Start Lamar Jackson or Josh Allen? Week 1

Our Week 1 call

Start Lamar Jackson over Josh Allen in Week 1.

Josh Allen is listed inactive on our news wire, so this is not a close call: start Lamar Jackson. Drafters take Lamar Jackson at ADP 58 and Josh Allen at 34. Market coverage on Lamar Jackson is 65 percent of what his position needs, so the market side of this carries proportionally less weight.

What the books imply

Player prop markets imply 12.0 fantasy points for Josh Allen, with 65 percent of the markets a QB needs posted.

Player prop markets imply 12.8 fantasy points for Lamar Jackson, with 65 percent of the markets a QB needs posted.

That puts Lamar Jackson 0.8 points ahead of Josh Allen on the books.

Week 1 matchups

Josh Allen and BUF visit HOU on Sunday at 1:00 PM ET.

HOU allowed 35.7 fantasy points to QBs in its one game this season, the 2nd most in the league.

Quarterbacks threw for 334 yards and 2 touchdowns against HOU, with no interceptions.

Lamar Jackson and BAL visit IND on Sunday at 1:00 PM ET.

IND allowed 25.0 fantasy points to QBs in its one game this season, the 7th most in the league.

Quarterbacks threw for 324 yards and a touchdown against IND, with no interceptions.

By points allowed to the position, Josh Allen has the softer matchup.

Injury status

Josh Allen was listed as inactive when the call was made.

Lamar Jackson was not on the injury report when the call was made.

Their 2025 seasons

In 2025, Josh Allen played 17 games for BUF and scored 374.6 PPR points, 22.0 a game, finishing QB1.

He completed 319 of 460 passes for 3668 yards, 25 touchdowns and 10 interceptions, and ran 112 times for 579 yards and 14 touchdowns.

He was on the field for 98 percent of the offense's snaps in the games he played.

Josh Allen, Week 18 of 2025 against NYJ: 0 of 0 passes for 0 yards, 0 touchdowns and 0 interceptions.

Josh Allen, Week 17 of 2025 against PHI: 76 of 76 snaps, 23 of 35 passes for 262 yards, 0 touchdowns and 0 interceptions, 7 carries for 27 yards, 23.2 PPR points.

Josh Allen, Week 16 of 2025 against CLE: 50 of 50 snaps, 12 of 19 passes for 130 yards, 0 touchdowns and 0 interceptions, 7 carries for 17 yards, 6.9 PPR points.

In 2025, Lamar Jackson played 13 games for BAL and scored 221.9 PPR points, 17.1 a game, finishing QB20.

He completed 192 of 302 passes for 2549 yards, 21 touchdowns and 7 interceptions, and ran 67 times for 349 yards and 2 touchdowns.

He was on the field for 92 percent of the offense's snaps in the games he played.

Lamar Jackson, Week 18 of 2025 against PIT: 11 of 18 passes for 238 yards, 3 touchdowns and 1 interception, 4 carries for 9 yards, 21.4 PPR points.

Lamar Jackson, Week 16 of 2025 against NE: 26 of 55 snaps, 7 of 10 passes for 101 yards, 0 touchdowns and 0 interceptions, 2 carries for 7 yards, 4.7 PPR points.

Lamar Jackson, Week 15 of 2025 against CIN: 36 of 41 snaps, 8 of 12 passes for 150 yards, 2 touchdowns and 1 interception, 2 carries for 26 yards, 15.6 PPR points.

How Week 1 went

Lamar Jackson scored 25.0 PPR points and Josh Allen scored 35.7.

The call was wrong: Josh Allen outscored Lamar Jackson by 10.7.

Lamar Jackson finished 12.1 points above the 12.8 the props implied.

Lamar Jackson, Week 1 against IND: 68 of 68 snaps, 17 of 25 passes for 324 yards, 1 touchdown and 0 interceptions, 7 carries for 40 yards, 25.0 PPR points.

Lamar Jackson finished as the week's QB7 in PPR scoring.

Josh Allen finished 23.7 points above the 12.0 the props implied.

Josh Allen, Week 1 against HOU: 58 of 58 snaps, 20 of 29 passes for 334 yards, 2 touchdowns and 0 interceptions, 6 carries for 23 yards, 35.7 PPR points.

Josh Allen finished as the week's QB2 in PPR scoring.

Their other Week 1 calls

• Start Drake Maye over Josh Allen.
• Start Joe Burrow over Josh Allen.
• Start Lamar Jackson over Dak Prescott.
• Start Lamar Jackson over Drake Maye.
• Start Lamar Jackson over Jalen Hurts.