Who Should I Start? Sam Darnold or Rhamondre Stevenson

Friday, January 30, 2:52 PM

Seattle Seahawks quarterback Sam Darnold (oblique) was limited in practice all week but was removed from the final injury report on Friday, according to John Boyle of Seahawks.com. Darnold injured his left oblique in practice before the Divisional Round win over the San Francisco 49ers. The 28-year-old has played in both of the team's postseason games and has gone 37-for-53 passing for 470 yards, four touchdowns, and no interceptions in wins over San Fran and the Los Angeles Rams. Darnold hasn't wavered since tweaking his oblique several weeks ago, and with another week until the Super Bowl on Sunday, Feb. 8, against the New England Patriots, he should be close to 100%. The former third overall pick back in 2018 by the New York Jets threw for a season-high 346 yards against the Rams last weekend and could put up big numbers in the big game against New England.

Monday, January 26, 10:58 AM

New England Patriots running back Rhamondre Stevenson took on a workhorse role in his team's AFC Championship Game win over the Denver Broncos, recording 71 rushing yards on 25 carries. While Stevenson averaged a highly inefficient 2.8 yards per touch for the game, he was still a crucial piece in helping New England game-manage its way to a victory in snowy conditions in Denver. The Patriots finished the game with just 206 yards of total offense, so Stevenson accounted for over a third of his team's output. Stevenson also appears to have completely taken over the lead role in New England's backfield from rookie back TreVeyon Henderson. After playing over 60% of the Patriots' offensive snaps in each of their first two postseason games, Stevenson played 94% of the team's snaps against Denver. Both New England backs now face a difficult matchup in the Super Bowl against the Seattle Seahawks, who finished the regular season ranked first among NFL defenses in yards per carry allowed (3.7). Still, Stevenson appears better positioned than Henderson to take on a high-volume role and should have his chances for production.