Start Kirk Cousins or Gardner Minshew II? Week 9

Our Week 9 call

Start Kirk Cousins over Gardner Minshew II in Week 9.

Market-based projections have Kirk Cousins at 15.7 points and Gardner Minshew II at 9.4, a gap of 6.2.

What the market projects

Player markets imply 9.4 fantasy points for Gardner Minshew II, with 100 percent of the markets a QB needs posted.

The market-based projection for Gardner Minshew II is 200 passing yards, 0-1 passing touchdowns, 6 rushing yards and 0.1 rushing touchdowns (10, 12, 10 and 12 market sources).

Player markets imply 15.7 fantasy points for Kirk Cousins, with 100 percent of the markets a QB needs posted.

The market-based projection for Kirk Cousins is 251 passing yards, 1-2 passing touchdowns, 2 rushing yards and 0.1 rushing touchdowns (12, 14, 7 and 10 market sources).

That puts Kirk Cousins 6.2 points ahead of Gardner Minshew II on the market projections.

Week 9 matchups

Gardner Minshew II and ARI visit SEA on Sunday at 4:25 PM ET.

SEA allowed 11.9 fantasy points a game to QBs this season over 8 games, the 2nd fewest in the league.

Quarterbacks threw for 169 yards and 1.1 touchdowns a game against SEA, with an interception a game.

Kirk Cousins and LV visit SF on Sunday at 4:25 PM ET.

SF allowed 15.7 fantasy points a game to QBs this season over 7 games, the 11th fewest in the league.

Quarterbacks threw for 224 yards and 1.4 touchdowns a game against SF, with 0.4 interceptions a game.

By points allowed to the position, Kirk Cousins has the softer matchup.

Injury status

Gardner Minshew II is not on the injury report.

Kirk Cousins is not on the injury report.

Usage before Week 9

Through Week 8, Gardner Minshew II played 42 percent of ARI snaps, dropped back 21 times and threw an average of 6.8 air yards per attempt.

Gardner Minshew II, Week 8 against DAL: 34 of 81 snaps, 17 of 20 passes for 188 yards, 3 touchdowns and 0 interceptions.

Through Week 8, Kirk Cousins played 98 percent of LV snaps, dropped back 296 times and threw an average of 8.1 air yards per attempt.

Kirk Cousins, Week 5 against NE: 50 of 60 snaps, 19 of 28 passes for 243 yards, 1 touchdown and 0 interceptions.

Kirk Cousins, Week 6 against BUF: 66 of 66 snaps, 23 of 41 passes for 313 yards, 2 touchdowns and 1 interception.

Kirk Cousins, Week 7 against LAR: 68 of 68 snaps, 26 of 44 passes for 295 yards, 2 touchdowns and 0 interceptions, 3 carries for 6 yards.

Kirk Cousins, Week 8 against NYJ: 63 of 63 snaps, 19 of 26 passes for 247 yards, 3 touchdowns and 0 interceptions, 3 carries for 5 yards.

Their 2025 seasons

In 2025, Gardner Minshew II played 4 games for KC and scored 0.7 PPR points, 0.2 a game, finishing QB72.

He completed 6 of 13 passes for 37 yards, 0 touchdowns and 1 interception, and ran 6 times for 2 yards and 0 touchdowns.

He was on the field for 4 percent of the offense's snaps in the games he played.

Gardner Minshew II, Week 16 of 2025 against TEN: 14 of 45 snaps, 3 of 8 passes for 15 yards, 0 touchdowns and 0 interceptions, 1 carry for 8 yards, 1.4 PPR points.

Gardner Minshew II, Week 15 of 2025 against LAC: 5 of 61 snaps, 3 of 5 passes for 22 yards, 0 touchdowns and 1 interception, -0.1 PPR points.

In 2025, Kirk Cousins played 10 games for ATL and scored 108.5 PPR points, 10.9 a game, finishing QB35.

He completed 166 of 269 passes for 1721 yards, 10 touchdowns and 5 interceptions, and ran 14 times for 7 yards and 1 touchdown.

He was on the field for 46 percent of the offense's snaps in the games he played.

Their other Week 9 calls

• Start Baker Mayfield over Gardner Minshew II.
• Start Bryce Young over Gardner Minshew II.
• Start Daniel Jones over Gardner Minshew II.
• Start Kirk Cousins over Baker Mayfield.
• Start Bo Nix over Kirk Cousins.
• Start Brock Purdy over Kirk Cousins.