Should I start Darren Waller or Sam Darnold in Week 10?
Updated Nov 11, 5:16 PM ET. Week 11 answers post Tuesday.
Latest
- : Seahawks' Quenton Nelson, Sam Darnold among starters ruled out (ESPN)
Start Sam Darnold: 100 percent of the snaps and 0 percent of the targets over their last 3 games, against Darren Waller's 54 percent of the snaps and 14 percent of the targets. 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 Darren Waller for Sam Darnold?
Yes, on the rest of the season. Sam Darnold projects 106 market-implied PPR points from Week 10 through Week 17 (15.1 a game over 7 games), Darren Waller 50 (6.3 a game over 8 games). Sam Darnold is listed out.
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Your next move
More fantasy football tools and rankings, all built from the same board.
Both players' season market-based projection, their usage this season and their last full season's numbers.
TE16 · CAR · bye 5
2026 vs anytime td line 3-5
- Market-based projection
- 7.0 pts a game
QB22 · SEA · bye 11
2026 vs pass yds line 3-4
- Market-based projection
- 14.7 pts a game Wk 9 price
- Overall rank
- 119
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The gap
- Board size315 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 Darren Waller, and the board ranks him 118th overall on the rest of his evidence.
Live drafts hold no current pick on Sam Darnold, and the board ranks him 119th overall on the rest of his evidence.
In 2QB drafts he goes at ADP 26.
The market-based projections
Darren Waller's market-based projection is 7.0 PPR points a game, built from 3 markets across 14 market sources. That is the 99th highest figure of the 214 players with a market-based projection.
No season market is posted for Sam Darnold, so the only market valuing him on this page is the draft room.
This season so far
Through Week 9, Darren Waller has been on the field for 49 percent of CAR snaps, drawn 12 percent of the targets and had 7 percent of the red zone chances.
He has taken 15 of the offence's 61 third down targets, had 0 of its 15 chances inside the five and seen 8 of its 37 two minute targets.
His 35 targets have averaged 9.7 air yards.
In Week 7 against TB he caught 1 of 2 targets for 50 yards and scored 1 touchdown.
In Week 8 against GB he caught 1 of 2 targets for 11 yards and did not score.
In Week 9 against DEN he caught 8 of 10 targets for 90 yards and scored 1 touchdown.
Through Week 8, Sam Darnold has been on the field for 90 percent of SEA snaps, dropped back 235 times and thrown 6.9 air yards an attempt.
He has been sacked or hit on 45 of 235 dropbacks and scrambled 9 times.
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.
In Week 8 against CHI he completed 17 of 34 passes for 188 yards, threw 2 touchdowns and 1 interception and ran 2 times for 20 yards.
Their 2025 seasons
In 2025 Darren Waller played 9 games and scored 88.7 PPR points, 9.9 a game, finishing TE33.
He caught 24 of 34 targets for 283 yards and 6 touchdowns, with 7 red zone targets.
That came to 3.8 targets a game, a 71 percent catch rate and 11.8 yards a catch.
He was on the field for 45 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 8 games more.
Side by side
In 2025 Sam Darnold scored 14.7 PPR points a game and Darren Waller 9.9, 4.8 a game between them.
Darren Waller finished TE33 and Sam Darnold QB13, which are two different ladders.
Darren Waller is a tight end and Sam Darnold a quarterback, so the question is which slot you fill first rather than which of them is better.
Byes and availability
Darren Waller is off in Week 5 and Sam Darnold in Week 11, so either can cover the other's bye.
Sam Darnold is listed as out on the injury report.
What would change the answer
Sam Darnold has no posted market, so one half of the evidence on this page exists for only one of them.
Drop or keep
Should I drop Darren Waller for Sam Darnold?
Yes, on the rest of the season. Sam Darnold projects 106 market-implied PPR points from Week 10 through Week 17 (15.1 a game over 7 games), Darren Waller 50 (6.3 a game over 8 games). Sam Darnold is listed out.
Should I drop Sam Darnold for Darren Waller?
No. Keep Sam Darnold: he projects 106 market-implied PPR points from Week 10 through Week 17 (15.1 a game over 7 games), Darren Waller 50 (6.3 a game over 8 games). Sam Darnold is listed out.
Both players in full
Week 10 on the board
- Is Darren Waller playing Week 10?
- Is Sam Darnold playing Week 10?
- Panthers depth chart
- Seahawks depth chart
- Week 10 QB rankings
- Week 10 TE rankings
- Week 10 fantasy rankings
- Week 10 start or sit
- Week 10 waiver wire
- Week 10 trade value chart
- Trade deadline buy low, sell high
- Fantasy football rankings
- Start 'em sit 'em Week 10
- Waiver wire pickups
- Fantasy sleepers
- Rest of season rankings
- Week 10 kicker rankings
- Week 10 defense rankings
