Baker Mayfield · Sam Darnold · 2026 week 1

Baker Mayfield or Sam Darnold?

Wondering who you should start this week — Baker Mayfield or Sam Darnold? The start/sit call and the numbers behind it are below, plus who wins a straight-up trade. Rebuilt nightly.

Start Baker Mayfield — barelyThis one is a coin flip — the projections are within 0 points. The matchup leans Baker Mayfield (CIN allow the 8th-most QB points), but you can defend either call.

Player	Wk 1	Proj (PPR)	Matchup	Form L3	Trade value	Status
Baker Mayfield START	@ CIN	19.8	8th · soft	15.8	1,033	healthy
Sam Darnold	vs NE	19.8	22nd	12.5	379	healthy

QBs vs CIN recently: Quinn Ewers 8.9 pts (W16) · Jacoby Brissett 16.5 pts (W17) · Shedeur Sanders 5 pts (W18).

QBs vs NE recently: Lamar Jackson 4.7 pts (W16) · Brady Cook 5.2 pts (W17) · Quinn Ewers 9.4 pts (W18).

Who wins a straight-up trade?

Baker Mayfield carries the higher trade value — 1,033 against 379 (a 63% gap). In a one-for-one, the side receiving Baker Mayfield gets the most. Momentum: Baker Mayfield +162 and Sam Darnold +54 over the last 30 days.

Open in Start/Sit (any scoring) Open in the Trade Analyzer

More QB decisions

Baker Mayfield or Bo Nix?Baker Mayfield or Matthew Stafford?Baker Mayfield or Brock Purdy?Sam Darnold or Jordan Love?Sam Darnold or Kyler Murray?Sam Darnold or Tyler Shough?

Game logs, matchup ranks and form are the 2025 season — 2026 hasn’t kicked off. Projections, schedule and trade values are current 2026 numbers, refreshed nightly.