Start Kirk Cousins. Cousins is projected for 16.2 PPR points vs 14.9 for Patrick Mahomes, and faces the 15th-toughest defense against QBs this week.
Updated Oct 30, 7:29 AM ET
| Kirk Cousins QB · LV | Patrick Mahomes QB · KC | |
|---|---|---|
| Projection (Week 8, avg of sources) | 16.2 | 14.9 |
| Floor (lowest source) | 15.6 | 11.6 |
| Ceiling (highest source) | 16.8 | 16.8 |
| StatChasers projection | 15.6 (QB20) | 15.4 (QB21) |
| Opponent | vs NYJ | vs DEN |
| Opponent vs. position | 15th-toughest (16.7 pts/g allowed) | 12th-toughest (16.2 pts/g allowed) |
| Recent usage | — | — |
| Position | QB | QB |
| Our call | SIT · Bench | SIT · Bench |
Settle every start/sit call with projections, matchup, recent usage and floor-versus-ceiling for your exact scoring settings.
Start Kirk Cousins. Cousins projects for 16.2 PPR points vs NYJ, against 14.9 for Patrick Mahomes vs DEN: a 1.3-point edge.
The projection is the average of every source that carries each player this week, and a player listed Out or Doubtful is never the start.
Kirk Cousins is projected to score more: 16.2 PPR points to 14.9 for Patrick Mahomes.
The sources range from 15.6 to 16.8 for Cousins and from 11.6 to 16.8 for Mahomes. The ranges overlap, so Mahomes outscoring Cousins is a realistic result.
Kirk Cousins is the safer start: even the most cautious projection source has Cousins at 15.6 PPR points, against 11.6 for Patrick Mahomes.
Start the higher floor when you are favored and only need to avoid a dud.
They share the same ceiling, 16.8 PPR points.
Start the higher ceiling when you are the underdog and need points more than safety.
Kirk Cousins plays NYJ and Patrick Mahomes plays DEN in Week 8.
By fantasy points allowed to each position, Cousins faces the 15th-toughest defense against QBs and Mahomes faces the 12th-toughest defense against QBs, so Kirk Cousins has the softer matchup.
Each projection already accounts for the opponent, so a soft matchup is a tiebreaker, not a reason to bench the higher projection.
These numbers are in PPR. Full PPR adds a point per catch, so it helps whichever player sees more targets.
Switch between PPR, Half PPR and Standard on the board above to rescore both players from the same sources.
Neither Kirk Cousins nor Patrick Mahomes has an injury designation for Week 8.
Designations change through the week, so check again before kickoff; this page updates with each refresh.
Each figure is the average of the projection sources that carry the player this week: StatChasers, Sleeper, ESPN, numberFire, FFToday and the betting markets (sportsbook player props). Kirk Cousins is projected by 6 of them and Patrick Mahomes by 6.
A source with no number for a player is left out of the average rather than counted as a zero.