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

Friday, October 25, 9:36 AM

Minnesota Vikings quarterback Sam Darnold started out hot, but he cooled off after the first few drives. Darnold threw touchdowns on back-to-back drives to open the game, but didn't have a ton of success after that. He completed 18-of-25 passing attempts for 240 yards and two scores in the loss to the Los Angeles Rams. Darnold now has thrown for 1,610 yards with 14 touchdowns and five interceptions through seven games. He hasn't been lighting up the box score lately, but he doesn't make silly mistakes with the football. Fantasy managers should be able to keep riding him as a QB1 for next week's matchup against the Indianapolis Colts.

Wednesday, October 30, 4:30 PM

Bad luck and bad timing make Houston Texans quarterback C.J. Stroud tough to start in one-QB formats on Thursday against the New York Jets. Despite the Jets being dysfunctional, even for them, they rank second in the NFL in yards after catch allowed and tied for third with six passing touchdowns surrendered in eight games. New York boasts two excellent coverage corners in Sauce Gardner and D.J. Reed, and Houston will face them when top wide receivers Nico Collins (hamstring) and Stefon Diggs (knee) are on injured reserve. Backup wide receivers, a short week, and a bad matchup is a lot to dislike, so fantasy managers should strongly consider their other options in Week 9.