Why we like Darnold

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[@robe2504]

You can point to the odd Darnold brain fart, but so does every QB. You can't criticise Darnold for an ill conceived shuttle pass, and give Purdy a pass for lobbing a ball to Jihad Ward, or Stroud for throwing a bad ill conceived INT. I think you'll see Darnold run a bit more when plays break down, as his confidence in the new scheme grows. Right now he seems to try and recover a passing option when something goes wrong. If you look at that shuttle pass he clears the pocket to the left and has a lane where he could scramble to at least the line of scrimmage, maybe beat the DT and take contact on the goal line. The same thing happened on a sack last week where he cleared the pocket and instead of rushing for 5 or 10 backed up into a sack. Also at the end of his only pre-season drive. I think the Vikes offence, and defence, that you are seeing now is near the base of the learning curve, not the peak. Darnold has only had 3 games with this scheme and playbook, and with this team, and is still waiting for 35% of his starting offensive weapons to return in Addison and Hockenson. The defence has 8-10 new players in the starting rotation from last year and they should only get better with more time together. The depth is there. Their game clinching drive vs the 49ers was with WR3, WR4, WR5, TE3 and RB2 - Nailor, Powell, Sherfield, Mundt, Chandler. Nailor and TE Josh Oliver will likely split snaps depending on whether they go 3 WRs or 2 TEs, and Chandler is likely to have a 30/70 to 50/50 split on carries with Aaron Jones depending on opponent and game situation. That is all they needed to put away the reigning NFC Champs. What will the offence look like when it's - Jefferson, Addison, Hockenson, Nailor/Oliver and Jones/Chandler??

[@blowfishes]

Bill may have prepped that line… yet he got the information wrong in saying Darnold was with the Rams backing up Stafford. Pretty sure the 49ers would dispute that claim 😅

[@Jefff72]

IMO, as long as Sam has a good infrastructure, he can thrive. He still has the tendency to do boneheaded things like flipping the ball back and no one was there against Frisco. Luckily that one against the Texans was ruled an incomplete pass and not a fumble. If he signed for the $$$ on a bad team, I'm afraid he will regress. I think the Vikings, Rams, & Dolphins might be best for him. Stafford is about to put out to pasture and we don't know if Tua will play again.

[@trevorm3181]

Vikings are so strong across the team that Darnold can make his weekly mistake and it doesn't matter at all.

[@chuckness5372]

Viking "D", Purple Haze!

[@snoworicehockey]

Yep, because this defense puts QB’s and play callers in a haze all game.

[@chuckness5372]

​@@snoworicehockey Not sure who I heard say it first, but we need to spread it around.

[@Oz4k789]

The Falcons could have signed Sam Darnold but instead decided to sign on older Qb just returning from devastating injury and pay him over 100 mil and 100mil guarantee. We got Sam Darnold for 10 million best signing ever. Thanks, Falcons, for taking Kirk! SKOL!

[@jeffwhitney3369]

1 guy and 2 chicks talking footballl... do they have to take over fucking everything????

[@AndrewZajac-n4t]

honestly though

[@creepybantha1665]

It's odd how high everyone's gotten on Darnold recently. I'm a Vikings fan, and he's clearly the weak point of our team. I'd compare us to last years 49ers, except with better skill players, a better O-Line, a better HC (yes, I went there), a better secondary, a better DC, a deeper passrush rotation, and a markedly worse QB.

[@robe2504]

No dude, he is far from the weakness. He's a complete upgrade on Cousins. He throws it just as accurately, has a stronger arm, is exponentially better in the pocket, on scrambling, sneaks and rushing. The biggest weakness by far right now is back up QB, and that's only because JJ is out for the season. Then it's probably CB because that has only been patched up with a couple of formerly elite but very smart, high floor aging vets - which is all Flores needs. A couple of guys that play the correct coverage, understand leverage and don't give up stupid penalties or make big mistakes.

[@creepybantha1665]

​@@robe2504I think that the main reason the offense looks so much better now is because KOC was still getting acquainted with play calling for the first 1.5 years. Last year's game against the Niners was where it clicked for him, and if Cousins hadn't gotten hurt, we would've seen last year what we're seeing now. Darnold definitely has more upside than Kirk, but I'm worried he won't be as consistent or clutch

[@robe2504]

@@creepybantha1665 I think it's fair to argue that KOC is improving each year as a HC and play caller, same with Kwesi, but I'd argue also that the O Line, and entire coaching staff has got better each season. Then there is Nailor finally becoming the player that McCardell envisaged. I would argue that there isn't a main reason, just the synergy of all of the changes Kwesi and KOC have made, and their overall culture. They have had their share of major set backs - Kirk down for a season, Jettas missing 8 weeks, Mekhi and JJ out for the season, the tragic loss of Khyree - maybe a couple of misses on early draft picks, but I think some folks over value early picks and undervalue the outcome of the total class. I mean I don't think many Patriot fans care who they drafted in the first 5 rounds when they look back at pick 199 the year Tom Brady was picked. It doesn't matter what draft pick players were, just who you have!!

[@davidpeterson725]

The thing is darnold doesn’t need to be elite. We paid him 10 mil so it allowed us to build the rest of our roster. He’s playing well above his pay grade and that’s what matters. He will still make his mistakes but he has an elite arm, and above average athleticism. KOC will guide him into limiting those bad plays. I’ll take darnold at 10 mil over Kirk at 35mil every single time. Darnold is solid but the rest of the team and coaches are great

[@robe2504]

@@davidpeterson725 Darnold is probably better than Kirk straight up. We might see in week 14 if Penix isn't starting by then. Darnold's record should be vastly better by then anyway.