Should I drop Sam Darnold for Aaron Rodgers?

Not on these numbers alone. Sam Darnold projects 136 market-implied PPR points from Week 8 through Week 17 (15.1 a game over 9 games) and Aaron Rodgers 131 (14.5 a game over 9 games), too close to separate, so the roster spot decides it. For Week 8 the call starts Sam Darnold over Aaron Rodgers.

Start Sam Darnold or Aaron Rodgers? Week 8

Updated Oct 27, 11:41 AM ET. Locks at kickoff, graded after. Week 9 answer posts Tuesday.

Start Sam Darnold over Aaron Rodgers

Start

Sam Darnold

QB · SEA · vs CHI

Market projects: 17.5; fantasy pts
CHI D vs QB: 19.9; 10th most to QBs (2026)
Upside: Limited; 34 of 100 at QB
Snap share: 89%; Through Week 7

Sit

Aaron Rodgers

QB · PIT · vs CLE

Market projects: 14.6; recent weeks avg
CLE D vs QB: 15.4; 8th fewest to QBs (2026)
Upside: Limited; 13 of 100 at QB
Snap share: 99%; Through Week 7

Should I drop Aaron Rodgers for Sam Darnold?

Not on these numbers alone. Aaron Rodgers projects 131 market-implied PPR points from Week 8 through Week 17 (14.5 a game over 9 games) and Sam Darnold 136 (15.1 a game over 9 games), too close to separate, so the roster spot decides it. For Week 8 the call starts Sam Darnold over Aaron Rodgers.

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Our Week 8 call

Start Sam Darnold over Aaron Rodgers in Week 8.

Market-based projections have Sam Darnold at 17.5 points and Aaron Rodgers at 14.6, a gap of 3.0. Sam Darnold's number is scaled up from a partial market: not every stat the position needs is posted yet, so the rest is estimated from what is. No player market is posted for Aaron Rodgers this week yet, so his 14.6 is the average of his market-based projections in Weeks 5, 6 and 7 (14.5, 14.3 and 14.8); the call is rebuilt when his market posts. Drafters take Sam Darnold at ADP 155 and Aaron Rodgers at 231. Market coverage on Sam Darnold is 70 percent of what his position needs, so the market side of this carries proportionally less weight.

What the market projects

No Week 8 player market is posted for Aaron Rodgers yet. His market-based projections were 14.5, 14.4 and 14.8 points in Weeks 5, 6 and 7, an average of 14.6, which stands in until his Week 8 market posts.

Player markets imply 17.5 fantasy points for Sam Darnold, with 70 percent of the markets a QB needs posted.

The market-based projection for Sam Darnold is 234 passing yards, 1-2 passing touchdowns and 0.2 rushing touchdowns (3, 4 and 7 market sources).

That puts Sam Darnold 3.0 points ahead of Aaron Rodgers on these projections.

Week 8 matchups

Aaron Rodgers and PIT host CLE on Sunday at 1:00 PM ET.

CLE allowed 15.4 fantasy points a game to QBs this season over 7 games, the 8th fewest in the league.

Quarterbacks threw for 221 yards and 1.6 touchdowns a game against CLE, with 0.7 interceptions a game.

Sam Darnold and SEA host CHI on Monday at 8:15 PM ET.

CHI allowed 19.9 fantasy points a game to QBs this season over 7 games, the 10th most in the league.

Quarterbacks threw for 241 yards and 1.6 touchdowns a game against CHI, with 0.6 interceptions a game.

By points allowed to the position, Sam Darnold has the softer matchup.

Injury status

Aaron Rodgers is not on the injury report.

Sam Darnold is not on the injury report.

Usage before Week 8

Through Week 7, Aaron Rodgers played 99 percent of PIT snaps, dropped back 286 times and threw an average of 7.5 air yards per attempt.

Aaron Rodgers, Week 4 against CLE: 72 of 72 snaps, 22 of 40 passes for 299 yards, 3 touchdowns and 2 interceptions.

Aaron Rodgers, Week 5 against IND: 58 of 60 snaps, 22 of 31 passes for 235 yards, 3 touchdowns and 0 interceptions, 1 carry for 6 yards.

Aaron Rodgers, Week 6 against TB: 79 of 79 snaps, 33 of 47 passes for 253 yards, 2 touchdowns and 1 interception.

Aaron Rodgers, Week 7 against NO: 64 of 64 snaps, 19 of 30 passes for 212 yards, 1 touchdown and 0 interceptions, 1 carry for 8 yards.

Through Week 7, Sam Darnold played 89 percent of SEA snaps, dropped back 196 times and threw an average of 7.0 air yards per attempt.

Sam Darnold, Week 4 against LAC: 60 of 60 snaps, 13 of 22 passes for 168 yards, 2 touchdowns and 1 interception, 1 carry for 8 yards.

Sam Darnold, Week 5 against SF: 63 of 63 snaps, 18 of 29 passes for 195 yards, 1 touchdown and 2 interceptions, 1 carry for 5 yards.

Sam Darnold, Week 6 against DEN: 85 of 85 snaps, 27 of 49 passes for 278 yards, 0 touchdowns and 2 interceptions, 2 carries for 19 yards.

Sam Darnold, Week 7 against KC: 69 of 69 snaps, 20 of 28 passes for 257 yards, 1 touchdown and 1 interception, 2 carries for 17 yards.

Their 2025 seasons

In 2025, Aaron Rodgers played 16 games for PIT and scored 234.1 PPR points, 14.6 a game, finishing QB18.

He completed 327 of 498 passes for 3322 yards, 24 touchdowns and 7 interceptions, and ran 21 times for 61 yards and 1 touchdown.

He was on the field for 95 percent of the offense's snaps in the games he played.

In 2025, Sam Darnold played 17 games for SEA and scored 249.4 PPR points, 14.7 a game, finishing QB13.

He completed 323 of 477 passes for 4048 yards, 25 touchdowns and 14 interceptions, and ran 35 times for 95 yards and 0 touchdowns.

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

Their other Week 8 calls

Locks at kickoff, graded after. When the start/sit engine grades week 8, the call and the result appear on the public record, wrong ones included.

Drop or keep

Should I drop Aaron Rodgers for Sam Darnold?
Not on these numbers alone. Aaron Rodgers projects 131 market-implied PPR points from Week 8 through Week 17 (14.5 a game over 9 games) and Sam Darnold 136 (15.1 a game over 9 games), too close to separate, so the roster spot decides it. For Week 8 the call starts Sam Darnold over Aaron Rodgers.
Should I drop Sam Darnold for Aaron Rodgers?
Not on these numbers alone. Sam Darnold projects 136 market-implied PPR points from Week 8 through Week 17 (15.1 a game over 9 games) and Aaron Rodgers 131 (14.5 a game over 9 games), too close to separate, so the roster spot decides it. For Week 8 the call starts Sam Darnold over Aaron Rodgers.

Should I drop Aaron Rodgers?