Start Kirk Cousins or Sam Darnold? Week 7

Updated Oct 21, 3:11 PM ET. Locks at kickoff, graded after. Week 8 answer posts Tuesday.

Start Kirk Cousins over Sam Darnold

Start

Kirk Cousins

QB · LV · vs LAR

Market projects: 16.7; fantasy pts
LAR D vs QB: 17.4; 16th most to QBs (2026)
Upside: Limited; 26 of 100 at QB
Snap share: 98%; Through Week 6

Sit

Sam Darnold

QB · SEA · vs KC

Market projects: 15.4; fantasy pts
KC D vs QB: 12.6; 3rd fewest to QBs (2026)
Upside: Moderate; 40 of 100 at QB
Snap share: 86%; Through Week 6

Should I drop Kirk Cousins 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), Kirk Cousins 145 (14.5 a game over 10 games). For Week 7 the call starts Kirk Cousins over Sam Darnold, 16.7 to 15.4 projected PPR points. So make the move after his Week 7 game.

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Our Week 7 call

Start Kirk Cousins over Sam Darnold in Week 7.

Market-based projections have Kirk Cousins at 16.7 points and Sam Darnold at 15.4, a gap of 1.2. That is inside the noise of a single catch, so treat it as close to a coin flip. Kirk Cousins'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 16.7 fantasy points for Kirk Cousins, with 80 percent of the markets a QB needs posted.

The market-based projection for Kirk Cousins is 238 passing yards, 1-2 passing touchdowns and under 0.1 rushing touchdowns (13, 13 and 13 market sources).

Player markets imply 15.4 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, 0-1 interceptions, 6 rushing yards and 0.1 rushing touchdowns (13, 13, 7, 10 and 13 market sources).

That puts Kirk Cousins 1.2 points ahead of Sam Darnold on the market projections.

Week 7 matchups

Kirk Cousins and LV host LAR on Sunday at 4:25 PM ET.

LAR allowed 17.4 fantasy points a game to QBs this season over 6 games, the 16th most in the league.

Quarterbacks threw for 174 yards and 1.3 touchdowns a game against LAR, with 0.8 interceptions a game.

Sam Darnold and SEA host KC on Sunday at 8:20 PM ET.

KC allowed 12.6 fantasy points a game to QBs this season over 5 games, the 3rd fewest in the league.

Quarterbacks threw for 224 yards and 0.8 touchdowns a game against KC, with an interception a game.

By points allowed to the position, Kirk Cousins has the softer matchup.

Injury status

Kirk Cousins is not on the injury report.

Sam Darnold is not on the injury report.

Usage before Week 7

Through Week 6, Kirk Cousins played 98 percent of LV snaps, dropped back 221 times and threw an average of 8.4 air yards per attempt.

Kirk Cousins, Week 3 against NO: 70 of 70 snaps, 22 of 33 passes for 248 yards, 3 touchdowns and 0 interceptions, 1 carry for 5 yards.

Kirk Cousins, Week 4 against KC: 84 of 84 snaps, 31 of 49 passes for 365 yards, 2 touchdowns and 1 interception.

Kirk Cousins, Week 5 against NE: 50 of 60 snaps, 19 of 28 passes for 243 yards, 1 touchdown and 0 interceptions.

Kirk Cousins, Week 6 against BUF: 66 of 66 snaps, 23 of 41 passes for 313 yards, 2 touchdowns and 1 interception.

Through Week 6, Sam Darnold played 86 percent of SEA snaps, dropped back 166 times and threw an average of 7.3 air yards per attempt.

Sam Darnold, Week 3 against WAS: 67 of 67 snaps, 31 of 45 passes for 379 yards, 4 touchdowns and 2 interceptions, 1 carry for 5 yards.

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.

Their 2025 seasons

In 2025, Kirk Cousins played 10 games for ATL and scored 108.5 PPR points, 10.9 a game, finishing QB35.

He completed 166 of 269 passes for 1721 yards, 10 touchdowns and 5 interceptions, and ran 14 times for 7 yards and 1 touchdown.

He was on the field for 46 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 7 calls

Locks at kickoff, graded after. When the start/sit engine grades week 7, the call and the result appear on the public record, wrong ones included.

Drop or keep

Should I drop Kirk Cousins 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), Kirk Cousins 145 (14.5 a game over 10 games). For Week 7 the call starts Kirk Cousins over Sam Darnold, 16.7 to 15.4 projected PPR points. So make the move after his Week 7 game.
Should I drop Sam Darnold for Kirk Cousins?
No. Keep Sam Darnold: he projects 154 market-implied PPR points from Week 7 through Week 17 (15.4 a game over 10 games), Kirk Cousins 145 (14.5 a game over 10 games). For Week 7 the call starts Kirk Cousins over Sam Darnold, 16.7 to 15.4 projected PPR points.