Inside The Vikings

Under pressure: Fate of Vikings in 2024 is on Sam Darnold's shoulders

Darnold, historically, hasn't handled physical pressure very well.

Joe Nelson

Sam Darnold
Sam Darnold / Minnesota Vikings
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It's fair to say that the Minnesota Vikings will go as far as Sam Darnold takes them in 2024.

The 27-year-old is the unquestioned starting quarterback after rookie J.J. McCarthy was lost for the season with a meniscus injury, so the long road to the top of the NFC North and one of seven spots in the NFC playoffs starts and ends with Darnold under center.

Can he handle that pressure? Pressure of the mind is one thing, but historically, Darnold has not dealt well with physical pressure.

Season

PFF grade under pressure

PFF grade kept clean

PFF O-line pass-blocking rank

2018 (460 dropbacks)

46.8

74.5

21

2019 (485 dropbacks)

35.1

86.6

28

2020 (425 dropbacks)

54.7

59.1

31

2021 (463 dropbacks)

33.3

72.1

28

2022 (162 dropbacks)

50.4

80.6

11

2023 (55 dropbacks)

52.3

75.1

26

In Minnesota, Darnold will be surrounded by high-end weapons like Justin Jefferson, Jordan Addison, T.J. Hockenson and Aaron Jones. That's better than any situation Darnold has been in before, but more important are the five guys blocking in front of him. Minnesota's offensive line returns four of five starters from last season's unit that earned PFF's No. 2-ranked pass blocking grade.

Darnold was never protected in his three years as the full-time starter in New York and one season as the No. 1 QB in Carolina. As a rookie in 2018 he was pressured on 35.9% of his dropbacks, which ranked eighth most in the NFL. He was the NFL's most-pressured QB in 2019 and 2020, and the fourth-most-pressured QB in the league in 2021.

So how many elite pass-rushing defenses do the Vikings face this season? The toughest, based on last season's pass-rush rankings from PFF, are the 49ers, Jets, Colts, Seahawks, Texans, Packers, Rams and Lions. All of them were top-16 pass-rush units in 2023. That leaves Darnold just six of 17 games against bottom-tier pass-rush units.

Opponent

2023 PFF pass-rush rank

Giants

26

49ers

3

Texans

11

Packers

13

Jets

6

Lions

16

Falcons

27

Rams

14

Colts

9

Jaguars

28

Titans

22

Bears

32

Cardinals

29

Seahawks

9

In 2019, his second year in the NFL, Darnold went 7-6 as the starter despite Jamison Crowder being his No. 1 receiver. Not only that, but that mediocre Jets offense was tasked with facing some of the best passing defenses in the league.

Darnold had six starts against teams with top-10 pass defenses: Buffalo (4), New England (2), Pittsburgh (3), Baltimore (6), Cowboys (10). In those games, Darnold completed 119 of 199 passes (59.8%) for 1,199 yards with 7 touchdowns and 6 interceptions.

Take away the four-interception game against the Patriots when he was "seeing ghosts" and his numbers against elite defenses weren't too bad. That corresponds with the fact that he was playing behind one of the better (though still not good) offensive lines that he's had in his career.

Darnold is capable of being a winning quarterback when he's protected in the pocket. Now he has to prove that he can handle the pressure of shouldering Minnesota's playoff hopes.

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Joe Nelson

JOE NELSON

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