Who Should I Start? Sam Darnold or Josh Allen

Friday, January 16, 4:28 PM

Seattle Seahawks head coach Mike Macdonald said the team is "really optimistic" that quarterback Sam Darnold (oblique) "is going to be able to play" in Saturday night's Divisional Round game against the visiting San Francisco 49ers, according to Michael-Shawn Dugar of The Athletic. Macdonald said there's a possibility that Darnold's oblique injury limits him physically, but he also said that Darnold is confident he'll be able to operate normally. The 28-year-old signal-caller felt something in his oblique in Thursday's practice and shut it down early, and he's officially questionable to play this weekend. Darnold became the only QB in history to lead two different teams to 14-win seasons in back-to-back years. However, in two games against the Niners this year, he hasn't gone over 200 yards passing and hasn't thrown a TD pass. With an injury to boot going into the playoffs, we wouldn't blame fantasy managers for passing on Darnold.

Thursday, January 15, 3:42 PM

Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen (foot, knee, finger) was listed with foot, knee, and finger injuries this week, but he practiced in full on Wednesday and Thursday and has been cleared to play in the Divisional Round of the playoffs this Saturday against the Denver Broncos. Allen is heading into a less-than-ideal matchup on the road with two of his receivers (Gabe Davis and Tyrell Shavers) out for the rest of the year with torn ACLs. However, he should still be considered one of the top-two QB plays in fantasy football playoff leagues because of his dual-threat abilities. Denver's strong defense allowed the sixth-fewest fantasy points per game to QBs during the regular season, but Allen is a different breed. He was the top fantasy QB in 2025 and led the NFL with 14 rushing touchdowns -- the next closest was Trevor Lawrence with nine.