Should I start Sam Darnold or Chig Okonkwo in Week 8?

The market-based projections

Sam Darnold's market-based projection is 16.2 PPR points a game, built from 5 markets across 12 market sources. That is the 28th highest figure of the 210 players with a market-based projection.

Chig Okonkwo's market-based projection is 8.1 PPR points a game, built from 3 markets across 8 market sources. That is the 102nd highest figure of the 210 players with a market-based projection.

Where the draft room stands

Live drafts hold no current pick on Sam Darnold, and the board ranks him 107th overall on the rest of his evidence.

In 2QB drafts he goes at ADP 26.

Live drafts hold no current pick on Chig Okonkwo, and the board ranks him 106th overall on the rest of his evidence.

This season so far

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.

Through Week 6, Chig Okonkwo has been on the field for 65 percent of WAS snaps, drawn 16 percent of the targets and had 0 percent of the red zone chances.

He has taken 1 of the offence's 33 third down targets, had 0 of its 5 chances inside the five and seen 1 of its 15 two minute targets.

His 20 targets have averaged 6.8 air yards.

In Week 4 against IND he caught 2 of 4 targets for 5 yards and did not score.

In Week 5 against NYG he caught 4 of 6 targets for 60 yards and did not score.

In Week 6 against SF he caught 7 of 7 targets for 69 yards and did not score.

Their 2025 seasons

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.

In 2025 Chig Okonkwo played 17 games and scored 124.0 PPR points, 7.3 a game, finishing TE21.

He caught 56 of 79 targets for 560 yards and 2 touchdowns, with 5 red zone targets.

That came to 4.6 targets a game, a 71 percent catch rate and 10.0 yards a catch.

He was on the field for 62 percent of the snaps in the games he played.

Both were available for 17 games that season.

Side by side

In 2025 Sam Darnold scored 14.7 PPR points a game and Chig Okonkwo 7.3, 7.4 a game between them.

Sam Darnold finished QB13 and Chig Okonkwo TE21, which are two different ladders.

Sam Darnold is a quarterback and Chig Okonkwo a tight end, so the question is which slot you fill first rather than which of them is better.

Byes and availability

Sam Darnold is off in Week 11 and Chig Okonkwo in Week 7, so either can cover the other's bye.

What would change the answer

8.1 points a game is the entire case. The market restates it every week, and a line that moves moves the order with it.

The draft market is the half that is missing: when live drafts hold these two again they can order them differently from the projection, and this page will follow the drafts rather than the market-based projection when they do.