Who Should I Start? Jimmy Garoppolo or Sam Darnold

Friday, March 15, 5:37 PM

The Los Angeles Rams agreed to terms with free-agent quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo on an undisclosed one-year deal on Friday, according to sources. Following his disastrous year with the Las Vegas Raiders in 2023, Jimmy G is now set to join the Rams for one season as Matthew Stafford's backup. Garoppolo must first serve a two-games suspension to start the year for performance-enhancing drugs, but then he will be holding a clipboard on the sidelines with the Rams. The 32-year-old signal-caller played in seven games with the Raiders last year before getting hurt and eventually benched for rookie Aidan O'Connell, going 110-for-169 for 1,205 yards, seven touchdowns and nine interceptions. Pretty much all of the fantasy value that Jimmy G had going into last season is now gone.

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.