Who Should I Start? Sam Darnold or Mac Jones

Thursday, April 16, 8:12 PM

San Francisco 49ers quarterback Mac Jones is one of the more productive backups in the league, offering the ability to come off the bench and keep his team in the game. We saw Jones handle plenty of starter reps in 2025, as he started eight games last year with 2,151 passing yards, 13 touchdowns, and six interceptions. He even got onto the fringe of the fantasy radar by ranking as the overall QB16 from Week 2-10. However, as soon as Brock Purdy was healthy enough to play, the Niners turned to him and sent Jones to the bench. There was some speculation that Jones could be traded this offseason if the 49ers felt he was too valuable to leave on the bench. Nothing is stopping the Niners from making that deal now, but remaining with the team this deep in the offseason seems to be a pretty good sign that he'll stick around. Jones has upside when he gets onto the field, but given how difficult the roster crunch can be in fantasy football, managers don't need the former first-round pick clogging up their bench spots. He can be dropped to waivers in most formats.