Who Should I Start? Geno Smith or C.J. Stroud

Friday, June 21, 2:33 PM

Seattle Seahawks new offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb said the offense won't be as pass-happy as his offense was with the University of Washington, and he also plans to use fewer pre-snap motions and shifts, but Grubb wants to put a lot of responsibility on quarterback Geno Smith. The 33-year-old veteran signal-caller has welcomed more responsibility, but the results have so far been mixed in offseason workouts. Head coach Mike Macdonald has been impressed with Smith's plan, and the offense will have an extra opportunity to test itself during the preseason in joint practices with the Tennessee Titans. Smith had a career year in 2022 and was the QB5 in fantasy, but he predictably fell to QB15 in 2023. Nobody is saying Smith is a QB1 in fantasy, but a bounce-back is entirely plausible in what could be a more dynamic offense. Target him as a low-end QB2 in superflex formats.

Thursday, July 18, 2:03 PM

Houston Texans second-year quarterback C.J. Stroud, who won Offensive Rookie of the Year honors in 2023, said he thinks there are "a ton of things" he can do better in his second year in the NFL, starting with "owning the offense more" than he did a year ago. Stroud also hopes to improve his footwork in Year 2 and focused on his desire for the team to put more "on my plate" in terms of directing the offense. "I want to definitely attack down the field more this year and press guys back, but also take what the defense gives me," Stroud said. "If it's a boring play, stick with the boring stuff and just be efficient with that. Those are all things I can get better at." Fantasy managers shouldn't consider the 22-year-old to be a high-end QB1 just yet, but he's no doubt going to be a popular midrange QB1 target after the phenomenal rookie season he had.