J.J. McCarthy · Sam Darnold · 2026 week 8

J.J. McCarthy or Sam Darnold?

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

Start Sam Darnold — barelyThis one is a coin flip — the projections are within 0.1 points. The matchup leans Sam Darnold (CHI allow the 10th-most QB points), but you can defend either call.

Player	Wk 8	Proj (PPR)	Matchup	Form L3	Trade value	Status
J.J. McCarthy	@ PHI	16.2	9th	9.2	192	healthy
Sam Darnold START	vs CHI	16.3	10th	12.8	335	healthy

QBs vs PHI recently: Trevor Lawrence 22.7 pts (W5) · Bryce Young 19.8 pts (W6) · Dak Prescott 23.3 pts (W7).

QBs vs CHI recently: Jordan Love 25.3 pts (W5) · Michael Penix Jr. 23.1 pts (W6) · Drake Maye 28.4 pts (W7).

🎓 The coach's read

Projections are 0.1 apart — too close to call on projection alone.
J.J. McCarthy faces PHI, 9th most generous to QBs.
Sam Darnold faces CHI, 10th most generous to QBs.

Who wins a straight-up trade?

Sam Darnold carries the higher trade value — 335 against 192 (a 43% gap). In a one-for-one, the side receiving Sam Darnold gets the most. Momentum: J.J. McCarthy +192 and Sam Darnold -373 over the last 30 days.

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

More QB decisions

J.J. McCarthy or Jacoby Brissett?J.J. McCarthy or Michael Penix Jr.?J.J. McCarthy or Aaron Rodgers?Sam Darnold or Bryce Young?Sam Darnold or Bo Nix?Sam Darnold or Kirk Cousins?

All numbers are the 2026 season, refreshed nightly.