National media question Darnold's future after season-ending collapse
Monday night's season-ending blowout loss to the Rams has drawn a wide range of reactions about the Vikings' 14-win season, as well as the future of quarterback Sam Darnold. In the wake of two straight miserable performances on the national stage, nobody has taken more shots over the last 12 hours than Darnold has from the national media.
ESPN analyst Louis Riddick called Darnold's future "cloudy, at best" following the loss to the Rams.
"Look the objective facts are this, over the last two weeks he's had QBRs of 17.4 and 13.6. That's where personnel departments are going to start," Riddick said on Tuesday's edition of Get Up. "They're going to say 'Woah... how all of a sudden did this fall off a cliff?' Then when you start peeling it all back, they're going to start looking at all the things that made Sam Darnold great this year. Primarily, his relationship with Kevin O'Connell. His relationship with Josh McCown. And their ability to provide this young man with answers he's never had at this point in his career. Did he look like, in particular last night, that he had any answers? To me, what it looked like was a guy who, quite honestly, looked shell shocked, who wasn't quite sure what he wanted to do with the football. That is obviously what leads to hesitation and holding the football in the pocket. When you're not quite sure where to go with the football, on top of the fact that you're getting your head beat in because your offensive line is just getting destroyed."
Darnold threw for for 245 yards, a touchdown, and an interception in the 27-9 loss Monday night. He was sacked nine times for a playoff-record 82 yards lost in the disastrous performance. While that last number may reflect poorly on the Vikings' porous offensive line, many of those sacks came after 4.4 seconds, which points out Darnold's indecisiveness.
"So now when you're a prospective team looking at Sam Darnold, and you were someone who thought 'Hey, you know what, if he does hit the free agent market, and Minnesota doesn't sign him, can we provide him with the same structure that Minnesota provided him with?' Probably not," continued Riddick. "I think this throws a whole bunch of things into question for him, for Minnesota, and for every team that was looking at him as a prospective answer for 2025, which is not a good place to be in."
In the span of two weeks, Darnold went from feeling like a lock to sign a big extension to stay with Minnesota to now having that possibility widely questioned. Some, like ESPN's Ben Solak, still view keeping Darnold as the optimal strategy for the Vikings.
"Given the uncertainty around JJ McCarthy (health + rookie) and the fact that Darnold will likely be in a worse environment if he goes elsewhere, it really feels like the optimal outcome for Minnesota + Sam is extending Darnold on Baker-sized deal," Solak tweeted early Tuesday.
Continuing to highlight the mixed opinions about Darnold's future, The Ringer's Bill Simmons was left baffled by the two-week meltdown and how it impacts the 27-year-old's future.
"I can't believe we fell for Sam Darnold. It's one of the most stunning 8-9 day collapses I can remember of a football team. These guys won me over. I really genuinely believed in them and they fell apart," said Simmons on his podcast late Monday night.
"He had a whole body of evidence for the whole season where it looked like, for whatever reason, he was this year's late bloomer. The part that doesn't make sense to me, I was a little worried about their protection. The Rams don't have a good defense. It's not like this was, you know, the 2000 Ravens. And they looked like the 2000 Ravens, so it was just a complete collapse."
Where Simmons appeared most concerned was the regression to Jets-era Darnold.
"He reverted back into old school 'seeing ghosts' Sam Darnold. It was like Jets-Pats Sam Darnold. And now, you mentioned the money thing, I don't know what you do if you're the Vikings," continued Simmons.
Not everyone has been willing to lay all the blame at Darnold's feet. ESPN's Dan Orlovsky claimed Darnold was "fourth or fifth" on the list of reasons the Vikings collapsed Monday night.
"Number one, (Rams defensive coordinator) Chris Shula, all he really did was copy Aaron Glenn. The defensive coordinator for the Lions last week laid the blueprint," said Orlovsky on Tuesday's First Take. "You talk about Justin Jefferson (being) open a lot, he was double-teamed more than he was open. That's what the Lions did. Number two, I would tell you their offensive line in Minnesota got absolutely demolished by the Rams defensive line. I don't think there's five quarterbacks in the league that were going to play good last night in Minnesota's situation."
"I'd say the third thing, and this is probably the most surprising, I really thought — and I think the world of him — Kevin O'Connell got outcoached. That's a huge part of this as well. Kevin O'Connell got outcoached," continued Orlovsky. "Then I would put Sam Darnold at maybe fourth of fifth. Sam Darnold wasn't going to do much last night. No quarterback, outside of Lamar (Jackson), Patrick (Mahomes), Josh Allen was going to do much. So, we can have the 'Oh my gosh Sam Darnold stunk' reality or we can have the reality that that offensive line got embarrassed by a better defensive line."
Sam Darnold's flop makes Vikings' QB decision clear: It's J.J. McCarthy time
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