Who Should I Start? Brian Hoyer or Sam Darnold

Friday, March 8, 8:37 PM

According to ESPN's Adam Schefter, the Raiders parted ways with quarterback Brian Hoyer. The journeyman signal-caller has bounced around the league over the year. He's appeared in 79 regular season games, tossing for 10,899 yards and 53 touchdowns (37 picks) off 59.3% passing. He hasn't done much in the last few seasons, and he finished the 2023-24 campaign by throwing for just 231 yards, along with two picks. At any rate, there could be a market for Hoyer, who has established himself as a quality backup during his career. But even if the 38-year-old finds a new team, that doesn't mean he'll draw attention from managers in fantasy drafts heading into the new season.

Wednesday, May 8, 11:20 PM

Minnesota Vikings quarterback Sam Darnold could be named the team's Week 1 starter over first-round pick J.J. McCarthy. As Kevin Seifert of ESPN.com writes, "It's only a matter of time before McCarthy becomes the Vikings' starting quarterback [...] but it is not likely to happen as quickly as some fans might hope, and if anything, the Vikings are poised to err on the side of methodical caution." Such a scenario could see Minnesota let Darnold, whom they signed this past offseason when Kirk Cousins left for Atlanta, start a few games before transitioning to McCarthy. Darnold has struggled to support major fantasy production from his playmakers at previous stops, including the Jets and Panthers, so fantasy managers might want to temper expectations with players like Justin Jefferson, Jordan Addison, and T.J. Hockenson to start the year. Darnold himself falls to the low-end QB3 tier in fantasy football drafts.