Sam Darnold (QB, CAR) - Week 3 Waiver Wire Pickups

BALLER MOVE: Add in 2QB Leagues

OWNED IN: 15% of Leagues

ANALYSIS: Haters gonna hate, and while they're at it, I'll keep believing. Maybe I was a bit too high on Sam Darnold when he landed in New York as the Jets' freshest franchise QB, and that surely backfired. But this change of scenery definitely looks good for Darnold as he's now off the pressure of playing in Manhattan doing it in Carolina. And although Darnold has not played to any sort of ridiculous level of play yet, he's logged back-to-back starts of 19 FP that are more than good for someone that fantasy GMs had nearly buried alive after three seasons as a pro in which he topped at QB27 overall.

Sammy D is besting his prior FPPG marks by a wide margin. He posted his best per-game average in 2019 with 14.6 FPPG as a sophomore, but he's now had two games of 18.9 and 19.1 FP as the Panthers starter. After three years of not connecting in more than 62% of his passing attempts, Darnold has played his two 2021 games to a higher 68% completion rate on 35 and lastly 38 attempts, completing 24 and 26 passes respectively. He had to ate his first interception and second fumble of the season this past Sunday, though Darnold compensated by throwing for 2 TDs while marching on to beat the Saints.

Darnold, available in more than four of each five Yahoo leagues out there, is far from a set-it-and-forget-it player at the quarterback slot. I mean, there is no way Darnold steadily plays to QB1 levels for us to consider him a worthy addition in shallower formats, but he shouldn't drop from the QB2 realm at any point through the season. There is a serious chance of finishing the year as a top-24 player at the position for the first time in his career.

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