Fantasy Football Week 2 Sunday Start/Sit: How Baker Mayfield Matches Up Against Brock Purdy, Jared Goff, Dak Prescott and Matthew Stafford

Baker Mayfield is showing up all over our start/sit tool on Saturday night, meaning he’s a hot topic in fantasy football as we approach the Sunday games. Mayfield finished 2023 hot and carried that over to Week 1 against Washington: 80% completion, 289 yards, four touchdowns and no interceptions.

Mayfield is a talented player and has a superstar receiver in Mike Evans, making him a good streaming option in the right matchups. The Bucs meet the Lions this week in Detroit; that was the site of last year’s NFC Divisional Round matchup between these teams, when Mayfield went off for 349 yards and three touchdowns (with two interceptions).

Detroit completely remade their cornerback room this offseason to try to fix their weakest position. The talent is better, and they held Matthew Stafford to 6.5 yards per attempt in Week 1. He still had 317 yards; it just took 49 pass attempts to get there.

While things might be tougher this time around, Mayfield is likely to be in position to succeed again. The weapons are all there, and Detroit’s secondary is probably still trying to coalesce.

The Lions are also a very good team who could build a lead and force Tampa to throw to keep up. Mayfield threw 41 times in the Divisional Round game; a repeat performance seems likely. Playing indoors can only help.

So, is Mayfield a better option than other questionable fantasy players in Week 2? Let’s run through some of the most common players matched against Baker in the start/sit tool to determine who is worth starting over the Tampa Bay QB.

Brock Purdy, San Francisco 49ers @ Minnesota Vikings

Purdy was quietly efficient in Week 1, collecting 231 yards on 8 yards per attempt. Purdy was QB6 last season and is someone to consider every week. There are probably better options when he has tough matchups, but the San Francisco offense is a machine, and Purdy benefits from operating that machine.

Minnesota blew out the Giants last week, holding Daniel Jones to 186 yards on 42 attempts (4.4 per attempt) with no touchdowns and two interceptions. That might make the Vikings look like a dominant defense, but it was probably a lot more about New York’s ineptitude than Minnesota’s prowess.

The Vikes were middle-of-the-pack against the pass last season. It’s reasonable to expect a similar performance this year. Against the best passing offense from 2023, things are going to look much different for the Minnesota D.

Purdy and Mayfield are close to a 50/50 proposition, which isn’t what you came here for me to tell you. I favor Purdy because there are just so many weapons, but I could easily be talked into Mayfield as the guy.

Fantasy Advice: Start Purdy, but it’s super close

Jared Goff, Detroit Lions vs. Tampa Bay Buccaneers

The man opposing Mayfield has been one of the quietest fantasy stars of the past two seasons: Goff was QB10 in 2022 and QB7 in 2023. There are a lot of similarities between both the skill sets and current situations of Goff and Purdy, as they are surrounded by talented skill players, protected by a strong offensive line (Detroit stands out more in this area), and have renowned play callers (San Fran stands out here).

The story is much the same as above: Goff and Mayfield are right at the same level, and either could have the better performance without much surprise. By the measures of both our FantasySP projections and ESPN, Goff and Mayfield are projected to score almost the exact same points.

Fantasy Advice: This is a true toss-up, but I’ll give the slightest advantage to Mayfield because the Lions have a better run game to lean on, especially if they are ahead much of the game.

Dak Prescott, Dallas Cowboys vs. New Orleans Saints

Prescott didn’t do much stats-wise in Week 1, but he didn’t need to: Dallas took a 7-3 lead with 6:55 in the first quarter and never looked back, scoring 27 straight points on the way to a 33-17 rout.

The numbers were still underwhelming, as Prescott threw 32 passes for just 179 yards (5.6 per attempt). Cleveland has a really talented defense, so it’s not a surprise that Prescott struggled: that fact was just covered up because his team dominated.

Speaking of domination, the Saints put a whooping on Carolina, the worst team from last season, eventually winning by a score of 47-10. Bryce Young struggled mightily, but like the Vikings/Giants situation, I’m not basing New Orleans’ true talent level on the way they handled the Panthers.

The Saints were in the top 10 in both passing yards and yards per attempt allowed last season. It wouldn’t be a surprise if they were a better-than-average pass defense again this year.

While the Cowboys have the potential for a lot of firepower, this is a tougher matchup, and the team will probably be without tight end Jake Ferguson, who is doubtful to play. Things seem to be leaning in Mayfield’s direction, though Prescott has the higher ceiling.

Fantasy Advice: Start Mayfield over Prescott

Matthew Stafford, Los Angeles Rams @ Arizona Cardinals

We’ll wrap up with a guy who lost his top target for at least the next month but saw his old flame re-emerge to fill the void. Puka Nacua was placed on IR, a huge hit for both the Rams and fantasy owners. Cooper Kupp had 14 catches for 110 yards and a touchdown, a vintage day for the former Offensive Player of the Year.

Losing Nacua hurts; he was a star as a rookie and helped win many fantasy leagues last season. Stafford still has a potentially high-level target on the field, though, so he should be able to weather the storm and hope Nacua is only out for four weeks.

The Cardinals were shredded by Josh Allen, especially on the ground; they won’t be the only ones. Allen had over 30 fantasy points and was QB1 in Week 1. Arizona might not be the worst defense in the league, but they have suffered multiple injuries to their defensive line and are without presumed starters for at least the first four weeks.

Arizona will probably struggle to stop teams, making Stafford and other Rams appealing. I believe in Mayfield a little more because his whole team is healthy. Kupp has had injury issues too, so they are one wrong turn away from being down to their third receiver in the WR1 spot.

Fantasy Advice: Start Mayfield over Stafford

Conclusion

Mayfield should start over Goff, Prescott and Stafford, but Purdy might be a better option than Baker this week. That matchup is really, really close, with Purdy getting my favor just by a hair.

Here’s how I rank the five guys (presumably without burgers and fries) that I mentioned above, since some owners will surely be choosing between two or more of them:

1. Brock Purdy, SF
2. Baker Mayfield, TB
3. Jared Goff, DET
4. Dak Prescott, DAL
5. Matthew Stafford, LAR

I want to rate Stafford higher than Prescott but just can’t quite pull the trigger. The top three are really close, then Prescott and Stafford are basically a coin flip.