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Start Patrick Mahomes or Kirk Cousins? Week 9

Updated Nov 3, 11:01 AM ET.

Start Patrick Mahomes over Kirk Cousins

Start

Patrick Mahomes

QB · KC · vs NYJ

Market projects
16.4
recent weeks avg
NYJ D vs QB
18.1
16th most to QBs (2026)
Upside
High
94 of 100 at QB
Snap share
100%
Through Week 8
Sit

Kirk Cousins

QB · LV · at SF

Market projects
15.2
recent weeks avg
SF D vs QB
15.7
11th fewest to QBs (2026)
Upside
Limited
34 of 100 at QB
Snap share
98%
Through Week 8

Should I drop Kirk Cousins for Patrick Mahomes?

Yes, on the rest of the season. Patrick Mahomes projects 154 market-implied PPR points from Week 9 through Week 17 (17.1 a game over 9 games), Kirk Cousins 117 (14.6 a game over 8 games). For Week 9 the call starts Patrick Mahomes over Kirk Cousins.

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Our Week 9 call

Start Patrick Mahomes over Kirk Cousins in Week 9.

Market-based projections have Patrick Mahomes at 16.4 points and Kirk Cousins at 15.2, a gap of 1.2. That is inside the noise of a single catch, so treat it as close to a coin flip. No player market is posted for Patrick Mahomes this week yet, so his 16.4 is the average of his market-based projections in Weeks 6, 7 and 8 (16.9, 16.3 and 16.0); the call is rebuilt when his market posts. No player market is posted for Kirk Cousins this week yet, so his 15.2 is the average of his market-based projections in Weeks 6, 7 and 8 (15.6, 15.1 and 14.8); the call is rebuilt when his market posts.

What the market projects

No Week 9 player market is posted for Kirk Cousins yet. His market-based projections were 15.6, 15.1 and 14.8 points in Weeks 6, 7 and 8, an average of 15.2, which stands in until his Week 9 market posts.

No Week 9 player market is posted for Patrick Mahomes yet. His market-based projections were 16.9, 16.3 and 16.0 points in Weeks 6, 7 and 8, an average of 16.4, which stands in until his Week 9 market posts.

That puts Patrick Mahomes 1.2 points ahead of Kirk Cousins on these projections.

Week 9 matchups

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.

Patrick Mahomes and KC host NYJ on Sunday at 1:00 PM ET.

NYJ allowed 18.1 fantasy points a game to QBs this season over 8 games, the 16th most in the league.

Quarterbacks threw for 208 yards and 1.8 touchdowns a game against NYJ, with 0.1 interceptions a game.

By points allowed to the position, Patrick Mahomes has the softer matchup.

Injury status

Kirk Cousins is not on the injury report.

Patrick Mahomes is not on the injury report.

Usage before Week 9

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.

Through Week 8, Patrick Mahomes played 100 percent of KC snaps, dropped back 254 times and threw an average of 5.8 air yards per attempt.

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.

Patrick Mahomes, Week 7 against SEA: 53 of 53 snaps, 19 of 33 passes for 165 yards, 0 touchdowns and 1 interception, 2 carries for 14 yards.

Patrick Mahomes, Week 8 against DEN: 69 of 69 snaps, 30 of 41 passes for 321 yards, 3 touchdowns and 0 interceptions, 2 carries for 6 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, 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.

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 Patrick Mahomes?

    Yes, on the rest of the season. Patrick Mahomes projects 154 market-implied PPR points from Week 9 through Week 17 (17.1 a game over 9 games), Kirk Cousins 117 (14.6 a game over 8 games). For Week 9 the call starts Patrick Mahomes over Kirk Cousins.

  • Should I drop Patrick Mahomes for Kirk Cousins?

    No. Keep Patrick Mahomes: he projects 154 market-implied PPR points from Week 9 through Week 17 (17.1 a game over 9 games), Kirk Cousins 117 (14.6 a game over 8 games). For Week 9 the call starts Patrick Mahomes over Kirk Cousins.

Should I drop Kirk Cousins?

Week 9 on the board

Elsewhere on the board