Start Sam Darnold or Michael Penix Jr.? Week 5
Locks at kickoff, graded after.
Start Sam Darnold over Michael Penix Jr.
- Market projects
- 15.4
- fantasy pts
- Snap share
- 75%
- Through Week 4
- Market projects
- 14.5
- fantasy pts
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Our Week 5 call
Start Sam Darnold over Michael Penix Jr. in Week 5.
Market-based projections have Sam Darnold at 15.4 points and Michael Penix Jr. at 14.5, a gap of 0.9. That is inside the noise of a single catch, so treat it as close to a coin flip.
What the market projects
Player markets imply 15.5 fantasy points for Sam Darnold, with 100 percent of the markets a QB needs posted.
The market has Sam Darnold at 227.5 passing yards, 1.5 passing touchdowns and 4.5 rushing yards, with a 10% chance to score a touchdown (15, 16, 13 and 15 market sources).
Player markets imply 14.5 fantasy points for Michael Penix Jr., with 100 percent of the markets a QB needs posted.
The market has Michael Penix Jr. at 221.5 passing yards, 1.5 passing touchdowns and 0.5 rushing yards, with a 8% chance to score a touchdown (16, 15, 3 and 15 market sources).
That puts Sam Darnold 0.9 points ahead of Michael Penix Jr. on the market projections.
Injury status
Sam Darnold is not on the injury report.
Michael Penix Jr. is not on the injury report.
Usage before Week 5
Through Week 4, Sam Darnold played 75 percent of SEA snaps, dropped back 75 times and threw an average of 6.8 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.
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.
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 5 calls
On the draft board
Ranked ahead
QB22 · SEA · bye 11
2025 vs pass yds line 9-8
- Overall rank
- 109
- Draft pick
- no consensus
- Tier
- 6
Ranked behind
QB25 · ATL · bye 11
2025 vs pass yds line 4-5
- Overall rank
- 122
- Draft pick
- no consensus
- Tier
- 7
The board cards are draft figures, not the week's call. Locks at kickoff, graded after. When the start/sit engine grades week 5, the call and the result appear on the public record, wrong ones included.
The gap between them
- Spots apart on the board13
- Pick differencenot comparable without a consensus on both
- Tierstier 6 and tier 7
- Board size223 draftable players
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