Seahawks Sit Sam Darnold Saturday; Lock and Milroe to Rotate Series
Darnold rests with two preseason games left as Drew Lock starts and rookie Jalen Milroe rotates in. Here's what it means for your draft board.
Preseason rest is routine; his QB13 value is unchanged.
- Darnold sits Saturday; Lock starts, Milroe rotates
- Darnold: 4048 pass yds, 25 TD, 0 INT in 2025
- Our rank: Darnold QB13, #28 overall
- Seahawks next play Aug. 23 at Tennessee
- RB Jadarian Price also out with lower-body soreness
Sam Darnold won't take a snap in Seattle's preseason game Saturday. Head coach Mike Macdonald confirmed the starter is out, with Drew Lock opening the game and rookie Jalen Milroe rotating in behind him. Macdonald said the two backups will trade series rather than run the usual starter-until-he-sits script.
That's a non-event for anyone drafting Darnold, who ranks QB13 and #28 overall in our 2026 rankings. He posted 4,048 passing yards, 25 touchdowns and zero interceptions across 17 games last season (2025), good for 269 PPR points — his actual full-season total, not a projection. With two preseason games still on the calendar, keeping him off the field is standard load management.
What Lock and Milroe Are Playing For
The real intrigue is the backup pecking order. Lock gets the start, but Macdonald signaling a genuine rotation means Milroe is getting a live audition rather than mop-up duty. Neither has meaningful NFL production yet — Lock logged just 15 passing yards across five appearances in 2025, and Milroe put up 4 rushing yards over three games. Both sit unranked for fantasy.
For dynasty managers, Milroe is the name to file away. He's the rookie with dual-threat upside, and a rotation split with Lock suggests the staff wants to see what he can do against something resembling live competition. A strong showing won't move him into redraft relevance behind a healthy Darnold, but it's the kind of tape that shapes his long-term stock.
One more note for the deeper leagues: rookie running back Jadarian Price also won't play, sidelined by lower-body soreness. He returned for a walkthrough Wednesday, so this reads as caution, not a red flag — but keep an eye on his practice status before Seattle's Aug. 23 trip to Tennessee.
The fantasy move here is simple: hold. Darnold's QB13 valuation doesn't budge because of a routine preseason rest, and his last-five-games form last season sat just 2.6 points below his own average — hardly a collapse. Draft him as your QB1 with confidence, and stash Milroe only in the deepest dynasty formats.
