Sam Darnold: ruled out for Week 2, Drew Lock starts
THE FACT. Coach Mike Macdonald ruled Sam Darnold out of Sunday's game at Arizona with the glute injury he suffered in Week 1 and named Drew Lock the starter, per Seahawks.com's John Boyle on Wednesday afternoon. Macdonald said Seattle does not anticipate placing Darnold on injured reserve and will not add another quarterback, leaving Jalen Milroe as the backup.
THE VERDICT. Sit Darnold. There is nothing to gain from a quarterback who has already been ruled out, and the no-IR language means this is a one-week hole rather than a stash-and-wait situation. Lock is a streaming-only option in two-quarterback formats and belongs on the bench in 12-team leagues. The bigger read is downstream: Seattle's pass-catchers take a real efficiency hit with a backup under center, so drop them a tier this week. DFS: fade the Seattle passing game outside of tournament leverage. Dynasty: no change, this absence is short.
Twenty-plus years in this hobby taught me not to panic over a backup QB when the target tree runs through one guy. When Lock stepped in during Week 1, 7 of JSN's 8 catches came from him, including the 45-yard score, on the way to 122 yards. Lock went 16 of 22 for 187 in relief and kept looking his way. I'm not dropping Smith-Njigba a tier. In DFS I'd go the other direction: if the field fades Seattle over the QB news, JSN at lower ownership is exactly the leverage I want. The secondary pass-catchers, sure, bench them.