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, January 14, 4:51 PM

Minnesota Vikings quarterback Sam Darnold resurrected his career by leading the Vikings to 14 wins in 2024 while posting career-highs in passing yards (4,319) and touchdowns (35), but he came crashing down hard in losses to the Detroit Lions in Week 18 and the Los Angeles Rams in the wild-card round in which he had a combined 23 off-target throws and took 11 sacks. Darnold's future is now as unsettled as ever as he heads toward free agency in March, but ESPN's Jeremy Fowler writes that Darnold is still the top free-agent QB. The teams that Fowler has spoken with recently forecasted Darnold in the Geno Smith/Baker Mayfield weight class of contracts. Mayfield got a three-year, $100 million deal last offseason with Tampa, while Smith signed a three-year, $75 million deal before the 2023 season. Darnold tanked to end the year, but he did enough to find work as a starter somewhere else if Minnesota doesn't want him back.