SCN Challenge: Mahomes, Purdy Card Prices Surging

Heading into Week 7 in the NFL, we have a few players with rapidly rising markets that are helping a few members of the SCN Challenge.

Oct 19, 2026; Santa Clara, California, USA; San Francisco 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy (13) celebrates a touchdown with San Francisco 49ers tight end George Kittle (85) during the first quarter | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Week 7 of the NFL is here, and for the first time since Week 1, all members of the SCN Challenge are in the green. The leaderboard has seen heavy movement after a big week of trading last week.

We'll go through the moves from Week 6, discuss the lack of moves before Week 7, and who needs a big weekend to move up the board.

Week 7 Leaderboard

Week 7 SCN Challenge Leaderboard | The SCN Challenge

After a Week 6 that saw the return of Caleb Williams and Jayden Daniels, and Drake Maye returned to form, the leaderboard is seeing nothing but green.

Jason Otero from The BallCard Show sits in third, up 20.8%, buoyed by his 1998 Metal Universe Peyton Manning in a PSA 9 that is up 260%. He's holding on to his 2009 Topps Finest Matt Stafford, his only card down (-14.5%) and the only thing holding Otero back from the top spot.

Your humble narrator is back on the podium places after a listing error dropped my 2025 Topps Chrome Patrick Mahomes Blue Wave /150 in a PSA 10 to a PSA 9, and the original $193 investment tanked to $150 with the PSA 9 listing, but now that the PSA 10 listing is restored, we're up 90.2% to $369. With no cards in the negative, it could be time for another move.

Alex "CleverCubanCards" Llanso is still leading the competition and now has two straight weeks on top after his Tyler Shough card rose 200%+ before he sold it and reinvesting last week. The investment into a 2018 Prizm Red, White, and Blue Prizm in a PSA 9 for Josh Allen paid immediate dividends and is up over 9% in one week.

Movement on the Waiver Wire

Week 5/6 Waiver Wire | SCN Challenge

It was a busy week on the waiver wire last week, and it has seemingly worked out for everyone, especially Alex getting out of the Bo Nix and Tyler Shough markets.

Unfortunately, no one made any moves this week so there's nothing to break down!

The lack of movement and everyone being in the green is probably correlated.

Week 7 NFL Preview

SCN Challenge | Mike Sterk

So who needs a big week? C.J. Stroud has been playing extremely well over the last few weeks, but it hasn't translated to his card market as of yet. Jesse Gibson needs a big week to get out of the basement, and C.J. Stroud could be a big riser with another big week.

Writing about Stroud and looking at his market, it does seem like a good time to buy into Stroud. Something to think about for next week!

Brock Purdy and Patrick Mahomes have been two of the biggest gainers over the last few weeks, so can guys like Stroud and Joe Burrow catch back up? We'll see this week.