Start Bryce Young or Geno Smith? Week 9

Our Week 9 call

Start Bryce Young over Geno Smith in Week 9.

Market-based projections have Bryce Young at 15.5 points and Geno Smith at 13.7, a gap of 1.8. No player market is posted for Geno Smith this week yet, so his 13.7 is the average of his market-based projections in Weeks 6, 7 and 8 (10.6, 15.0 and 15.6); the call is rebuilt when his market posts.

What the market projects

Player markets imply 15.5 fantasy points for Bryce Young, with 100 percent of the markets a QB needs posted.

The market-based projection for Bryce Young is 234 passing yards, 1-2 passing touchdowns, 7 rushing yards and 0.1 rushing touchdowns (10, 13, 8 and 11 market sources).

No Week 9 player market is posted for Geno Smith yet. His market-based projections were 10.6, 15.0 and 15.6 points in Weeks 6, 7 and 8, an average of 13.7, which stands in until his Week 9 market posts.

That puts Bryce Young 1.8 points ahead of Geno Smith on these projections.

Week 9 matchups

Bryce Young and CAR host DEN on Sunday at 1:00 PM ET.

DEN allowed 17.3 fantasy points a game to QBs this season over 8 games, the 14th fewest in the league.

Quarterbacks threw for 247 yards and 1.4 touchdowns a game against DEN, with 0.9 interceptions a game.

Geno Smith and NYJ visit KC on Sunday at 1:00 PM ET.

KC allowed 13.9 fantasy points a game to QBs this season over 7 games, the 6th fewest in the league.

Quarterbacks threw for 228 yards and a touchdown a game against KC, with 0.9 interceptions a game.

By points allowed to the position, Bryce Young has the softer matchup.

Injury status

Bryce Young is not on the injury report.

Geno Smith is not on the injury report.

Usage before Week 9

Through Week 8, Bryce Young played 95 percent of CAR snaps, dropped back 296 times and threw an average of 8.1 air yards per attempt.

Bryce Young, Week 4 against DET: 75 of 75 snaps, 29 of 41 passes for 329 yards, 2 touchdowns and 0 interceptions, 1 carry for 7 yards.

Bryce Young, Week 6 against PHI: 79 of 79 snaps, 20 of 39 passes for 281 yards, 2 touchdowns and 0 interceptions, 1 carry for 8 yards.

Bryce Young, Week 7 against TB: 43 of 56 snaps, 14 of 27 passes for 163 yards, 1 touchdown and 2 interceptions, 1 carry for 9 yards.

Bryce Young, Week 8 against GB: 73 of 73 snaps, 23 of 40 passes for 209 yards, 1 touchdown and 1 interception.

Through Week 8, Geno Smith played 100 percent of NYJ snaps, dropped back 272 times and threw an average of 7.9 air yards per attempt.

Geno Smith, Week 5 against CLE: 70 of 70 snaps, 17 of 30 passes for 182 yards, 1 touchdown and 0 interceptions, 3 carries for 9 yards.

Geno Smith, Week 6 against NE: 62 of 62 snaps, 20 of 30 passes for 252 yards, 1 touchdown and 1 interception, 1 carry for 0 yards.

Geno Smith, Week 7 against MIA: 59 of 59 snaps, 23 of 30 passes for 287 yards, 3 touchdowns and 1 interception, 1 carry for 1 yards.

Geno Smith, Week 8 against LV: 64 of 64 snaps, 20 of 32 passes for 290 yards, 2 touchdowns and 1 interception, 1 carry for 4 yards.

Their 2025 seasons

In 2025, Bryce Young played 16 games for CAR and scored 229.0 PPR points, 14.3 a game, finishing QB19.

He completed 304 of 478 passes for 3011 yards, 23 touchdowns and 11 interceptions, and ran 54 times for 216 yards and 2 touchdowns.

He was on the field for 96 percent of the offense's snaps in the games he played.

In 2025, Geno Smith played 15 games for LV and scored 190.9 PPR points, 12.7 a game, finishing QB23.

He completed 302 of 448 passes for 3025 yards, 19 touchdowns and 17 interceptions, and ran 41 times for 109 yards and 0 touchdowns.

He was on the field for 97 percent of the offense's snaps in the games he played.

Their other Week 9 calls

• Start Baker Mayfield over Bryce Young.
• Start Bo Nix over Bryce Young.
• Start Caleb Williams over Bryce Young.
• Start Baker Mayfield over Geno Smith.
• Start Bo Nix over Geno Smith.
• Start Geno Smith over Daniel Jones.