Who Should I Start? Sam Darnold or Michael Penix Jr.

Wednesday, July 23, 2:22 PM

Seattle Seahawks quarterback Sam Darnold has taken command of the locker room from the start of camp, emerging as the team's clear-cut starter for the 2025 season. With a revamped offense featuring veteran wideout Cooper Kupp and deep threat Marquez Valdes-Scantling, Darnold is in position to thrive. Seattle is hoping that Darnold can replicate his success from last season with Minnesota, where he threw for 4,319 yards, 35 touchdowns, and 12 interceptions over 17 games. The former first-round pick has the tools to elevate a promising group of weapons, making him an intriguing late-round sleeper in fantasy football formats.

Tuesday, July 22, 6:31 PM

Atlanta Falcons quarterback Michael Penix Jr., who was taken eighth overall in the 2024 NFL draft, enters training camp this summer as the team's unquestioned starter under center after starting the final three games of last season after Kirk Cousins was benched. While the 25-year-old southpaw signal-caller has plenty to work on heading into his first full season as the starter, the Falcons offense did average 32 points a game in his three starts to close out 2024. Nobody should be drafting Penix this fall as a QB1 in fantasy, but he is one of the more intriguing young QBs in the NFL and could eventually join the ranks of QB1s if he can stay healthy. If that is going to happen, the Washington alum is going to need to be more accurate on the short and intermediate throws. Penix has plenty of weapons and is not a bad QB2 in superflex leagues, but his lack of rushing will cap his fantasy ceiling.