Start Kyler Murray or Deshaun Watson? Week 9

Our Week 9 call

Start Kyler Murray over Deshaun Watson in Week 9.

Market-based projections have Kyler Murray at 16.5 points and Deshaun Watson at 15.2, a gap of 1.3. That is inside the noise of a single catch, so treat it as close to a coin flip. 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.

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.

Player markets imply 16.5 fantasy points for Kyler Murray, with 100 percent of the markets a QB needs posted.

The market-based projection for Kyler Murray is 212 passing yards, 1-2 passing touchdowns, 0-1 interceptions, 18 rushing yards and 0.2 rushing touchdowns (6, 6, 5, 6 and 8 market sources).

That puts Kyler Murray 1.3 points ahead of Deshaun Watson 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 16th fewest in the league.

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

Kyler Murray and MIN host BUF on Monday at 8:15 PM ET.

BUF allowed 19.0 fantasy points a game to QBs this season over 7 games, the 11th most in the league.

Quarterbacks threw for 269 yards and 2.1 touchdowns a game against BUF, with 0.6 interceptions a game.

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

Injury status

Deshaun Watson is listed as questionable with a concussion injury.

Kyler Murray is listed as questionable with a hamstring injury.

Usage before Week 9

Through Week 8, Deshaun Watson played 99 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: 66 of 70 snaps, 27 of 39 passes for 324 yards, 0 touchdowns and 0 interceptions, 2 carries for 3 yards.

Through Week 8, Kyler Murray played 86 percent of MIN snaps, dropped back 184 times and threw an average of 7.7 air yards per attempt.

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.

Kyler Murray, Week 8 against DET: 53 of 53 snaps, 17 of 29 passes for 210 yards, 2 touchdowns and 1 interception, 3 carries for 36 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 9 calls

• Start Baker Mayfield over Deshaun Watson.
• Start Bo Nix over Deshaun Watson.
• Start Bryce Young over Deshaun Watson.
• Start Kyler Murray over Baker Mayfield.
• Start Kyler Murray over Bo Nix.
• Start Brock Purdy over Kyler Murray.