Start Jared Goff or Kirk Cousins? Week 9
Updated Nov 4, 5:36 AM ET. Locks at kickoff, graded after. Week 10 answer posts Tuesday.
Start Jared Goff over Kirk Cousins
- Market projects
- 18.1
- fantasy pts
- MIA D vs QB
- 20.6
- 4th most to QBs (2026)
- Snap share
- 99%
- Through Week 8
- Market projects
- 15.6
- fantasy pts
- SF D vs QB
- 15.7
- 11th fewest to QBs (2026)
- Snap share
- 98%
- Through Week 8
Should I drop Kirk Cousins for Jared Goff?
Yes, on the rest of the season. Jared Goff projects 149 market-implied PPR points from Week 9 through Week 17 (16.5 a game over 9 games), Kirk Cousins 118 (14.8 a game over 8 games). For Week 9 the call starts Jared Goff over Kirk Cousins, 18.1 to 15.6 projected PPR points.
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Our Week 9 call
Start Jared Goff over Kirk Cousins in Week 9.
Market-based projections have Jared Goff at 18.1 points and Kirk Cousins at 15.6, a gap of 2.5. Jared Goff'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 18.1 fantasy points for Jared Goff, with 80 percent of the markets a QB needs posted.
The market-based projection for Jared Goff is 259 passing yards, 1-2 passing touchdowns and 0.1 rushing touchdowns (13, 14 and 13 market sources).
Player markets imply 15.6 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 (11, 13, 7 and 9 market sources).
That puts Jared Goff 2.5 points ahead of Kirk Cousins on the market projections.
Week 9 matchups
Jared Goff and DET visit MIA on Sunday at 1:00 PM ET.
MIA allowed 20.6 fantasy points a game to QBs this season over 7 games, the 4th most in the league.
Quarterbacks threw for 231 yards and 2.3 touchdowns a game against MIA, with 0.6 interceptions 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, Jared Goff has the softer matchup.
Injury status
Jared Goff is not on the injury report.
Kirk Cousins is not on the injury report.
Usage before Week 9
Through Week 8, Jared Goff played 99 percent of DET snaps, dropped back 269 times and threw an average of 7.7 air yards per attempt.
Jared Goff, Week 4 against CAR: 71 of 71 snaps, 32 of 52 passes for 412 yards, 1 touchdown and 0 interceptions.
Jared Goff, Week 5 against ARI: 63 of 66 snaps, 19 of 30 passes for 271 yards, 3 touchdowns and 0 interceptions, 1 carry for 1 yards.
Jared Goff, Week 7 against GB: 68 of 68 snaps, 22 of 32 passes for 303 yards, 2 touchdowns and 0 interceptions, 1 carry for 0 yards.
Jared Goff, Week 8 against MIN: 72 of 72 snaps, 18 of 25 passes for 176 yards, 1 touchdown and 1 interception, 1 carry for 2 yards.
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, Jared Goff played 17 games for DET and scored 305.1 PPR points, 17.9 a game, finishing QB9.
He completed 393 of 578 passes for 4564 yards, 34 touchdowns and 8 interceptions, and ran 19 times for 45 yards and 0 touchdowns.
He was on the field for 98 percent of the offense's snaps in the games he played.
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
Locks at kickoff, graded after. When the start/sit engine grades week 9, the call and the result appear on the public record, wrong ones included.
Drop or keep
Should I drop Kirk Cousins for Jared Goff?
Yes, on the rest of the season. Jared Goff projects 149 market-implied PPR points from Week 9 through Week 17 (16.5 a game over 9 games), Kirk Cousins 118 (14.8 a game over 8 games). For Week 9 the call starts Jared Goff over Kirk Cousins, 18.1 to 15.6 projected PPR points.
Should I drop Jared Goff for Kirk Cousins?
No. Keep Jared Goff: he projects 149 market-implied PPR points from Week 9 through Week 17 (16.5 a game over 9 games), Kirk Cousins 118 (14.8 a game over 8 games). For Week 9 the call starts Jared Goff over Kirk Cousins, 18.1 to 15.6 projected PPR points.
Week 9 on the board
- Is Jared Goff playing Week 9?
- Is Kirk Cousins playing Week 9?
- Lions depth chart
- Raiders depth chart
- Week 9 QB rankings
- Week 9 fantasy rankings
- Week 9 start or sit
- Week 9 waiver wire
- Week 9 trade value chart
- Trade deadline buy low, sell high
- Fantasy football rankings
- Start 'em sit 'em Week 9
- Waiver wire pickups
- Fantasy sleepers
- Rest of season rankings
- Week 9 kicker rankings
- Week 9 defense rankings