Start Patrick Mahomes or C.J. Stroud? Week 6

Our Week 6 call

Start Patrick Mahomes over C.J. Stroud in Week 6.

Market-based projections have Patrick Mahomes at 17.3 points and C.J. Stroud 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'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 17.3 fantasy points for Patrick Mahomes, with 80 percent of the markets a QB needs posted.

The market has Patrick Mahomes at 227.5 passing yards and 1.5 passing touchdowns, with a 18% chance to score a touchdown (8, 10 and 10 market sources).

Player markets imply 16.9 fantasy points for C.J. Stroud, with 100 percent of the markets a QB needs posted.

The market has C.J. Stroud at 255.5 passing yards, 1.5 passing touchdowns and 9.5 rushing yards, with a 11% chance to score a touchdown (12, 14, 11 and 11 market sources).

That puts Patrick Mahomes 0.5 points ahead of C.J. Stroud on the market projections.

Injury status

Patrick Mahomes is not on the injury report.

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

Usage before Week 6

Through Week 4, Patrick Mahomes played 100 percent of KC snaps, dropped back 142 times and threw an average of 7.0 air yards per attempt.

Patrick Mahomes, Week 1 against DEN: 69 of 69 snaps, 15 of 27 passes for 184 yards, 2 touchdowns and 1 interception, 4 carries for 27 yards.

Patrick Mahomes, Week 2 against IND: 80 of 80 snaps, 32 of 47 passes for 382 yards, 3 touchdowns and 0 interceptions, 2 carries for 17 yards.

Patrick Mahomes, Week 3 against MIA: 52 of 52 snaps, 20 of 24 passes for 246 yards, 2 touchdowns and 1 interception, 1 carry for 1 yards.

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.

Through Week 5, C.J. Stroud played 100 percent of HOU snaps, dropped back 202 times and threw an average of 9.8 air yards per attempt.

C.J. Stroud, Week 2 against CIN: 80 of 80 snaps, 30 of 53 passes for 353 yards, 0 touchdowns and 0 interceptions, 3 carries for 29 yards.

C.J. Stroud, Week 3 against IND: 54 of 54 snaps, 16 of 27 passes for 167 yards, 1 touchdown and 0 interceptions, 2 carries for 10 yards.

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.

Their 2025 seasons

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.

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.

Their other Week 6 calls

• Start Patrick Mahomes over Bo Nix.
• Start Brock Purdy over Patrick Mahomes.
• Start Patrick Mahomes over Caleb Williams.
• Start C.J. Stroud over Bo Nix.
• Start Brock Purdy over C.J. Stroud.
• Start C.J. Stroud over Caleb Williams.