Should I drop Kirk Cousins for Jameis Winston?

Not on these numbers alone. Kirk Cousins projects 142 market-implied PPR points from Week 7 through Week 17 (14.2 a game over 10 games) and Jameis Winston 138 (13.8 a game over 10 games), too close to separate, so the roster spot decides it.

Kirk Cousins or Jameis Winston: Week 6 result

Updated Oct 19, 2:21 PM ET. Locked at kickoff. Graded after. Week 7 answer posts Tuesday.

Start Kirk Cousins over Jameis Winston

Right: 19.5 to 8.5

Start

Kirk Cousins

QB · final

Market projected: 15.5; pre-game
Upside: Moderate; 45 of 100 at QB
Scored: 19.5; PPR pts

Sit

Jameis Winston

QB · final

Market projected: 14.5; pre-game
Upside: Moderate; 61 of 100 at QB
Scored: 8.5; PPR pts

Should I drop Jameis Winston for Kirk Cousins?

Not on these numbers alone. Jameis Winston projects 138 market-implied PPR points from Week 7 through Week 17 (13.8 a game over 10 games) and Kirk Cousins 142 (14.2 a game over 10 games), too close to separate, so the roster spot decides it.

Make this call for your own roster

Sync your league and My Team sets this week's lineup for your actual roster, spot by spot. Free, no account.

Sync my league

Sleeper ESPN Yahoo

Or get it by email

Tuesday 8am ET: one email with what moved on the board and who is worth a claim.

Free. One a week, one tap to stop.

Our Week 6 call

Start Kirk Cousins over Jameis Winston in Week 6.

Market-based projections have Kirk Cousins at 15.5 points and Jameis Winston at 14.5, a gap of 1.0. 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 15.5 fantasy points for Kirk Cousins, with 100 percent of the markets a QB needs posted.

The market-based projection for Kirk Cousins is 252 passing yards, 1-2 passing touchdowns, 2 rushing yards and 0.1 rushing touchdowns (13, 15, 7 and 14 market sources).

Player markets imply 14.5 fantasy points for Jameis Winston, with 100 percent of the markets a QB needs posted.

The market-based projection for Jameis Winston is 221 passing yards, 1-2 passing touchdowns, 5 rushing yards and 0.1 rushing touchdowns (13, 15, 11 and 14 market sources).

That puts Kirk Cousins 1.0 points ahead of Jameis Winston on the market projections.

Injury status

Kirk Cousins is not on the injury report.

Jameis Winston is not on the injury report.

Usage before Week 6

Through Week 5, Kirk Cousins played 97 percent of LV snaps, dropped back 180 times and threw an average of 8.3 air yards per attempt.

Kirk Cousins, Week 2 against LAC: 63 of 63 snaps, 19 of 29 passes for 253 yards, 3 touchdowns and 1 interception, 1 carry for 4 yards.

Kirk Cousins, Week 3 against NO: 70 of 70 snaps, 22 of 33 passes for 248 yards, 3 touchdowns and 0 interceptions, 1 carry for 5 yards.

Kirk Cousins, Week 4 against KC: 84 of 84 snaps, 31 of 49 passes for 365 yards, 2 touchdowns and 1 interception.

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

Through Week 5, Jameis Winston played 96 percent of NYG snaps, dropped back 148 times and threw an average of 9.6 air yards per attempt.

Jameis Winston, Week 2 against LAR: 51 of 58 snaps, 11 of 27 passes for 111 yards, 0 touchdowns and 1 interception, 2 carries for 1 yards.

Jameis Winston, Week 3 against TEN: 64 of 64 snaps, 14 of 22 passes for 118 yards, 0 touchdowns and 0 interceptions, 1 carry for 15 yards.

Jameis Winston, Week 4 against ARI: 67 of 67 snaps, 18 of 29 passes for 250 yards, 3 touchdowns and 2 interceptions.

Jameis Winston, Week 5 against WAS: 84 of 89 snaps, 33 of 54 passes for 326 yards, 3 touchdowns and 0 interceptions, 4 carries for 28 yards.

Their 2025 seasons

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.

In 2025, Jameis Winston played 3 games for NYG and scored 45.3 PPR points, 15.1 a game, finishing QB46.

He completed 37 of 66 passes for 567 yards, 2 touchdowns and 2 interceptions, and ran 7 times for 23 yards and 1 touchdown.

He was on the field for 39 percent of the offense's snaps in the games he played.

How Week 6 went

Kirk Cousins scored 19.5 PPR points and Jameis Winston scored 8.5.

The call was right: Kirk Cousins outscored Jameis Winston by 11.0.

Kirk Cousins finished 4.0 points above the 15.5 the market projected.

Kirk Cousins, Week 6 against BUF: 66 of 66 snaps, 23 of 41 passes for 313 yards, 2 touchdowns and 1 interception, 19.5 PPR points.

Kirk Cousins finished as the week's QB8 in PPR scoring.

Jameis Winston finished 6.1 points below the 14.5 the market projected.

Jameis Winston, Week 6 against NO: 46 of 77 snaps, 14 of 26 passes for 152 yards, 1 touchdown and 2 interceptions, 3 carries for 4 yards, 8.5 PPR points.

Jameis Winston finished as the week's QB24 in PPR scoring.

Their other Week 6 calls

This call locked at kickoff and was not edited after. It is on the public record, wrong ones included.

Drop or keep

Should I drop Jameis Winston for Kirk Cousins?
Not on these numbers alone. Jameis Winston projects 138 market-implied PPR points from Week 7 through Week 17 (13.8 a game over 10 games) and Kirk Cousins 142 (14.2 a game over 10 games), too close to separate, so the roster spot decides it.
Should I drop Kirk Cousins for Jameis Winston?
Not on these numbers alone. Kirk Cousins projects 142 market-implied PPR points from Week 7 through Week 17 (14.2 a game over 10 games) and Jameis Winston 138 (13.8 a game over 10 games), too close to separate, so the roster spot decides it.