Who Should I Start? Sam Darnold or Easton Stick

Wednesday, May 8, 11:20 PM

Minnesota Vikings quarterback Sam Darnold could be named the team's Week 1 starter over first-round pick J.J. McCarthy. As Kevin Seifert of ESPN.com writes, "It's only a matter of time before McCarthy becomes the Vikings' starting quarterback [...] but it is not likely to happen as quickly as some fans might hope, and if anything, the Vikings are poised to err on the side of methodical caution." Such a scenario could see Minnesota let Darnold, whom they signed this past offseason when Kirk Cousins left for Atlanta, start a few games before transitioning to McCarthy. Darnold has struggled to support major fantasy production from his playmakers at previous stops, including the Jets and Panthers, so fantasy managers might want to temper expectations with players like Justin Jefferson, Jordan Addison, and T.J. Hockenson to start the year. Darnold himself falls to the low-end QB3 tier in fantasy football drafts.

Friday, March 15, 3:47 PM

The Los Angeles Chargers are re-signing quarterback Easton Stick, according to NFL insider Mike Garafolo. The former fifth-round pick in the 2019 NFL Draft out of North Dakota State played in five games last year after Justin Herbert (finger) went on Injured Reserve with a broken finger. In those games, Stick posted 1,129 passing yards, three touchdowns, and one interception. He reportedly drew interest from multiple teams on the open market, but he landed back with L.A. under new head coach Jim Harbaugh. Even if Herbert goes down this season for any length of time, Stick will have limited fantasy upside following the team's release of Mike Williams and trade of Keenan Allen to the Bears.