We’ve called Sam Darnold a lot of names during his checkered seven-year career, “bust” being one of the most common.
Maybe in 2024, it’s time to call Sam Darnold a fantasy football league winner.
Darnold certainly looked the part in Sunday’s blowout win over Atlanta, shredding the Falcons for 347 yards and five touchdown passes. It was Darnold’s fourth straight game with multiple TD passes and zero interceptions. He’s currently the QB2 on the Week 14 leaderboard, and assured of his seventh finish inside the top 10 at the position. Darnold’s been bankable just about every week.
Darnold’s spreading the fantasy goodness to his primary targets, too. Jordan Addison (8-133-3) caught three of those Darnold touchdowns Sunday, Justin Jefferson (7-132-2) the other two. That’s the narrow target tree we know and love. Addison chased up to 35.3 fantasy points on the day before the primetime games (the WR2), with Jefferson scoring 28.7 points (the WR3).
Darnold’s season has been all about chunk plays and consistency. He entered Sunday with a juicy 8.2 YPA and that number was a robust 12.4 Sunday. He’s posted a rating over 100 in 11-of-13 starts. There’s a floor to go with the upside here.
Head coach Kevin O’Connell is one of the best passing-game designers in the league and surely deserves a lot of credit for the Darnold breakout. We’ve seen KO’C work some miracles before. But maybe the timing was finally right with Darnold. He was poorly supported during his time with the Jets and Panthers. Maybe he picked up some key things in the one year in San Francisco, when he hardly played.
To be fair, Atlanta’s secondary was one of the green matchups on the slate. The schedule gets (theoretically) harder to finish, albeit next week’s opponent, Chicago, is currently getting torched by the 49ers. After that, it’s Seattle and Green Bay. At least two of the games are at home.
But this is an infrastructure I want to bet on. Jefferson often looks like the best receiver in football and Addison — a Biletnikoff winner in college — has to be one of the best WR2s (his Sunday tape was gorgeous). T.J. Hockenson (4-45-0 Sunday) is a credible third piece. And the consistency we talked about lets fantasy managers sleep at night.
Minnesota, of course, moved on from Kirk Cousins in the offseason. He didn’t fare well in Sunday’s revenge game spot. Oh, the Falcons moved the ball plenty, but Cousins threw two picks and didn’t have a touchdown pass for the fourth straight game. This offense crushes your soul every week.
Darnell Mooney (6-142-0) made the most of seven targets and Drake London (5-70-0) was passable, though we wanted more from his 10 opportunities. Kyle Pitts has vanished from the offense (1-14-0). The Atlanta coaching staff continues to back Cousins, but you wonder what would have to happen for Michael Penix Jr. to get a chance. Sure, they’re paying Cousins that exorbitant salary, but they also used a first-round pick on Penix. This is why most teams don’t throw heavy resources at more than one quarterback.
Maybe a trip to Vegas will help Cousins get his groove back in Week 15. After that, the Giants and Commanders come calling.
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Dolphins deliver a fantasy party
Miami’s overtime win over the Jets had plenty of fantasy winners. Tyreek Hill (10-115-1) finally had a blowup game, De’Von Achane got home on volume and touchdown deodorant (69 yards, touchdown) and Jaylen Waddle was involved and useful (9-99-0). Anyone who clicked on their names was validated.
But let’s say a word about Jonnu Smith’s crazy day. He was ignored for basically three hours and didn’t have a single catch through regulation. Then Smith went bonkers in the overtime, catching three passes for 44 yards, including the game-winning 10-yard score. In a matter of about 10 minutes, Smith jumped up to the TE5 mark, a spot he’s been living in for about a month now. Maybe Smith just needed a helping hand from play designer Mike McDaniel, as his first two catches came on well-designed screens — the type of thing Miami can get almost any time it wants.
