Rico Dowdle or Sam Darnold: who should I start in Week 6?

Where the draft room stands

Drafters have formed no consensus on Rico Dowdle: he carries no ADP, and the board ranks him 104th overall on the rest of his evidence.

Drafters have formed no consensus on Sam Darnold: he carries no ADP, and the board ranks him 106th overall on the rest of his evidence.

In 2QB drafts he goes at ADP 26.

What the player markets price

The market has Rico Dowdle at 2.3 PPR points a game off 1 market across 1 market source. That is 30 percent of what a running back's price needs, so it is a fragment of one rather than a projection.

The player markets price Sam Darnold at 14.4 PPR points a game, built from 5 markets across 14 market sources. That is the 26th highest figure of the 131 players the market prices.

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

This season so far

Through Week 2, Rico Dowdle has been on the field for 42 percent of PIT snaps, taken 37 percent of the carries, drawn 9 percent of the targets and had 17 percent of the red zone chances.

He has taken 1 of the offence's 18 third down targets and seen 0 of its 9 two minute targets.

His 7 targets have averaged 0.9 air yards.

In Week 1 against ATL he carried 8 times for 15 yards, caught 2 of 5 targets for 6 yards and did not score.

In Week 2 against NE he carried 7 times for 22 yards, caught 2 of 2 targets for 22 yards and did not score.

Through Week 5, Sam Darnold has been on the field for 81 percent of SEA snaps, dropped back 110 times and thrown 6.7 air yards an attempt.

He has been sacked or hit on 22 of 110 dropbacks and scrambled 3 times.

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.

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.

Their 2025 seasons

In 2025 Rico Dowdle played 17 games and scored 216.3 PPR points, 12.7 a game, finishing RB18.

He carried 236 times for 1076 yards and 6 touchdowns, and caught 39 of 50 targets for 297 more yards.

That came to 13.9 carries a game at 4.6 yards a carry and 2.3 catches a game.

He was on the field for 56 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 8.5 yards an attempt.

He was on the field for 96 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 Rico Dowdle 12.7, 1.9 a game between them.

Rico Dowdle finished RB18 and Sam Darnold QB13, which are two different ladders.

Rico Dowdle 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

Rico Dowdle is off in Week 9 and Sam Darnold in Week 11, so either can cover the other's bye.

Rico Dowdle is listed as out on the injury report.

What would change the answer

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