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

Sunday, March 16, 7:14 PM

The Seattle Seahawks recently signed free-agent quarterback Sam Darnold to a three-year, $100.5 million deal. According to Mike Florio, the Seahawks are Darnold are able to part ways after the 2025 season, assuming they want to. Darnold will receive $37.5 million, fully guaranteed for the upcoming season. After that, Darnold's salary will move to $27.5 million, but the Seahawks can opt-out after Super Bowl LX. This allows the Seahawks to escape the deal after one season. The organization is hopeful that Darnold can be an upgrade over Geno Smith, who they traded to the Las Vegas Raiders earlier this offseason. The Seahawks have made some major changes this offseason, including cutting Tyler Lockett, trading DK Metcalf, and signing wide receiver Cooper Kupp. We'll see what happens this upcoming season, but it appears the Seahawks can opt out of the deal if this experiment doesn't go well.

Monday, April 21, 7:07 PM

Houston Texans quarterback C.J. Stroud said he'll be "taking full ownership, running the show" in new offensive coordinator Nick Calley's system and appreciates how Calley is already putting trust in him. Stroud didn't look at all like a rookie in 2023 under previous offensive coordinator Bobby Slowik, but he came back down to Earth a bit in 2024 in his sophomore campaign and finished as the QB17 in fantasy while throwing for 3,727 yards, 20 touchdowns and 12 interceptions in 17 regular-season games. Protection was the biggest issue, as the former second overall pick took a whopping 52 sacks in 2024 after being sacked 38 times in 15 regular-season games as a rookie. Stroud could be more effective again with more control of the offense, particularly before the snap, leaving him as a fine midrange QB1 bounce-back target in fantasy.