Should I start Aaron Jones Sr. or Patrick Mahomes in Week 8?

Updated Oct 28, 3:32 AM ET. Week 9 answers post Tuesday.

Latest

Oct 25, 3:43 PM ET: Aaron Jones Sr.: Listed Questionable (Undisclosed) (Sleeper injury feed)

Start Patrick Mahomes: 100 percent of the snaps and 0 percent of the targets over their last 3 games, against Aaron Jones Sr.'s 25 percent of the snaps and 30 percent of the carries. No market projection is posted on either of them this week, so this is a usage call, and a lower confidence one than a call made on a projection. What follows is what each of them has done.

Should I drop Aaron Jones Sr. for Patrick Mahomes?

Yes, on the rest of the season. Patrick Mahomes projects 171 market-implied PPR points from Week 8 through Week 17 (17.1 a game over 10 games), Aaron Jones Sr. 141 (14.1 a game over 10 games). Aaron Jones Sr. is listed questionable.

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Both players' season market-based projection, their usage this season and their last full season's numbers.

Aaron Jones Sr.

RB34 · MIN · bye 6

2026 vs carries line 5-1

Market-based projection: 10.9 pts a game Wk 7 price
Overall rank: 98

Patrick Mahomes

QB16 · KC · bye 5

2026 vs pass yds line 3-3

Market-based projection: 16.0 pts a game

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The gap

Board size295 draftable players

Draft data is not current for these two, so the figures that depend on it are left out. The call above comes from each player's usage.

Where the draft room stands

Live drafts hold no current pick on Aaron Jones Sr., and the board ranks him 98th overall on the rest of his evidence.

Live drafts hold no current pick on Patrick Mahomes, and the board ranks him 100th overall on the rest of his evidence.

The market-based projections

The market has Aaron Jones Sr. at 3.5 PPR points a game off 1 market across 12 market sources. That is 30 percent of what a running back's projection needs, so it is a fragment of one rather than a projection.

Patrick Mahomes's market-based projection is 16.0 PPR points a game, built from 5 markets across 10 market sources. That is the 19th highest figure of the 200 players with a market-based projection.

Aaron Jones Sr.'s projection is not complete, so the two figures are not set against each other here.

This season through Week 7

Through Week 7, Aaron Jones Sr. has been on the field for 25 percent of MIN snaps, taken 30 percent of the carries, drawn 4 percent of the targets and had 20 percent of the red zone chances.

He has taken 0 of the offence's 8 third down targets, had 0 of its 1 chance inside the five and seen 0 of its 1 two minute target.

His 1 target have averaged 0.0 air yards.

In Week 7 against IND he carried 8 times for 26 yards, caught 1 of 1 target for 0 yards and did not score.

Through Week 7, Patrick Mahomes has been on the field for 100 percent of KC snaps, dropped back 210 times and thrown 6.0 air yards an attempt.

He has been sacked or hit on 31 of 210 dropbacks and scrambled 12 times.

In Week 4 against LV he completed 15 of 30 passes for 225 yards, threw 2 touchdowns and 0 interceptions and ran 1 time for 1 yards.

In Week 6 against LAC he completed 23 of 30 passes for 272 yards, threw 0 touchdowns and 1 interception and ran 3 times for 19 yards.

In Week 7 against SEA he completed 19 of 33 passes for 165 yards, threw 0 touchdowns and 1 interception and ran 2 times for 14 yards.

Their 2025 seasons

In 2025 Aaron Jones Sr. played 12 games and scored 118.7 PPR points, 9.9 a game, finishing RB41.

He carried 132 times for 548 yards and 2 touchdowns, and caught 28 of 41 targets for 199 more yards.

That came to 11.0 carries a game at 4.2 yards a carry and 2.3 catches a game.

He was on the field for 55 percent of the snaps in the games he played.

In 2025 Patrick Mahomes played 14 games and scored 296.7 PPR points, 21.2 a game, finishing QB11.

He threw for 3587 yards on 502 attempts with 22 touchdowns and 11 interceptions, and ran for 422 yards and 5 touchdowns.

That came to 35.9 attempts a game at 7.1 yards an attempt.

He was on the field for 97 percent of the snaps in the games he played.

Patrick Mahomes was available for 2 games more.

Side by side

In 2025 Patrick Mahomes scored 21.2 PPR points a game and Aaron Jones Sr. 9.9, 11.3 a game between them.

Aaron Jones Sr. finished RB41 and Patrick Mahomes QB11, which are two different ladders.

Aaron Jones Sr. is a running back and Patrick Mahomes a quarterback, so the question is which slot you fill first rather than which of them is better.

Byes and availability

Aaron Jones Sr. is off in Week 6 and Patrick Mahomes in Week 5, so either can cover the other's bye.

Aaron Jones Sr. is listed as questionable on the injury report.

What would change the answer

Aaron Jones Sr. has only a partial projection, so the market half of this page is whole for only one of them.

Drop or keep

Should I drop Aaron Jones Sr. for Patrick Mahomes?
Yes, on the rest of the season. Patrick Mahomes projects 171 market-implied PPR points from Week 8 through Week 17 (17.1 a game over 10 games), Aaron Jones Sr. 141 (14.1 a game over 10 games). Aaron Jones Sr. is listed questionable.
Should I drop Patrick Mahomes for Aaron Jones Sr.?
No. Keep Patrick Mahomes: he projects 171 market-implied PPR points from Week 8 through Week 17 (17.1 a game over 10 games), Aaron Jones Sr. 141 (14.1 a game over 10 games). Aaron Jones Sr. is listed questionable.

Should I drop Aaron Jones Sr.?