Should I start Baker Mayfield or Zach Charbonnet in Week 8?

Updated Oct 28, 5:21 PM ET. Week 9 answers post Tuesday.

Latest

Oct 23, 5:13 PM ET: Zach Charbonnet: Questionable to Out (Knee - ACL, Surgery) (Sleeper injury feed)
Oct 22, 4:48 PM ET: Barring setbacks, Bucs QB Baker Mayfield expected to start vs. Panthers (ESPN)
Oct 22, 2:43 PM ET: Zach Charbonnet: PUP to Questionable (Knee - ACL, Surgery) (Sleeper injury feed)

Start Baker Mayfield: he has been on the field this season, 95 percent of the snaps, and Zach Charbonnet has no snap on record yet. 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 Zach Charbonnet for Baker Mayfield?

Yes, on the rest of the season. Baker Mayfield projects 144 market-implied PPR points from Week 8 through Week 17 (16.0 a game over 9 games), Zach Charbonnet 36 (4.0 a game over 9 games). Zach Charbonnet is listed questionable.

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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.

Baker Mayfield

QB17 · TB · bye 10

2026 vs pass yds line 1-3

Overall rank: 101

Zach Charbonnet

RB35 · SEA · bye 11

2025 vs carries line 10-6

Market-based projection: 10.1 pts a game Wk 7 price
Overall rank: 103

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The gap

Board size303 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 101st overall on the rest of his evidence.

In 2QB drafts he goes at ADP 20.

Live drafts hold no current pick on Zach Charbonnet, and the board ranks him 103rd overall on the rest of his evidence.

The market-based projections

The market-based projection for Baker Mayfield is 16.2 PPR points a game off 4 markets across 12 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 Zach Charbonnet is 4.6 PPR points a game off 1 market across 3 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.

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

This season through Week 7

Through Week 7, Baker Mayfield has been on the field for 96 percent of TB snaps, dropped back 129 times and thrown 8.2 air yards an attempt.

He has been sacked or hit on 22 of 129 dropbacks and scrambled 9 times.

In Week 2 against CLE he completed 21 of 34 passes for 182 yards, threw 1 touchdown and 1 interception and ran 4 times for 29 yards.

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.

The usage feed holds no snap or target counts for Zach Charbonnet this season.

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 Zach Charbonnet played 16 games and scored 181.4 PPR points, 11.3 a game, finishing RB24.

He carried 184 times for 730 yards and 12 touchdowns, and caught 20 of 24 targets for 144 more yards.

That came to 11-12 carries a game at 4.0 yards a carry and 1.3 catches a game.

He was on the field for 49 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 Zach Charbonnet 11.3, 5.3 a game between them.

Baker Mayfield finished QB12 and Zach Charbonnet RB24, which are two different ladders.

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

Byes and availability

Baker Mayfield is off in Week 10 and Zach Charbonnet in Week 11, so either can cover the other's bye.

Zach Charbonnet is listed as questionable on the injury report.

Drop or keep

Should I drop Zach Charbonnet for Baker Mayfield?
Yes, on the rest of the season. Baker Mayfield projects 144 market-implied PPR points from Week 8 through Week 17 (16.0 a game over 9 games), Zach Charbonnet 36 (4.0 a game over 9 games). Zach Charbonnet is listed questionable.
Should I drop Baker Mayfield for Zach Charbonnet?
No. Keep Baker Mayfield: he projects 144 market-implied PPR points from Week 8 through Week 17 (16.0 a game over 9 games), Zach Charbonnet 36 (4.0 a game over 9 games). Zach Charbonnet is listed questionable.