Start Oronde Gadsden or Gunnar Helm? Week 8

Our Week 8 call

Start Oronde Gadsden over Gunnar Helm in Week 8.

Market-based projections have Oronde Gadsden at 6.0 points and Gunnar Helm at 4.6, a gap of 1.4. That is inside the noise of a single catch, so treat it as close to a coin flip. No player market is posted for Oronde Gadsden this week yet, so his 6.0 is the average of his market-based projections in Weeks 5 and 6 (8.2 and 3.8); the call is rebuilt when his market posts. No player market is posted for Gunnar Helm this week yet, so his 4.6 is the average of his market-based projections in Weeks 5, 6 and 7 (5.0, 4.9 and 3.9); the call is rebuilt when his market posts.

What the market projects

No Week 8 player market is posted for Oronde Gadsden yet. His market-based projections were 8.2 and 3.8 points in Weeks 5 and 6, an average of 6.0, which stands in until his Week 8 market posts.

No Week 8 player market is posted for Gunnar Helm yet. His market-based projections were 5.0, 4.9 and 3.9 points in Weeks 5, 6 and 7, an average of 4.6, which stands in until his Week 8 market posts.

That puts Oronde Gadsden 1.4 points ahead of Gunnar Helm on these projections.

Week 8 matchups

Oronde Gadsden and LAC visit LAR on Sunday at 4:05 PM ET.

LAR allowed 10.2 fantasy points a game to TEs this season over 7 games, the 5th fewest in the league.

Tight ends caught passes for 42 yards and 0.1 touchdowns a game against LAR.

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, Gunnar Helm has the softer matchup.

Injury status

Oronde Gadsden is not on the injury report.

Gunnar Helm is not on the injury report.

Usage before Week 8

Through Week 6, Oronde Gadsden played 48 percent of LAC snaps, drew 12 percent of the targets, earned 12 percent of the air yards and had 13 percent of the red zone chances.

Oronde Gadsden, Week 3 against BUF: 39 of 69 snaps, 3 targets and 0 catches for 0 yards.

Oronde Gadsden, Week 4 against SEA: 39 of 71 snaps, 1 carry for 2 yards, 8 targets and 5 catches for 36 yards.

Oronde Gadsden, Week 5 against DEN: 39 of 67 snaps, 1 target and 0 catches for 0 yards.

Oronde Gadsden, Week 6 against KC: 33 of 68 snaps, 5 targets and 3 catches for 17 yards.

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, Oronde Gadsden played 15 games for LAC and scored 131.4 PPR points, 8.8 a game, finishing TE15.

He caught 49 of 69 targets for 664 yards and 3 touchdowns, with 14 red zone targets and 443 air yards.

He was on the field for 63 percent of the offense's snaps in the games he played.

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 AJ Barner over Oronde Gadsden.
• Start Chig Okonkwo over Oronde Gadsden.
• Start Oronde Gadsden over Colby Parkinson.
• Start Chig Okonkwo over Gunnar Helm.
• Start Colby Parkinson over Gunnar Helm.
• Start Darnell Washington over Gunnar Helm.