Who Should I Start? Marcus Mariota or Patrick Mahomes

Wednesday, December 10, 12:47 PM

Washington Commanders veteran quarterback Marcus Mariota will make his seventh start of the year in Week 15 against the division-rival New York Giants, according to The Washington Post's Tashan Reed. The Commanders have ruled out Jayden Daniels (elbow) after he aggravated his elbow injury in last week's blowout loss to the Minnesota Vikings. Daniels isn't dealing with a long-term injury, but with Washington's season essentially already over, the 32-year-old Mariota could end up starting the rest of the way for the Commanders. Although he doesn't offer a ton of fantasy football upside, Mariota has been pretty serviceable leading the team's offense in place of Daniels this year. He's completed 62.9% of his 194 pass attempts for 1,389 yards, nine TDs, and seven interceptions. Mariota averaged 186.6 passing yards and 30.8 rushing yards per game from Weeks 8-13. Consider him a midrange QB2 option in superflex leagues this weekend versus the G-Men.

Friday, December 12, 3:54 PM

Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes is coming off his worst game of the season in last week's 10-20 loss to the Houston Texans. Mahomes completed 14 of 33 pass attempts (42%) for 160 yards and three interceptions. Despite his ineffectiveness through the air, Mahomes was the team's leading rusher with 59 yards on the ground. The Kansas City Chiefs now sit at 6-7 with an 11% chance of making the playoffs, which hinges on them winning out the rest of the season. The Chiefs superstar will have to pull off a miracle to bring the team back from the brink of elimination, and he will have to start with the Los Angeles Chargers this week. The Chargers defense has allowed the second-fewest fantasy points to opposing quarterbacks this season, which means another difficult matchup for Mahomes this week. Mahomes was also listed on the injury report with a knee injury, but he practiced all week fully and does not have an injury designation for the game. Mahomes is ranked QB10 in our RotoBaller rankings, making him a low-end QB1 in a make-or-break game.