Drake Maye or Tyler Shough: Who Should You Start?

The call

• The consensus has him as QB12 at 16.3 projected points — literally the last startable QB in a 12-team league, so any top-12 alternative on your bench wins the job.
• A 20.5 implied team total as a 3.5-point underdog is a bottom-tier scoring environment; that trailing script does add pass volume, which is the main path to a QB1 week here.
• The DvP composite is a middling 15 of 32 and comes off a 0-game sample with 0.00 confidence — there's no matchup edge to lean on either way.
• Continuity helps: he's in the same offensive system for a second straight year and the Patriots were practicing with contact during game week, so no availability or preparation concerns. If Henderson is out and New England leans harder on Maye's arm and legs, tip it to start.

The call

• A 14.2-point projection and QB18 consensus rank put Shough outside the starting dozen in a 12-team PPR league; there's almost always a better streamer on waivers.
• The 20.8 implied team total is a modest offensive ceiling, and a 7-point deficit means garbage-time volume is the primary path to a usable score rather than efficient early-down production.
• The opponent DvP composite sits mid-pack at 17 of 32, but it's built on a 0-game sample with 0.00 confidence — there's no matchup edge here to override the projection.
• He's locked in as the starter with no injury designation, so this is purely a ceiling call: start him only in superflex or two-QB formats.