Washington CommandersOur read
Written Sun 12:01 am Central, for week 6
Marcus Mariota is Out on Sunday's report, so he does not play Monday night at San Francisco in week 6 of 2026. Washington lists Jayden Daniels first among its quarterbacks, and even with Mariota active the matchup would go against him, as the 49ers allow 13.1 PPR points a game to QBs, 6th of 32 through week 5. He carries 55 PPR points, QB35 in our rest-of-season order, well behind Daniels either way. Sit him this week and cover the spot with a fill-in.
Written Oct 19, from his facts through last season
The whole case rests on Jayden Daniels. Mariota is listed second behind him, and the only weeks he has mattered this year are the ones Daniels missed, weeks 1 and 5 of 2026. When he did play he was fine for a fill-in, 11.5 points a game across three starts with 4 touchdowns and only one interception-worthy throw on 51 charted attempts. Week 3 of 2026 gave him 20.42 points. That is a stream, not a roster spot.
The availability question is doing more damage than the play. Our preseason number, 44 points, assumed six games, and he has already missed two weeks on top of the hand injury that put him Out from week 17 of 2025 on. He played 10 games in 2025 and just 3 in 2024. He is 33 and carrying an O designation heading into week 6 of 2026, with his own bye in week 7. We set his pace at 7.3 points a game for a reason.
There is a small trick-play wrinkle worth knowing: he took a real chunk of red-zone touches last season, 7 of them, QB10 among 64 qualifying quarterbacks, which is why a backup cleared 15 points in 4 of 10 weeks in 2025. But 2026 play caller David Blough is new and pressure is up, 37% of his dropbacks through week 5 of 2026.
If Daniels is healthy, let Mariota go and keep a quarterback with a weekly job. If you stash him, you are waiting on a second Daniels absence.