Start Patrick Mahomes or Kirk Cousins? Week 7

Updated Oct 23, 12:11 AM ET. Locks at kickoff, graded after. Week 8 answer posts Tuesday.

Start Patrick Mahomes over Kirk Cousins

Start

Patrick Mahomes

QB · KC · at SEA

Market projects: 15.9; fantasy pts
SEA D vs QB: 12.3; 2nd fewest to QBs (2026)
Upside: Limited; 15 of 100 at QB
Snap share: 100%; Through Week 6

Sit

Kirk Cousins

QB · LV · vs LAR

Market projects: 15.0; fantasy pts
LAR D vs QB: 17.4; 16th most to QBs (2026)
Upside: Limited; 21 of 100 at QB
Snap share: 98%; Through Week 6

Should I drop Kirk Cousins for Patrick Mahomes?

Yes, on the rest of the season. Patrick Mahomes projects 174 market-implied PPR points from Week 8 through Week 17 (17.4 a game over 10 games), Kirk Cousins 131 (14.5 a game over 9 games). For Week 7 the call starts Patrick Mahomes over Kirk Cousins, 15.9 to 15.0 projected PPR points.

Parlae may earn a commission from price links.

Patrick Mahomes rookie cards

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 7 call

Start Patrick Mahomes over Kirk Cousins in Week 7.

Market-based projections have Patrick Mahomes at 15.9 points and Kirk Cousins at 15.0, a gap of 0.9. 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 15.9 fantasy points for Patrick Mahomes, with 100 percent of the markets a QB needs posted.

The market-based projection for Patrick Mahomes is 219 passing yards, 1-2 passing touchdowns, 15 rushing yards and 0.2 rushing touchdowns (12, 14, 13 and 13 market sources).

Player markets imply 15.0 fantasy points for Kirk Cousins, with 100 percent of the markets a QB needs posted.

The market-based projection for Kirk Cousins is 237 passing yards, 1-2 passing touchdowns, 2 rushing yards and under 0.1 rushing touchdowns (10, 14, 7 and 13 market sources).

That puts Patrick Mahomes 0.9 points ahead of Kirk Cousins on the market projections.

Week 7 matchups

Patrick Mahomes and KC visit SEA on Sunday at 8:20 PM ET.

SEA allowed 12.3 fantasy points a game to QBs this season over 6 games, the 2nd fewest in the league.

Quarterbacks threw for 157 yards and 1.3 touchdowns a game against SEA, with 1.2 interceptions a game.

Kirk Cousins and LV host LAR on Sunday at 4:25 PM ET.

LAR allowed 17.4 fantasy points a game to QBs this season over 6 games, the 16th most in the league.

Quarterbacks threw for 174 yards and 1.3 touchdowns a game against LAR, with 0.8 interceptions a game.

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

Injury status

Patrick Mahomes is not on the injury report.

Kirk Cousins is not on the injury report.

Usage before Week 7

Through Week 6, Patrick Mahomes played 100 percent of KC snaps, dropped back 174 times and threw an average of 6.3 air yards per attempt.

Patrick Mahomes, Week 2 against IND: 80 of 80 snaps, 32 of 47 passes for 382 yards, 3 touchdowns and 0 interceptions, 2 carries for 17 yards.

Patrick Mahomes, Week 3 against MIA: 52 of 52 snaps, 20 of 24 passes for 246 yards, 2 touchdowns and 1 interception, 1 carry for 1 yards.

Patrick Mahomes, Week 4 against LV: 60 of 60 snaps, 15 of 30 passes for 225 yards, 2 touchdowns and 0 interceptions, 1 carry for 1 yards.

Patrick Mahomes, Week 6 against LAC: 61 of 61 snaps, 23 of 30 passes for 272 yards, 0 touchdowns and 1 interception, 3 carries for 19 yards.

Through Week 6, Kirk Cousins played 98 percent of LV snaps, dropped back 221 times and threw an average of 8.4 air yards per attempt.

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.

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

Their 2025 seasons

In 2025, Patrick Mahomes played 14 games for KC and scored 296.7 PPR points, 21.2 a game, finishing QB11.

He completed 315 of 502 passes for 3587 yards, 22 touchdowns and 11 interceptions, and ran 64 times for 422 yards and 5 touchdowns.

He was on the field for 97 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 7 calls

Locks at kickoff, graded after. When the start/sit engine grades week 7, the call and the result appear on the public record, wrong ones included.

Drop or keep

Should I drop Kirk Cousins for Patrick Mahomes?
Yes, on the rest of the season. Patrick Mahomes projects 174 market-implied PPR points from Week 8 through Week 17 (17.4 a game over 10 games), Kirk Cousins 131 (14.5 a game over 9 games). For Week 7 the call starts Patrick Mahomes over Kirk Cousins, 15.9 to 15.0 projected PPR points.
Should I drop Patrick Mahomes for Kirk Cousins?
No. Keep Patrick Mahomes: he projects 174 market-implied PPR points from Week 8 through Week 17 (17.4 a game over 10 games), Kirk Cousins 131 (14.5 a game over 9 games). For Week 7 the call starts Patrick Mahomes over Kirk Cousins, 15.9 to 15.0 projected PPR points.

Should I drop Kirk Cousins?