Who Should I Start? Geno Smith or Sam Darnold

Saturday, March 23, 9:37 PM

Seattle Seahawks quarterback Geno Smith will enter the 2024-25 campaign as the team's starter. New head coach Mike Macdonald has avoided the topic since taking over. However, he finally addressed the situation with NFL Media's Tom Pelissero. "Very confident in Geno," said MacDonald. "Geno's going to be our starter." The signal-caller had a down season in 2023-24, throwing for 3,624 yards, 20 touchdowns, and nine interceptions. He also completed just 64.7% of his throws, a significant reduction from the previous year. But Smith was the 2022 NFL Comeback Player of the Year, so if anyone can turn things around, it's him. Yet, if he struggles during the season, he could find himself sitting behind Sam Howell, who was acquired by the Commanders just over a week ago. For now, fantasy managers shouldn't reach for Smith in drafts. With that in mind, while the 33-year-old might struggle at times, especially under a new head coach, he'll likely have more than a few productive fantasy showings.

Wednesday, May 8, 11:20 PM

Minnesota Vikings quarterback Sam Darnold could be named the team's Week 1 starter over first-round pick J.J. McCarthy. As Kevin Seifert of ESPN.com writes, "It's only a matter of time before McCarthy becomes the Vikings' starting quarterback [...] but it is not likely to happen as quickly as some fans might hope, and if anything, the Vikings are poised to err on the side of methodical caution." Such a scenario could see Minnesota let Darnold, whom they signed this past offseason when Kirk Cousins left for Atlanta, start a few games before transitioning to McCarthy. Darnold has struggled to support major fantasy production from his playmakers at previous stops, including the Jets and Panthers, so fantasy managers might want to temper expectations with players like Justin Jefferson, Jordan Addison, and T.J. Hockenson to start the year. Darnold himself falls to the low-end QB3 tier in fantasy football drafts.