Should I start Michael Penix Jr. or Austin Ekeler in Week 10?

The market-based projections

Michael Penix Jr.'s market-based projection is 14.7 PPR points a game, built from 5 markets across 14 market sources. That is the 45th highest figure of the 217 players with a market-based projection.

Austin Ekeler's market-based projection is 6.9 PPR points a game, built from 5 markets across 14 market sources. That is the 115th highest figure of the 217 players with a market-based projection.

Where the draft room stands

Live drafts hold no current pick on Michael Penix Jr., and the board ranks him 120th overall on the rest of his evidence.

Live drafts hold no current pick on Austin Ekeler, and the board ranks him 118th overall on the rest of his evidence.

This season through Week 9

Through Week 9, Michael Penix Jr. has been on the field for 99 percent of ATL snaps, dropped back 93 times and thrown 7.1 air yards an attempt.

He has been sacked or hit on 0 of 93 dropbacks and scrambled 5 times.

In Week 7 against SF he completed 25 of 33 passes for 213 yards, threw 3 touchdowns and 0 interceptions and ran 2 times for 2 yards.

In Week 8 against TB he completed 8 of 24 passes for 125 yards, threw 0 touchdowns and 4 interceptions and ran 5 times for 11 yards.

In Week 9 against CIN he completed 20 of 31 passes for 162 yards, threw 1 touchdown and 1 interception and ran 3 times for 50 yards.

Through Week 9, Austin Ekeler has been on the field for 25 percent of WAS snaps, taken 21 percent of the carries, drawn 5 percent of the targets and had 17 percent of the red zone chances.

He has taken 0 of the offence's 42 third down targets, had 0 of its 4 chances inside the five and seen 1 of its 24 two minute targets.

His 8 targets have come 3 yards behind the line of scrimmage on average.

In Week 6 against SF he carried 1 time for 3 yards, caught 2 of 2 targets for 4 yards and did not score.

In Week 8 against PHI he carried 8 times for 36 yards and did not score.

In Week 9 against LAR he carried 8 times for 16 yards, caught 2 of 3 targets for 18 yards and did not score.

Their 2025 seasons

In 2025 Michael Penix Jr. played 9 games and scored 123.3 PPR points, 13.7 a game, finishing QB33.

He threw for 1982 yards on 276 attempts with 9 touchdowns and 3 interceptions, and ran for 70 yards and 1 touchdown.

That came to 30.7 attempts a game at 7.2 yards an attempt.

He was on the field for 93 percent of the snaps in the games he played.

In 2025 Austin Ekeler played 2 games and scored 13.1 PPR points, 6.6 a game, finishing RB103.

He carried 14 times for 43 yards and 0 touchdowns, and caught 5 of 7 targets for 38 more yards.

That came to 7.0 carries a game at 3.1 yards a carry and 2-3 catches a game.

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

Michael Penix Jr. was available for 7 games more.

Side by side

In 2025 Michael Penix Jr. scored 13.7 PPR points a game and Austin Ekeler 6.6, 7.1 a game between them.

Michael Penix Jr. finished QB33 and Austin Ekeler RB103, which are two different ladders.

Michael Penix Jr. is a quarterback and Austin Ekeler a running back, so the question is which slot you fill first rather than which of them is better.

Byes and availability

Michael Penix Jr. is off in Week 11 and Austin Ekeler in Week 7, so either can cover the other's bye.

What would change the answer

7.8 points a game is the entire case. The market restates it every week, and a line that moves moves the order with it.

The draft market is the half that is missing: when live drafts hold these two again they can order them differently from the projection, and this page will follow the drafts rather than the market-based projection when they do.