A stat that tells the story of Sam Darnold

Being at the game you obviously get a broader view of the field. Sam left a lot of plays to the WR's out there last night. He just doesnt see the field well at times.

The OL did him no favors in pass pro either.

He's a nice qb, nice guy but Alex Smith type is his ceiling. I think the poor man Kirko is right too.

I want more than that at this point of my fandom.

They were talking about him on GMFB, and saying that one big difference is that he can come back from a bad play/quarter, now, unlike his early days. For all the people that pine for a "gunslinger", that's pretty much the definition...because it's gonna be peaks and valleys.

Hopefully, this road stretch against some ho-hum teams will get the confidence built up, period.

Our IOL remains the running tragedy of our offense, and I'd seriously consider eyeing centers/OGs early and often in the draft...maybe before trade deadline.

Zanary wrote:
They were talking about him on GMFB, and saying that one big difference is that he can come back from a bad play/quarter, now, unlike his early days. For all the people that pine for a "gunslinger", that's pretty much the definition...because it's gonna be peaks and valleys.

Hopefully, this road stretch against some ho-hum teams will get the confidence built up, period.

Our IOL remains the running tragedy of our offense, and I'd seriously consider eyeing centers/OGs early and often in the draft...maybe before trade deadline.

IOL
IDL
DB

Any or all are in need of some talent upgrade. The DB will be for sure with so many on 1 year contracts. FA might be interesting for the Vikings this year.

Zanary wrote:
They were talking about him on GMFB, and saying that one big difference is that he can come back from a bad play/quarter, now, unlike his early days. For all the people that pine for a "gunslinger", that's pretty much the definition...because it's gonna be peaks and valleys. Hopefully, this road stretch against some ho-hum teams will get the confidence built up, period.

Our IOL remains the running tragedy of our offense, and I'd seriously consider eyeing centers/OGs early and often in the draft...maybe before trade deadline.

I didn't see that but agree with it completely. Early on when Sam was lights out, I thought well this is great. He's playing as well as any QB in the league, right up there with Lamar and Josh Allen. But what happens when he screws up? Does he bounce back or spiral? Every QB has bad plays, quarters, games, stretches of games. The difference between the good QBs and Darnold is that they have proven themselves capable of bouncing back. Sam hasn't...yet. 

I think the best thing KOC has taught Sam is to have a short memory. He can make a boneheaded play and follow it up with a several outstanding ones. JJM did the same thing in his preseason game. Throws a pick and follows it up with two beautiful TD passes. That ability to erase the shit from your memory and stay aggressive is key...it bodes well for Sam the rest of the year and JJM next season.

Watching Darnold this year he is good for 2-3 boneheaded plays and 3-4 really nice plays per game. Hard to explain but he lacks something.

His completion % is actually above Cousins for the year at 69.5%
That's good for 7th overall in the league. A moth fart away from Jalen Hurts at 69.8%
Goff is an otherworldly 74.9% on the season.

purplefaithful wrote:

IOL
IDL
DB

Any or all are in need of some talent upgrade. The DB will be for sure with so many on 1 year contracts. FA might be interesting for the Vikings this year.

screw the draft,  they need to get that IOL fixed in FA and look to add depth in the draft.  JJM is going to need protection or he will end up shell shocked or brain damaged from all the ( apparently now legal ) shots to the head.

Montana Tom wrote:
His completion % is actually above Cousins for the year at 69.5% That's good for 7th overall in the league.  A moth fart away from Jalen Hurts at 69.8% Goff is an otherworldly 74.9% on the season.

What's really interesting is this...

Cousins (in 9 games): 2328 yds, 69.2%, 17 TDs, 7 INTs, 102 rating, $45 mil/year
Darnold (in 8 games): 1900 yds, 69.5%, 17 TDs, 7 INTs, 108 rating, $10 mil/year

I saw most of Darnold's games at USC and the way he is playing this year is very similar to how how I remember him then. Big arm and could make all the plays, but would then mix in some really head scratching plays as well. I didn't think he was ready for the draft when he came out, thought there was a lot for him to work on in terms of his mental game and he needed to clean up some things. Was listening to Walker Buehler of Dodgers talk about that after his 2nd TJ surgery he had to learn more about being a pitcher and not just someone who throws hard and it may be something similar for Darnold in learning more about the intricacies of being a QB and not just having a big arm.

JimmyinSD wrote:

screw the draft,  they need to get that IOL fixed in FA and look to add depth in the draft.  JJM is going to need protection or he will end up shell shocked or brain damaged from all the ( apparently now legal ) shots to the head.

It's maybe my greatest frustration with the team that Bradbury and Ingram continue to be, at best, inconsistent, and have too many "hall of shame" plays.

