Start J.J. McCarthy or Bryce Young? Week 9

Our Week 9 call

Start J.J. McCarthy over Bryce Young in Week 9.

Market-based projections have J.J. McCarthy at 15.8 points and Bryce Young at 15.6, a gap of 0.2. 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 15.8 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).

Player markets imply 15.6 fantasy points for Bryce Young, with 100 percent of the markets a QB needs posted.

The market-based projection for Bryce Young is 235 passing yards, 1-2 passing touchdowns, 7 rushing yards and 0.1 rushing touchdowns (14, 15, 12 and 12 market sources).

That puts J.J. McCarthy 0.2 points ahead of Bryce Young on the market projections.

Week 9 matchups

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.

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.

By points allowed to the position, J.J. McCarthy has the softer matchup.

Injury status

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

Bryce Young is not on the injury report.

Usage before Week 9

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.

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.

Their 2025 seasons

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.

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.

Their other Week 9 calls

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