Should I drop Patrick Mahomes for Puka Nacua?

Not on these numbers alone. Patrick Mahomes projects 195 market-implied PPR points from Week 7 through Week 17 (17.7 a game over 11 games) and Puka Nacua 194 (19.4 a game over 10 games), too close to separate, so the roster spot decides it.

Should I start Puka Nacua or Patrick Mahomes in Week 7?

Updated Oct 20, 7:21 AM ET. Week 8 answers post Tuesday.

Start Patrick Mahomes: 100 percent of the snaps and 0 percent of the targets over their last 3 games, against Puka Nacua's 83 percent of the snaps and 34 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 Puka Nacua for Patrick Mahomes?

Not on these numbers alone. Puka Nacua projects 194 market-implied PPR points from Week 7 through Week 17 (19.4 a game over 10 games) and Patrick Mahomes 195 (17.7 a game over 11 games), too close to separate, so the roster spot decides it.

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Your next move

More fantasy football tools and rankings, all built from the same board.

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.

Puka Nacua

WR29 · LAR · bye 11

2026 vs anytime td line 2-2

Market-based projection: 22.7 pts a game Wk 6 price
Overall rank: 63

Patrick Mahomes

QB8 · KC · bye 5

2026 vs pass yds line 3-2

Overall rank: 64

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The gap

Board size298 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 Puka Nacua, and the board ranks him 63rd overall on the rest of his evidence.

In 2QB drafts he goes at ADP 6.

Live drafts hold no current pick on Patrick Mahomes, and the board ranks him 64th overall on the rest of his evidence.

The market-based projections

The market-based projection for Puka Nacua is 5.1 PPR points a game off 1 market across 6 market sources. That is 30 percent of what a wide receiver's projection needs, so it is a fragment of one rather than a projection.

The market-based projection for Patrick Mahomes is 16.8 PPR points a game off 3 markets across 7 market sources. That is 70 percent of what a quarterback's projection needs, so it is a fragment of one rather than a projection.

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

This season through Week 6

Through Week 6, Puka Nacua has been on the field for 83 percent of LAR snaps, drawn 32 percent of the targets and had 14 percent of the red zone chances.

He has taken 15 of the offence's 35 third down targets, had 3 of its 13 chances inside the five and seen 6 of its 20 two minute targets.

His 52 targets have averaged 9.5 air yards.

In Week 4 against PHI he carried 1 time for 2 yards, caught 9 of 12 targets for 125 yards and scored 1 touchdown.

In Week 5 against BUF he carried 2 times for 9 yards, caught 17 of 24 targets for 138 yards and scored 1 touchdown.

In Week 6 against ARI he caught 6 of 7 targets for 80 yards and did not score.

Through Week 6, Patrick Mahomes has been on the field for 100 percent of KC snaps, dropped back 174 times and thrown 6.3 air yards an attempt.

He has been sacked or hit on 24 of 174 dropbacks and scrambled 10 times.

In Week 3 against MIA he completed 20 of 24 passes for 246 yards, threw 2 touchdowns and 1 interception and ran 1 time for 1 yards.

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.

Their 2025 seasons

In 2025 Puka Nacua played 16 games and scored 375.0 PPR points, 23.4 a game, finishing WR1.

He caught 129 of 166 targets for 1715 yards and 10 touchdowns, with 16 red zone targets.

That came to 10.4 targets a game, a 78 percent catch rate and 13.3 yards a catch.

He was on the field for 68 percent of the snaps in the games he played.

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.

Puka Nacua was available for 2 games more.

Side by side

In 2025 Puka Nacua scored 23.4 PPR points a game and Patrick Mahomes 21.2, 2.2 a game between them.

Puka Nacua finished WR1 and Patrick Mahomes QB11, which are two different ladders.

Puka Nacua is a wide receiver and Patrick Mahomes a quarterback, so the question is which slot you fill first rather than which of them is better.

Byes and availability

Puka Nacua is off in Week 11 and Patrick Mahomes in Week 5, so either can cover the other's bye.

Drop or keep

Should I drop Puka Nacua for Patrick Mahomes?
Not on these numbers alone. Puka Nacua projects 194 market-implied PPR points from Week 7 through Week 17 (19.4 a game over 10 games) and Patrick Mahomes 195 (17.7 a game over 11 games), too close to separate, so the roster spot decides it.
Should I drop Patrick Mahomes for Puka Nacua?
Not on these numbers alone. Patrick Mahomes projects 195 market-implied PPR points from Week 7 through Week 17 (17.7 a game over 11 games) and Puka Nacua 194 (19.4 a game over 10 games), too close to separate, so the roster spot decides it.