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Should I start Aaron Jones Sr. or Sam Darnold in Week 8?

Updated Oct 27, 10:26 PM ET.

Latest

  • : Aaron Jones Sr.: Listed Questionable (Undisclosed) (Sleeper injury feed)

Start Sam Darnold: 100 percent of the snaps and 0 percent of the targets over their last 3 games, against Aaron Jones Sr.'s 25 percent of the snaps and 30 percent of the carries. No market projection is posted on either of them this week, so this is a usage call, and a lower confidence one than a call made on a projection. What follows is what each of them has done.

Should I drop Sam Darnold for Aaron Jones Sr.?

Not on these numbers alone. Sam Darnold projects 138 market-implied PPR points from Week 8 through Week 17 (15.3 a game over 9 games) and Aaron Jones Sr. 141 (14.1 a game over 10 games), too close to separate, so the roster spot decides it. Aaron Jones Sr. is listed questionable.

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Both players' season market-based projection, their usage this season and their last full season's numbers.

Aaron Jones Sr.

RB32 · MIN · bye 6

2026 vs carries line 5-1

Market-based projection
10.9 pts a game Wk 7 price
Overall rank
92

Sam Darnold

QB13 · SEA · bye 11

2026 vs pass yds line 3-3

Market-based projection
16.2 pts a game

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The gap

  • Board size294 draftable players

Draft data is not current for these two, so the figures that depend on it are left out. The call above comes from each player's usage.

Where the draft room stands

Live drafts hold no current pick on Aaron Jones Sr., and the board ranks him 92nd overall on the rest of his evidence.

Live drafts hold no current pick on Sam Darnold, and the board ranks him 93rd overall on the rest of his evidence.

In 2QB drafts he goes at ADP 26.

The market-based projections

The market has Aaron Jones Sr. at 3.5 PPR points a game off 1 market across 12 market sources. That is 30 percent of what a running back's projection needs, so it is a fragment of one rather than a projection.

Sam Darnold's market-based projection is 16.2 PPR points a game, built from 5 markets across 12 market sources. That is the 17th highest figure of the 199 players with a market-based projection.

Aaron Jones Sr.'s projection is not complete, so the two figures are not set against each other here.

This season through Week 7

Through Week 7, Aaron Jones Sr. has been on the field for 25 percent of MIN snaps, taken 30 percent of the carries, drawn 4 percent of the targets and had 20 percent of the red zone chances.

He has taken 0 of the offence's 8 third down targets, had 0 of its 1 chance inside the five and seen 0 of its 1 two minute target.

His 1 target have averaged 0.0 air yards.

In Week 7 against IND he carried 8 times for 26 yards, caught 1 of 1 target for 0 yards and did not score.

Through Week 7, Sam Darnold has been on the field for 89 percent of SEA snaps, dropped back 196 times and thrown 7.0 air yards an attempt.

He has been sacked or hit on 39 of 196 dropbacks and scrambled 7 times.

In Week 5 against SF he completed 18 of 29 passes for 195 yards, threw 1 touchdown and 2 interceptions and ran 1 time for 5 yards.

In Week 6 against DEN he completed 27 of 49 passes for 278 yards, threw 0 touchdowns and 2 interceptions and ran 2 times for 19 yards.

In Week 7 against KC he completed 20 of 28 passes for 257 yards, threw 1 touchdown and 1 interception and ran 2 times for 17 yards.

Their 2025 seasons

In 2025 Aaron Jones Sr. played 12 games and scored 118.7 PPR points, 9.9 a game, finishing RB41.

He carried 132 times for 548 yards and 2 touchdowns, and caught 28 of 41 targets for 199 more yards.

That came to 11.0 carries a game at 4.2 yards a carry and 2.3 catches a game.

He was on the field for 55 percent of the snaps in the games he played.

In 2025 Sam Darnold played 17 games and scored 249.4 PPR points, 14.7 a game, finishing QB13.

He threw for 4048 yards on 477 attempts with 25 touchdowns and 14 interceptions, and ran for 95 yards and 0 touchdowns.

That came to 28.1 attempts a game at 9 yards an attempt.

He was on the field for 96 percent of the snaps in the games he played.

Sam Darnold was available for 5 games more.

Side by side

In 2025 Sam Darnold scored 14.7 PPR points a game and Aaron Jones Sr. 9.9, 4.8 a game between them.

Aaron Jones Sr. finished RB41 and Sam Darnold QB13, which are two different ladders.

Aaron Jones Sr. is a running back and Sam Darnold a quarterback, so the question is which slot you fill first rather than which of them is better.

Byes and availability

Aaron Jones Sr. is off in Week 6 and Sam Darnold in Week 11, so either can cover the other's bye.

Aaron Jones Sr. is listed as questionable on the injury report.

What would change the answer

Aaron Jones Sr. has only a partial projection, so the market half of this page is whole for only one of them.

Drop or keep

  • Should I drop Sam Darnold for Aaron Jones Sr.?

    Not on these numbers alone. Sam Darnold projects 138 market-implied PPR points from Week 8 through Week 17 (15.3 a game over 9 games) and Aaron Jones Sr. 141 (14.1 a game over 10 games), too close to separate, so the roster spot decides it. Aaron Jones Sr. is listed questionable.

  • Should I drop Aaron Jones Sr. for Sam Darnold?

    Not on these numbers alone. Aaron Jones Sr. projects 141 market-implied PPR points from Week 8 through Week 17 (14.1 a game over 10 games) and Sam Darnold 138 (15.3 a game over 9 games), too close to separate, so the roster spot decides it. Aaron Jones Sr. is listed questionable.

Should I drop Aaron Jones Sr.?

Both players in full

Week 8 on the board

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