Cairo Santos · Nick Folk · 2026 week 9

Cairo Santos or Nick Folk?

Wondering who you should start this week — Cairo Santos or Nick Folk? The start/sit call and the numbers behind it are below, plus who wins a straight-up trade. Rebuilt nightly.

Start Cairo Santos — barelyThis one is a coin flip — the projections are within 0 points. The matchup leans Cairo Santos (TB allow the 3rd-most K points), but you can defend either call.

Player	Wk 9	Proj (PPR)	Matchup	Form L3	Trade value	Status
Cairo Santos START	vs TB	8.1	3rd · soft	11	–	healthy
Nick Folk	vs CIN	8.1	12th	3.3	–	healthy

Ks vs TB recently: Brandon Aubrey 5 pts (W5) · Chris Boswell 17 pts (W6) · Nick Folk -1 pts (W8).

Ks vs CIN recently: Riley Patterson 3 pts (W5) · Tyler Loop 7 pts (W7) · Joey Slye 9 pts (W8).

🎓 The coach's read

They carry identical projections — projection alone cannot separate them.
Cairo Santos has the higher floor (3.7) — the safer start if you are favoured.
Nick Folk has the higher ceiling (13.6) — the play if you need points.
Cairo Santos is steady — about 14% less volatile week to week than a typical K projected here — higher floor, lower ceiling.
Cairo Santos faces TB, 3rd most generous to Ks.
Nick Folk faces CIN, 12th most generous to Ks.

Who wins a straight-up trade?

Their trade values are effectively even — a one-for-one is a fair swap on the numbers.

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

More K decisions

Cairo Santos or Wil Lutz?Cairo Santos or Andre Szmyt?Cairo Santos or Andy Borregales?Nick Folk or Andre Szmyt?Nick Folk or Andy Borregales?

All numbers are the 2026 season, refreshed nightly.