Start Kyler Murray or Deshaun Watson? Week 8

Our Week 8 call

Start Kyler Murray over Deshaun Watson in Week 8.

Market-based projections have Kyler Murray at 16.9 points and Deshaun Watson at 15.5, a gap of 1.3. That is inside the noise of a single catch, so treat it as close to a coin flip. Kyler Murray'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 Deshaun Watson this week yet, so his 15.5 is the average of his market-based projections in Weeks 5, 6 and 7 (16.3, 16.9 and 13.5); the call is rebuilt when his market posts. Market coverage on Kyler Murray is 70 percent of what his position needs, so the market side of this carries proportionally less weight.

What the market projects

Player markets imply 16.9 fantasy points for Kyler Murray, with 70 percent of the markets a QB needs posted.

The market-based projection for Kyler Murray is 215 passing yards, 1-2 passing touchdowns and 0.2 rushing touchdowns (10, 12 and 12 market sources).

No Week 8 player market is posted for Deshaun Watson yet. His market-based projections were 16.3, 16.9 and 13.5 points in Weeks 5, 6 and 7, an average of 15.5, which stands in until his Week 8 market posts.

That puts Kyler Murray 1.3 points ahead of Deshaun Watson on these projections.

Week 8 matchups

Kyler Murray and MIN visit DET on Sunday at 1:00 PM ET.

DET allowed 26.3 fantasy points a game to QBs this season over 6 games, the most in the league.

Quarterbacks threw for 312 yards and 2.7 touchdowns a game against DET, with 0.7 interceptions a game.

Deshaun Watson and CLE visit PIT on Sunday at 1:00 PM ET.

PIT allowed 13.2 fantasy points a game to QBs this season over 7 games, the 4th fewest in the league.

Quarterbacks threw for 230 yards and a touchdown a game against PIT, with an interception a game.

By points allowed to the position, Kyler Murray has the softer matchup.

Injury status

Kyler Murray is not on the injury report.

Deshaun Watson is not on the injury report.

Usage before Week 8

Through Week 7, Kyler Murray played 84 percent of MIN snaps, dropped back 151 times and threw an average of 6.9 air yards per attempt.

Kyler Murray, Week 3 against TB: 59 of 59 snaps, 15 of 29 passes for 168 yards, 1 touchdown and 1 interception, 2 carries for 17 yards.

Kyler Murray, Week 4 against MIA: 78 of 78 snaps, 27 of 37 passes for 247 yards, 0 touchdowns and 0 interceptions, 3 carries for 21 yards.

Kyler Murray, Week 5 against NO: 71 of 71 snaps, 24 of 29 passes for 229 yards, 1 touchdown and 0 interceptions, 7 carries for 54 yards.

Kyler Murray, Week 7 against IND: 59 of 59 snaps, 14 of 24 passes for 150 yards, 1 touchdown and 0 interceptions, 3 carries for 41 yards.

Through Week 7, Deshaun Watson played 100 percent of CLE snaps, dropped back 258 times and threw an average of 7.4 air yards per attempt.

Deshaun Watson, Week 4 against PIT: 64 of 64 snaps, 24 of 33 passes for 268 yards, 1 touchdown and 1 interception, 5 carries for 24 yards.

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.

Their 2025 seasons

In 2025, Kyler Murray played 5 games for ARI and scored 80.8 PPR points, 16.2 a game, finishing QB38.

He completed 110 of 161 passes for 962 yards, 6 touchdowns and 3 interceptions, and ran 29 times for 173 yards and 1 touchdown.

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

Their other Week 8 calls

• Start Kyler Murray over Bo Nix.
• Start Kyler Murray over Bryce Young.
• Start Caleb Williams over Kyler Murray.
• Start Deshaun Watson over Aaron Rodgers.
• Start Bo Nix over Deshaun Watson.
• Start Bryce Young over Deshaun Watson.