Should I drop Sam Darnold for Kirk Cousins?

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 Kirk Cousins 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 Kirk Cousins.

Start Sam Darnold or Kirk Cousins? Week 8

Updated Oct 27, 11:56 AM ET. Locks at kickoff, graded after. Week 9 answer posts Tuesday.

Start Sam Darnold over Kirk Cousins

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

Kirk Cousins

QB · LV · at NYJ

Market projects: 14.3; recent weeks avg
NYJ D vs QB: 16.7; 15th fewest to QBs (2026)
Upside: Rising; 78 of 100 at QB
Snap share: 98%; Through Week 7

Should I drop Kirk Cousins for Sam Darnold?

Not on these numbers alone. Kirk Cousins 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 Kirk Cousins.

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Our Week 8 call

Start Sam Darnold over Kirk Cousins in Week 8.

Market-based projections have Sam Darnold at 17.5 points and Kirk Cousins at 14.3, a gap of 3.2. 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 Kirk Cousins this week yet, so his 14.3 is the average of his market-based projections in Weeks 5, 6 and 7 (12.2, 15.6 and 15.1); the call is rebuilt when his market posts. 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 Kirk Cousins yet. His market-based projections were 12.2, 15.6 and 15.1 points in Weeks 5, 6 and 7, an average of 14.3, 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 233 passing yards, 1-2 passing touchdowns and 0.2 rushing touchdowns (9, 10 and 8 market sources).

That puts Sam Darnold 3.2 points ahead of Kirk Cousins on these projections.

Week 8 matchups

Kirk Cousins and LV visit NYJ on Sunday at 1:00 PM ET.

NYJ allowed 16.7 fantasy points a game to QBs this season over 7 games, the 15th fewest in the league.

Quarterbacks threw for 203 yards and 1.6 touchdowns a game against NYJ, with 0.1 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

Kirk Cousins is not on the injury report.

Sam Darnold is not on the injury report.

Usage before Week 8

Through Week 7, Kirk Cousins played 98 percent of LV snaps, dropped back 269 times and threw an average of 8.2 air yards per attempt.

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.

Kirk Cousins, Week 7 against LAR: 68 of 68 snaps, 26 of 44 passes for 295 yards, 2 touchdowns and 0 interceptions, 3 carries for 6 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, 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 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 Kirk Cousins for Sam Darnold?
Not on these numbers alone. Kirk Cousins 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 Kirk Cousins.
Should I drop Sam Darnold for Kirk Cousins?
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 Kirk Cousins 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 Kirk Cousins.

Should I drop Kirk Cousins?