Jake Bates · Ka'imi Fairbairn · 2026 week 8

Jake Bates or Ka'imi Fairbairn?

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

Start Ka'imi Fairbairn — barelyThis one is a coin flip — the projections are within 0.6 points. The matchup leans Ka'imi Fairbairn (LAC allow the 11th-most K points), but you can defend either call.

Player	Wk 8	Proj (PPR)	Matchup	Form L3	Trade value	Status
Jake Bates	vs MIN	8.4	23rd	12.3	–	healthy
Ka'imi Fairbairn START	@ LAC	9.0	11th	13	–	healthy

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

Ks vs LAC recently: Jason Myers 5 pts (W4) · Wil Lutz 10 pts (W5) · Harrison Butker 11 pts (W6).

🎓 The coach's read

Projections are 0.6 apart — too close to call on projection alone.
Jake Bates faces MIN, 23rd most generous to Ks.
Ka'imi Fairbairn faces LAC, 11th 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

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

All numbers are the 2026 season, refreshed nightly.