How did Seattle get so lucky to get Darnold?

[keasley45]

And here is the game against the Lions.

So there is valid concern that Sam still has some significant weaknesses when the pressure gets dialed up and a good DC mixes up pressure and coverages. Its great that things are good so far. But all the hemming and hawing over the last three years in the place was about the fact that when the games get hard toward the end of the season and in the playoffs, we pull a one and done or none and done. Lets get there and win a couple in the tournament. That was the measure before and still should be.

 

[SoulfishHawk]

Has nothing to do with how he's playing with the Hawks. We CAN have good things. Enjoy the ride.
I couldn't give two sh**** how he played in the final two games LAST year. He's balling out THIS YEAR.

 

[MontanaHawk05]

JJ McCarthy who had never thrown a regular season pass in the NFL

You're clinging rather conspicuously to that phrasing as if it's supposed to apply to a first-round draft pick. Of course he'd never thrown a pass in the NFL. He hadn't been IN the NFL. Then he got injured and it kept him from starting.

Darnold made a believer out of me during last year's regular season and then unmade it during the playoffs. I'm enjoying the ride here and more hopeful of a deep playoff run than I was before, but I'm also still a little leery because our current offensive production is still heavily reliant on one player (JSN). Then again, if Houston couldn't shut him down, maybe nobody can.

Winning in the playoffs is tough. All the players and coaches who can shut down your regular season strengths are found there and it's sudden death. The quarterback who wins in that environment is the one who elevates the guys around him, instead of needing their failures to serve as excuses.

If Darnold does that, it means the Seahawks win it all, and I am never opposed to the Seahawks winning it all. They're kind of my team.

But I won't run around kowtowing to posters who anointed Sam in March based on zero history of playoff success because they needed to avoid the negative emotions from the prospect of an iffy season. If he wins it all, you guessed right. That's what you'll be acknowledged for. Do we even make board titles for that?

 

[Seahawkfan80]

The fact that Sam is still learning is a great thing. He still needs to learn to take the sack, or throw it away to the sideline. He is getting that instruction now and is applying it. It is glorious to see a learning curve work wonders.

 

[Mike MacDarnold]

I have a friend who is a Vikings fan and he sent me this link to the Vikings fan forum discussion on their regrets about losing Sam Darnold:

Darnold | Purple Pain Forums

Letting go of Darnold is starting to look like an all time blunder by this organization. We would likely be 5-1 perhaps even undefeated with Darnold this year. Does anyone honestly think we los

purplepainforums.com

The forum is called Purple Pain, and the pain is real. I couldn't help but feel bad for the Vikings fans, who it seems universally believe it was a mistake to let Sam walk.

I wouldn't feel too bad for them, their team stole a number of good years from us with that BS Hutchinson contract. Wouldn't mind winning a SB to dunk on their faces even if it's 20 years later.

 

[SoulfishHawk]

Mike MacDarnold

Awesome screenname. Welcome.

 

[bileever]

I wouldn't feel too bad for them, their team stole a number of good years from us with that BS Hutchinson contract. Wouldn't mind winning a SB to dunk on their faces even if it's 20 years later.

Yes, I have to admit that I had a good amount of Schadenfreude reading their comments. You can imagine the misery. Finishing 14-3, then getting rid of your QB and expecting the team to be even better. There is even a "Fire Kevin O'Connell" thread on their forum where O'Connell is getting a lot of hate from Viking fans.

 

[SantaClaraHawk]

Sam has given very little credit to KOC for his development as opposed to Shanahan and Purdy. Sometimes silence speaks volumes, perhaps that Sam succeeded last year in spite of KOC as opposed to because of him.

 

[Runscott]

Most of us have amazing hindsight which some of us mistake for foresight. Hindsight says the Vikings screwed up and the Seahawks were geniuses.

If we remember, the talk around Darnold before the second Detroit game last year, was that the Vikings then had a tough decision to make. But the Lions and Rams games made that decision easy for them. Still, the discussion continued to be whether or not gambling on McCarthy was smart - but not so much whether or not letting go of Darnold was smart. We had the same discussions about Geno - heck, he was a pro bowler two years with us. Why let him go? Some of the same reasons the Vikings let go of Darnold - neither was ever taking their respective teams to the Super Bowl, no matter how monstrous their regular season numbers were. Both teams had to do something different for 2025.

Thing is, Darnold's playing great, but it's not crunch time yet. Those two Rams games will tell the story. Personally, I think he's going to do fine. McCarthy? no. We look smarterer.

 

[Ostatehawk]

You're clinging rather conspicuously to that phrasing as if it's supposed to apply to a first-round draft pick. Of course he'd never thrown a pass in the NFL. He hadn't been IN the NFL. Then he got injured and it kept him from starting.

Darnold made a believer out of me during last year's regular season and then unmade it during the playoffs. I'm enjoying the ride here and more hopeful of a deep playoff run than I was before, but I'm also still a little leery because our current offensive production is still heavily reliant on one player (JSN). Then again, if Houston couldn't shut him down, maybe nobody can.

