Sam Darnold or Keaton Mitchell: who should I start in Week 5?

Where the draft room stands

Drafters have formed no consensus on Sam Darnold: he carries no ADP, and the board ranks him 114th overall on the rest of his evidence.

In 2QB drafts he goes at ADP 27.

Drafters have formed no consensus on Keaton Mitchell: he carries no ADP, and the board ranks him 115th overall on the rest of his evidence.

What the player markets price

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 183 players the market prices.

The market has Keaton Mitchell at 7.2 PPR points a game off 2 markets across 16 market sources. That is 70 percent of what a running back's price needs, so it is a fragment of one rather than a projection.

Keaton Mitchell's price is not complete, so the two figures are not set against each other here.

This season through Week 4

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.

Through Week 4, Keaton Mitchell has been on the field for 33 percent of LAC snaps, taken 24 percent of the carries, drawn 9 percent of the targets and had 11 percent of the red zone chances.

He has taken 3 of the offence's 37 third down targets, had 1 of its 7 chances inside the five and seen 0 of its 13 two minute targets.

His 10 targets have come 1.5 yards behind the line of scrimmage on average.

In Week 2 against LV he carried 5 times for 24 yards, caught 1 of 1 target for 15 yards and did not score.

In Week 3 against BUF he carried 8 times for 52 yards, caught 3 of 3 targets for -5 yards and scored 1 touchdown.

In Week 4 against SEA he carried 10 times for 39 yards, caught 5 of 6 targets for 24 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 8.5 yards an attempt.

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

In 2025 Keaton Mitchell played 13 games and scored 55.4 PPR points, 4.3 a game, finishing RB67.

He carried 59 times for 341 yards and 1 touchdown, and caught 9 of 12 targets for 63 more yards.

That came to 4.5 carries a game at 5.8 yards a carry and 0.7 catches a game.

He was on the field for 17 percent of the snaps in the games he played.

Sam Darnold was available for 4 games more.

Side by side

In 2025 Sam Darnold scored 14.7 PPR points a game and Keaton Mitchell 4.3, 10.4 a game between them.

Sam Darnold finished QB13 and Keaton Mitchell RB67, which are two different ladders.

Sam Darnold is a quarterback and Keaton Mitchell a running back, 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. No bye is listed for Keaton Mitchell.

What would change the answer

Keaton Mitchell is only part priced, so the market half of this page is whole for only one of them.