Start Tyler Shough or J.J. McCarthy? Week 9

Our Week 9 call

Start Tyler Shough over J.J. McCarthy in Week 9.

Market-based projections have Tyler Shough at 17.0 points and J.J. McCarthy at 15.8, a gap of 1.2. That is inside the noise of a single catch, so treat it as close to a coin flip. Both numbers are 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 17.0 fantasy points for Tyler Shough, with 80 percent of the markets a QB needs posted.

The market-based projection for Tyler Shough is 226 passing yards, 1-2 passing touchdowns and 0.3 rushing touchdowns (9, 12 and 11 market sources).

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).

That puts Tyler Shough 1.2 points ahead of J.J. McCarthy on the market projections.

Week 9 matchups

Tyler Shough and NO host CLE on Sunday at 1:00 PM ET.

CLE allowed 14.2 fantasy points a game to QBs this season over 8 games, the 7th fewest in the league.

Quarterbacks threw for 215 yards and 1.4 touchdowns a game against CLE, with 0.8 interceptions a game.

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.

By points allowed to the position, J.J. McCarthy has the softer matchup.

Injury status

Tyler Shough is not on the injury report.

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

Usage before Week 9

Through Week 7, Tyler Shough played 100 percent of NO snaps, dropped back 296 times and threw an average of 7.3 air yards per attempt.

Tyler Shough, Week 4 against ATL: 74 of 74 snaps, 30 of 48 passes for 286 yards, 1 touchdown and 0 interceptions, 2 carries for 5 yards.

Tyler Shough, Week 5 against MIN: 45 of 45 snaps, 16 of 25 passes for 96 yards, 0 touchdowns and 2 interceptions.

Tyler Shough, Week 6 against NYG: 70 of 72 snaps, 16 of 30 passes for 144 yards, 3 touchdowns and 0 interceptions, 4 carries for 33 yards.

Tyler Shough, Week 7 against PIT: 57 of 57 snaps, 30 of 38 passes for 278 yards, 1 touchdown and 1 interception, 3 carries for 7 yards.

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.

Their 2025 seasons

In 2025, Tyler Shough played 11 games for NO and scored 164.0 PPR points, 14.9 a game, finishing QB26.

He completed 221 of 327 passes for 2384 yards, 10 touchdowns and 6 interceptions, and ran 45 times for 186 yards and 3 touchdowns.

He was on the field for 51 percent of the offense's snaps in the games he played.

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.

Their other Week 9 calls

• Start Tyler Shough over Baker Mayfield.
• Start Bo Nix over Tyler Shough.
• Start Brock Purdy over Tyler Shough.
• Start Baker Mayfield over J.J. McCarthy.
• Start Bo Nix over J.J. McCarthy.
• Start J.J. McCarthy over Bryce Young.