The Jets, well, they’re always somewhat frustrating. Aaron Rodgers had his best game of the season (339 yards, 8.7 YPA) after three months of soul-crushing outcomes. It was the third Davante Adams smash game of the year (9-109-1), after two bad games and one passable one. Braelon Allen picked up a backfield start with Breece Hall unavailable, but Isaiah Davis played just as much. At least the Jets are officially eliminated from playoff contention. They finish the fantasy playoffs this way: at Jaguars, Rams, at Bills.
Panthers remain fantasy-relevant in loss
I know no one’s using Bryce Young in standard fantasy leagues and no one gets a parade for 5.6 YPA or 16 points. But Young only took one sack against the Philadelphia pass rush Sunday, and he almost engineered the upset of the season; he’s been much improved since regaining the starting job. All we ask of Young is for him to be competent enough that we can keep rolling with Chuba Hubbard (107 total yards, touchdown) and Adam Thielen (9-102-0, 11 targets). Xavier Legette (2-39-0) was a disappointment on eight looks; he missed what could have been a game-tilting touchdown in the final minute.
The Eagles, well, they played with their food. Jalen Hurts was held to 108 passing yards and 5.1 YPA, though he had two touchdown passes and the obligatory touchdown run. Saquon Barkley ran for 124 yards but didn’t score (although he had a 2-point conversion) or catch a pass — we expected more against Carolina. A.J. Brown caught all of his targets, but was targeted just four times. That’s not enough, especially with the Eagles still chasing the No. 1 seed in the conference. Philly hosts the dangerous Steelers next week.
Speed Round
• The Bills-Rams game was almost too good to be true. No sacks or turnovers. Just two punts. Over 900 yards of offense and 53 first downs. And of course 86 glorious points. The only downer in this instant classic was Sean McDermott’s shaky endgame management.
Even with the Bills unlikely to get the AFC’s No. 1 seed, Josh Allen probably wrapped the MVP on Sunday behind a six-TD game, which helped him break the record for the most fantasy points (51.88) by a QB in a game. He’s been running more proactively of late — 33 attempts and six ground touchdowns over the last four weeks. That’s a trend that we usually see from Allen in December and into the playoffs, being more aggressive when the stakes get higher. Good news for the fantasy playoffs, provided the games still have meaning for Buffalo.
The Rams were a bunch of fun, too. Sean McVay steered the ball to his three playmakers and they combined for five touchdowns. Matthew Stafford had his second-best day of the year. He’s been inside the QB1 cutline in three of the past four weeks. Puka Nacua, who is the week’s WR1, might be a top 5 fantasy pick next season.
• Jauan Jennings is obviously the No. 1 wideout in San Francisco right now, not Deebo Samuel Sr. And in Seattle, things route through Jaxon Smith-Njigba, not DK Metcalf. You also wonder if Zach Charbonnet is a threat to immediately steal Kenneth Walker III’s job. Walker has averaged just 3.18 yards per rush since Week 5, and Charbonnet shredded the Cardinals on Sunday.
• The Bears were quasi-competitive for a few weeks, so it was shocking to see them get pasted at San Francisco from the opening whistle. At halftime, the Niners had 319 yards, the Bears had four. Next year’s new coaching staff has to cure Caleb Williams of so many bad habits in the pocket; sacks are more a quarterback stat than anything else, and Williams has been dropped 56 times (seven on Sunday).
• Justin Herbert is still a plus quarterback and the Chargers hit on Ladd McConkey, but it’s remarkable this team is as competitive as it is without a second skill player to compliment McConkey. If the rookie wideout was able to play Sunday night, I suspect the Chargers beat Kansas City. It feels like Gus Edwards was born to give us 10 carries for 36 yards as a rule (and no receptions), but at least he had the touchdown plunge against the Chiefs. You need to shoot higher in the playoffs.
• It took a half, but the Jaguars finally got Brian Thomas Jr. going — and more importantly, they peppered him with 12 targets. Let your best players be your best players.
• The Raiders are obviously auditioning players for next year, so figure on Sincere McCormick getting plenty of run to close the season. This could be fun; the Vegas rushing schedule is the easiest in the league moving forward.
