C.J. Stroud vs Jaxson Dart: Who Should You Start?
C.J. Stroud and Jaxson Dart are both viable fantasy quarterbacks heading into 2026, but their 2025 production tells two different stories. C.J. Stroud averaged 15.5 PPG across 14 games with the Houston Texans, while Jaxson Dart posted 17.6 PPG in 14 appearances for the New York Giants.
A 2.1-PPG gap gives Jaxson Dart the edge on paper, but paper does not account for Thursday night matchups, weather games, or a star defender returning from injury. The real question is not who was better in 2025, but who is the better start this specific week.
Jaxson Dart offers meaningful rushing upside with 487 yards on the ground in 2025, which separates his floor from a pocket passer like C.J. Stroud (3041 passing yards, 19 touchdowns). In games where the passing matchup looks ugly, that rushing production can be the entire difference on a start/sit call.
C.J. Stroud has his bye in Week 14, and Jaxson Dart rests in Week 11. Managers rostering both need waiver wire depth at quarterback for those two weeks, and that is exactly the kind of planning DraftCall's matchup engine surfaces automatically so you are not scrambling on a Sunday morning.
