Darren Waller or Kirk Cousins: who should I start in Week 3?

Where the draft room stands

Drafters have formed no consensus on Darren Waller: he carries no ADP, and the board ranks him 141st overall on the rest of his evidence.

Drafters have formed no consensus on Kirk Cousins: he carries no ADP, and the board ranks him 143rd overall on the rest of his evidence.

In 2QB drafts he goes at ADP 167.

What the sportsbooks price

The player markets price Darren Waller at 6.1 PPR points a game, built from 3 markets across 15 books. That is the 145th highest figure of the 176 players the books price.

The books have Kirk Cousins at 13.6 PPR points a game off 4 markets across 16 books. That is 80 percent of what a quarterback's price needs, so it is a fragment of one rather than a projection.

Kirk Cousins's price is not complete, so the two figures are not set against each other here.

This season through Week 2

Through Week 2, Darren Waller has been on the field for 40 percent of CAR snaps, drawn 8 percent of the targets and had 7 percent of the red zone chances.

He has taken 1 of the offence's 15 third down targets, had 0 of its 7 chances inside the five and seen 3 of its 7 two minute targets.

His 5 targets have averaged 6.8 air yards.

In Week 1 against CHI he caught 2 of 2 targets for 28 yards and did not score.

In Week 2 against ATL he caught 3 of 3 targets for 33 yards and scored 2 touchdowns.

Through Week 2, Kirk Cousins has been on the field for 100 percent of LV snaps, dropped back 63 times and thrown 8.6 air yards an attempt.

He has been sacked or hit on 11 of 63 dropbacks and scrambled 2 times.

In Week 1 against MIA he completed 21 of 30 passes for 160 yards, threw 3 touchdowns and 2 interceptions and ran 2 times for 0 yards.

In Week 2 against LAC he completed 19 of 29 passes for 253 yards, threw 3 touchdowns and 1 interception and ran 1 time for 4 yards.

Their 2025 seasons

In 2025 Darren Waller played 9 games and scored 88.7 PPR points, 9.9 a game, finishing TE33.

He caught 24 of 34 targets for 283 yards and 6 touchdowns, with 7 red zone targets.

That came to 3.8 targets a game, a 71 percent catch rate and 11.8 yards a catch.

He was on the field for 45 percent of the snaps in the games he played.

In 2025 Kirk Cousins played 10 games and scored 108.5 PPR points, 10.9 a game, finishing QB35.

He threw for 1721 yards on 269 attempts with 10 touchdowns and 5 interceptions, and ran for 7 yards and 1 touchdown.

That came to 26.9 attempts a game at 6.4 yards an attempt.

He was on the field for 46 percent of the snaps in the games he played.

Kirk Cousins was available for 1 game more.

Side by side

In 2025 Kirk Cousins scored 10.9 PPR points a game and Darren Waller 9.9, 1.0 a game between them.

Darren Waller finished TE33 and Kirk Cousins QB35, which are two different ladders.

Darren Waller is a tight end and Kirk Cousins a quarterback, so the question is which slot you fill first rather than which of them is better.

Byes and availability

Darren Waller is off in Week 5 and Kirk Cousins in Week 13, so either can cover the other's bye.

What would change the answer

Kirk Cousins is only part priced, so the books' half of this page is whole for only one of them.