Start Matthew Golden or Tee Higgins? Week 8

Our Week 8 call

Start Tee Higgins over Matthew Golden in Week 8.

Market-based projections have Tee Higgins at 12.8 points and Matthew Golden at 13.9, a gap of 1.1. That is inside the noise of a single catch, so treat it as close to a coin flip. Tee Higgins still gets the call because it also weighs where drafters take each player, ADP 37 against 108, and that outweighs a gap this size. No player market is posted for Tee Higgins this week yet, so his 12.8 is the average of his market-based projections in Weeks 5 and 7 (11.6 and 14.1); the call is rebuilt when his market posts.

What the market projects

Player markets imply 13.9 fantasy points for Matthew Golden, with 100 percent of the markets a WR needs posted.

The market-based projection for Matthew Golden is 64 receiving yards, 4-5 receptions and 0-1 touchdowns (12, 10 and 13 market sources).

No Week 8 player market is posted for Tee Higgins yet. His market-based projections were 11.6 and 14.1 points in Weeks 5 and 7, an average of 12.8, which stands in until his Week 8 market posts.

The market-based projection for Tee Higgins is 0.7 touchdowns (7 market sources).

That puts Matthew Golden 1.1 points ahead of Tee Higgins on these projections.

Week 8 matchups

Matthew Golden and GB host CAR on Thursday at 8:15 PM ET.

CAR allowed 27.7 fantasy points a game to WRs this season over 6 games, the 6th fewest in the league.

Receivers caught passes for 133 yards and 0-1 touchdowns a game against CAR.

Tee Higgins and CIN host TEN on Sunday at 1:00 PM ET.

TEN allowed 35.8 fantasy points a game to WRs this season over 7 games, the 8th most in the league.

Receivers caught passes for 176 yards and 0.6 touchdowns a game against TEN.

By points allowed to the position, Tee Higgins has the softer matchup.

Injury status

Matthew Golden is listed as questionable with a shoulder injury.

Tee Higgins is not on the injury report.

Usage before Week 8

Through Week 7, Matthew Golden played 84 percent of GB snaps, drew 26 percent of the targets, earned 40 percent of the air yards and had 18 percent of the red zone chances.

Matthew Golden, Week 4 against TB: 53 of 60 snaps, 1 carry for 6 yards, 7 targets and 3 catches for 21 yards, 1 touchdown.

Matthew Golden, Week 5 against CHI: 47 of 61 snaps, 7 targets and 6 catches for 123 yards.

Matthew Golden, Week 6 against DAL: 63 of 75 snaps, 13 targets and 6 catches for 104 yards, 1 touchdown.

Matthew Golden, Week 7 against DET: 57 of 67 snaps, 12 targets and 6 catches for 39 yards.

Through Week 7, Tee Higgins played 78 percent of CIN snaps, drew 23 percent of the targets, earned 45 percent of the air yards and had 5 percent of the red zone chances.

Tee Higgins, Week 3 against PIT: 53 of 57 snaps, 7 targets and 6 catches for 90 yards, 1 touchdown.

Tee Higgins, Week 4 against JAX: 60 of 76 snaps, 16 targets and 11 catches for 157 yards.

Tee Higgins, Week 5 against MIA: 45 of 65 snaps, 4 targets and 2 catches for 22 yards.

Tee Higgins, Week 7 against BAL: 46 of 53 snaps, 7 targets and 6 catches for 148 yards, 1 touchdown.

Their 2025 seasons

In 2025, Matthew Golden played 14 games for GB and scored 70.0 PPR points, 5.0 a game, finishing WR89.

He caught 29 of 44 targets for 361 yards and 0 touchdowns, with 2 red zone targets and 260 air yards.

He was on the field for 50 percent of the offense's snaps in the games he played.

In 2025, Tee Higgins played 15 games for CIN and scored 211.6 PPR points, 14.1 a game, finishing WR15.

He caught 59 of 98 targets for 846 yards and 11 touchdowns, with 14 red zone targets and 680 air yards.

He was on the field for 80 percent of the offense's snaps in the games he played.

Their other Week 8 calls

• Start A.J. Brown over Matthew Golden.
• Start Amon-Ra St. Brown over Matthew Golden.
• Start CeeDee Lamb over Matthew Golden.
• Start A.J. Brown over Tee Higgins.
• Start Tee Higgins over Carnell Tate.
• Start Christian Watson over Tee Higgins.