Can Fantasy Football Owners Trust Sam Darnold in Week 1 against the Patriots?

Sam Darnold faces the Patriots in a rematch of Super Bowl LX in Week 1. Should we comfortably start Darnold in our fantasy football lineups?

Seattle Seahawks quarterback Sam Darnold (14) against the New England Patriots during Super Bowl LX at Levi's Stadium. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

To kick off the 2026 NFL season, fans will be treated to a Super Bowl LX rematch from a season ago between the New England Patriots and Seattle Seahawks. The Seahawks are the reigning Super Bowl champs, and they’ll host the Patriots on Wednesday night at Lumen Field in front of their passionate home crowd.

From a fantasy football perspective, this game has a handful of enticing players to consider for lineups. Although he isn’t an elite fantasy football option every week, can we trust Sam Darnold ahead of Wednesday’s bout with the Patriots?

With fantasy football owners needing to set lineups before kickoff, let’s dive into whether or not we should feel comfortable starting Darnold in Week 1.

All stats used in this article are from PFF or Sumer Sports unless stated otherwise. Fantasy rankings and fantasy point totals are courtesy of FantasyPros.

Can You Trust Sam Darnold in Week 1?

In his debut season with the Seahawks in 2025, Darnold notched the 15th-most EPA/play (0.05), 4th-highest success rate (51.4%), and 2nd-most yards per attempt (8.5) among QBs with 250-plus offensive plays. Even with Darnold’s efficient play from under center last season, he was the QB27 in fantasy points per game (14.7).

Under offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak and an effective rushing attack led by Kenneth Walker III, the Seahawks were 26th in neutral pass rate (49.0%) last year, per rbsdm.com. Could that change with Kubiak now coaching the Las Vegas Raiders and Walker signing with the Kansas City Chiefs?

When starting on a Minnesota Vikings squad that was second in neutral pass rate (58.2%) under head coach Kevin O’Connell in 2024, Darnold was the QB11 in fantasy points per game (18.8). Brian Fleury, the new offensive coordinator in Seattle, previously served as the tight ends coach of the San Francisco 49ers from 2022 to 2025, so he comes from the Shanahan tree.

Sam Darnold is coming off a brilliant season that concluded with his first Super Bowl win 👏

Darnold was great on throws of 20+ air yards in 2025, setting new career highs in completion percentage and yards per attempt on those throws. He was first or second across the NFL in… pic.twitter.com/ZWRJBnxDaX

— ESPN Insights (@ESPNInsights) September 8, 2026

While it remains to be seen what the offense looks like with Fleury calling plays and rookie Jadarian Price spearheading the backfield, maybe we get more of a balanced attack. This could lead to Darnold having more productive fantasy football performances than last season.

That being said, Darnold had just 202 passing yards and 1 passing touchdown in the Super Bowl win over the Patriots a season ago. During the 2025 season, New England permitted the 10th-fewest dropback EPA (-0.02) and 15th-lowest dropback success rate (46.2%).

Unless you’re in a superflex league where you need to start two QBs and are desperate, then it’s better to take a wait-and-see approach with Darnold instead of starting him in fantasy football in Week 1.