Start Juwan Johnson or Michael Mayer? Week 7

Our Week 7 call

Start Juwan Johnson over Michael Mayer in Week 7.

Market-based projections have Juwan Johnson at 8.5 points and Michael Mayer at 7.8, a gap of 0.6. That is inside the noise of a single catch, so treat it as close to a coin flip.

What the market projects

Player markets imply 8.5 fantasy points for Juwan Johnson, with 100 percent of the markets a TE needs posted.

The market-based projection for Juwan Johnson is 34 receiving yards, 3-4 receptions and 0.3 touchdowns (12, 10 and 13 market sources).

Player markets imply 7.8 fantasy points for Michael Mayer, with 100 percent of the markets a TE needs posted.

The market-based projection for Michael Mayer is 30 receiving yards, 3-4 receptions and 0.2 touchdowns (11, 10 and 13 market sources).

That puts Juwan Johnson 0.6 points ahead of Michael Mayer on the market projections.

Week 7 matchups

Juwan Johnson and NO host PIT on Sunday at 9:30 AM ET.

PIT allowed 11.7 fantasy points a game to TEs this season over 6 games, the 14th fewest in the league.

Tight ends caught passes for 46 yards and 0.3 touchdowns a game against PIT.

Michael Mayer and LV host LAR on Sunday at 4:25 PM ET.

LAR allowed 8.3 fantasy points a game to TEs this season over 6 games, the 2nd fewest in the league.

Tight ends caught passes for 30 yards and 0.2 touchdowns a game against LAR.

By points allowed to the position, Juwan Johnson has the softer matchup.

Injury status

Juwan Johnson is not on the injury report.

Michael Mayer is not on the injury report.

Usage before Week 7

Through Week 6, Juwan Johnson played 68 percent of NO snaps, drew 15 percent of the targets, earned 10 percent of the air yards and had 12 percent of the red zone chances.

Juwan Johnson, Week 3 against LV: 46 of 74 snaps, 8 targets and 8 catches for 53 yards, 2 touchdowns.

Juwan Johnson, Week 4 against ATL: 58 of 74 snaps, 8 targets and 6 catches for 59 yards.

Juwan Johnson, Week 5 against MIN: 29 of 45 snaps, 5 targets and 4 catches for 16 yards.

Juwan Johnson, Week 6 against NYG: 42 of 72 snaps, 2 targets and 0 catches for 0 yards.

Through Week 6, Michael Mayer played 81 percent of LV snaps, drew 16 percent of the targets, earned 8 percent of the air yards and had 3 percent of the red zone chances.

Michael Mayer, Week 3 against NO: 61 of 70 snaps, 3 targets and 3 catches for 32 yards, 1 touchdown.

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.

Their 2025 seasons

In 2025, Juwan Johnson played 17 games for NO and scored 179.9 PPR points, 10.6 a game, finishing TE8.

He caught 77 of 102 targets for 889 yards and 3 touchdowns, with 8 red zone targets and 527 air yards.

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

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 7 calls

• Start Juwan Johnson over AJ Barner.
• Start Juwan Johnson over Cade Otton.
• Start Colston Loveland over Juwan Johnson.
• Start Michael Mayer over AJ Barner.
• Start Michael Mayer over Cade Otton.
• Start Michael Mayer over Colby Parkinson.