Everyone has known where the problem area of our OL has been, for waaaaaay too long, now. Cousins got mauled for years, because the worst pressure came from the opponents closest to him.

Darnold is more mobile and the line is still showing the improvement they (FINALLY) showed during last season...but "better" and "good" are still far apart, and the usual suspects don't change.

Yeah I think you nailed this MB before the season started about Darnold....seems to be playing out that way. He can dazzle, then take a bad sack....then hit a 20 yard pass on 3rd and 14.....then throw a horrible INT in the end zone. Bad Sam will never go away, its part of his pro DNA. Hell, he threw INTs in college as well. Gunslinger. What rankles me is how long he holds the football in the pocket.

purplefaithful wrote:


I want more than that at this point of my fandom.

Yes sir, exactly right. #9 is coming.

Zanary wrote:

It's maybe my greatest frustration with the team that Bradbury and Ingram continue to be, at best, inconsistent, and have too many "hall of shame" plays.

Everyone has known where the problem area of our OL has been, for waaaaaay too long, now. Cousins got mauled for years, because the worst pressure came from the opponents closest to him.

Darnold is more mobile and the line is still showing the improvement they (FINALLY) showed during last season...but "better" and "good" are still far apart, and the usual suspects don't change.

Bradbury isn't going anywhere, but I'd be surprised if Ingram is our starting RG next year. Hopefully we can find his replacement among the 2024 rookie class. Because with two top-paid tackles, Brandel and Bradbury on modest, but non-rookie contracts, it's not likely we'll be spending money on a RG. There's a lot of money in the bank, so maybe? A one-year Kevin Zeitler-like deal is possible I guess.

Wonder if the Cowboys would be willing to trade Zach Martin at this point???

33 years old now though..

JimmyinSD wrote:


screw the draft,  they need to get that IOL fixed in FA and look to add depth in the draft.  JJM is going to need protection or he will end up shell shocked or brain damaged from all the ( apparently now legal ) shots to the head.

Agreed. Interior O-line needs FA help immediately for 2025.

purplefaithful wrote:
Wonder if the Cowboys would be willing to trade Zach Martin at this point???

33 years old now though..

I think that's the kind of move we might make in '25, but I don't think the Vikings do anything in '24. Ingram has been an interesting study. Typically he's an OK run blocker and a crap pass blocker, but the last two games he totally flipped that script. 

After earning pass blocking grades of 19 against the Jets and 9 (no shit, 9!!) against the Giants, the last two games he's graded 78 and 76. Must feel Risner's breath...

Now that we're 8 games into the Darnold era, here are my observations:

Pros
- Much better arm and accuracy than I thought he had.
- Athletic enough to extend plays and pick up yards with his legs
- when he has time, he goes through his progressions and finds the open guy
- Has shown an ability to bounce back after bad plays
- Makes some really impressive throws and seems like he's earned the respect of his teammates

Cons
- I think he struggles to read a defense pre-snap at times. I think some of that is getting comfortable with KOCs offense. When JJ isn't open and is his first read, he gets stuck on him at times and takes bad sacks or throws picks. Case in point last night... Has Addison and JJ lined up next to each other, at the snap 3 guys drop into coverage on JJ and Addison is breaking free down the middle with the LB dropping deep to take away JJ. Addison has one on one with the deep safety. Darnold HAS to quickly come off JJ and understand he's got Addison for a big play. Jordan Love would hit Addison and so would Goff.
- Has had 2-3 really bad plays per game. Like not just normal QB mistakes, like rookie WTF are you doing plays.
- could be better looking for Jones as a check down option. He's a great pass catcher and has been open underneath 1v1 with a LB. Gotta take advantage of those opportunities more.

Overall, I think he's played well, especially for the money we're paying him. But I'd be reluctant to pay him Baker money. I think JJ can do what Sam does at a higher level and Darnold's play is what we hoped to get from him, but not that great that we'll delay JJMs timeline to take over.

purplefaithful wrote:
Wonder if the Cowboys would be willing to trade Zach Martin at this point???

33 years old now though..

Martin is an Unrestricted Free Agent next year.  Given that and the fact they're not going anywhere this year with a 3-5 record and Dak going on IR..maybe they would trade him.

Take a break from the Election doom scrolling and know that Sam Darnold has the highest passer rating vs the blitz

489yds. 5 TD. 148.3 rating

— Ben Leber (@nacholeber) November 6, 2024

MaroonBells wrote:

[twitter]https://x.com/nacholeber/status/1854242570454352136[/twitter]

That pass to Addison was one only a few of the more talented QBs could make. But McNown was screaming during that rollout to 'throw it away!'. 

This will be the question for Darnold's next team: can we ride the wave? Amazing throws with some absolute boneheaded bullshit that rookies don't do?