Should I start Saquon Barkley or Sam Darnold in Week 7?

Updated Oct 20, 5:06 PM ET. Week 8 answers post Tuesday.

Start Sam Darnold: 100 percent of the snaps and 0 percent of the targets over their last 3 games, against Saquon Barkley's 28 percent of the snaps and 27 percent of the carries. 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 Saquon Barkley for Sam Darnold?

Yes, on the rest of the season. Sam Darnold projects 154 market-implied PPR points from Week 7 through Week 17 (15.4 a game over 10 games), Saquon Barkley 88 (8.8 a game over 10 games). Saquon Barkley is listed out.

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Neither man carries a season projection right now, so this is their usage this season and their last full season's numbers, side by side.

Saquon Barkley

RB28 · PHI · bye 10

2026 vs carries line 0-4

Overall rank: 81

Sam Darnold

QB10 · SEA · bye 11

2026 vs pass yds line 2-3

Overall rank: 83

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The gap

Board size299 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 Saquon Barkley, and the board ranks him 81st overall on the rest of his evidence.

By format he goes standard: ADP 3; 2QB: ADP 14.

Live drafts hold no current pick on Sam Darnold, and the board ranks him 83rd overall on the rest of his evidence.

In 2QB drafts he goes at ADP 26.

The market-based projections

The market-based projection for Saquon Barkley is 3.7 PPR points a game off 1 market across 2 market sources. That is 30 percent of what a running back's projection needs, so it is a fragment of one rather than a projection.

The market-based projection for Sam Darnold is 16.5 PPR points a game off 4 markets across 12 market sources. That is 80 percent of what a quarterback's projection needs, so it is a fragment of one rather than a projection.

Saquon Barkley's projection is not complete, so the two figures are not set against each other here.

This season so far

Through Week 4, Saquon Barkley has been on the field for 38 percent of PHI snaps, taken 36 percent of the carries, drawn 7 percent of the targets and had 14 percent of the red zone chances.

He has taken 1 of the offence's 33 third down targets, had 2 of its 8 chances inside the five and seen 0 of its 24 two minute targets.

His 7 targets have come 0.3 yards behind the line of scrimmage on average.

In Week 2 against TEN he carried 4 times for 9 yards, caught 1 of 2 targets for 11 yards and did not score.

In Week 3 against CHI he carried 15 times for 82 yards, caught 1 of 2 targets for -2 yards and did not score.

In Week 4 against LAR he carried 2 times for 8 yards, caught 1 of 1 target for 2 yards and did not score.

Through Week 6, Sam Darnold has been on the field for 86 percent of SEA snaps, dropped back 166 times and thrown 7.3 air yards an attempt.

He has been sacked or hit on 37 of 166 dropbacks and scrambled 5 times.

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.

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.

Their 2025 seasons

In 2025 Saquon Barkley played 16 games and scored 232.3 PPR points, 14.5 a game, finishing RB14.

He carried 280 times for 1140 yards and 7 touchdowns, and caught 37 of 50 targets for 273 more yards.

That came to 17-18 carries a game at 4.1 yards a carry and 2.3 catches a game.

He was on the field for 78 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 1 game more.

Side by side

In 2025 Sam Darnold scored 14.7 PPR points a game and Saquon Barkley 14.5, 0.2 a game between them.

Saquon Barkley finished RB14 and Sam Darnold QB13, which are two different ladders.

Saquon Barkley 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

Saquon Barkley is off in Week 10 and Sam Darnold in Week 11, so either can cover the other's bye.

Saquon Barkley is listed as out on the injury report.

Drop or keep

Should I drop Saquon Barkley for Sam Darnold?
Yes, on the rest of the season. Sam Darnold projects 154 market-implied PPR points from Week 7 through Week 17 (15.4 a game over 10 games), Saquon Barkley 88 (8.8 a game over 10 games). Saquon Barkley is listed out.
Should I drop Sam Darnold for Saquon Barkley?
No. Keep Sam Darnold: he projects 154 market-implied PPR points from Week 7 through Week 17 (15.4 a game over 10 games), Saquon Barkley 88 (8.8 a game over 10 games). Saquon Barkley is listed out.