TE · #86 · Minnesota Vikings · week 8 vs Detroit Lions · Sun Nov 1 · 1:00 PM ET
Gavin Bartholomew
TYPE Blocking TE
ROLE a starter
CLASS 2025 · R6 P202
EXP 1 season
AGE under 25
DEPTH TE2
90%PLAYEXPECTED
As of week 8, Gavin Bartholomew was a TE for MIN, age 23.3, 1 season of experience, drafted in round 6. In 2026 through week 7 he was listed at depth rank 2 on his club's depth chart; he had played 6 games on 17% of snaps; his line was 18 receiving yards a game, 2.7 targets a game and a 9.3% target share (Blocking TE by the published rule). His injury history held 1 episode (back 1), 1 of them reaching OUT; the last was a back injury in 2025 week 18.
The full read
In short
How our call moved in week 8
100500
53%53%24%24%24%55%55%90%90%90%90%90%90%
Thu 6:30 PM ETSun 11:02 AM ET
our call, P(plays)
53% COIN FLIP → 90% EXPECTED
Every call we wrote for him in week 8, earliest first, as written.
In short
Gavin Bartholomew is a starter at tight end for MIN — 62% of the snaps in his best week of 7. He has an ankle injury. He left last week's game. Of players in that position who did play the following week, 45% took under 70% of their usual snaps. In week 8 he did not practise. His team has not listed him on the final report. We say he plays — 90%, in a band that plays 94% of the time. We have said PLAY since 68 hours before kickoff, and we changed our mind on the way.
The reader dissents · grade C
P1 is the club's Thursday report as relayed by a local outlet and states Bartholomew is 'A new addition, however, as Gavin Bartholomew did not practice with an ankle injury' — a current, in-week DNP on Thu 29 Oct that directly contradicts the FULL-practice input behind the model's 95% starting cell, so the 0.898 rests on a practice axis the written record does not support. The same source declines to resolve the game question — 'Unclear if that will be something that keeps him out on Sunday or not' (P1) — and explicitly defers to 'the last injury update and injury designations tomorrow' (P1), which is not in the dossier. With a brand-new ankle on a backup tight end, a single Thursday DNP and no Friday or designation data, the call is a coin flip rather than a confident PLAY.
What the read cites
What was reported
Source
1
“A new addition, however, as Gavin Bartholomew did not practice with an ankle injury.”
Daily Norseman · 2026-10-29
2
“Unclear if that will be something that keeps him out on Sunday or not.”
Daily Norseman · 2026-10-29
3
“We'll see how it plays out with the last injury update and injury designations tomorrow.”
Daily Norseman · 2026-10-29
13versions in week 8
10average, every player
54most for one player
How the call moved
EXPECTED since Sat Oct 31 · 2:10 AM ET · 36 h before kickoff. Biggest move: 55% → 90%, Fri Oct 30 · 5:02 PM ET to Sat Oct 31 · 2:10 AM ET, after: practiced more (Did Not Participate In Practice → Full Participation in Practice).
Our call
Injury report
Our call · week 8
NOT EXPECTEDUNLIKELYCOIN FLIPLIKELYEXPECTED
90% · EXPECTED
we expect him to play — this band plays 94% of the time (92–96%), measured out of fold. We stand behind this one.
Practice in week 8
Thu
DNPdated Thu Oct 29
Shape of the week: single reading. Only days the publisher dated are shown; a day we could not date is left out until the nightly sweep stamps it. The shape is a fact, not a forecast.
Head start
Our call
Kickoff
The evidence behind his current call
We read the news for this call. The quotes we found are not shown publicly.
Stats, with ranges — dot = his average, bar = his game range
Rec yds / game18 range 4.0–33
wk 4–7 · 3 games
Targets / game2.7 range 1.0–6.0
wk 4–7 · 3 games
Target share9.3% range 3–21
wk 4–7 · 3 games
Snap share15.3% range 0–62
wk 1–8 · 7 games
Snaps by week — his larger of the offence and defence share
0%wk 1
0%wk 2
7%wk 3
22%wk 4
62%wk 5
12%wk 7
4%wk 8
Missed while on the injury report
Season
Weeks on the report
Missed while listed
2026
1
0
Only the weeks he was on the injury report with a recorded result — not every game of his career.
Medical history
When
Injury
Weeks on a report
Worst status
2026 · wk 8
ankle
1
—
2025 · wk 16
back
3
Out
Every injury episode on file for him, as the record holds it.
Injury history by season · 2 episodes · 4 weeks on a report
2025
back · 3w
2026
ankle · 1w
Weeks 1–18
ruled out
listed, and played
Each bar is one episode: the week it began and how many weeks he was on a report, coloured by the worst status.
The rest of his team's report in week 8
Player
Pos
Practice
Whose word
Call
Chance he plays
Band
Harrison Smith
S
LTD
ours
PLAY
98%
EXPECTED
Aaron Jones
RB
FULL
ours
PLAY
95%
EXPECTED
Brian O'Neill
T
FULL
ours
PLAY
97%
EXPECTED
Christian Darrisaw
T
DNP
ours
PLAY
90%
EXPECTED
Jay Ward
S
LTD
team's word
Questionable
Nick Samac
C
UNK
team's word
—
Max Brosmer
QB
UNK
team's word
Out
Joe Huber
G
FULL
ours
PLAY
74%
LIKELY
Elijah Williams
DE
UNK
team's word
Out
Michael Briscoe
WR
UNK
team's word
Out
Caleb Tiernan
OT
UNK
team's word
Out
Jakobe Thomas
SAF
UNK
team's word
Out
Charles Demmings
CB
UNK
team's word
Out
Demond Claiborne
RB
UNK
team's word
Out
The model reads the room: who else is out shifts what his own designation is worth.
