Start Harold Fannin Jr. or Michael Mayer? Week 8

Updated Oct 27, 3:01 PM ET. Locks at kickoff, graded after. Week 9 answer posts Tuesday.

Start Harold Fannin Jr. over Michael Mayer

Start

Harold Fannin Jr.

TE · CLE · at PIT

Market projects: 9.4; recent weeks avg
PIT D vs TE: 10.9; 9th fewest to TEs (2026)
Upside: Rising; 81 of 100 at TE
Snap share: 83%; Through Week 7
Target share: 26%; Through Week 7

Sit

Michael Mayer

TE · LV · at NYJ

Market projects: 7.6; recent weeks avg
NYJ D vs TE: 10.4; 6th fewest to TEs (2026)
Upside: Moderate; 49 of 100 at TE
Snap share: 81%; Through Week 7
Target share: 15%; Through Week 7

Should I drop Michael Mayer for Harold Fannin Jr.?

Yes, on the rest of the season. Harold Fannin Jr. projects 86 market-implied PPR points from Week 8 through Week 17 (9.6 a game over 9 games), Michael Mayer 71 (7.9 a game over 9 games). For Week 8 the call starts Harold Fannin Jr. over Michael Mayer.

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Harold Fannin Jr. rookie cards

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Our Week 8 call

Start Harold Fannin Jr. over Michael Mayer in Week 8.

Market-based projections have Harold Fannin Jr. at 9.4 points and Michael Mayer at 7.6, a gap of 1.8. No player market is posted for Harold Fannin Jr. this week yet, so his 9.4 is the average of his market-based projections in Weeks 5, 6 and 7 (9.8, 10.0 and 8.3); the call is rebuilt when his market posts. No player market is posted for Michael Mayer this week yet, so his 7.6 is the average of his market-based projections in Weeks 5, 6 and 7 (7.8, 6.9 and 8.1); the call is rebuilt when his market posts.

What the market projects

No Week 8 player market is posted for Harold Fannin Jr. yet. His market-based projections were 9.8, 10.0 and 8.3 points in Weeks 5, 6 and 7, an average of 9.4, which stands in until his Week 8 market posts.

The market-based projection for Harold Fannin Jr. is 0-1 touchdowns (7 market sources).

No Week 8 player market is posted for Michael Mayer yet. His market-based projections were 7.8, 6.9 and 8.1 points in Weeks 5, 6 and 7, an average of 7.6, which stands in until his Week 8 market posts.

That puts Harold Fannin Jr. 1.8 points ahead of Michael Mayer on these projections.

Week 8 matchups

Harold Fannin Jr. and CLE visit PIT on Sunday at 1:00 PM ET.

PIT allowed 10.9 fantasy points a game to TEs this season over 7 games, the 9th fewest in the league.

Tight ends caught passes for 42 yards and 0.3 touchdowns a game against PIT.

Michael Mayer and LV visit NYJ on Sunday at 1:00 PM ET.

NYJ allowed 10.4 fantasy points a game to TEs this season over 7 games, the 6th fewest in the league.

Tight ends caught passes for 48 yards and 0.1 touchdowns a game against NYJ.

By points allowed to the position, Harold Fannin Jr. has the softer matchup.

Injury status

Harold Fannin Jr. is not on the injury report.

Michael Mayer is not on the injury report.

Usage before Week 8

Through Week 7, Harold Fannin Jr. played 83 percent of CLE snaps, drew 26 percent of the targets, earned 13 percent of the air yards and had 0 percent of the red zone chances.

Harold Fannin Jr., Week 7 against TEN: 58 of 70 snaps, 9 targets and 6 catches for 91 yards.

Through Week 7, Michael Mayer played 81 percent of LV snaps, drew 15 percent of the targets, earned 8 percent of the air yards and had 3 percent of the red zone chances.

Michael Mayer, Week 4 against KC: 74 of 84 snaps, 10 targets and 8 catches for 82 yards.

Michael Mayer, Week 5 against NE: 39 of 60 snaps, 1 target and 1 catch for 2 yards.

Michael Mayer, Week 6 against BUF: 52 of 66 snaps, 9 targets and 7 catches for 95 yards.

Michael Mayer, Week 7 against LAR: 56 of 68 snaps, 3 targets and 3 catches for 32 yards.

Their 2025 seasons

In 2025, Harold Fannin Jr. played 16 games for CLE and scored 186.4 PPR points, 11.7 a game, finishing TE6.

He caught 72 of 107 targets for 731 yards and 6 touchdowns, with 10 red zone targets and 379 air yards.

He was on the field for 76 percent of the offense's snaps in the games he played.

Harold Fannin Jr., Week 17 of 2025 against PIT: 12 of 52 snaps, 2 targets and 2 catches for 30 yards, 1 touchdown, 11.0 PPR points.

Harold Fannin Jr., Week 16 of 2025 against BUF: 57 of 66 snaps, 1 carry for 1 yards, 6 targets and 4 catches for 34 yards, 2 touchdowns, 19.5 PPR points.

In 2025, Michael Mayer played 13 games for LV and scored 73.8 PPR points, 5.7 a game, finishing TE38.

He caught 35 of 50 targets for 328 yards and 1 touchdown, with 6 red zone targets and 132 air yards.

He was on the field for 57 percent of the offense's snaps in the games he played.

Their other Week 8 calls

Locks at kickoff, graded after. When the start/sit engine grades week 8, the call and the result appear on the public record, wrong ones included.

Drop or keep

Should I drop Michael Mayer for Harold Fannin Jr.?
Yes, on the rest of the season. Harold Fannin Jr. projects 86 market-implied PPR points from Week 8 through Week 17 (9.6 a game over 9 games), Michael Mayer 71 (7.9 a game over 9 games). For Week 8 the call starts Harold Fannin Jr. over Michael Mayer.
Should I drop Harold Fannin Jr. for Michael Mayer?
No. Keep Harold Fannin Jr.: he projects 86 market-implied PPR points from Week 8 through Week 17 (9.6 a game over 9 games), Michael Mayer 71 (7.9 a game over 9 games). For Week 8 the call starts Harold Fannin Jr. over Michael Mayer.

Should I drop Michael Mayer?