanor.
• Start Cody White over John Metchie III.
• Start John Metchie III over Jauan Jennings.
• Start Jerry Jeudy over John Metchie III.