Who Should I Start? Joshua Dobbs or Sam Darnold

Monday, March 18, 6:47 PM

The San Francisco 49ers reached an agreement on an undisclosed one-year deal with free-agent veteran quarterback Joshua Dobbs on Monday, according to his agent, Mike McCartney. Dobbs will give the Niners more depth behind starter Brock Purdy after Sam Darnold signed with the Minnesota Vikings this offseason. The 29-year-old Dobbs was the early season feel-good story in the NFL last year with the Arizona Cardinals and Vikings, but he was ultimately benched in Minnesota after they acquired him in a trade. In 13 games played (12 starts), the Steelers' former fourth-round selection in 2017 out of Tennessee completed 62.8% of his pass attempts for 2,464 yards, 13 touchdowns and 10 interceptions. Dobbs also added six rushing scores. He should be considered the favorite for backups duties over Brandon Allen.

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.