Should I start Patrick Mahomes or Joe Burrow in Week 8?

Where the draft room stands

Live drafts hold no current pick on Patrick Mahomes, and the board ranks him 139th overall on the rest of his evidence.

Live drafts hold no current pick on Joe Burrow, and the board ranks him 147th overall on the rest of his evidence.

The market-based projections

The market-based projection for Patrick Mahomes is 1.2 PPR points a game off 1 market across 1 market source. 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 Joe Burrow is 0.9 PPR points a game off 1 market across 1 market source. That is 0 percent of what a quarterback's projection needs, so it is a fragment of one rather than a projection.

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

This season through Week 7

Through Week 7, Patrick Mahomes has been on the field for 100 percent of KC snaps, dropped back 210 times and thrown 6.0 air yards an attempt.

He has been sacked or hit on 31 of 210 dropbacks and scrambled 12 times.

In Week 4 against LV he completed 15 of 30 passes for 225 yards, threw 2 touchdowns and 0 interceptions and ran 1 time for 1 yards.

In Week 6 against LAC he completed 23 of 30 passes for 272 yards, threw 0 touchdowns and 1 interception and ran 3 times for 19 yards.

In Week 7 against SEA he completed 19 of 33 passes for 165 yards, threw 0 touchdowns and 1 interception and ran 2 times for 14 yards.

Through Week 7, Joe Burrow has been on the field for 99 percent of CIN snaps, dropped back 236 times and thrown 7.2 air yards an attempt.

He has been sacked or hit on 42 of 236 dropbacks and scrambled 7 times.

In Week 4 against JAX he completed 39 of 54 passes for 428 yards, threw 1 touchdown and 2 interceptions and ran 3 times for 6 yards.

In Week 5 against MIA he completed 23 of 32 passes for 190 yards, threw 4 touchdowns and 0 interceptions and ran 2 times for 12 yards.

In Week 7 against BAL he completed 22 of 30 passes for 292 yards, threw 4 touchdowns and 0 interceptions and ran 2 times for 12 yards.

Their 2025 seasons

In 2025 Patrick Mahomes played 14 games and scored 296.7 PPR points, 21.2 a game, finishing QB11.

He threw for 3587 yards on 502 attempts with 22 touchdowns and 11 interceptions, and ran for 422 yards and 5 touchdowns.

That came to 35.9 attempts a game at 7.1 yards an attempt.

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

In 2025 Joe Burrow played 8 games and scored 139.5 PPR points, 17.4 a game, finishing QB29.

He threw for 1809 yards on 259 attempts with 17 touchdowns and 5 interceptions, and ran for 41 yards and 0 touchdowns.

That came to 32.4 attempts a game at 7.0 yards an attempt.

He was on the field for 86 percent of the snaps in the games he played.

Patrick Mahomes was available for 6 games more.

Head to head

In 2025 Patrick Mahomes scored 21.2 PPR points a game and Joe Burrow 17.4, 3.8 a game between them.

Patrick Mahomes finished QB11 that year and Joe Burrow QB29.

Patrick Mahomes had 243 more pass attempts than Joe Burrow, 502 to 259.

Patrick Mahomes had 1778 more passing yards than Joe Burrow, 3587 to 1809.

This season Patrick Mahomes holds the bigger snap share, 100 percent against 99 percent.

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

Byes and availability

Patrick Mahomes is off in Week 5 and Joe Burrow in Week 6, so either can cover the other's bye.