Should I start Christian McCaffrey or Josh Allen in Week 9?

Where the draft room stands

Live drafts hold no current pick on Christian McCaffrey, and the board ranks him 49th overall on the rest of his evidence.

In 2QB drafts he goes at ADP 7.

Live drafts hold no current pick on Josh Allen, and the board ranks him 50th overall on the rest of his evidence.

In 2QB drafts he goes at ADP 2.

The market-based projections

The market-based projection for Christian McCaffrey is 7.3 PPR points a game off 1 market across 5 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.

The market-based projection for Josh Allen is 5.4 PPR points a game off 1 market across 5 market sources. That is 0 percent of what a quarterback's projection needs, so it is a fragment of one rather than a projection.

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

This season so far

Through Week 7, Christian McCaffrey has been on the field for 69 percent of SF snaps, taken 46 percent of the carries, drawn 20 percent of the targets and had 36 percent of the red zone chances.

He has taken 9 of the offence's 50 third down targets, had 12 of its 24 chances inside the five and seen 5 of its 30 two minute targets.

His 42 targets have averaged 2.5 air yards.

In Week 5 against SEA he carried 11 times for 68 yards, caught 3 of 3 targets for 15 yards and scored 1 touchdown.

In Week 6 against WAS he carried 16 times for 64 yards, caught 9 of 10 targets for 53 yards and scored 2 touchdowns.

In Week 7 against ATL he carried 7 times for 39 yards, caught 6 of 7 targets for 61 yards and scored 1 touchdown.

Through Week 8, Josh Allen has been on the field for 100 percent of BUF snaps, dropped back 237 times and thrown 9.0 air yards an attempt.

He has been sacked or hit on 32 of 237 dropbacks and scrambled 19 times.

In Week 5 against LAR he completed 12 of 19 passes for 210 yards, threw 1 touchdown and 1 interception and ran 10 times for 121 yards.

In Week 6 against LV he completed 23 of 33 passes for 255 yards, threw 2 touchdowns and 0 interceptions and ran 2 times for 4 yards.

In Week 8 against BAL he completed 21 of 34 passes for 289 yards, threw 2 touchdowns and 1 interception and ran 7 times for 30 yards.

Their 2025 seasons

In 2025 Christian McCaffrey played 17 games and scored 416.6 PPR points, 24.5 a game, finishing RB1.

He carried 311 times for 1202 yards and 10 touchdowns, and caught 102 of 129 targets for 924 more yards.

That came to 18.3 carries a game at 3.9 yards a carry and 6.0 catches a game.

He was on the field for 83 percent of the snaps in the games he played.

In 2025 Josh Allen played 17 games and scored 374.6 PPR points, 22.0 a game, finishing QB1.

He threw for 3668 yards on 460 attempts with 25 touchdowns and 10 interceptions, and ran for 579 yards and 14 touchdowns.

That came to 27.1 attempts a game at 8.0 yards an attempt.

He was on the field for 98 percent of the snaps in the games he played.

Both were available for 17 games that season.

Side by side

In 2025 Christian McCaffrey scored 24.5 PPR points a game and Josh Allen 22.0, 2.5 a game between them.

Christian McCaffrey finished RB1 and Josh Allen QB1, which are two different ladders.

Christian McCaffrey is a running back and Josh Allen a quarterback, so the question is which slot you fill first rather than which of them is better.

Byes and availability

Christian McCaffrey is off in Week 8 and Josh Allen in Week 7, so either can cover the other's bye.

Christian McCaffrey is listed as questionable on the injury report.