Should I drop Joe Burrow for Caleb Williams?

Not on these numbers alone. Joe Burrow projects 170 market-implied PPR points from Week 8 through Week 17 (17.0 a game over 10 games) and Caleb Williams 167 (18.5 a game over 9 games), too close to separate, so the roster spot decides it. For Week 8 the call starts Joe Burrow over Caleb Williams.

Start Caleb Williams or Joe Burrow? Week 8

Updated Oct 27, 11:56 AM ET. Locks at kickoff, graded after. Week 9 answer posts Tuesday.

Start Joe Burrow over Caleb Williams

Start

Joe Burrow

QB · CIN · vs TEN

Market projects: 17.4; recent weeks avg
TEN D vs QB: 16.1; 11th fewest to QBs (2026)
Upside: Rising; 72 of 100 at QB
Snap share: 99%; Through Week 7

Sit

Caleb Williams

QB · CHI · at SEA

Market projects: 17.2; fantasy pts
SEA D vs QB: 11.6; 2nd fewest to QBs (2026)
Upside: Moderate; 53 of 100 at QB
Snap share: 97%; Through Week 7

Should I drop Caleb Williams for Joe Burrow?

Not on these numbers alone. Caleb Williams projects 167 market-implied PPR points from Week 8 through Week 17 (18.5 a game over 9 games) and Joe Burrow 170 (17.0 a game over 10 games), too close to separate, so the roster spot decides it. For Week 8 the call starts Joe Burrow over Caleb Williams.

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Our Week 8 call

Start Joe Burrow over Caleb Williams in Week 8.

Market-based projections have Joe Burrow at 17.4 points and Caleb Williams at 17.2, a gap of 0.2. That is inside the noise of a single catch, so treat it as close to a coin flip. Caleb Williams'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 Joe Burrow this week yet, so his 17.4 is the average of his market-based projections in Weeks 5 and 7 (17.6 and 17.2); the call is rebuilt when his market posts. Drafters take Joe Burrow at ADP 55 and Caleb Williams at 87.

What the market projects

No Week 8 player market is posted for Joe Burrow yet. His market-based projections were 17.6 and 17.2 points in Weeks 5 and 7, an average of 17.4, which stands in until his Week 8 market posts.

Player markets imply 17.2 fantasy points for Caleb Williams, with 70 percent of the markets a QB needs posted.

The market-based projection for Caleb Williams is 226 passing yards, 1-2 passing touchdowns and 0.2 rushing touchdowns (7, 9 and 8 market sources).

That puts Joe Burrow 0.2 points ahead of Caleb Williams on these projections.

Week 8 matchups

Joe Burrow and CIN host TEN on Sunday at 1:00 PM ET.

TEN allowed 16.1 fantasy points a game to QBs this season over 7 games, the 11th fewest in the league.

Quarterbacks threw for 246 yards and 0.9 touchdowns a game against TEN, with 0.7 interceptions a game.

Caleb Williams and CHI visit SEA on Monday at 8:15 PM ET.

SEA allowed 11.6 fantasy points a game to QBs this season over 7 games, the 2nd fewest in the league.

Quarterbacks threw for 158 yards and 1.1 touchdowns a game against SEA, with 1.1 interceptions a game.

By points allowed to the position, Joe Burrow has the softer matchup.

Injury status

Joe Burrow is not on the injury report.

Caleb Williams is not on the injury report.

Usage before Week 8

Through Week 7, Joe Burrow played 99 percent of CIN snaps, dropped back 236 times and threw an average of 7.2 air yards per attempt.

Joe Burrow, Week 3 against PIT: 57 of 57 snaps, 28 of 37 passes for 282 yards, 3 touchdowns and 0 interceptions, 2 carries for 13 yards.

Joe Burrow, Week 4 against JAX: 76 of 76 snaps, 39 of 54 passes for 428 yards, 1 touchdown and 2 interceptions, 3 carries for 6 yards.

Joe Burrow, Week 5 against MIA: 65 of 65 snaps, 23 of 32 passes for 190 yards, 4 touchdowns and 0 interceptions, 2 carries for 12 yards.

Joe Burrow, Week 7 against BAL: 50 of 53 snaps, 22 of 30 passes for 292 yards, 4 touchdowns and 0 interceptions, 2 carries for 12 yards.

Through Week 7, Caleb Williams played 97 percent of CHI snaps, dropped back 150 times and threw an average of 7.0 air yards per attempt.

Caleb Williams, Week 1 against CAR: 75 of 75 snaps, 21 of 29 passes for 269 yards, 2 touchdowns and 0 interceptions, 10 carries for 65 yards.

Caleb Williams, Week 2 against MIN: 64 of 74 snaps, 15 of 26 passes for 138 yards, 0 touchdowns and 1 interception, 5 carries for 42 yards.

Caleb Williams, Week 6 against ATL: 77 of 77 snaps, 30 of 36 passes for 305 yards, 1 touchdown and 0 interceptions, 3 carries for 4 yards.

Caleb Williams, Week 7 against NE: 69 of 69 snaps, 22 of 33 passes for 308 yards, 2 touchdowns and 0 interceptions, 4 carries for 19 yards.

Their 2025 seasons

In 2025, Joe Burrow played 8 games for CIN and scored 139.5 PPR points, 17.4 a game, finishing QB29.

He completed 173 of 259 passes for 1809 yards, 17 touchdowns and 5 interceptions, and ran 14 times for 41 yards and 0 touchdowns.

He was on the field for 86 percent of the offense's snaps in the games he played.

In 2025, Caleb Williams played 17 games for CHI and scored 325.2 PPR points, 19.1 a game, finishing QB5.

He completed 330 of 568 passes for 3942 yards, 27 touchdowns and 7 interceptions, and ran 77 times for 383 yards and 3 touchdowns.

He was on the field for 99 percent of the offense's snaps in the games he played.

Their other Week 8 calls

Locks at kickoff, graded after. When the start/sit engine grades week 8, the call and the result appear on the public record, wrong ones included.

Drop or keep

Should I drop Caleb Williams for Joe Burrow?
Not on these numbers alone. Caleb Williams projects 167 market-implied PPR points from Week 8 through Week 17 (18.5 a game over 9 games) and Joe Burrow 170 (17.0 a game over 10 games), too close to separate, so the roster spot decides it. For Week 8 the call starts Joe Burrow over Caleb Williams.
Should I drop Joe Burrow for Caleb Williams?
Not on these numbers alone. Joe Burrow projects 170 market-implied PPR points from Week 8 through Week 17 (17.0 a game over 10 games) and Caleb Williams 167 (18.5 a game over 9 games), too close to separate, so the roster spot decides it. For Week 8 the call starts Joe Burrow over Caleb Williams.