ANALYSIS: Minnesota Vikings QB Sam Darnold had a good debut against the New York Giants in Week 1, tossing for 208 yards, two touchdowns, and one interception. However, he is not a top-12 fantasy QB. He has very little rushing upside and is not a high-volume passer. Darnold is in a nice offensive system and can be consistent though.
This 99-yard touchdown drive against the Giants was our longest since 2008!
Darnold's role in head coach Kevin O'Connell's is a little bit too "game manager-y" for fantasy managers, and he isn't a threat to score 20+ points in any given week if things stay the same. His job for the Vikings aligns more with "don't make big mistakes" than it does with "put up big numbers."
Darnold has never been a top-12 fantasy quarterback, and has had a shaky career up to this point. While he's in a better offensive system and overall situation than he's ever been in his career, that doesn't necessarily translate to fantasy production, and he's best left out of starting lineups outside of very deep or multi-QB leagues.
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