Who Should I Start? Geno Smith or Kyler Murray

Tuesday, September 9, 9:15 AM

Las Vegas Raiders quarterback Geno Smith (hamstring) is expected to be fine moving forward, but coach Pete Carroll said he was dealing with some tightness last week, especially in the second half. Smith looked sharp overall, throwing for 362 passing yards and a touchdown while adding 10 rushing yards on two carries. He relied heavily on tight ends Brock Bowers and Michael Mayer, along with Jakobi Meyers, who was the clear top wide receiver after the retirement of Amari Cooper. He'll need to mix in some of the young receivers going forward as well, but Smith looks to be in a good spot, starting once again for Carroll after their years in Seattle. Smith will get an extra day to rest his hamstring as well since the Raiders host the Chargers in the second game of Week 2's Monday Night Football doubleheader.

Monday, September 8, 7:50 PM

The Arizona Republic's Theo Mackie writes that the Arizona Cardinals "tweaked some of their pass-protection schematics in an attempt to open up more scrambling lanes" for quarterback Kyler Murray up the middle this year. In the 20-13 Week 1 win over the New Orleans Saints on Sunday, Murray went 21-for-29 for 163 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions while running the ball seven times for 38 yards. "I did think there were some high-leverage snaps in that game where he used his legs for our advantage and that's what you want to see," head coach Jonathan Gannon said. The 28-year-old ranked eighth among QBs in 2024 with 78 carries and finished fourth with 572 yards on the ground and five touchdowns. It sounds like Arizona might prefer Murray run the ball even more in 2025, which would only raise his ceiling and floor as a weekly low-end QB1 in fantasy.