Start C.J. Stroud or Drew Lock? Week 9

Our Week 9 call

Start C.J. Stroud over Drew Lock in Week 9.

Market-based projections have C.J. Stroud at 16.8 points and Drew Lock at 13.3, a gap of 3.5.

What the market projects

Player markets imply 16.8 fantasy points for C.J. Stroud, with 100 percent of the markets a QB needs posted.

The market-based projection for C.J. Stroud is 249 passing yards, 1-2 passing touchdowns, 8 rushing yards and 0.2 rushing touchdowns (14, 12, 12 and 12 market sources).

Player markets imply 13.4 fantasy points for Drew Lock, with 100 percent of the markets a QB needs posted.

The market-based projection for Drew Lock is 213 passing yards, 6 rushing yards and 0.2 rushing touchdowns (8, 8 and 12 market sources).

That puts C.J. Stroud 3.5 points ahead of Drew Lock on the market projections.

Week 9 matchups

C.J. Stroud and HOU visit LAC on Sunday at 4:05 PM ET.

LAC allowed 14.3 fantasy points a game to QBs this season over 7 games, the 8th fewest in the league.

Quarterbacks threw for 208 yards and 1.1 touchdowns a game against LAC, with 0.9 interceptions a game.

Drew Lock and SEA host ARI on Sunday at 4:25 PM ET.

ARI allowed 22.4 fantasy points a game to QBs this season over 8 games, the 2nd most in the league.

Quarterbacks threw for 238 yards and 2.3 touchdowns a game against ARI, with 0.4 interceptions a game.

By points allowed to the position, Drew Lock has the softer matchup.

Injury status

C.J. Stroud is not on the injury report.

Drew Lock is listed as questionable with a elbow injury.

Usage before Week 9

Through Week 7, C.J. Stroud played 100 percent of HOU snaps, dropped back 266 times and threw an average of 9.3 air yards per attempt.

C.J. Stroud, Week 4 against DAL: 55 of 55 snaps, 21 of 29 passes for 347 yards, 2 touchdowns and 0 interceptions, 2 carries for 12 yards.

C.J. Stroud, Week 5 against TEN: 66 of 66 snaps, 26 of 34 passes for 261 yards, 1 touchdown and 0 interceptions, 4 carries for 7 yards.

C.J. Stroud, Week 6 against JAX: 63 of 63 snaps, 24 of 34 passes for 312 yards, 3 touchdowns and 1 interception, 1 carry for 5 yards.

C.J. Stroud, Week 7 against NYG: 61 of 61 snaps, 17 of 28 passes for 153 yards, 2 touchdowns and 0 interceptions, 2 carries for 4 yards.

Through Week 2, Drew Lock played 96 percent of SEA snaps, dropped back 51 times and threw an average of 7.6 air yards per attempt.

Drew Lock, Week 1 against NE: 45 of 50 snaps, 16 of 22 passes for 187 yards, 1 touchdown and 0 interceptions, 1 carry for 14 yards.

Drew Lock, Week 2 against ARI: 70 of 70 snaps, 19 of 26 passes for 235 yards, 3 touchdowns and 0 interceptions.

Their 2025 seasons

In 2025, C.J. Stroud played 14 games for HOU and scored 216.5 PPR points, 15.5 a game, finishing QB21.

He completed 273 of 423 passes for 3041 yards, 19 touchdowns and 8 interceptions, and ran 48 times for 209 yards and 1 touchdown.

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

In 2025, Drew Lock played 5 games for SEA and scored 0.1 PPR points, 0.0 a game, finishing QB73.

He completed 2 of 3 passes for 15 yards, 0 touchdowns and 0 interceptions, and ran 6 times for -5 yards and 0 touchdowns.

He was on the field for 4 percent of the offense's snaps in the games he played.

Their other Week 9 calls

• Start C.J. Stroud over Baker Mayfield.
• Start Bo Nix over C.J. Stroud.
• Start Brock Purdy over C.J. Stroud.
• Start Baker Mayfield over Drew Lock.
• Start Bo Nix over Drew Lock.
• Start Bryce Young over Drew Lock.