Baker Mayfield · C.J. Stroud · 2026 week 1

Baker Mayfield or C.J. Stroud?

Wondering who you should start this week — Baker Mayfield or C.J. Stroud? The start/sit call and the numbers behind it are below, plus who wins a straight-up trade. Rebuilt nightly.

Start Baker Mayfield — barelyThis one is a coin flip — the projections are within 1.3 points. The matchup leans Baker Mayfield (CIN allow the 8th-most QB points), but you can defend either call.

Player	Wk 1	Proj (PPR)	Matchup	Form L3	Trade value	Status
Baker Mayfield START	@ CIN	19.8	8th · soft	15.8	1,033	healthy
C.J. Stroud	vs BUF	18.5	29th · tough	14.9	245	healthy

QBs vs CIN recently: Quinn Ewers 8.9 pts (W16) · Jacoby Brissett 16.5 pts (W17) · Shedeur Sanders 5 pts (W18).

QBs vs BUF recently: Shedeur Sanders 13.2 pts (W16) · Jalen Hurts 8.9 pts (W17) · Brady Cook 9.1 pts (W18).

Who wins a straight-up trade?

Baker Mayfield carries the higher trade value — 1,033 against 245 (a 76% gap). In a one-for-one, the side receiving Baker Mayfield gets the most. Momentum: Baker Mayfield +162 and C.J. Stroud -119 over the last 30 days.

Open in Start/Sit (any scoring) Open in the Trade Analyzer

More QB decisions

Baker Mayfield or Bo Nix?Baker Mayfield or Matthew Stafford?Baker Mayfield or Brock Purdy?C.J. Stroud or Kyler Murray?C.J. Stroud or Tyler Shough?C.J. Stroud or Sam Darnold?

Game logs, matchup ranks and form are the 2025 season — 2026 hasn’t kicked off. Projections, schedule and trade values are current 2026 numbers, refreshed nightly.