Who Should I Start? Sam Darnold or Jayden Daniels

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.

Thursday, January 16, 5:10 PM

Washington Commanders rookie quarterback Jayden Daniels will look to extend their playoff run in a showdown in Detroit on Saturday evening. In his playoff debut last weekend in Tampa Bay, Daniels looked poised as he went 24-for-35 with 268 yards and two passing scores. He added 36 yards on the ground. The LSU product finished the regular season on a high note, averaging an impressive 34.0 PPR points per game and tallying over 300 all-purpose yards per game during Weeks 12 through 17. During this stretch, he found the back of the end zone 17 times. This weekend, in a projected high-scoring affair (55.5 projected point total) against the Lions, who have allowed the ninth-most PPR points to opposing QBs, makes Daniels an elite option in all DFS competitions.