Start Elic Ayomanor or Zachariah Branch? Week 8

Our Week 8 call

Start Elic Ayomanor over Zachariah Branch in Week 8.

Market-based projections have Elic Ayomanor at 4.0 points and Zachariah Branch at 3.3, a gap of 0.7. 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. No player market is posted for Zachariah Branch this week yet, so his 3.3 is the average of his market-based projections in Weeks 6 and 7 (3.3 and 3.3); 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.

No Week 8 player market is posted for Zachariah Branch yet. His market-based projections were 3.3 and 3.3 points in Weeks 6 and 7, an average of 3.3, which stands in until his Week 8 market posts.

That puts Elic Ayomanor 0.7 points ahead of Zachariah Branch 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.

Zachariah Branch and ATL visit TB on Sunday at 1:00 PM ET.

TB allowed 29.9 fantasy points a game to WRs this season over 7 games, the 12th fewest in the league.

Receivers caught passes for 135 yards and 0.7 touchdowns a game against TB.

By points allowed to the position, Elic Ayomanor has the softer matchup.

Injury status

Elic Ayomanor is not on the injury report.

Zachariah Branch 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, Zachariah Branch played 25 percent of ATL snaps, drew 6 percent of the targets, earned 2 percent of the air yards and had 2 percent of the red zone chances.

Zachariah Branch, Week 4 against NO: 13 of 57 snaps, 2 targets and 2 catches for 10 yards.

Zachariah Branch, Week 5 against BAL: 12 of 64 snaps, 2 targets and 2 catches for 15 yards.

Zachariah Branch, Week 6 against CHI: 19 of 55 snaps, 2 targets and 2 catches for 9 yards.

Zachariah Branch, Week 7 against SF: 23 of 69 snaps, 1 carry for 8 yards, 2 targets and 1 catch for 9 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.

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 Zachariah Branch.
• Start Jauan Jennings over Zachariah Branch.
• Start Jerry Jeudy over Zachariah Branch.