Who Should I Start? Matthew Stafford or J.J. McCarthy

Sunday, November 2, 8:32 PM

Los Angeles Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford completed 24 of his 32 pass attempts for 281 yards, four touchdowns, and zero interceptions during Sunday's Week 9 victory over the New Orleans Saints. He also took two sacks and finished with a loss of four rushing yards. The veteran quarterback is enjoying an MVP-caliber campaign at the age of 37, racking up 21 touchdowns and just two interceptions through eight games. He ranks third among quarterbacks in fantasy points per game since Week 4, and he's eighth in fantasy points per game for the full season. Stafford lacks rushing upside, but his spectacular passing stats should keep him in the mid-range QB1 tier for Week 10 against the San Francisco 49ers. In his last outing against the Niners, Stafford racked up 389 passing yards and three passing touchdowns.

Friday, November 7, 6:17 PM

Minnesota Vikings quarterback J.J. McCarthy is coming off the best victory of his young career last week against Detroit, and can be considered a quality Superflex option when the Baltimore Ravens travel to U.S. Bank Stadium in Week 10. The second-year quarterback completed only 14 passes for 143 yards last week, but made several key plays that spurred the Vikings to victory by accounting for three touchdowns and sealing the game with a perfect throw on a late third-down conversion. He'll take on a Baltimore defense that is allowing points on 48% of drives, which ranks 28th of 32 teams, but has played much better recently, as none of the past three Baltimore opponents surpassed 17 points. McCarthy is still acclimating to being the full-time starter, so it's reasonable to expect some mistakes along the way, but the Week 9 victory gave plenty of reasons for optimism that he can be a fantasy-relevant quarterback as he gains additional experience.