Fantasy Football Week 4 Start 'Em And Sit' Em: Jared Goff Vs. Baker Mayfield

Tampa Bay Buccaneers QB Baker Mayfield is QB9 on the season for fantasy football, while Detroit Lions QB Jared Goff is QB10. In our Week 4 Quarterback Start 'Em and Sit 'Em article, we take a look at whether fantasy managers should be starting Goff against the Browns or Mayfield against the Eagles.

Sep 22, 2025; Baltimore, Maryland, USA; Detroit Lions quarterback Jared Goff (16) drops back to pass against the Baltimore Ravens during the first half at M&T Bank Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mitch Stringer-Imagn Images | Mitch Stringer-Imagn Images

Welcome to our weekly quarterback Start ‘Em and Sit’ Em decision! 

In this Week 4 article, we’ll be taking a look at whether fantasy managers should be starting Jard Goff against the Cleveland Browns or Baker Mayfield against the Philadelphia Eagles. Goff is coming off his worst fantasy performance of the season, while Mayfield is coming off his highest passing yardage total. 

Shawn Childs has a great quarterback projections article for Week 4 that dives into the numbers behind this decision (and others!), but let’s go through the decision and see if we can come up with our own thoughts on Goff vs. Mayfield this week.

QB Jared Goff, Detroit Lions

Jared Goff currently sits at QB10 on the year with 761 passing yards, seven touchdowns, and one interception with a 77.9 completion percentage. Needless to say, he hasn’t suffered much from the departure of offensive coordinator Ben Johnson.

Goff will face a tough Browns defense this week that has only allowed 147 passing yards per game (fourth-best in the league), so he has his work cut out for him. In fantasy terms, the Browns have allowed 15.3 fantasy points per game to opposing quarterbacks, compared to Goff’s 19.2 per-game average.  

The Browns have a tough defense led by Myles Garrett, but they’ve only chalked up one takeaway (an interception) all season. Goff has been careful with the ball thus far, so this matchup shapes up nicely for him. 

QB Baker Mayfield, Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Baker Mayfield is currently QB9 for fantasy purposes and has put up 615 passing yards and six passing touchdowns on 61.6 percent completions while adding 116 rushing yards. Perhaps most impressively, he’s yet to throw an interception this year.

Mayfield will face a tough Eagles defense this week that has limited opposing quarterbacks to 14.6 fantasy points per game, compared to Mayfield’s 20.1 per-game average. Though they gave up two passing touchdowns to Matthew Staffod last week, the Eagles have only allowed 190.3 passing yards per game to opposing quarterbacks.

Mayfield has a bit of a built-in fantasy advantage on Goff in that his rushing prowess allows him to pad his fantasy stats. And the Eagles have allowed 23.0 yards per game to opposing quarterbacks (14th-worst in the league), so Mayfield should be able to get close to his 29.0 per-game rushing average. 

The Verdict

This is a REALLY close one for me, and is more of a coin flip than some recent Start ‘Em and Sit ‘Em decisions. With everything so close, my brain goes to two places: matchups and weapons. 

With the Browns currently coming in as the best rushing defense in the league, the Lions will likely need to lean on Goff more than they have in previous weeks. While the Eagles are more of the opposite and have a porous run defense that should allow the Buccaneers to lean on the run more. 

And while the Lions have a full cadre of passing options healthy, the Buccaneers will be without Mike Evans (and maybe still Chris Godwin).

I’m locking in Jared Goff over Baker Mayfield for Week 4.