Will Kevin O'Connell ever get over...

Letting Sam Darnold walk?

Was the decision made before the 2024 season began?

No one knew that JJ McCarthy would tear his meniscus in the pre season, which put him on the shelf for the entire year.

We all saw what Darnold did with the Vikings last year. It was incredible. Even in "backing up" JJ, did O'Connell not see what Darnold meant to the team?

But 2 bad games stood out, 1 maybe not so much his fault. 

Week 18 vs the Lions for the nfc north title. He was 18 for 41, 166 yards and got sacked twice. The Vikings defense didn't do them any favors either giving up 31 points.

Then in the wild card vs the Rams he was sacked 9 times, pressured all game. 25 of 40, 265 yards, 1 td 1 pick.

After those 2 games a lot of people felt that it was back to the same old Darnold from the Jets. 

Any regrets now? You can't tell me that there is anyone playing the quarterback position better than Darnold is for the Seahawks. If you are into stats such as epa, dvoa, cpoe and such, you'll see he's almost on a historic level.

For Kevin O'Connell and the Vikings, they better hope JJ gets it together soon(by next year or so), or this could be the worst single move anyone has seen in a while.

Justin Jefferson, Jordan Addison, TJ Hockenson and Christian Darrisaw are in their window now.

Any thoughts from Vikings fans?

I can't dispute nothing said. 

Dropping those easy passes...

Wrong thread 

I’m a Justin Jefferson fan and the decision cost him records.

They had some weird fascination and dedication with him. Five years ago he’s a 5th or 6th round pick. 

@Geauxtigers03

 hes never going to make it in the nfl imo, im talkin jj

JJ stinks. Will be out of the league.

Seattle can give any team a run for their money.  I just wish the NFL would ban the use of hyphenated names which are really only 'shout outs' to relatives watching on TV  

JJ 12 targets 4 catches, have you watched Puka Nacua, Jamar Chase, JSN, on and on, he even fell down and it lead to a pick.. most over rated player this decade! There’s your problem

@undermysac

Great write-up and totally agree with it. I would also add there are serious concerns about Darnold's performance in big games which you hit on in your writeup.

I still have doubts about him in that regard. Some great regular season players never bring it on center stage under the bright lights. I thought JJ McCarthy played well today in a losing effort. That Viking defense got worn down and in the end folded. 

Different sport but Mays had a .230 BA in 5 world series with zero homers and 6 RBIs. Yeah, he made the one great catch but whoopee. Regular season he was tremendous of course. Alex Rodriguez another no show for the most part in world series' play... 

If the Seahawks go one and done in the playoffs it’s the same anyway 

@undermysac

 I’m a huge Viking fan, hated Kirk loved the Darnold flyer last year wasn’t surprised at his success at all. But no I would make the same call 10/10 times letting Sam walk. You drafted JJ 10 overall, this is what I have been waiting for years.  Jj is 4 starts into his career. lol I have seen the journeyman QB story my whole life, there’s only 1 thing left to see as a Viking fan and that is a Super Bowl which the team was nowhere near that last year despite the 14 win season. 

As a Viking fan I cannot believe they are still going with this kid. Drafting him so early before Nix was atrocious. He was not that good at Michigan. He is a dear in headlights out there. Holds the ball to long. They are going nowhere with him at QB. 

Nah the fans wanted JJ no excuses. 

No different than Jim Plunkett 

If they weren't going to bring back darnold they should have at least tried to keep daniel jones to compete with mccarthy. Jones would have been a lot cheaper than darnold and look what he's doing now with the colts.

@My4Girls

 27-1 @Michugan with a National Champuinship. Natcthat good,  LMAO!

27 and 1 at Michigan and a National Championship doesn’t mean he was a great QB. Look at the QBs taken ahead of him and behind him they look this bad. He wasn’t a first round pick he was third maybe fourth. Mac Jones is better than him in San Francisco. Minnesota had other options this kid is garbage and he will not be a Franchise QB. You can’t win a Super Bowl with a rookie especially this roster built to win now not in 5 years. McCarthy is not the starting QB for them next year no way will they let him ruin another season.

Sam Darnold would have this team at 8 and 1 not  4 and 5.

@undermysac

 Great Thread 

Keep it coming Vikings fans 

Definitely feel your pain..oh the glory days of Bud Grant and the PURPLE People EATERS 

Surprised to hear this take, especially from a Vikings fan but it's valid. Respect the opinion. So at least you are riding with O'Connell and trusting him. He is the quarterback whisperer after all. We'll see how JJ develops the rest of the year.

Seattle currently sits #1 of total dvoa at 46.1% 11% higher than the next best team(Rams).

The Vikings sit at #23 at -11.8%, and it's not because of their defense. 

Quarterback wise:

Sam Darnold is #1 in epa+cpoe composite at +0.235

JJ Mcarthy is #36 at -0.016

As an outlier, Carson Wentz is #20 at +0.078

Last year after 9 games, the Vikings were 7-2. They won the next 7 games.

What has changed besides the QB turnstile? Wes Phillips and Brian Flores are the same coordinators with the team.

Lmfao