Sam Darnold will have a tough time matching his 2024 effort. (NFL.com)
This week, injury-prone Jets right guard Alijah Vera-Tucker hurt his arm and will miss the season; the interim head of the NFLPA says an 18-game schedule is “not inevitable”; and TB RT Luke Goedeke has agreed to a four-year, US$90 million extension. Other Fantasy football news we’re following…
Sam Darnold Due for Regression
While we thought the Seattle Seahawks may address their defensive line at the draft, they opted to fix the more pressing need – offensive line – by picking guard Grey Zabel in the first round.
Let’s hope patching up the O-line will be enough to help new starting QB Sam Darnold come anywhere near duplicating the career best numbers he enjoyed last season with Minnesota, finishing 10th in MVP voting.
Sure, he has a history of surprising and outperforming his skills, but most believe Seattle’s system does not set him up for the same kind of success he had with the Vikings. In fact, many believe that for Week One he’s barely a top 30 quarterback for Fantasy purposes.
That’s a substantial drop considering in 2024 Darnold led a pass-heavy attack (545 throws) and racked up 35 TD passes – almost double his previous career best. Still, the eight-year veteran could be a sneaky QB2 this season, or at the very least, a very strong streaming option.
No, Darnold will not be quite as useful this year; there’s no sugarcoating that fact. But let’s not forget that when he came out of USC, thanks to his toughness and high football IQ, he was projected to be a Pro Bowl level talent… and he was finally selected to his first in 2024.
So the bottom line is, don’t completely write Darnold off, but do not draft him with expectations that he’ll repeat his 2024 effort.
KC’s Only Rookie Starter
Despite posting a franchise-record 15 wins last year, the Kansas City Chiefs fell short in their bid for a three-peat. But we highly doubt KC’s amazing run of 10 straight playoff appearances is in jeopardy; in fact, FanDuel odds suggest that the trio of the Chiefs, Eagles and Ravens are all headed back to the playoffs (-115 if they all make it).
Still, behind last season’s lofty win total was an offense that was middling, finishing 15th in scoring and 16th by yardage. The Chiefs addressed that situation with their first round pick this year, taking offensive tackle Josh Simmons with the last slot in the draft’s opening round.
There was talk New Orleans was big on Simmons, so the fact that the Ohio State product lasted to No. 32 was a nice score for KC. He’s expected to be their lone rookie starter when the Chiefs kick off their season on Friday in Brazil against the Chargers.
Simmons, at LT, is the key to a new look left side of the offensive line. Last year’s second round pick, Kingsley Suamataia, takes over as the new starting left guard.
For what it’s worth, Chief QB Patrick Mahomes is really high on Simmons, so determining whether the rookie deserved to be one of the top offensive lineman in this draft will be a nice side story to follow early on in the 2025 season.
RotoRob Tune of the Day
Born Gary Levone Anderson, the American R&B singer is better known as Gary U.S. Bonds. In 1982, he released “On the Line,” his second of two albums that was a collaboration with Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band. The album’s single was “Out of Work,” which hit No. 10 on the Billboard Rock Tracks chart.