Sam Darnold QB

SEA · Out — Lower Body — Week 4 vs LAC, who allow the 16th-most points to QBs — recently Jacoby Brissett put up 16.5 on them (W1).

Week 1 recap: Sam Darnold

0.5 PPR points against NE on 1/2, 13 pass yd — missed his 17.1 projection by 16.6. The week 2 outlook below reflects it — projections, values and form all rebuilt nightly.

Should you start Sam Darnold this week?

Sam Darnold projects 15.4 PPR points in week 4 vs LAC — the 16th-ranked matchup for QBs, averaging 0.5 over his last three. Start him if that clears your other options at QB — run the exact head-to-head in Start/Sit below, or jump straight to a comparison.

The week 2 angle vs LAC: 277 passing yards a game allowed (7.49/attempt) · 1 passing TDs/gm · 1 sacks and 0 INTs/gm · a soft spot for rushing QBs — 14 QB rush yds/gm — all of it adding up to the 16th-most fantasy points allowed to QBs. Receipts and the full profile: how LAC defends QBs, linked under The matchup below.

· No usage trend on file
Week 1 vs NE: 0.5 pts · 5 snaps
Trend reads volume — snaps, targets and carries — not fantasy points, which swing on touchdowns.
Week 4 proj
15.4
PPR · 15.4 std
Matchup
16th
LAC vs QBs
Trade value
265
#145 overall · -65/30d
Form
0.5
PPR pts/gm, last 3 played

Usage & TD luck (2026 · 1 game): 10% offensive snaps · 2 attempts/game, 50% completions, 6.5 yards/attempt, 13 passing yards/game, 0 TD to 0 INT · 0 carries/game. 2025 baseline (17 games): 96.2% offensive snaps, 28.1 attempts/game, 67.7% completions, 8.5 yards/attempt, 238.1 passing yards/game, 25 TD to 14 INT, 2.1 carries/game. (2025) Passing-TD luck: 25 thrown vs 31.6 expected. Usage moves before production — snaps and share shifts are the earliest real signal.

Compare Sam Darnold in Start/Sit Try in the Trade Analyzer

Latest news

Headlines link to their publishers — reported elsewhere, collected here. Our rankings never move on a headline.

Common decisions

Upcoming schedule & projections

WkOppStd½ PPRPPRMatchup
W4vs LAC Sun, Oct 4 15.415.415.4 16th
W5vs SF Sun, Oct 11 17.917.917.9 31st · tough
W6@ DEN Thu, Oct 15 15.315.315.3 9th
W7vs KC Sun, Oct 25 16.216.216.2 32nd · tough
W8vs CHI Mon, Nov 2 17.917.917.9 3rd · soft
W9vs ARI Sun, Nov 8 16.616.616.6 22nd

The matchup

Game log

WkOppStd½ PPRPPR
W1NE1/2, 13 pass yd 0.50.50.5
All numbers are the 2026 season, refreshed nightly. Matchup ranks read 1–32, where 1st allows the most points to the position — the matchup you want.