Excellent article on Vikings and Darnold decison (Athletic; paywalled)

[dave mcbride]

https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6677047/2025/10/02/jj-mccarthy-sam-darnold-vikings-seahawks/
 

A sample:

 

‘When the Vikings were winning with Darnold last season, I asked a veteran coach to watch the Vikings' offense in hopes of learning just how well Darnold was playing. The coach thought there was a big gap between Darnold's impressive 2024 stats and how well he was actually playing for Minnesota. We found relatively few high-level plays in the games we watched.

 

That same coach could not believe he was watching the same quarterback when he flipped through the Seahawks' offensive plays with Darnold this season.

 

"The whole thing was Tier 1," this coach said. "No one we know is throwing better than that."

 

Play after play showed Darnold delivering the ball accurately and with nuance, including against the rush.

 

"He used to be jittery in there," the coach said. "Now, he stands in there and looks down the barrel. A couple times, he jumped and threw like (Aaron) Rodgers does. He dropped to three-quarters (delivery)."

 

Was this really the same player?

 

"The deep ball has been accurate, making sure they can catch the ball and assuring the yardage," the coach said. "He's throwing it correctly into the short zones to keep his guys alive, which is interesting. He is leading receivers away from the hook defender, making the guy slide on the digs. He's way better. I'm so impressed."’

 

[boyst]

Darnold and many other QB's in today's game are a testiment to the much needed slower development of the position. Geno Smith, Sam Darnold, Baker Mayfield, Sam Bradford all came out with highly touted opportunities. That's because they had the tools. They just didn't translate fast enough to the NFL like others or more importantly have the system or coaching to make the faster jump like Kermit Mahomes, Tissue Jackson, or Glass Burrow.

 

The work ethic of the individual matters, as well. Players like Drinky Manziel or PlayStation Murray don't put the effort in because they've relied on their natural abilities over their time earned fostered ability.

 

My hat will always be off to the player who continues to develop their game and find success. There are many who have done that including cheaters from ichigan or the other ichigan QB McCarthy 

[Ed_Formerly_of_Roch]

35 minutes ago, boyst said:

Darnold and many other QB's in today's game are a testiment to the much needed slower development of the position. Geno Smith, Sam Darnold, Baker Mayfield, Sam Bradford all came out with highly touted opportunities. That's because they had the tools. They just didn't translate fast enough to the NFL like others or more importantly have the system or coaching to make the faster jump like Kermit Mahomes, Tissue Jackson, or Glass Burrow.

 

The work ethic of the individual matters, as well. Players like Drinky Manziel or PlayStation Murray don't put the effort in because they've relied on their natural abilities over their time earned fostered ability.

 

My hat will always be off to the player who continues to develop their game and find success. There are many who have done that including cheaters from ichigan or the other ichigan QB McCarthy 

 

There was an entire article a couple weeks back also in the Athletic about how QB's are mostly all being ruined today by getting them out there way to fast.  But the coaches job is on the line so it's done, repeatedly.

 

Recall years back my thought was that seemed like some of the better QB's in NFLK came from small schools as they didn't have 10 All Americans surrounding them. 

 

Hmmmmm.  Do All Americans still exist or am I dating myself??

[boyst]

Just now, Ed_Formerly_of_Roch said:

 

There was an entire article a couple weeks back also in the Athletic about how QB's are mostly all being ruined today by getting them out there way to fast.  But the coaches job is on the line so it's done, repeatedly.

 

Recall years back my thought was that seemed like some of the better QB's in NFLK came from small schools as they didn't have 10 All Americans surrounding them. 

 

Hmmmmm.  Do All Americans still exist or am I dating myself??

That is a good point, and I'm thinking of Tony Romo for example. There were a couple more that escaped my mind right now that started from small schools with a lot less pressure. 

 

Thinking back to Bill Walsh who redshirted all of the quarterbacks and players on his team it's also relevant. I think that with the Nil deals we're going to have more issues than we should unfair development. Players are becoming more absorbed into their own identity and name that they are with the team. And my personal opinion that it's disgusting, football's a team sport. If you want to be an individual go play an individual sport or soccer.

[Sierra Foothills]

27 minutes ago, Ed_Formerly_of_Roch said:

There was an entire article a couple weeks back also in the Athletic about how QB's are mostly all being ruined today by getting them out there way to fast.  But the coaches job is on the line so it's done, repeatedly.

 

Recall years back my thought was that seemed like some of the better QB's in NFLK came from small schools as they didn't have 10 All Americans surrounding them. 

 

Fast forwarding to this year, I think that the Giants and the Browns waited as long as they could before going to the rookie QBs.

 

[Beck Water]

3 hours ago, boyst said:

Darnold and many other QB's in today's game are a testiment to the much needed slower development of the position. Geno Smith, Sam Darnold, Baker Mayfield, Sam Bradford all came out with highly touted opportunities. That's because they had the tools. They just didn't translate fast enough to the NFL like others or more importantly have the system or coaching to make the faster jump like Kermit Mahomes, Tissue Jackson, or Glass Burrow.

 

The work ethic of the individual matters, as well. Players like Drinky Manziel or PlayStation Murray don't put the effort in because they've relied on their natural abilities over their time earned fostered ability.

 

My hat will always be off to the player who continues to develop their game and find success. There are many who have done that including cheaters from ichigan or the other ichigan QB McCarthy 

 

I think there is a factor of some QB coming out thought they had arrived.  Mayfield and Darnold had a pretty gold-plated trip from college to the pro's.   Like gold, they were expected to shine right away.

 

It may have affected the work they put in off-season and the fact that they needed to bounce around to several teams and "get the memo" that more work was needed.

 

Allen, on the other hand, came out to a chorus of "boos" from the pundits and the knowledge that he had to improve if he was going to make it.

 

I think that also affected the work he put in off-season.

Edited 4 minutes ago by Beck Water