Start Kirk Cousins or Baker Mayfield? Week 7

Updated Oct 21, 4:06 PM ET. Locks at kickoff, graded after. Week 8 answer posts Tuesday.

Start Kirk Cousins over Baker Mayfield

Start

Kirk Cousins

QB · LV · vs LAR

Market projects: 16.6; fantasy pts
LAR D vs QB: 17.4; 16th most to QBs (2026)
Upside: Limited; 26 of 100 at QB
Snap share: 98%; Through Week 6

Sit

Baker Mayfield

QB · TB · at CAR · Questionable

Market projects: 16.0; fantasy pts
CAR D vs QB: 18.6; 13th most to QBs (2026)
Upside: Limited; 34 of 100 at QB
Snap share: 98%; Through Week 3

Should I drop Kirk Cousins for Baker Mayfield?

Yes, on the rest of the season. Baker Mayfield projects 160 market-implied PPR points from Week 7 through Week 17 (16.0 a game over 10 games), Kirk Cousins 145 (14.5 a game over 10 games). For Week 7 the call starts Kirk Cousins over Baker Mayfield, 16.6 to 16.0 projected PPR points. So make the move after his Week 7 game. Baker Mayfield is listed questionable.

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Our Week 7 call

Start Kirk Cousins over Baker Mayfield in Week 7.

Market-based projections have Kirk Cousins at 16.6 points and Baker Mayfield at 16.0, a gap of 0.6. That is inside the noise of a single catch, so treat it as close to a coin flip. Kirk Cousins'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 16.6 fantasy points for Kirk Cousins, with 80 percent of the markets a QB needs posted.

The market-based projection for Kirk Cousins is 238 passing yards, 1-2 passing touchdowns and under 0.1 rushing touchdowns (13, 14 and 13 market sources).

Player markets imply 16.0 fantasy points for Baker Mayfield, with 100 percent of the markets a QB needs posted.

The market-based projection for Baker Mayfield is 216 passing yards, 1-2 passing touchdowns, 17 rushing yards and 0.2 rushing touchdowns (12, 13, 7 and 12 market sources).

That puts Kirk Cousins 0.6 points ahead of Baker Mayfield on the market projections.

Week 7 matchups

Kirk Cousins and LV host LAR on Sunday at 4:25 PM ET.

LAR allowed 17.4 fantasy points a game to QBs this season over 6 games, the 16th most in the league.

Quarterbacks threw for 174 yards and 1.3 touchdowns a game against LAR, with 0.8 interceptions a game.

Baker Mayfield and TB visit CAR on Sunday at 1:00 PM ET.

CAR allowed 18.6 fantasy points a game to QBs this season over 5 games, the 13th most in the league.

Quarterbacks threw for 237 yards and 1.2 touchdowns a game against CAR, with 0.6 interceptions a game.

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

Injury status

Kirk Cousins is not on the injury report.

Baker Mayfield is listed as questionable with a thumb injury.

Usage before Week 7

Through Week 6, Kirk Cousins played 98 percent of LV snaps, dropped back 221 times and threw an average of 8.4 air yards per attempt.

Kirk Cousins, Week 3 against NO: 70 of 70 snaps, 22 of 33 passes for 248 yards, 3 touchdowns and 0 interceptions, 1 carry for 5 yards.

Kirk Cousins, Week 4 against KC: 84 of 84 snaps, 31 of 49 passes for 365 yards, 2 touchdowns and 1 interception.

Kirk Cousins, Week 5 against NE: 50 of 60 snaps, 19 of 28 passes for 243 yards, 1 touchdown and 0 interceptions.

Kirk Cousins, Week 6 against BUF: 66 of 66 snaps, 23 of 41 passes for 313 yards, 2 touchdowns and 1 interception.

Through Week 3, Baker Mayfield played 98 percent of TB snaps, dropped back 118 times and threw an average of 8.9 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.

Their 2025 seasons

In 2025, Kirk Cousins played 10 games for ATL and scored 108.5 PPR points, 10.9 a game, finishing QB35.

He completed 166 of 269 passes for 1721 yards, 10 touchdowns and 5 interceptions, and ran 14 times for 7 yards and 1 touchdown.

He was on the field for 46 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 7 calls

Locks at kickoff, graded after. When the start/sit engine grades week 7, the call and the result appear on the public record, wrong ones included.

Drop or keep

Should I drop Kirk Cousins for Baker Mayfield?
Yes, on the rest of the season. Baker Mayfield projects 160 market-implied PPR points from Week 7 through Week 17 (16.0 a game over 10 games), Kirk Cousins 145 (14.5 a game over 10 games). For Week 7 the call starts Kirk Cousins over Baker Mayfield, 16.6 to 16.0 projected PPR points. So make the move after his Week 7 game. Baker Mayfield is listed questionable.
Should I drop Baker Mayfield for Kirk Cousins?
No. Keep Baker Mayfield: he projects 160 market-implied PPR points from Week 7 through Week 17 (16.0 a game over 10 games), Kirk Cousins 145 (14.5 a game over 10 games). For Week 7 the call starts Kirk Cousins over Baker Mayfield, 16.6 to 16.0 projected PPR points. Baker Mayfield is listed questionable.