Seahawks QB Sam Darnold let you down big time if you started him in Week 10, but it wasn't really his fault. Darnold attempted just 12 passes in Sunday's laugher of a victory over Arizona. Given that, it's actually pretty impressive that he generated 178 yards (14.8 yards per pass attempt) on 10-of-12 passing. Darnold threw a TD and an INT. He also officially logged three rushing attempts for minus-2 yards yards, but two of those were kneel-downs at the end of the first half. (Drew Lock got the kneel-down honors at the end of the game.) Darnold did damage his fantasy line, however, by losing two fumbles against Arizona. That included one at his own 2-yard line, which quickly turned into Arizona's first points late in the second quarter.
Seattle might need to try to work out Darnold's turnover issues. His low passing volume is helping to shroud a 2.6% INT rate that's his highest since 2021. And Darnold has fumbled five times on the year, more than halfway to his 2024 total (eight).
But those turnovers don't matter a whole lot for his fantasy value in most formats. At the least, they matter less than Darnold's continued success in downfield passing.
Sunday's game didn't include much in that area -- duh, he only threw 12 passes -- but Darnold did connect with Jaxon Smith-Njigba for a 43-yard TD to kick off the scoring binge. (His 67-yard completion to Cooper Kupp in the second quarter came on a short throw.)
Darnold targeted new Seahawks WR Rashid Shaheed just once in this game, for a 3-yard completion in the first quarter. But the former Saint can only further help Seattle's downfield passing prowess.
Shaheed has averaged 14.8 yards per catch for his career. His high of 17.5 YPC came last year, with current Seattle OC Klint Kubiak running the New Orleans offense.
Darnold will likely remain on the lower end of the league in passing volume, but his Seahawks will obviously face more competition nearly every week than Arizona offered Sunday.
Expect that in a Week 11 visit to the Rams, with weaker Titans and Vikings teams on the other side.
Overall, Darnold's remaining schedule ranks third-worst for QB scoring by our adjusted fantasy points allowed. Expect that to help keep him just outside the top 12 of our QB rankings most weeks.
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