Fantasy Football Start ‘Em or Sit ‘Em Week 1: QB Sam Darnold

Fantasy football owners would be wise to sit New York Jets rookie quarterback Sam Darnold in Week 1 action against the Detroit Lions.

As always when it comes to starting a rookie quarterback in a season opener, hope and excitement are in the air. Such is the case for Sam Darnold as he’ll be under center when the New York Jets go up against the Detroit Lions on Monday Night Football. Should fantasy football owners consider starting Darnold this week?

In the grand scheme of things, it’s best to remember that this isn’t preseason football anymore. While it’s true Darnold looked calm, cool, and collective throughout the preseason, it’s a whole different ballgame when facing starting defenses and real gameplans in games that actually matter.

It’s best to sit Darnold this week and don’t even think twice about it. Due to a lack of offensive weapons and the fact that he’ll be playing in primetime action in front of millions of football fans across the globe, easily means he’ll likely get frazzled at some point.

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With other quarterbacks that are worth starting this week, Darnold is best kept either on your bench or just left on the waiver wire, as is the case in the majority of fantasy football leagues. Darnold might heat up at some point during the regular season but that is a long waiting time when there are likely many other quarterbacks that are better to have on your roster.

Remember, hope doesn’t always equal reality. There is hope the Jets offense, with a lot of young and unknown offensive players, could be an underrated group that could surprise. Reality says otherwise that the Jets are severely lacking talent when it comes to their offensive line and offensive playmakers that many fantasy football owners would be better off staying away from at the start of the season.

At any event, don’t take a big bold risk in hoping that Darnold is going to deliver an Aaron Rodgers-like performance in his first ever regular season NFL game. Reality says he doesn’t have a good supporting cast around him that warrants starting him as your QB1 or even QB2 in Week 1. Darnold will likely experience growing pains in his first ever start and could potentially make a plethora of mistakes that could prove costly in fantasy points.