Start Michael Penix Jr. or Bo Nix? Week 9

Our Week 9 call

Start Michael Penix Jr. over Bo Nix in Week 9.

Market-based projections have Michael Penix Jr. at 16.4 points and Bo Nix at 15.6, a gap of 0.8. That is inside the noise of a single catch, so treat it as close to a coin flip. Michael Penix Jr.'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. No player market is posted for Bo Nix this week yet, so his 15.6 is the average of his market-based projections in Weeks 6, 7 and 8 (14.9, 16.3 and 15.7); the call is rebuilt when his market posts.

What the market projects

Player markets imply 16.4 fantasy points for Michael Penix Jr., with 80 percent of the markets a QB needs posted.

The market-based projection for Michael Penix Jr. is 222 passing yards, 1-2 passing touchdowns and 0.1 rushing touchdowns (7, 7 and 7 market sources).

No Week 9 player market is posted for Bo Nix yet. His market-based projections were 14.9, 16.3 and 15.7 points in Weeks 6, 7 and 8, an average of 15.6, which stands in until his Week 9 market posts.

That puts Michael Penix Jr. 0.8 points ahead of Bo Nix on these projections.

Week 9 matchups

Michael Penix Jr. and ATL host CIN on Sunday at 9:30 AM ET.

CIN allowed 17.1 fantasy points a game to QBs this season over 6 games, the 16th fewest in the league.

Quarterbacks threw for 254 yards and a touchdown a game against CIN, with 0.7 interceptions a game.

Bo Nix and DEN visit CAR on Sunday at 1:00 PM ET.

CAR allowed 16.6 fantasy points a game to QBs this season over 6 games, the 13th fewest in the league.

Quarterbacks threw for 208 yards and 1.2 touchdowns a game against CAR, with 0.5 interceptions a game.

By points allowed to the position, Michael Penix Jr. has the softer matchup.

Injury status

Michael Penix Jr. is not on the injury report.

Bo Nix is not on the injury report.

Usage before Week 9

Through Week 8, Michael Penix Jr. played 99 percent of ATL snaps, dropped back 59 times and threw an average of 7.2 air yards per attempt.

Michael Penix Jr., Week 7 against SF: 68 of 69 snaps, 25 of 33 passes for 213 yards, 3 touchdowns and 0 interceptions, 2 carries for 2 yards.

Michael Penix Jr., Week 8 against TB: 8 of 24 passes for 125 yards, 0 touchdowns and 4 interceptions, 5 carries for 11 yards.

Through Week 8, Bo Nix played 100 percent of DEN snaps, dropped back 268 times and threw an average of 5.4 air yards per attempt.

Bo Nix, Week 5 against LAC: 62 of 62 snaps, 16 of 27 passes for 123 yards, 1 touchdown and 0 interceptions, 4 carries for 10 yards.

Bo Nix, Week 6 against SEA: 60 of 60 snaps, 17 of 27 passes for 107 yards, 0 touchdowns and 0 interceptions, 3 carries for 3 yards.

Bo Nix, Week 7 against ARI: 61 of 61 snaps, 15 of 29 passes for 222 yards, 1 touchdown and 0 interceptions, 5 carries for 75 yards.

Bo Nix, Week 8 against KC: 20 of 32 passes for 222 yards, 2 touchdowns and 0 interceptions, 2 carries for 5 yards.

Their 2025 seasons

In 2025, Michael Penix Jr. played 9 games for ATL and scored 123.3 PPR points, 13.7 a game, finishing QB33.

He completed 166 of 276 passes for 1982 yards, 9 touchdowns and 3 interceptions, and ran 21 times for 70 yards and 1 touchdown.

He was on the field for 93 percent of the offense's snaps in the games he played.

In 2025, Bo Nix played 17 games for DEN and scored 315.8 PPR points, 18.6 a game, finishing QB7.

He completed 388 of 612 passes for 3931 yards, 25 touchdowns and 11 interceptions, and ran 83 times for 356 yards and 5 touchdowns.

He was on the field for 100 percent of the offense's snaps in the games he played.

Their other Week 9 calls

• Start Michael Penix Jr. over Baker Mayfield.
• Start Bryce Young over Michael Penix Jr..
• Start Caleb Williams over Michael Penix Jr..
• Start Bo Nix over Baker Mayfield.
• Start Bo Nix over Bryce Young.
• Start Bo Nix over Daniel Jones.