Jared Goff · Sam Darnold · 2026 week 1

Jared Goff or Sam Darnold?

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

Start Jared Goff — barelyThis one is a coin flip — the projections are within 0.5 points. The matchup leans Jared Goff (NO allow the 27th-most QB points), but you can defend either call.

Player	Wk 1	Proj (PPR)	Matchup	Form L3	Trade value	Status
Jared Goff START	vs NO	20.3	27th · tough	15.6	837	healthy
Sam Darnold	vs NE	19.8	22nd	12.5	379	healthy

QBs vs NO recently: Brady Cook 4.7 pts (W16) · Cam Ward 17 pts (W17) · Kirk Cousins 10.2 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?

Jared Goff carries the higher trade value — 837 against 379 (a 55% gap). In a one-for-one, the side receiving Jared Goff gets the most. Momentum: Jared Goff +120 and Sam Darnold +54 over the last 30 days.

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

More QB decisions

Jared Goff or Matthew Stafford?Jared Goff or Brock Purdy?Jared Goff or Baker Mayfield?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.