Start Baker Mayfield or Bryce Young? Week 8

Updated Oct 28, 1:37 AM ET. Locks at kickoff, graded after. Week 9 answer posts Tuesday.

Latest

Oct 22, 4:48 PM ET: Barring setbacks, Bucs QB Baker Mayfield expected to start vs. Panthers (ESPN)

Mayfield projects lower, 16.6 to 16.7, and still gets the call because it also weighs where drafters take each player: ADP 133 for Mayfield, 212 for Young.

Start

Baker Mayfield

QB · TB · vs ATL

Market projects: 16.6; fantasy pts
ATL D vs QB: 18.0; 13th most to QBs (2026)
Upside: Limited; 28 of 100 at QB
Snap share: 96%; Through Week 7

Sit

Bryce Young

QB · CAR · at GB

Market projects: 16.7; fantasy pts
GB D vs QB: 14.3; 5th fewest to QBs (2026)
Upside: Limited; 22 of 100 at QB
Snap share: 94%; Through Week 7

Should I drop Baker Mayfield for Bryce Young?

Yes, on the rest of the season. Bryce Young projects 168 market-implied PPR points from Week 8 through Week 17 (16.8 a game over 10 games), Baker Mayfield 144 (16.0 a game over 9 games). For Week 8 the call starts Baker Mayfield over Bryce Young. So make the move after his Week 8 game.

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Our Week 8 call

Start Baker Mayfield over Bryce Young in Week 8.

Market-based projections have Baker Mayfield at 16.6 points and Bryce Young at 16.7, a gap of 0.1. That is inside the noise of a single catch, so treat it as close to a coin flip. Baker Mayfield still gets the call because it also weighs where drafters take each player, ADP 133 against 212, and that outweighs a gap this size. Baker Mayfield's number is scaled up from a partial market: not every stat the position needs is posted yet, so the rest is estimated from what is.

What the market projects

Player markets imply 16.7 fantasy points for Bryce Young, with 100 percent of the markets a QB needs posted.

The market-based projection for Bryce Young is 252 passing yards, 1-2 passing touchdowns, 10 rushing yards and 0.1 rushing touchdowns (13, 14, 13 and 13 market sources).

Player markets imply 16.6 fantasy points for Baker Mayfield, with 80 percent of the markets a QB needs posted.

The market-based projection for Baker Mayfield is 0.2 touchdowns (6 market sources).

That puts Bryce Young 0.1 points ahead of Baker Mayfield on the market projections.

Week 8 matchups

Bryce Young and CAR visit GB on Thursday at 8:15 PM ET.

GB allowed 14.3 fantasy points a game to QBs this season over 7 games, the 5th fewest in the league.

Quarterbacks threw for 223 yards and 1.3 touchdowns a game against GB, with 1.3 interceptions a game.

Baker Mayfield and TB host ATL on Sunday at 1:00 PM ET.

ATL allowed 18.0 fantasy points a game to QBs this season over 7 games, the 13th most in the league.

Quarterbacks threw for 271 yards and 1.6 touchdowns a game against ATL, with 0.4 interceptions a game.

By points allowed to the position, Baker Mayfield has the softer matchup.

Injury status

Bryce Young is not on the injury report.

Baker Mayfield is not on the injury report.

Usage before Week 8

Through Week 7, Bryce Young played 94 percent of CAR snaps, dropped back 250 times and threw an average of 8.8 air yards per attempt.

Bryce Young, Week 3 against CLE: 77 of 77 snaps, 26 of 47 passes for 291 yards, 1 touchdown and 1 interception.

Bryce Young, Week 4 against DET: 75 of 75 snaps, 29 of 41 passes for 329 yards, 2 touchdowns and 0 interceptions, 1 carry for 7 yards.

Bryce Young, Week 6 against PHI: 79 of 79 snaps, 20 of 39 passes for 281 yards, 2 touchdowns and 0 interceptions, 1 carry for 8 yards.

Bryce Young, Week 7 against TB: 43 of 56 snaps, 14 of 27 passes for 163 yards, 1 touchdown and 2 interceptions, 1 carry for 9 yards.

Through Week 7, Baker Mayfield played 96 percent of TB snaps, dropped back 129 times and threw an average of 8.2 air yards per attempt.

Baker Mayfield, Week 1 against CIN: 57 of 57 snaps, 23 of 28 passes for 216 yards, 0 touchdowns and 0 interceptions, 4 carries for 31 yards.

Baker Mayfield, Week 2 against CLE: 65 of 65 snaps, 21 of 34 passes for 182 yards, 1 touchdown and 1 interception, 4 carries for 29 yards.

Baker Mayfield, Week 3 against MIN: 65 of 69 snaps, 17 of 34 passes for 217 yards, 1 touchdown and 1 interception, 2 carries for 6 yards.

Baker Mayfield, Week 7 against CAR: 57 of 63 snaps, 7 of 11 passes for 64 yards, 1 touchdown and 0 interceptions, 1 carry for 1 yards.

Their 2025 seasons

In 2025, Bryce Young played 16 games for CAR and scored 229.0 PPR points, 14.3 a game, finishing QB19.

He completed 304 of 478 passes for 3011 yards, 23 touchdowns and 11 interceptions, and ran 54 times for 216 yards and 2 touchdowns.

He was on the field for 96 percent of the offense's snaps in the games he played.

In 2025, Baker Mayfield played 17 games for TB and scored 282.9 PPR points, 16.6 a game, finishing QB12.

He completed 343 of 543 passes for 3693 yards, 26 touchdowns and 11 interceptions, and ran 55 times for 382 yards and 1 touchdown.

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

Their other Week 8 calls

Locks at kickoff, graded after. When the start/sit engine grades week 8, the call and the result appear on the public record, wrong ones included.

Drop or keep

Should I drop Baker Mayfield for Bryce Young?
Yes, on the rest of the season. Bryce Young projects 168 market-implied PPR points from Week 8 through Week 17 (16.8 a game over 10 games), Baker Mayfield 144 (16.0 a game over 9 games). For Week 8 the call starts Baker Mayfield over Bryce Young. So make the move after his Week 8 game.
Should I drop Bryce Young for Baker Mayfield?
No. Keep Bryce Young: he projects 168 market-implied PPR points from Week 8 through Week 17 (16.8 a game over 10 games), Baker Mayfield 144 (16.0 a game over 9 games). For Week 8 the call starts Baker Mayfield over Bryce Young.

Should I drop Bryce Young?