Should I start Drake Maye or Malik Willis in Week 8?

Updated Oct 27, 6:31 AM ET. Week 9 answers post Tuesday.

Drake Maye and Malik Willis are too close to call on usage: 100 percent of the snaps and 0 percent of the targets against 100 percent of the snaps and 0 percent of the targets over their last 3 games. 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 Malik Willis for Drake Maye?

Yes, on the rest of the season. Drake Maye projects 167 market-implied PPR points from Week 8 through Week 17 (18.5 a game over 9 games), Malik Willis 144 (14.4 a game over 10 games).

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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.

Drake Maye

QB10 · NE · bye 11

2026 vs pass yds line 3-4

Market-based projection: 19.3 pts a game Wk 7 price
Overall rank: 78

Malik Willis

QB11 · MIA · bye 6

2026 vs pass yds line 4-2

Market-based projection: 12.9 pts a game Wk 7 price
Overall rank: 82

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The gap

Board size292 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 Drake Maye, and the board ranks him 78th overall on the rest of his evidence.

Live drafts hold no current pick on Malik Willis, and the board ranks him 82nd overall on the rest of his evidence.

In 2QB drafts he goes at ADP 38.

The market-based projections

The market-based projection for Drake Maye is 1.9 PPR points a game off 1 market across 7 market sources. That is 0 percent of what a quarterback's projection needs, so it is a fragment of one rather than a projection.

The market-based projection for Malik Willis is 1.8 PPR points a game off 1 market across 7 market sources. That is 0 percent of what a quarterback's projection needs, so it is a fragment of one rather than a projection.

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

This season through Week 7

Through Week 7, Drake Maye has been on the field for 97 percent of NE snaps, dropped back 249 times and thrown 9.1 air yards an attempt.

He has been sacked or hit on 36 of 249 dropbacks and scrambled 23 times.

In Week 5 against LV he completed 26 of 34 passes for 374 yards, threw 4 touchdowns and 0 interceptions and ran 4 times for 29 yards.

In Week 6 against NYJ he completed 18 of 32 passes for 235 yards, threw 3 touchdowns and 0 interceptions and ran 3 times for 25 yards.

In Week 7 against CHI he completed 24 of 30 passes for 321 yards, threw 2 touchdowns and 1 interception and ran 4 times for 26 yards.

Through Week 7, Malik Willis has been on the field for 100 percent of MIA snaps, dropped back 188 times and thrown 9.7 air yards an attempt.

He has been sacked or hit on 26 of 188 dropbacks and scrambled 22 times.

In Week 4 against MIN he completed 9 of 17 passes for 85 yards, threw 0 touchdowns and 0 interceptions and ran 2 times for 11 yards.

In Week 5 against CIN he completed 15 of 26 passes for 137 yards, threw 1 touchdown and 2 interceptions and ran 8 times for 74 yards.

In Week 7 against NYJ he completed 14 of 21 passes for 208 yards, threw 2 touchdowns and 0 interceptions and ran 6 times for 39 yards.

Their 2025 seasons

In 2025 Drake Maye played 17 games and scored 360.0 PPR points, 21.2 a game, finishing QB2.

He threw for 4394 yards on 492 attempts with 31 touchdowns and 8 interceptions, and ran for 450 yards and 4 touchdowns.

That came to 28.9 attempts a game at 8.9 yards an attempt.

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

In 2025 Malik Willis played 4 games and scored 51.2 PPR points, 12.8 a game, finishing QB45.

He threw for 422 yards on 35 attempts with 3 touchdowns and 0 interceptions, and ran for 123 yards and 2 touchdowns.

That came to 8.8 attempts a game at 12.1 yards an attempt.

He was on the field for 10 percent of the snaps in the games he played.

Drake Maye was available for 13 games more.

Head to head

In 2025 Drake Maye scored 21.2 PPR points a game and Malik Willis 12.8, 8.4 a game between them.

Drake Maye finished QB2 that year and Malik Willis QB45.

Drake Maye had 457 more pass attempts than Malik Willis, 492 to 35.

Drake Maye had 3972 more passing yards than Malik Willis, 4394 to 422.

This season Malik Willis holds the bigger snap share, 100 percent against 97 percent.

Their target share this season is the same, 0 percent each.

Byes and availability

Drake Maye is off in Week 11 and Malik Willis in Week 6, so either can cover the other's bye.

Drop or keep

Should I drop Malik Willis for Drake Maye?
Yes, on the rest of the season. Drake Maye projects 167 market-implied PPR points from Week 8 through Week 17 (18.5 a game over 9 games), Malik Willis 144 (14.4 a game over 10 games).
Should I drop Drake Maye for Malik Willis?
No. Keep Drake Maye: he projects 167 market-implied PPR points from Week 8 through Week 17 (18.5 a game over 9 games), Malik Willis 144 (14.4 a game over 10 games).