Who Should I Start? C.J. Stroud or Drake Maye

Tuesday, January 6, 12:34 AM

Houston Texans quarterback C.J. Stroud rested in the second half of the season finale versus the Colts after completing 14 of 23 passes for 169 yards and a touchdown in the first half. Once it was known that the Jaguars were up big in their game against the Titans, thus eliminating the Texans from winning the division, the team decided to give Stroud the rest of the day off with a playoff spot already locked up. Houston will travel on the road to take on the Pittsburgh Steelers in the Wild-Card round. The 24-year-old signal-caller has had another solid season, completing a career-high 64.5% of his passes for 3,041 yards, 19 touchdowns, and eight interceptions while adding 48 carries for 209 yards and another score on the ground in 14 games. The Ohio State product has posted 7.0 yards per attempt or higher in 10 of 14 games this season. The Steelers sit in the middle of the pack against the pass in most metrics, ranking 14th in net yards per pass attempt (6.3) and 16th in dropback EPA (0.060). Stroud and the Texans may need to air it out more often Monday night, with how dominant Pittsburgh has been against the run recently, allowing a league-low 73.3 rushing yards per game over the final four weeks. In one career game versus Pittsburgh in Week 4 of the 2023 season, Stroud threw for 306 yards and two touchdowns, posting the second-highest yards per attempt (10.2) in a game of his career. Stroud projects as a quality option for fantasy managers in playoff leagues and can be trusted as a borderline QB1/QB2.

Monday, January 5, 9:39 PM

New England Patriots second-year quarterback Drake Maye has put together an MVP-type season in 2025. Maye threw for 4,394 passing yards with 31 touchdowns and eight interceptions across 17 games in his sophomore campaign. The 23-year-old also rushed for an additional 450 yards with four scores on the ground. Maye has been excellent and will now play his first career postseason game against the Los Angeles Chargers this weekend. The Chargers' defense has allowed the fourth-fewest passing yards coming into this game. They've also allowed only 16 touchdowns to opposing quarterbacks, which is the third-lowest in the league. It's certainly a tough test for Maye, but he has been putting up MVP numbers all season long, so fantasy managers should continue to trust him.