Start Baker Mayfield or Deshaun Watson? Week 9
Updated Nov 2, 10:31 PM ET. Locks at kickoff, graded after. Week 10 answer posts Tuesday.
Start Baker Mayfield over Deshaun Watson
- Market projects
- 16.0
- recent weeks avg
- CHI D vs QB
- 19.9
- 10th most to QBs (2026)
- Snap share
- 96%
- Through Week 8
- Market projects
- 15.2
- recent weeks avg
- NO D vs QB
- 17.8
- 15th most to QBs (2026)
- Snap share
- 100%
- Through Week 8
Should I drop Deshaun Watson for Baker Mayfield?
Not on these numbers alone. Deshaun Watson projects 126 market-implied PPR points from Week 9 through Week 17 (15.8 a game over 8 games) and Baker Mayfield 129 (16.1 a game over 8 games), too close to separate, so the roster spot decides it. For Week 9 the call starts Baker Mayfield over Deshaun Watson.
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Our Week 9 call
Start Baker Mayfield over Deshaun Watson in Week 9.
Market-based projections have Baker Mayfield at 16.0 points and Deshaun Watson at 15.2, a gap of 0.8. That is inside the noise of a single catch, so treat it as close to a coin flip. No player market is posted for Baker Mayfield this week yet, so his 16.0 is the average of his market-based projections in Weeks 7 and 8 (16.0 and 16.0); the call is rebuilt when his market posts. No player market is posted for Deshaun Watson this week yet, so his 15.2 is the average of his market-based projections in Weeks 6, 7 and 8 (16.9, 13.5 and 15.3); the call is rebuilt when his market posts.
What the market projects
No Week 9 player market is posted for Baker Mayfield yet. His market-based projections were 16.0 and 16.0 points in Weeks 7 and 8, an average of 16.0, which stands in until his Week 9 market posts.
No Week 9 player market is posted for Deshaun Watson yet. His market-based projections were 16.9, 13.5 and 15.3 points in Weeks 6, 7 and 8, an average of 15.2, which stands in until his Week 9 market posts.
That puts Baker Mayfield 0.8 points ahead of Deshaun Watson on these projections.
Week 9 matchups
Baker Mayfield and TB visit CHI on Sunday at 8:20 PM ET.
CHI allowed 19.9 fantasy points a game to QBs this season over 7 games, the 10th most in the league.
Quarterbacks threw for 241 yards and 1.6 touchdowns a game against CHI, with 0.6 interceptions a game.
Deshaun Watson and CLE visit NO on Sunday at 1:00 PM ET.
NO allowed 17.8 fantasy points a game to QBs this season over 7 games, the 15th most in the league.
Quarterbacks threw for 250 yards and 1.6 touchdowns a game against NO, with 0.6 interceptions a game.
By points allowed to the position, Baker Mayfield has the softer matchup.
Injury status
Baker Mayfield is not on the injury report.
Deshaun Watson is not on the injury report.
Usage before Week 9
Through Week 8, Baker Mayfield played 96 percent of TB snaps, dropped back 134 times and threw an average of 8.4 air yards per attempt.
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.
Baker Mayfield, Week 8 against ATL: 0 of 3 passes for 0 yards, 0 touchdowns and 0 interceptions, 3 carries for 15 yards.
Through Week 8, Deshaun Watson played 100 percent of CLE snaps, dropped back 306 times and threw an average of 7.2 air yards per attempt.
Deshaun Watson, Week 5 against NYJ: 68 of 68 snaps, 15 of 33 passes for 155 yards, 1 touchdown and 0 interceptions, 6 carries for 40 yards.
Deshaun Watson, Week 6 against BAL: 62 of 62 snaps, 16 of 26 passes for 164 yards, 0 touchdowns and 0 interceptions, 8 carries for 29 yards.
Deshaun Watson, Week 7 against TEN: 70 of 70 snaps, 25 of 36 passes for 308 yards, 0 touchdowns and 1 interception, 3 carries for 19 yards.
Deshaun Watson, Week 8 against PIT: 27 of 39 passes for 324 yards, 0 touchdowns and 0 interceptions, 2 carries for 3 yards.
Their 2025 seasons
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 9 calls
Locks at kickoff, graded after. When the start/sit engine grades week 9, the call and the result appear on the public record, wrong ones included.
Drop or keep
Should I drop Deshaun Watson for Baker Mayfield?
Not on these numbers alone. Deshaun Watson projects 126 market-implied PPR points from Week 9 through Week 17 (15.8 a game over 8 games) and Baker Mayfield 129 (16.1 a game over 8 games), too close to separate, so the roster spot decides it. For Week 9 the call starts Baker Mayfield over Deshaun Watson.
Should I drop Baker Mayfield for Deshaun Watson?
Not on these numbers alone. Baker Mayfield projects 129 market-implied PPR points from Week 9 through Week 17 (16.1 a game over 8 games) and Deshaun Watson 126 (15.8 a game over 8 games), too close to separate, so the roster spot decides it. For Week 9 the call starts Baker Mayfield over Deshaun Watson.
Week 8 on the board
- Is Baker Mayfield playing Week 8?
- Is Deshaun Watson playing Week 8?
- Buccaneers depth chart
- Browns depth chart
- Week 8 QB rankings
- Week 8 fantasy rankings
- Week 8 start or sit
- Week 9 waiver wire
- Week 9 trade value chart
- Trade deadline buy low, sell high
- Fantasy football rankings
- Start 'em sit 'em Week 8
- Waiver wire pickups
- Fantasy sleepers
- Rest of season rankings
- Week 8 kicker rankings
- Week 8 defense rankings