Who Should I Start? Baker Mayfield or Brock Purdy

Thursday, December 4, 5:37 PM

Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Baker Mayfield (shoulder) continues to manage an AC joint sprain in his left (non-throwing) shoulder that he suffered in Week 12, but he was upgraded to a full practice on Thursday after putting in a limited session on Wednesday. In the Week 13 win over the Arizona Cardinals, Mayfield went 18-for-28 passing for 194 yards, one touchdown, and no interceptions while running for 27 yards. The 30-year-old veteran might be dealing with his left-shoulder injury the rest of the year, but he will be active for a Week 14 divisional contest this Sunday against the 2-10 New Orleans Saints. Don't be fooled by the Saints' record. Their defense is their strength, and they've allowed the third-fewest fantasy points per game to QBs the last three weeks. In the first meeting with New Orleans, Mayfield went 15-for-24 passing for 152 yards with no TDs or interceptions. He'll be in play as a low-end QB1 in fantasy this weekend, and he could be getting top receiver Mike Evans (collarbone) back from IR.

Tuesday, December 2, 11:35 AM

San Francisco 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy went 16-for-29 for 168 yards and one touchdown in the team's 26-8 win over the Cleveland Browns in Week 13. Purdy's production reached season lows in completions, completion rate, and passing yards, but it was enough to finish as a top-12 quarterback in fantasy. Despite Purdy's mediocre stat line, it was an improvement over his performance against the Panthers, when he threw three interceptions and completed just one pass of 10 air yards or more. Against Cleveland, Purdy managed to complete six of his 11 such pass attempts, including a 30-yard bomb to George Kittle that set up a chip-shot field goal for Matt Gay at the end of the first half. San Francisco is on bye in Week 14, but it has favorable matchups in the fantasy football playoffs with meetings against the Titans in Week 15 and the Bears in Week 17.