Start Dak Prescott or Sam Darnold? Week 3

Our Week 3 call

Start Dak Prescott over Sam Darnold in Week 3.

De-vigged player props project Dak Prescott at 18.9 points and Sam Darnold at 17.9, a gap of 1.0. That is inside the noise of a single catch, so treat it as close to a coin flip. Both numbers are scaled up from a partial market: the books have not posted every stat the position needs, so the rest is estimated from what they have.

What the books imply

Player prop markets imply 18.9 fantasy points for Dak Prescott, with 100 percent of the markets a QB needs posted.

The books have Dak Prescott at 263.5 passing yards, 1.5 passing touchdowns and 12.5 rushing yards, with a 13% chance to score a touchdown (15, 17, 15 and 15 books).

Player prop markets imply 17.9 fantasy points for Sam Darnold, with 70 percent of the markets a QB needs posted.

The books have Sam Darnold at 1.5 passing touchdowns (3 books).

That puts Dak Prescott 1.0 points ahead of Sam Darnold on the books.

Injury status

Dak Prescott is not on the injury report.

Sam Darnold is listed as questionable.

Usage before Week 3

Through Week 2, Dak Prescott played 100 percent of DAL snaps, dropped back 72 times and threw an average of 8.5 air yards per attempt.

Dak Prescott, Week 1 against NYG: 58 of 58 snaps, 22 of 34 passes for 175 yards, 2 touchdowns and 1 interception, 2 carries for 14 yards.

Dak Prescott, Week 2 against WAS: 55 of 55 snaps, 26 of 31 passes for 279 yards, 4 touchdowns and 0 interceptions, 4 carries for 26 yards.

Through Week 1, Sam Darnold played 10 percent of SEA snaps, dropped back 3 times and threw an average of 7.5 air yards per attempt.

Sam Darnold, Week 1 against NE: 5 of 50 snaps, 1 of 2 passes for 13 yards, 0 touchdowns and 0 interceptions.

Their 2025 seasons

In 2025, Dak Prescott played 17 games for DAL and scored 323.8 PPR points, 19.0 a game, finishing QB6.

He completed 404 of 600 passes for 4552 yards, 30 touchdowns and 10 interceptions, and ran 53 times for 177 yards and 2 touchdowns.

He was on the field for 98 percent of the offense's snaps in the games he played.

Dak Prescott, Week 18 of 2025 against NYG: 7 of 11 passes for 70 yards, 0 touchdowns and 0 interceptions, 2 carries for -1 yards, 0.7 PPR points.

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.

Sam Darnold, Week 18 of 2025 against SF: 69 of 69 snaps, 20 of 26 passes for 198 yards, 0 touchdowns and 0 interceptions, 6 carries for 9 yards, 8.8 PPR points.

Sam Darnold, Week 17 of 2025 against CAR: 66 of 66 snaps, 18 of 27 passes for 147 yards, 1 touchdown and 1 interception, 3 carries for 2 yards, 7.1 PPR points.

Their other Week 3 calls

• Start Brock Purdy over Dak Prescott.
• Start Dak Prescott over Drake Maye.
• Start Jared Goff over Dak Prescott.
• Start Sam Darnold over Aaron Rodgers.
• Start Sam Darnold over Bryce Young.
• Start Sam Darnold over Cam Ward.