Start Sam Darnold or Joe Fagnano? Week 9

Our Week 9 call

Start Sam Darnold over Joe Fagnano in Week 9.

Market-based projections have Sam Darnold at 15.5 points and Joe Fagnano at 9.1, a gap of 6.4. Joe Fagnano'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.

What the market projects

Player markets imply 9.1 fantasy points for Joe Fagnano, with 80 percent of the markets a QB needs posted.

The market-based projection for Joe Fagnano is 161 passing yards and 0.1 rushing touchdowns (12 and 14 market sources).

Player markets imply 15.5 fantasy points for Sam Darnold, with 100 percent of the markets a QB needs posted.

The market-based projection for Sam Darnold is 224 passing yards, 1-2 passing touchdowns, 6 rushing yards and 0.1 rushing touchdowns (11, 13, 11 and 11 market sources).

That puts Sam Darnold 6.4 points ahead of Joe Fagnano on the market projections.

Week 9 matchups

Joe Fagnano and BAL host JAX on Thursday at 8:15 PM ET.

JAX allowed 15.6 fantasy points a game to QBs this season over 7 games, the 9th fewest in the league.

Quarterbacks threw for 262 yards and 1.1 touchdowns a game against JAX, with 1.3 interceptions a game.

Sam Darnold and SEA host ARI on Sunday at 4:25 PM ET.

ARI allowed 22.4 fantasy points a game to QBs this season over 8 games, the 2nd most in the league.

Quarterbacks threw for 238 yards and 2.3 touchdowns a game against ARI, with 0.4 interceptions a game.

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

Injury status

Joe Fagnano is not on the injury report.

Sam Darnold is not on the injury report.

Usage before Week 9

Through Week 8, Joe Fagnano played 78 percent of BAL snaps, dropped back 25 times and threw an average of 4.3 air yards per attempt.

Joe Fagnano, Week 8 against BUF: 40 of 51 snaps, 10 of 21 passes for 91 yards, 0 touchdowns and 1 interception, 2 carries for 4 yards.

Through Week 8, Sam Darnold played 90 percent of SEA snaps, dropped back 235 times and threw an average of 6.9 air yards per attempt.

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.

Sam Darnold, Week 8 against CHI: 63 of 63 snaps, 17 of 34 passes for 188 yards, 2 touchdowns and 1 interception, 2 carries for 20 yards.

Their 2025 seasons

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 9 calls

• Start Baker Mayfield over Joe Fagnano.
• Start Daniel Jones over Joe Fagnano.
• Start Deshaun Watson over Joe Fagnano.
• Start Baker Mayfield over Sam Darnold.
• Start Bo Nix over Sam Darnold.
• Start Sam Darnold over Bryce Young.