Deshaun Watson or Sam Darnold: who should I start in Week 5?

What the player markets price

The player markets price Deshaun Watson at 16.9 PPR points a game, built from 5 markets across 16 market sources. That is the 23rd highest figure of the 184 players the market prices.

The player markets price Sam Darnold at 15.5 PPR points a game, built from 5 markets across 16 market sources. That is the 40th highest figure of the 184 players the market prices.

Where the draft room stands

Drafters have formed no consensus on Deshaun Watson: he carries no ADP, and the board ranks him 80th overall on the rest of his evidence.

Drafters have formed no consensus on Sam Darnold: he carries no ADP, and the board ranks him 109th overall on the rest of his evidence.

In 2QB drafts he goes at ADP 27.

This season through Week 4

Through Week 4, Deshaun Watson has been on the field for 100 percent of CLE snaps, dropped back 139 times and thrown 6.6 air yards an attempt.

He has been sacked or hit on 24 of 139 dropbacks and scrambled 13 times.

In Week 2 against TB he completed 24 of 30 passes for 238 yards, threw 2 touchdowns and 0 interceptions and ran 5 times for 24 yards.

In Week 3 against CAR he completed 16 of 30 passes for 144 yards, threw 2 touchdowns and 0 interceptions and ran 9 times for 47 yards.

In Week 4 against PIT he completed 24 of 33 passes for 268 yards, threw 1 touchdown and 1 interception and ran 5 times for 24 yards.

Through Week 4, Sam Darnold has been on the field for 75 percent of SEA snaps, dropped back 75 times and thrown 6.8 air yards an attempt.

He has been sacked or hit on 14 of 75 dropbacks and scrambled 2 times.

In Week 1 against NE he completed 1 of 2 passes for 13 yards and threw 0 touchdowns and 0 interceptions.

In Week 3 against WAS he completed 31 of 45 passes for 379 yards, threw 4 touchdowns and 2 interceptions and ran 1 time for 5 yards.

In Week 4 against LAC he completed 13 of 22 passes for 168 yards, threw 2 touchdowns and 1 interception and ran 1 time for 8 yards.

Their 2025 seasons

The season feed carries no line for Deshaun Watson in the last completed season.

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 8.5 yards an attempt.

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

Head to head

This season Deshaun Watson holds the bigger snap share, 100 percent against 75 percent.

Their target share this season is the same, 0 percent each.

Byes and availability

Sam Darnold is off in Week 11. No bye is listed for Deshaun Watson.

What would change the answer

1.4 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 the consensus sample holds these two again it can order them differently from the price, and this page will follow the sample rather than the market price when it does.