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Should I start Baker Mayfield or Saquon Barkley in Week 9?

Updated Nov 4, 1:16 AM ET.

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  • : Saquon Barkley has assurances he won't be dealt, wants to help Eagles 'fix it' (ESPN)
  • : Sources: Saquon Barkley won't be traded by deadline despite Eagles' struggles (ESPN)
  • : Dameon Pierce: Questionable to IR (Undisclosed) (Sleeper injury feed)

Start Baker Mayfield: 95 percent of the snaps and 0 percent of the targets over their last 3 games, against Saquon Barkley's 19 percent of the snaps and 27 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 Saquon Barkley for Baker Mayfield?

Yes, on the rest of the season. Baker Mayfield projects 128 market-implied PPR points from Week 9 through Week 17 (16.0 a game over 8 games), Saquon Barkley 61 (7.6 a game over 8 games).

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More fantasy football tools and rankings, all built from the same board.

Neither man carries a season projection right now, so this is their usage this season and their last full season's numbers, side by side.

QB17 · TB · bye 10

2026 vs pass yds line 1-4

Overall rank
106

RB36 · PHI · bye 10

2026 vs carries line 1-5

Market-based projection
11.3 pts a game Wk 8 price
Overall rank
107

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The gap

  • Board size304 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 Baker Mayfield, and the board ranks him 106th overall on the rest of his evidence.

In 2QB drafts he goes at ADP 20.

Live drafts hold no current pick on Saquon Barkley, and the board ranks him 107th overall on the rest of his evidence.

By format he goes standard: ADP 3; 2QB: ADP 14.

The market-based projections

The market-based projection for Baker Mayfield is 15.7 PPR points a game off 4 markets across 14 market sources. That is 80 percent of what a quarterback's projection needs, so it is a fragment of one rather than a projection.

The market-based projection for Saquon Barkley is 3.4 PPR points a game off 1 market across 1 market source. That is 30 percent of what a running back's projection needs, so it is a fragment of one rather than a projection.

Baker Mayfield's projection is not complete, so the two figures are not set against each other here.

This season through Week 8

Through Week 8, Baker Mayfield has been on the field for 97 percent of TB snaps, dropped back 134 times and thrown 8.4 air yards an attempt.

He has been sacked or hit on 23 of 134 dropbacks and scrambled 10 times.

In Week 3 against MIN he completed 17 of 34 passes for 217 yards, threw 1 touchdown and 1 interception and ran 2 times for 6 yards.

In Week 7 against CAR he completed 7 of 11 passes for 64 yards, threw 1 touchdown and 0 interceptions and ran 1 time for 1 yards.

In Week 8 against ATL he completed 0 of 3 passes for 0 yards, threw 0 touchdowns and 0 interceptions and ran 3 times for 15 yards.

Through Week 8, Saquon Barkley has been on the field for 33 percent of PHI snaps, taken 36 percent of the carries, drawn 6 percent of the targets and had 20 percent of the red zone chances.

He has taken 1 of the offence's 53 third down targets, had 4 of its 13 chances inside the five and seen 0 of its 41 two minute targets.

His 10 targets have averaged 1.3 air yards.

In Week 4 against LAR he carried 2 times for 8 yards, caught 1 of 1 target for 2 yards and did not score.

In Week 7 against DAL he carried 7 times for 62 yards, caught 2 of 2 targets for 9 yards and scored 1 touchdown.

In Week 8 against WAS he carried 13 times for 30 yards, caught 1 of 1 target for 24 yards and scored 1 touchdown.

Their 2025 seasons

In 2025 Baker Mayfield played 17 games and scored 282.9 PPR points, 16.6 a game, finishing QB12.

He threw for 3693 yards on 543 attempts with 26 touchdowns and 11 interceptions, and ran for 382 yards and 1 touchdown.

That came to 31.9 attempts a game at 6.8 yards an attempt.

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

In 2025 Saquon Barkley played 16 games and scored 232.3 PPR points, 14.5 a game, finishing RB14.

He carried 280 times for 1140 yards and 7 touchdowns, and caught 37 of 50 targets for 273 more yards.

That came to 17-18 carries a game at 4.1 yards a carry and 2.3 catches a game.

He was on the field for 78 percent of the snaps in the games he played.

Baker Mayfield was available for 1 game more.

Side by side

In 2025 Baker Mayfield scored 16.6 PPR points a game and Saquon Barkley 14.5, 2.1 a game between them.

Baker Mayfield finished QB12 and Saquon Barkley RB14, which are two different ladders.

Baker Mayfield is a quarterback and Saquon Barkley a running back, so the question is which slot you fill first rather than which of them is better.

Byes and availability

Both are off in Week 10, so a roster holding the pair has that one week to cover twice.

Drop or keep

  • Should I drop Saquon Barkley for Baker Mayfield?

    Yes, on the rest of the season. Baker Mayfield projects 128 market-implied PPR points from Week 9 through Week 17 (16.0 a game over 8 games), Saquon Barkley 61 (7.6 a game over 8 games).

  • Should I drop Baker Mayfield for Saquon Barkley?

    No. Keep Baker Mayfield: he projects 128 market-implied PPR points from Week 9 through Week 17 (16.0 a game over 8 games), Saquon Barkley 61 (7.6 a game over 8 games).

Both players in full

Week 9 on the board

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