Start Drew Lock or Geno Smith? Week 9

Our Week 9 call

Start Geno Smith over Drew Lock in Week 9.

Market-based projections have Geno Smith at 14.0 points and Drew Lock at 13.3, a gap of 0.6. That is inside the noise of a single catch, so treat it as close to a coin flip.

What the market projects

Player markets imply 14.0 fantasy points for Geno Smith, with 100 percent of the markets a QB needs posted.

The market-based projection for Geno Smith is 213 passing yards, 1-2 passing touchdowns, 7 rushing yards and 0.1 rushing touchdowns (9, 12, 8 and 8 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 Geno Smith 0.6 points ahead of Drew Lock on the market projections.

Week 9 matchups

Geno Smith and NYJ visit KC on Sunday at 1:00 PM ET.

KC allowed 13.9 fantasy points a game to QBs this season over 7 games, the 6th fewest in the league.

Quarterbacks threw for 228 yards and a touchdown a game against KC, 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

Geno Smith is not on the injury report.

Drew Lock is listed as questionable with a elbow injury.

Usage before Week 9

Through Week 8, Geno Smith played 100 percent of NYJ snaps, dropped back 272 times and threw an average of 7.9 air yards per attempt.

Geno Smith, Week 5 against CLE: 70 of 70 snaps, 17 of 30 passes for 182 yards, 1 touchdown and 0 interceptions, 3 carries for 9 yards.

Geno Smith, Week 6 against NE: 62 of 62 snaps, 20 of 30 passes for 252 yards, 1 touchdown and 1 interception, 1 carry for 0 yards.

Geno Smith, Week 7 against MIA: 59 of 59 snaps, 23 of 30 passes for 287 yards, 3 touchdowns and 1 interception, 1 carry for 1 yards.

Geno Smith, Week 8 against LV: 64 of 64 snaps, 20 of 32 passes for 290 yards, 2 touchdowns and 1 interception, 1 carry 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, Geno Smith played 15 games for LV and scored 190.9 PPR points, 12.7 a game, finishing QB23.

He completed 302 of 448 passes for 3025 yards, 19 touchdowns and 17 interceptions, and ran 41 times for 109 yards and 0 touchdowns.

He was on the field for 97 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 Baker Mayfield over Geno Smith.
• Start Bo Nix over Geno Smith.
• Start Bryce Young over Geno Smith.
• Start Baker Mayfield over Drew Lock.
• Start Bo Nix over Drew Lock.
• Start Bryce Young over Drew Lock.