The Minnesota Vikings will face the Detroit Lions in Week 7. Here’s the latest fantasy football news and advice to help you with your lineups this week and moving forward, especially regarding QB Sam Darnold.
Is Sam Darnold Playing in Week 7?
Darnold is not listed on the injury report this week, so barring any setbacks, he is on track to play this weekend.
We’ll continue to monitor the Vikings’ injury report. You can also visit and bookmark our NFL Injury Tracker and Fantasy News Tracker for the latest updates.
Should You Start or Sit Sam Darnold in Week 7?
Darnold spent last week leading his USC Trojans out of the tunnel in a big game against Penn State. He’s been deserving of that honor and anything else we want to hand out up to this point. Darnold is leading an undefeated Vikings team and has three top-10 finishes on his 2024 ledger.
Has he figured out the NFL or has Kevin O’Connell figured him out? I really don’t care what the answer is, but we saw some kinks in the armor in London (14/31 for 179 yards with zero touchdowns and one interception against the Jets in Week 5).
The Lions are rather ordinary across the board statistically in terms of their pass defense, and they try to increase their impact on that side of the ball with aggression. Two months ago, I would have said, with confidence, that such a style makes Detroit a DST to stream and start DFS lineups. Now? Now I think that’s the worst way to attack the Vikings.
Entering this season, Darnold completed 59.4% of his passes when blitzed with more interceptions than touchdown tosses. This season — 70.4% completion with four scores and no interceptions, resulting in a near-perfect passer rating (149.2).
Darnold has been one of the most valuable pocket-locked quarterbacks in fantasy up to this point — I expect more of the same in this spot. It’s not comfortable, but his profile projects friendlier than Mahomes’.
You have to love fantasy, don’t you?
Are you looking for start/sit advice for other players in your lineup? Read our Week 7 Fantasy Start-Sit Advice Cheat Sheet for every fantasy-relevant player in every game.
Sam Darnold’s Fantasy Points Projection in Week 7
Darnold is projected to score 19.3 fantasy points in Week 7. This includes 246.6 passing yards, 1.6 passing touchdowns, and 0.9 interceptions. It also includes 5.5 rushing attempts for 18.8 yards and 0.3 touchdowns.
Check out the free PFN Fantasy Start-Sit Optimizer for the latest projections and advice for your lineups this week.
Sam Darnold’s Week 7 Fantasy Ranking
Our Weekly Consensus PPR Rankings are below — both positional and overall. They were last updated at 11:45 PM ET on Saturday, January 25.
Conference Championship QB PPR Rankings
1) Josh Allen | BUF (at KC)
2) Jalen Hurts | PHI (vs. WAS)
3) Jayden Daniels | WAS (at PHI)
4) Patrick Mahomes | KC (vs. BUF)
