Should I start Pat Freiermuth or Drake Maye in Week 8?

Updated Oct 27, 5:11 PM ET. Week 9 answers post Tuesday.

Start Drake Maye: 100 percent of the snaps and 0 percent of the targets over their last 3 games, against Pat Freiermuth's 65 percent of the snaps and 14 percent of the targets. 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 Pat Freiermuth 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), Pat Freiermuth 75 (8.3 a game over 9 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.

Pat Freiermuth

TE16 · PIT · bye 9

2026 vs anytime td line 3-4

Market-based projection: 8.3 pts a game Wk 7 price
Overall rank: 94

Drake Maye

QB13 · NE · bye 11

2026 vs pass yds line 3-4

Market-based projection: 19.3 pts a game Wk 7 price
Overall rank: 95

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The gap

Board size293 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 Pat Freiermuth, and the board ranks him 94th overall on the rest of his evidence.

Live drafts hold no current pick on Drake Maye, and the board ranks him 95th overall on the rest of his evidence.

The market-based projections

The market-based projection for Pat Freiermuth is 2.3 PPR points a game off 1 market across 7 market sources. That is 30 percent of what a tight end's projection needs, so it is a fragment of one rather than a projection.

The market-based projection for Drake Maye 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.

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

This season through Week 7

Through Week 7, Pat Freiermuth has been on the field for 67 percent of PIT snaps, drawn 13 percent of the targets and had 11 percent of the red zone chances.

He has taken 9 of the offence's 58 third down targets, had 2 of its 7 chances inside the five and seen 10 of its 41 two minute targets.

His 33 targets have averaged 8.4 air yards.

In Week 5 against IND he carried 1 time for 1 yards, caught 5 of 7 targets for 44 yards and scored 2 touchdowns.

In Week 6 against TB he caught 2 of 3 targets for 11 yards and did not score.

In Week 7 against NO he caught 2 of 4 targets for 20 yards and did not score.

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.

Their 2025 seasons

In 2025 Pat Freiermuth played 17 games and scored 113.6 PPR points, 6.7 a game, finishing TE25.

He caught 41 of 54 targets for 486 yards and 4 touchdowns, with 9 red zone targets.

That came to 3.2 targets a game, a 76 percent catch rate and 11.9 yards a catch.

He was on the field for 49 percent of the snaps in the games he played.

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.

Both were available for 17 games that season.

Side by side

In 2025 Drake Maye scored 21.2 PPR points a game and Pat Freiermuth 6.7, 14.5 a game between them.

Pat Freiermuth finished TE25 and Drake Maye QB2, which are two different ladders.

Pat Freiermuth is a tight end and Drake Maye a quarterback, so the question is which slot you fill first rather than which of them is better.

Byes and availability

Pat Freiermuth is off in Week 9 and Drake Maye in Week 11, so either can cover the other's bye.

Drop or keep

Should I drop Pat Freiermuth 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), Pat Freiermuth 75 (8.3 a game over 9 games).
Should I drop Drake Maye for Pat Freiermuth?
No. Keep Drake Maye: he projects 167 market-implied PPR points from Week 8 through Week 17 (18.5 a game over 9 games), Pat Freiermuth 75 (8.3 a game over 9 games).