Start J.J. McCarthy or Baker Mayfield? Week 9

Our Week 9 call

Start Baker Mayfield over J.J. McCarthy in Week 9.

Market-based projections have Baker Mayfield at 15.9 points and J.J. McCarthy at 15.8, a gap of 0.1. That is inside the noise of a single catch, so treat it as close to a coin flip. J.J. McCarthy'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 15.9 fantasy points for Baker Mayfield, with 100 percent of the markets a QB needs posted.

The market-based projection for Baker Mayfield is 214 passing yards, 1-2 passing touchdowns, 17 rushing yards and 0.1 rushing touchdowns (14, 13, 8 and 13 market sources).

Player markets imply 15.8 fantasy points for J.J. McCarthy, with 80 percent of the markets a QB needs posted.

The market-based projection for J.J. McCarthy is 211 passing yards, 1-2 passing touchdowns and 0.2 rushing touchdowns (13, 13 and 10 market sources).

That puts Baker Mayfield 0.1 points ahead of J.J. McCarthy on the market projections.

Week 9 matchups

Baker Mayfield and TB visit CHI on Sunday at 8:20 PM ET.

CHI allowed 19.7 fantasy points a game to QBs this season over 8 games, the 8th most in the league.

Quarterbacks threw for 235 yards and 1.6 touchdowns a game against CHI, with 0.6 interceptions a game.

J.J. McCarthy and NYG visit PHI on Sunday at 1:00 PM ET.

PHI allowed 19.3 fantasy points a game to QBs this season over 8 games, the 10th most in the league.

Quarterbacks threw for 244 yards and 1-2 touchdowns a game against PHI, with 0.4 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.

J.J. McCarthy is not on the injury report.

Usage before Week 9

Through Week 8, Baker Mayfield played 97 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: 60 of 60 snaps, 0 of 3 passes for 0 yards, 0 touchdowns and 0 interceptions, 3 carries for 15 yards.

Through Week 7, J.J. McCarthy played 42 percent of NYG snaps, dropped back 49 times and threw an average of 11.8 air yards per attempt.

J.J. McCarthy, Week 5 against WAS: 5 of 89 snaps, 0 of 0 passes for 0 yards, 0 touchdowns and 0 interceptions, 2 carries for 2 yards.

J.J. McCarthy, Week 6 against NO: 31 of 77 snaps, 11 of 17 passes for 243 yards, 1 touchdown and 1 interception, 2 carries for 26 yards.

J.J. McCarthy, Week 7 against HOU: 61 of 66 snaps, 20 of 27 passes for 252 yards, 0 touchdowns and 0 interceptions, 1 carry for 1 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.

In 2025, J.J. McCarthy played 10 games for MIN and scored 137.4 PPR points, 13.7 a game, finishing QB30.

He completed 140 of 243 passes for 1632 yards, 11 touchdowns and 12 interceptions, and ran 37 times for 181 yards and 4 touchdowns.

He was on the field for 94 percent of the offense's snaps in the games he played.

Their other Week 9 calls

• Start Bo Nix over Baker Mayfield.
• Start Baker Mayfield over Bryce Young.
• Start C.J. Stroud over Baker Mayfield.
• Start Bo Nix over J.J. McCarthy.
• Start J.J. McCarthy over Bryce Young.
• Start C.J. Stroud over J.J. McCarthy.