Harrison Butker · Jake Bates · 2026 week 8

Harrison Butker or Jake Bates?

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

Start Jake Bates — barelyThis one is a coin flip — the projections are within 0.8 points. The matchup leans Jake Bates (MIN allow the 23rd-most K points), but you can defend either call.

Player	Wk 8	Proj (PPR)	Matchup	Form L3	Trade value	Status
Harrison Butker	@ DEN	7.6	16th	6.7	–	healthy
Jake Bates START	vs MIN	8.4	23rd	12.3	–	healthy

Ks vs DEN recently: Cameron Dicker 6 pts (W5) · Jason Myers 7 pts (W6) · Chad Ryland 11 pts (W7).

Ks vs MIN recently: Chase McLaughlin 12 pts (W3) · Riley Patterson 4 pts (W4) · Spencer Shrader 3 pts (W7).

🎓 The coach's read

Projections are 0.8 apart — too close to call on projection alone.
Jake Bates has the higher floor (3.9) — the safer start if you are favoured.
Jake Bates is steady — about 15% less volatile week to week than a typical K projected here — higher floor, lower ceiling.
Harrison Butker faces DEN, 16th most generous to Ks.
Jake Bates faces MIN, 23rd 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

Harrison Butker or Jason Myers?Harrison Butker or Matt Gay?Harrison Butker or Tyler Bass?Jake Bates or Ka'imi Fairbairn?Jake Bates or Drew Stevens?

All numbers are the 2026 season, refreshed nightly.