Who Should I Start? Joshua Dobbs or Sam Darnold

Sunday, January 5, 9:45 PM

San Francisco 49ers quarterback Joshua Dobbs had a fantastic fantasy performance during a 47-24 loss to the Cardinals in Arizona. The 29-year-old backup to Brock Purdy (right elbow) completed 29-of-43 attempts for a career-high 326 yards, two touchdowns, and two interceptions. He added eight carries for 17 yards, including another touchdown on a sneak. His first touchdown throw was a six-yard dart just before halftime to rookie wideout Ricky Pearsall on a slant. Later, he hit a wide-open Kyle Juszczyk down the left side for a 36-yard score. Dobbs will be a free agent this offseason and comments made to the press on Thursday about Sunday's lone start of 2024 representing an "audition not only for the team that you're on, but for the other 31 other teams" make it seem unlikely he'll be back in Northern California next year.

Tuesday, February 18, 4:25 PM

ESPN's Kevin Seifert reports that the Minnesota Vikings are in no rush to place the franchise tag on impending free-agent quarterback Sam Darnold despite his career year in 2024. It doesn't mean they won't eventually use it on the 27-year-old signal-caller, and it doesn't rule out the team giving him a multi-year extension. Another option is that the Vikings tag Darnold and then trade him for draft-pick compensation. Keeping Darnold on the tag in 2025 would cost Minnesota around $40 million, which would be a questionable decision with former first-rounder J.J. McCarthy (knee) waiting in the wings as the franchise QB. Seifert believes the most likely scenario is that the team lets Darnold sign elsewhere while saving the tag for a player like cornerback Byron Murphy Jr., who had a career-high six interceptions in 2024. Darnold set career-highs last year across the board but also had just one TD and a 53% completion percentage in the last two games.