Start Baker Mayfield or Kirk Cousins? Week 9
Updated Nov 3, 4:36 AM ET. Locks at kickoff, graded after. Week 10 answer posts Tuesday.
Start Baker Mayfield over Kirk Cousins

- 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
- SF D vs QB
- 15.7
- 10th fewest to QBs (2026)
- Snap share
- 98%
- Through Week 8
Should I drop Kirk Cousins for Baker Mayfield?
Yes, on the rest of the season. Baker Mayfield projects 129 market-implied PPR points from Week 9 through Week 17 (16.1 a game over 8 games), Kirk Cousins 117 (14.6 a game over 8 games). For Week 9 the call starts Baker Mayfield over Kirk Cousins.
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Our Week 9 call
Start Baker Mayfield over Kirk Cousins in Week 9.
Market-based projections have Baker Mayfield at 16.0 points and Kirk Cousins 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 Kirk Cousins this week yet, so his 15.2 is the average of his market-based projections in Weeks 6, 7 and 8 (15.6, 15.1 and 14.8); 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 Kirk Cousins yet. His market-based projections were 15.6, 15.1 and 14.8 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 Kirk Cousins 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.
Kirk Cousins and LV visit SF on Sunday at 4:25 PM ET.
SF allowed 15.7 fantasy points a game to QBs this season over 7 games, the 10th fewest in the league.
Quarterbacks threw for 224 yards and 1.4 touchdowns a game against SF, 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.
Kirk Cousins 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, Kirk Cousins played 98 percent of LV snaps, dropped back 296 times and threw an average of 8.1 air yards per attempt.
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.
Kirk Cousins, Week 7 against LAR: 68 of 68 snaps, 26 of 44 passes for 295 yards, 2 touchdowns and 0 interceptions, 3 carries for 6 yards.
Kirk Cousins, Week 8 against NYJ: 19 of 26 passes for 247 yards, 3 touchdowns and 0 interceptions, 3 carries for 5 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, 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.
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 Kirk Cousins for Baker Mayfield?
Yes, on the rest of the season. Baker Mayfield projects 129 market-implied PPR points from Week 9 through Week 17 (16.1 a game over 8 games), Kirk Cousins 117 (14.6 a game over 8 games). For Week 9 the call starts Baker Mayfield over Kirk Cousins.
Should I drop Baker Mayfield for Kirk Cousins?
No. Keep Baker Mayfield: he projects 129 market-implied PPR points from Week 9 through Week 17 (16.1 a game over 8 games), Kirk Cousins 117 (14.6 a game over 8 games). For Week 9 the call starts Baker Mayfield over Kirk Cousins.
Week 8 on the board
- Is Baker Mayfield playing Week 8?
- Is Kirk Cousins playing Week 8?
- Buccaneers depth chart
- Raiders 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