Who Should I Start? Sam Darnold or John Wolford

Wednesday, November 20, 5:57 PM

Minnesota Vikings quarterback Sam Darnold (foot) is listed on the Week 12 injury report after putting in a limited practice session on Wednesday due to a foot ailment. Darnold played the full game in the Week 11 win over the Tennessee Titans but is having his reps limited in the first practice of the week. We'll have a better idea of how serious his injury is after the Vikings hold two more practices on Thursday and Friday. The 27-year-old has slowed down of late in terms of his production, throwing five touchdowns and five interceptions in the last three games. It won't get any easier this weekend if he plays against the division-rival Chicago Bears, whose defense has given up the second-fewest fantasy points per game to the QB position in 2024. Darnold is shaping up as a low-end QB2 play for fantasy managers in Week 12 if he's active.

Saturday, August 31, 9:25 AM

The Carolina Panthers have signed veteran quarterback John Wolford to their practice squad. He had been released by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers during last week's series of roster cuts. Wolford reunites with Dave Canales, who was his offensive coordinator in Tampa Bay last year and is now the head coach of the Panthers. "John's fantastic. Hands down, the smartest guy in the room," Canales previously said about Wolford. He added, "It's a great feeling for a quarterback coach or an offensive coordinator when you know before the play starts where the ball should go, and it goes there. That's John Wolford. He's just like, 'Alright, so this ball should go to the backline right here, and there it is, bang.' Perfect." Evidently, the Panthers' new head coach has plenty of faith in Wolford and presumably jumped at the opportunity to bring him onto the practice squad when Tampa Bay cut him loose. He'll presumably open 2024 as Carolina's emergency No. 3 quarterback behind Bryce Young and Andy Dalton.