The evidence behind his earlier calls
The evidence behind the call made Thu Oct 29 · 6:30 PM ET
We have not read the news for this player this week.
The evidence behind the call made Fri Oct 30 · 1:00 AM ET
We have not read the news for this player this week.
The evidence behind the call made Fri Oct 30 · 2:10 AM ET
We have not read the news for this player this week.
The evidence behind the call made Fri Oct 30 · 7:05 AM ET
We have not read the news for this player this week.
The evidence behind the call made Fri Oct 30 · 12:05 PM ET
We read the news for this call. The quotes we found are not shown publicly.
The evidence behind the call made Fri Oct 30 · 2:50 PM ET
We read the news for this call. The quotes we found are not shown publicly.
The evidence behind the call made Fri Oct 30 · 5:02 PM ET
We read the news for this call. The quotes we found are not shown publicly.
The evidence behind the call made Sat Oct 31 · 2:10 AM ET
We read the news for this call. The quotes we found are not shown publicly.
The evidence behind the call made Sat Oct 31 · 7:05 AM ET
We read the news for this call. The quotes we found are not shown publicly.
The evidence behind the call made Sat Oct 31 · 12:02 PM ET
We read the news for this call. The quotes we found are not shown publicly.
The evidence behind the call made Sat Oct 31 · 5:06 PM ET
We read the news for this call. The quotes we found are not shown publicly.
The evidence behind the call made Sun Nov 1 · 6:06 AM ET
We read the news for this call. The quotes we found are not shown publicly.
The evidence behind the call made Sun Nov 1 · 11:02 AM ET
We read the news for this call. The quotes we found are not shown publicly.
Role
Call history
The data behind this page — the timeline in words, every call and week on record, about him, and what this page does not show
Built from: honors.db; nflverse injuries_2026.csv; medical.db; nflverse players.csv; profile.db; nflverse roster_2026.csv; nflverse roster_weekly_2026.csv; nflverse snap_counts_2026.csv; nflverse stats_player_week_2026.csv. Every number in it is one those sources hold.
a starter at tight end — 62% of the snaps in his best week of 7
Listed on the depth chart
second at tight end
Last week
He left last week's game — far below his usual share
Snaps played
15% a week on average over 7 weeks, 62% at his highest, 48% on special teams
Build
6 ft 5 in · 249 lb
College
Pittsburgh
Drafted
2025, round 6 pick 202, by MIN
Age
under 25 at the season's start
Experience
1 season
When this call was made, and when the world knew
WrittenWe first said PLAY.
PublicOur call became public when the week settled.
KickoffKickoff.
How our call moved, earliest first
When
Lead
Call
Chance he plays
Band
On what
Thu Oct 29 · 6:30 PM ET
68 h
PLAY
53%
COIN FLIP
after his team's announcement
Fri Oct 30 · 1:00 AM ET
61 h
PLAY
53%
COIN FLIP
after his team's announcement
Fri Oct 30 · 2:10 AM ET
60 h
SIT
24%
UNLIKELY
after his team's announcement
Fri Oct 30 · 7:05 AM ET
55 h
SIT
24%
UNLIKELY
after his team's announcement
Fri Oct 30 · 12:05 PM ET
50 h
SIT
24%
UNLIKELY
after his team's announcement
Fri Oct 30 · 2:50 PM ET
47 h
PLAY
55%
COIN FLIP
before his team said anything
Fri Oct 30 · 5:02 PM ET
45 h
PLAY
55%
COIN FLIP
before his team said anything
Sat Oct 31 · 2:10 AM ET
36 h
PLAY
90%
EXPECTED
before his team said anything
Sat Oct 31 · 7:05 AM ET
31 h
PLAY
90%
EXPECTED
before his team said anything
Sat Oct 31 · 12:02 PM ET
26 h
PLAY
90%
EXPECTED
before his team said anything
Sat Oct 31 · 5:06 PM ET
21 h
PLAY
90%
EXPECTED
before his team said anything
Sun Nov 1 · 6:06 AM ET
7 h
PLAY
90%
EXPECTED
before his team said anything
Sun Nov 1 · 11:02 AM ET
2 h
PLAY
90%
EXPECTED
before his team said anything
13 calls in week 8, flipping between PLAY and SIT 2 times. Each lead time is the one that call actually had when it was written — never recounted from now. A call that changes is the record working: new evidence arrived and we said so, in public, before the game.
What would change this read
What would change this read
Vikings Friday Oct 30 practice participation line for Gavin Bartholomew (the 'Vikings-Lions Final Injury Report' by Warren Ludford, Oct 30, carries it)
Saturday Oct 31 / final game-status designation for Bartholomew (Out, Doubtful, Questionable, or none)
Kevin O'Connell comment on the severity or expected timeline of Bartholomew's ankle
Status of T.J. Hockenson and Ben Yurosek, and whether any TE was signed or elevated from the practice squad for Nov 1 — a thin TE room raises his odds of dressing
Whether Bartholomew was active for Minnesota's previous game and his offensive/special-teams snap share, to gauge whether a backup TE would be held out as a precaution
We went and found out more
Rank 2 (listed second on his depth chart), 8 documents deep, because: llm_unsure. Fetched 5 of 5.