Winning in the playoffs is tough. All the players and coaches who can shut down your regular season strengths are found there and it's sudden death. The quarterback who wins in that environment is the one who elevates the guys around him, instead of needing their failures to serve as excuses.

If Darnold does that, it means the Seahawks win it all, and I am never opposed to the Seahawks winning it all. They're kind of my team.

But I won't run around kowtowing to posters who anointed Sam in March based on zero history of playoff success because they needed to avoid the negative emotions from the prospect of an iffy season. If he wins it all, you guessed right. That's what you'll be acknowledged for. Do we even make board titles for that?

He isn't clinging - or at least I wouldn't call it that - he is questioning the decision to put all of your eggs in a basket you just wove having never tested it in any meaningful way. This is what the Vikes did - and it resulted in a shit show.

Darnold - despite the two lost games he is roundly blamed for - is and was without any real doubt better than the JJ Mcarthy of right now (or right at the beginning of the season JJ).

The Vikes had JJ and naught else. Apologies to the limping zombified corpse of Wentz.

 

[FrodosFinger]

It really fell into place and John Schneider didn’t want to retain Geno but rather marry style with scheme. We’re seeing more of what Darnold actually started doing with the Panthers. Minnesota is well coached but I don’t see JJ McCarthy as ever being nearly on Darnold’s level he doesn’t have the arm talent and can’t flick darts like Sam. I think JJ could one day get to the level of a guy like Drew Lock but that’s not a bad comp. McCarthy is one of the most overrated quarterbacks taken in the first.

 

[Streamhawk]

Come on Pitt, you know how this plays out. Dude has been gone 4 years, and everything is his fault. Laughable, but boring.

I’m not at all blaming Russ for everything. But he did play like crap in the 2020 game against the Rams. And yes, it definitely could be because Rams had a much superior coach.

 

[nanomoz]

Too much emphasis was placed on 2 games. How many QBs light it up in their first playoff appearance? East coast mediots bought into some serious confirmation bias based on Darnold's Jets tenure. Which is dumb.

The Jets been a dumpster fire organization for more than a decade. And Darnold was about 20 when je was drafted. He never should have been thrown into the fire immediately. Few rookie QBs should.

 

[Trackhawk]

I wasn’t in the forecasting Sam as our savior camp, but I was certainly in The Who TF has ever let a QB go, after a 14 game winning season?

I don’t care if you have a superstar rookie in waiting, you just don’t do that unless you have a proven plan B.

It was far more dumb of Minny to let him go than it was smart of Sea to pick him up.

 

[irfuben32]

I like Darnold a lot. I am happy we have him. I think it was a fantastic move to let Geno go and sign Sam.

I also think Geno would be crushing it in this system, with this line.

 

[Scout]

QB's need a great supporting cast and football is a team game. Darnold is playing complimentary football and that is all you can ask for.

 

[seabowl]

I wasn’t in the forecasting Sam as our savior camp, but I was certainly in The Who TF has ever let a QB go, after a 14 game winning season?

I don’t care if you have a superstar rookie in waiting, you just don’t do that unless you have a proven plan B.

It was far more dumb of Minny to let him go than it was smart of Sea to pick him up.

Yes, pretty much my original point in that how do you let a guy go that has your team rocking for a rookie quarterback coming off a ACL injury?

 

[AnimeAmore]

After the Super Bowl last year, I was talking with a friend of mine about Sam Darnold. He was saying he thought the Vikings weren’t going to re-sign him and I was saying they would be absolutely not let him go. Why in the world would they get rid of a guy who put up monster numbers last season and although didn’t finish the last few games, strong, was fantastic for most of the year? I just could not comprehend them letting him go to start McCarthy, who in essence would be a rookie quarterback, coming off of an ACL injury having never played a regular season NFL game. Well, I was wrong, but at the end was right that they were crazy to let him go. In my opinion, somebody in that organization should be fired for making such a stupid move.

Just curious if anyone here also thought the Vikings at the time should move on from Darnold and why?

They were in a difficult spot. The vikings took their shot with McCarthy, and for the FO he was their QB of the future (hopefully). Losing him so early meant that they couldn't get a glimpse of him playing in the NFL. To re-sign Darnold would mean changing course on McCarthy as well as making a big adjustment to their salary cap plans. It also meant that if Darnold regressed, they'd have a very expensive backup while they pivot *back* to their McCarthy plan. It was way too much risk and disruption to try to bring Darnold back. I can't blame them.

 

[Runscott]

Dying with a bad decision is no way to live.

 

[bileever]

Too much emphasis was placed on 2 games. How many QBs light it up in their first playoff appearance? East coast mediots bought into some serious confirmation bias based on Darnold's Jets tenure. Which is dumb.

The Jets been a dumpster fire organization for more than a decade. And Darnold was about 20 when je was drafted. He never should have been thrown into the fire immediately. Few rookie QBs should.

I agree. Too many people these days point to a loss in the playoffs to prove that a QB isn't any good. There are HOF players that never won a Super Bowl. And mediocre QBs that have won a Super Bowl. Only one team wins the Super Bowl each year. It doesn't mean that there is one good QB and 31 terrible ones.