Who Should I Start? Sam Darnold or C.J. Stroud

Sunday, October 5, 8:59 PM

Seattle Seahawks quarterback Sam Darnold completed 28 of 34 pass attempts for 341 yards, four touchdowns, and one interception during Sunday's Week 5 loss against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. He was not sacked in the contest. Darnold essentially played mistake-free football for the first 59 minutes, keeping the underdog Seahawks in the game until the very end. Along the way, he turned in one of the week's best fantasy performances, which was a refreshing development since he hadn't exceeded 21 fantasy points in a single game through the first four weeks. Unfortunately for Darnold and the Seahawks, the veteran quarterback threw an interception with 58 seconds left, setting up a game-winning field goal for Tampa Bay. Seattle lost, but Darnold proved that he can perform against an above-average defense. He'll rank as a mid-range QB2 for Week 6 against Jacksonville.

Sunday, October 5, 5:35 PM

Houston Texans quarterback C.J. Stroud completed 23 of 27 pass attempts for 244 yards, four touchdowns, and zero interceptions during Sunday's Week 5 win over the Baltimore Ravens. He also broke off a 30-yard rush and took two sacks. The former No. 2 pick showed flashes of his rookie self as the Texans took advantage of an injury-riddled Ravens defense. Stroud set his season high in completion rate, passing yards, and passing touchdowns along the way. This was a very soft matchup for the young quarterback, so Sunday's result doesn't necessarily mean he's back to being a high-end QB1 every week. However, at the very least, the big game should give him some confidence going forward and give the Texans something to build off of and learn from. Houston has a Week 6 bye, which means they'll have an extra week to figure out what went right as they develop their game plan for Week 7 against Seattle.