Start Deshaun Watson or Daniel Jones? Week 9

Our Week 9 call

Start Deshaun Watson over Daniel Jones in Week 9.

Market-based projections have Deshaun Watson at 15.2 points and Daniel Jones at 12.9, a gap of 2.3. No player market is posted for Deshaun Watson this week yet, so his 15.2 is the average of his market-based projections in Weeks 6, 7 and 8 (16.9, 13.5 and 15.3); the call is rebuilt when his market posts. No player market is posted for Daniel Jones this week yet, so his 12.9 is the average of his market-based projections in Weeks 6, 7 and 8 (16.0, 11.5 and 11.3); the call is rebuilt when his market posts.

What the market projects

No Week 9 player market is posted for Deshaun Watson yet. His market-based projections were 16.9, 13.5 and 15.3 points in Weeks 6, 7 and 8, an average of 15.2, which stands in until his Week 9 market posts.

No Week 9 player market is posted for Daniel Jones yet. His market-based projections were 16.0, 11.5 and 11.3 points in Weeks 6, 7 and 8, an average of 12.9, which stands in until his Week 9 market posts.

That puts Deshaun Watson 2.3 points ahead of Daniel Jones on these projections.

Week 9 matchups

Deshaun Watson and CLE visit NO on Sunday at 1:00 PM ET.

NO allowed 17.8 fantasy points a game to QBs this season over 7 games, the 15th most in the league.

Quarterbacks threw for 250 yards and 1.6 touchdowns a game against NO, with 0.6 interceptions a game.

Daniel Jones and IND host DAL on Sunday at 1:00 PM ET.

DAL allowed 20.0 fantasy points a game to QBs this season over 7 games, the 8th most in the league.

Quarterbacks threw for 235 yards and 1.7 touchdowns a game against DAL, with 0.3 interceptions a game.

By points allowed to the position, Daniel Jones has the softer matchup.

Injury status

Deshaun Watson is not on the injury report.

Daniel Jones is not on the injury report.

Usage before Week 9

Through Week 8, Deshaun Watson played 100 percent of CLE snaps, dropped back 306 times and threw an average of 7.2 air yards per attempt.

Deshaun Watson, Week 5 against NYJ: 68 of 68 snaps, 15 of 33 passes for 155 yards, 1 touchdown and 0 interceptions, 6 carries for 40 yards.

Deshaun Watson, Week 6 against BAL: 62 of 62 snaps, 16 of 26 passes for 164 yards, 0 touchdowns and 0 interceptions, 8 carries for 29 yards.

Deshaun Watson, Week 7 against TEN: 70 of 70 snaps, 25 of 36 passes for 308 yards, 0 touchdowns and 1 interception, 3 carries for 19 yards.

Deshaun Watson, Week 8 against PIT: 27 of 39 passes for 324 yards, 0 touchdowns and 0 interceptions, 2 carries for 3 yards.

Through Week 8, Daniel Jones played 100 percent of IND snaps, dropped back 299 times and threw an average of 7.5 air yards per attempt.

Daniel Jones, Week 5 against PIT: 71 of 71 snaps, 24 of 44 passes for 267 yards, 0 touchdowns and 0 interceptions, 3 carries for 4 yards.

Daniel Jones, Week 6 against TEN: 83 of 83 snaps, 22 of 41 passes for 269 yards, 1 touchdown and 2 interceptions, 3 carries for 30 yards.

Daniel Jones, Week 7 against MIN: 58 of 58 snaps, 13 of 22 passes for 108 yards, 0 touchdowns and 1 interception, 4 carries for 13 yards.

Daniel Jones, Week 8 against JAX: 19 of 28 passes for 144 yards, 1 touchdown and 2 interceptions, 3 carries for 8 yards.

Their 2025 seasons

In 2025, Daniel Jones played 13 games for IND and scored 234.4 PPR points, 18.0 a game, finishing QB17.

He completed 261 of 384 passes for 3101 yards, 19 touchdowns and 8 interceptions, and ran 45 times for 164 yards and 5 touchdowns.

He was on the field for 91 percent of the offense's snaps in the games he played.

Their other Week 9 calls

• Start Baker Mayfield over Deshaun Watson.
• Start Bo Nix over Deshaun Watson.
• Start Bryce Young over Deshaun Watson.
• Start Baker Mayfield over Daniel Jones.
• Start Bo Nix over Daniel Jones.
• Start Geno Smith over Daniel Jones.