Start Patrick Mahomes or Bryce Young? Week 9
Updated Nov 3, 4:36 AM ET. Locks at kickoff, graded after. Week 10 answer posts Tuesday.
Start Patrick Mahomes over Bryce Young
Mahomes projects lower, 16.4 to 16.9, and still gets the call because it also weighs where drafters take each player: ADP 107 for Mahomes, 212 for Young.
- Market projects
- 16.4
- recent weeks avg
- NYJ D vs QB
- 16.7
- 15th fewest to QBs (2026)
- Snap share
- 100%
- Through Week 8
- Market projects
- 16.9
- recent weeks avg
- DEN D vs QB
- 16.1
- 12th fewest to QBs (2026)
- Snap share
- 95%
- Through Week 8
Should I drop Bryce Young for Patrick Mahomes?
Not on these numbers alone. Bryce Young projects 152 market-implied PPR points from Week 9 through Week 17 (16.9 a game over 9 games) and Patrick Mahomes 154 (17.1 a game over 9 games), too close to separate, so the roster spot decides it. For Week 9 the call starts Patrick Mahomes over Bryce Young.
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Our Week 9 call
Start Patrick Mahomes over Bryce Young in Week 9.
Market-based projections have Patrick Mahomes at 16.4 points and Bryce Young at 16.9, a gap of 0.5. That is inside the noise of a single catch, so treat it as close to a coin flip. Patrick Mahomes still gets the call because it also weighs where drafters take each player, ADP 107 against 212, and that outweighs a gap this size. No player market is posted for Patrick Mahomes this week yet, so his 16.4 is the average of his market-based projections in Weeks 6, 7 and 8 (16.9, 16.3 and 16.0); the call is rebuilt when his market posts. No player market is posted for Bryce Young this week yet, so his 16.9 is the average of his market-based projections in Weeks 6, 7 and 8 (16.3, 17.4 and 17.0); the call is rebuilt when his market posts.
What the market projects
No Week 9 player market is posted for Bryce Young yet. His market-based projections were 16.3, 17.4 and 17.0 points in Weeks 6, 7 and 8, an average of 16.9, which stands in until his Week 9 market posts.
No Week 9 player market is posted for Patrick Mahomes yet. His market-based projections were 16.9, 16.3 and 16.0 points in Weeks 6, 7 and 8, an average of 16.4, which stands in until his Week 9 market posts.
That puts Bryce Young 0.5 points ahead of Patrick Mahomes on these projections.
Week 9 matchups
Bryce Young and CAR host DEN on Sunday at 1:00 PM ET.
DEN allowed 16.2 fantasy points a game to QBs this season over 7 games, the 12th fewest in the league.
Quarterbacks threw for 236 yards and 1.1 touchdowns a game against DEN, with an interception a game.
Patrick Mahomes and KC host NYJ on Sunday at 1:00 PM ET.
NYJ allowed 16.7 fantasy points a game to QBs this season over 7 games, the 15th fewest in the league.
Quarterbacks threw for 203 yards and 1.6 touchdowns a game against NYJ, with 0.1 interceptions a game.
By points allowed to the position, Patrick Mahomes has the softer matchup.
Injury status
Bryce Young is not on the injury report.
Patrick Mahomes 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, Patrick Mahomes played 100 percent of KC snaps, dropped back 254 times and threw an average of 5.8 air yards per attempt.
Patrick Mahomes, Week 4 against LV: 60 of 60 snaps, 15 of 30 passes for 225 yards, 2 touchdowns and 0 interceptions, 1 carry for 1 yards.
Patrick Mahomes, Week 6 against LAC: 61 of 61 snaps, 23 of 30 passes for 272 yards, 0 touchdowns and 1 interception, 3 carries for 19 yards.
Patrick Mahomes, Week 7 against SEA: 53 of 53 snaps, 19 of 33 passes for 165 yards, 0 touchdowns and 1 interception, 2 carries for 14 yards.
Patrick Mahomes, Week 8 against DEN: 30 of 41 passes for 321 yards, 3 touchdowns and 0 interceptions, 2 carries for 6 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, Patrick Mahomes played 14 games for KC and scored 296.7 PPR points, 21.2 a game, finishing QB11.
He completed 315 of 502 passes for 3587 yards, 22 touchdowns and 11 interceptions, and ran 64 times for 422 yards and 5 touchdowns.
He was on the field for 97 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 Bryce Young for Patrick Mahomes?
Not on these numbers alone. Bryce Young projects 152 market-implied PPR points from Week 9 through Week 17 (16.9 a game over 9 games) and Patrick Mahomes 154 (17.1 a game over 9 games), too close to separate, so the roster spot decides it. For Week 9 the call starts Patrick Mahomes over Bryce Young.
Should I drop Patrick Mahomes for Bryce Young?
Not on these numbers alone. Patrick Mahomes projects 154 market-implied PPR points from Week 9 through Week 17 (17.1 a game over 9 games) and Bryce Young 152 (16.9 a game over 9 games), too close to separate, so the roster spot decides it. For Week 9 the call starts Patrick Mahomes over Bryce Young.
Week 9 on the board
- Is Patrick Mahomes playing Week 9?
- Is Bryce Young playing Week 9?
- Chiefs depth chart
- Panthers depth chart
- Week 9 QB rankings
- Week 9 fantasy rankings
- Week 9 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 9
- Waiver wire pickups
- Fantasy sleepers
- Rest of season rankings
- Week 9 kicker rankings
- Week 9 defense rankings