Start J.J. McCarthy or Drew Lock? Week 9

Our Week 9 call

Start J.J. McCarthy over Drew Lock in Week 9.

Market-based projections have J.J. McCarthy at 15.8 points and Drew Lock at 13.3, a gap of 2.4. J.J. McCarthy'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 15.8 fantasy points for J.J. McCarthy, with 80 percent of the markets a QB needs posted.

The market-based projection for J.J. McCarthy is 211 passing yards, 1-2 passing touchdowns and 0.2 rushing touchdowns (13, 13 and 10 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 J.J. McCarthy 2.4 points ahead of Drew Lock on the market projections.

Week 9 matchups

J.J. McCarthy and NYG visit PHI on Sunday at 1:00 PM ET.

PHI allowed 19.3 fantasy points a game to QBs this season over 8 games, the 10th most in the league.

Quarterbacks threw for 244 yards and 1-2 touchdowns a game against PHI, with 0.4 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

J.J. McCarthy is not on the injury report.

Drew Lock is listed as questionable with a elbow injury.

Usage before Week 9

Through Week 7, J.J. McCarthy played 42 percent of NYG snaps, dropped back 49 times and threw an average of 11.8 air yards per attempt.

J.J. McCarthy, Week 5 against WAS: 5 of 89 snaps, 0 of 0 passes for 0 yards, 0 touchdowns and 0 interceptions, 2 carries for 2 yards.

J.J. McCarthy, Week 6 against NO: 31 of 77 snaps, 11 of 17 passes for 243 yards, 1 touchdown and 1 interception, 2 carries for 26 yards.

J.J. McCarthy, Week 7 against HOU: 61 of 66 snaps, 20 of 27 passes for 252 yards, 0 touchdowns and 0 interceptions, 1 carry for 1 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, J.J. McCarthy played 10 games for MIN and scored 137.4 PPR points, 13.7 a game, finishing QB30.

He completed 140 of 243 passes for 1632 yards, 11 touchdowns and 12 interceptions, and ran 37 times for 181 yards and 4 touchdowns.

He was on the field for 94 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 J.J. McCarthy.
• Start Bo Nix over J.J. McCarthy.
• Start J.J. McCarthy over Bryce Young.
• Start Baker Mayfield over Drew Lock.
• Start Bo Nix over Drew Lock.
• Start Bryce Young over Drew Lock.