Who Should I Start? Baker Mayfield or Michael Penix Jr.

Sunday, October 12, 9:52 PM

Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Baker Mayfield led his team to its fifth win of the season in Week 6, beating the San Francisco 49ers 30-19. Mayfield completed 17 of his 23 pass attempts for 256 yards and two touchdowns without throwing an interception and added 14 rushing yards on three carries. The 30-year-old has now thrown for 1,309 yards and 12 touchdowns in his first six games of 2025. Tampa Bay entered Week 6 without wide receivers Mike Evans (hamstring), Chris Godwin (leg), and Jalen McMillan (neck), and then lost star rookie wideout Emeka Egbuka (hamstring) to a hamstring injury during the game. It's currently unclear how long the Buccaneers will be without their top four wide receivers. Regardless, Mayfield has proven himself to be a worthy fantasy QB1 on a week-to-week basis.

Tuesday, October 14, 11:59 AM

Atlanta Falcons quarterback Michael Penix Jr. completed 20 of 32 passes for 250 yards and a touchdown in Monday night's 24-14 win over the Bills, adding two rushes for six yards. The former first-round draft pick has looked more confident in his last two contests (69 percent completion rate, 3:1 TD:INT) after posting duds in Weeks 2 and 3 (54 percent completion rate, 0:2 TD:INT). Still, even though he's recorded one rushing score this season, the 25-year-old has gained just 37 yards on the ground through five games in 2025, so he does not have that weekly floor built into his fantasy value that so many other QBs have these days, currently ranking as the No. 27 QB in fantasy. The University of Washington product will face a 49ers defense in Week 7 that is middle of the pack in terms of allowing fantasy production to opposing QBs, but proactive managers interested in a streaming option might look ahead to the following week, where he'll face a soft Miami defense that has been generous in the passing game, giving up the third-most fantasy points to opposing quarterbacks.