Start T.J. Hockenson or Tyler Higbee? Week 8

Our Week 8 call

Start T.J. Hockenson over Tyler Higbee in Week 8.

Market-based projections have T.J. Hockenson at 9.9 points and Tyler Higbee at 8.1, a gap of 1.9. No player market is posted for Tyler Higbee this week yet, so his 8.1 is the average of his market-based projections in Weeks 5, 6 and 7 (7.1, 7.7 and 9.4); the call is rebuilt when his market posts.

What the market projects

Player markets imply 9.9 fantasy points for T.J. Hockenson, with 100 percent of the markets a TE needs posted.

The market-based projection for T.J. Hockenson is 37 receiving yards, 4-5 receptions and 0.3 touchdowns (10, 8 and 12 market sources).

No Week 8 player market is posted for Tyler Higbee yet. His market-based projections were 7.1, 7.7 and 9.4 points in Weeks 5, 6 and 7, an average of 8.1, which stands in until his Week 8 market posts.

That puts T.J. Hockenson 1.9 points ahead of Tyler Higbee on these projections.

Week 8 matchups

T.J. Hockenson and MIN visit DET on Sunday at 1:00 PM ET.

DET allowed 29.4 fantasy points a game to TEs this season over 6 games, the most in the league.

Tight ends caught passes for 100 yards and 1.7 touchdowns a game against DET.

Tyler Higbee and LAR host LAC on Sunday at 4:05 PM ET.

LAC allowed 11.1 fantasy points a game to TEs this season over 6 games, the 10th fewest in the league.

Tight ends caught passes for 58 yards and 0.2 touchdowns a game against LAC.

By points allowed to the position, T.J. Hockenson has the softer matchup.

Injury status

T.J. Hockenson is not on the injury report.

Tyler Higbee is not on the injury report.

Usage before Week 8

Through Week 7, T.J. Hockenson played 63 percent of MIN snaps, drew 21 percent of the targets, earned 19 percent of the air yards and had 18 percent of the red zone chances.

T.J. Hockenson, Week 3 against TB: 50 of 59 snaps, 4 targets and 2 catches for 11 yards.

T.J. Hockenson, Week 4 against MIA: 65 of 78 snaps, 13 targets and 13 catches for 119 yards.

T.J. Hockenson, Week 5 against NO: 2 of 71 snaps, 1 target and 1 catch for 7 yards.

T.J. Hockenson, Week 7 against IND: 45 of 59 snaps, 5 targets and 4 catches for 35 yards, 1 touchdown.

Through Week 7, Tyler Higbee played 59 percent of LAR snaps, drew 12 percent of the targets, earned 12 percent of the air yards and had 3 percent of the red zone chances.

Tyler Higbee, Week 4 against PHI: 55 of 84 snaps, 6 targets and 5 catches for 67 yards.

Tyler Higbee, Week 5 against BUF: 55 of 82 snaps, 6 targets and 5 catches for 83 yards.

Tyler Higbee, Week 6 against ARI: 48 of 58 snaps, 4 targets and 4 catches for 22 yards.

Tyler Higbee, Week 7 against LV: 53 of 72 snaps, 3 targets and 2 catches for 14 yards.

Their 2025 seasons

In 2025, T.J. Hockenson played 15 games for MIN and scored 112.8 PPR points, 7.5 a game, finishing TE26.

He caught 51 of 66 targets for 438 yards and 3 touchdowns, with 11 red zone targets and 224 air yards.

He was on the field for 79 percent of the offense's snaps in the games he played.

In 2025, Tyler Higbee played 10 games for LAR and scored 71.1 PPR points, 7.1 a game, finishing TE40.

He caught 25 of 36 targets for 281 yards and 3 touchdowns, with 8 red zone targets and 141 air yards.

He was on the field for 54 percent of the offense's snaps in the games he played.

Their other Week 8 calls

• Start T.J. Hockenson over Brenton Strange.
• Start Brock Bowers over T.J. Hockenson.
• Start T.J. Hockenson over Cade Otton.
• Start Tyler Higbee over AJ Barner.
• Start Brenton Strange over Tyler Higbee.
• Start Cade Otton over Tyler Higbee.