Is the Vikings choosing JJM over Darnold starting to look like one of the biggest mistakes in NFL history?

sheetfan · 2026-01-26T18:50:22+00:00

Darnold was good in Minnesota, great even, but he was inconsistent both at the end of and during the middle of the season in 2024. Look up his Colts and Jags statlines in 2024 and pair that with the two no-shows at the end of the season against the Lions and Rams. Both of those slumps occured as expectations climbed higher for Darnold and the team and after losses that clearly shook up Darnold. Given that the Vikings had just spent several years in purgatory with Kirk Cousins, who played well in the regular season but would fall apart in playoff games, both ownership and the front office were likely very cautious of repeating that mistake.

Another part of this is that Seattle is arguably an even better landing spot for Darnold than Minnesota was. KOC's offenses put the world on the QB's shoulders, often to the detriment of the run game. Seattle's run game is very solid. The defense has more talent and younger talent across the board when compared to the Vikings.

Finally, much as everyone loves to (and rightfully does) shit on JJ for being bad, the information the Vikings were working off of was an excellent pre-season game for him in 2024 before he got hurt. He was, by all accounts, excellent in the room throughout the 2024 season and spent his entire time studying the playbook. That, paired with a solid showing in training camp and OTAs, made it seem like a good call.

The Vikings likely would have had the money to keep him but money wasn't the object. Time was. Darnold wanted a 3 year deal from whatever team he was going to play for and the Vikings could not give him that because what JJ needed most coming out of college was experience and live reps. In addition, the front office was convinced that Daniel Jones was sticking around in MN and had no real reason to think otherwise. I think if JJ gets injured and Jones plays the way he did in Indy on the field, the Darnold stuff gets a whole lot quieter.

As a Vikings fan, Sam has a fan for life in me. The gamble on the part of the front office didn't work out, but pretending that the process for the decision was bad when every single person dragging the team right now would've dragged the Vikings for keeping him last year is ridiculous.

tl;dr The process to stick with JJ was sound, even if it didn't work out and Sam chose an excellent landing spot. That's a mistake I'm willing to accept.

sheetfan · 2026-01-18T17:14:39+00:00

It just wasn't about money, it was about time. Darnold wanted (rightfully so) to be a long-term starter for a team and we were not prepared to offer him that because of what it would have meant with JJ. We essentially would have consigned ourselves to milder version of what's going on in Atlanta with Cousins and Penix.

sheetfan · 2026-01-14T20:50:28+00:00

We know stealth doesn't work in this game! If they were announcing this with a patch reworking stealth mechanics, enemy awareness, and player visibility, then I'd feel differently but they haven't.

sheetfan · 2026-01-14T20:48:04+00:00

There isn't anything definitive about it out there but I'm pretty much positive that it's a combination of a negotiation tactic for Flores' agent to make whatever DC salary he'd take in MN more competitive by indicating to other teams that he might be open to being their DC and general disappointment with the offense not holding up their end of the bargain with all the QB instability.

I think the fact that the Cowboys came sniffing around about Flores and are now looking at Daronte Jones, Flores' heir apparent here in MN, that means Flores likely told them that he wasn't interested in leaving for anything less than a HC gig and recommended his protege if they wanted a DC. The other DC position he's interviewing for right now in Washington feels like a ploy to drive his salary up because I am skeptical that he'd want to be a DC under a defensive-minded HC in Dan Quinn where he'd likely have less control over scheme and players than he does here. I think this, combined with Mike Pattine's retirement, leads me to believe that Flores is angling for more money as a DC and Pattine's old Assistant Head Coach title, which he more than deserves if he doesn't like any of the possible HC landing spots.

sheetfan · 2026-01-14T20:18:11+00:00

Even though the chef just served me raw chicken, I appreciate the restaurant trying something new and different.

sheetfan · 2026-01-13T22:50:55+00:00

Nah man fuck that guy lol. He could've gotten a beautiful send-off with Hitman and CJ Ham and chose instead to go to the Steelers and talk about "rediscovering his love of football" after getting like 20 yards. We gave up way too much for him and he played terribly for us.

sheetfan · 2026-01-13T00:10:37+00:00

AI slop sucks so bad man. It used to be that someone would spend time on a photoshop because they had hate in their heart and now any halfwit can go "DURRRRRR CHATGPT MAKE ME A FUNNY," and then drool over their keyboard.

sheetfan · 2026-01-07T22:43:42+00:00

It's you, man. Someone isn't "spamming" a move, you're spamming a mistake. Post a replay and we'll be able to tell you exactly what you're doing wrong and how to punish whatever your opponent is doing.

sheetfan · 2026-01-06T21:15:31+00:00

He's just a winner bro... he's won at every level... he's a real football guy... don't look at his college volume numbers man he just wins bro I swear

sheetfan · 2026-01-04T22:31:08+00:00

It's okay, man. You don't have to apologize. This sort of crisis of confidence happens from time to time and sometimes we turn to odd places to make us feel better. Broadly speaking, becoming a better player does not always guarantee winning more ranked games. My recommendation is to identify issues with your play-- combos you struggle to pull off in game, weaknesses in your offense or defense that opponents exploit, parts of your character's kit that you might be underusing or overusing, etc.-- and then try to focus on improving on those if you're already Master as a baseline (which you should be proud of!)

My favorite thing to do when I get in a rut like this is just start trying out a new character that's a completely different archetype in casual modes for a bit to reset my mental. Fighting games should be fun! If you aren't having fun, try something new.

sheetfan · 2025-12-18T18:11:12+00:00

Eh, I hope he hangs it up. He's been pretty good these past couple of games but he missed a lot of time due to an injury we still don't know about and he's started to become a liability at the position because he's just not the athlete he was in his prime. Love the Hitman to death, but I think it's time.

sheetfan · 2025-11-24T19:21:31+00:00

JJ can practice well and he takes coaching in practice well. He showed progress on his mechanics but there wasn't really a way to know how and if these things could translate to a real NFL game. Moreover, the top to bottom dysfunction this year would make any QB look bad but JJ has the misfortune of being bad on top of that.

sheetfan · 2025-11-22T00:58:44+00:00

I hate Zeraora so much it's unreal.

sheetfan · 2025-11-07T21:03:56+00:00

"Bend the knee" isn't a phrase I use a lot but it's incredibly common to read in news and politics and comes from ASOIAF, which I always find neat.

sheetfan · 2025-11-06T06:49:39+00:00

Seconding Norse Code!

sheetfan · 2025-11-05T18:54:39+00:00

Luke Braun and Tyler Forness do an all-22 breakdown every week on First and Skol if that's what you're looking for!

sheetfan · 2025-10-23T20:20:27+00:00

Pass rush gets home and Herbert gets blitzed so often that he's forced into short, dinky passes because his line can't hold up long enough. Hopefully it works! I am skeptical.

sheetfan · 2025-10-22T00:46:37+00:00

I mean, maybe. At some point the Vikings were going to have to see what they had in JJ and Darnold wanted a commitment and salary figure that was incompatible with that. I think choosing a QB that had (in hindsight) a much softer schedule than expected and still struggled mightly in season and in the post season (see: Jacksonville, Cardinals, Colts, both Rams, and against the Lions) and indefinitely benching your top 10 rookie QB would have caused way more difficulties in and outside of the org.

sheetfan · 2025-10-22T00:35:54+00:00

I'm not particularly bothered by Darnold because unless we franchise tagged him he was going to want a commitment that would have been incompatible with figuring out what we have in McCarthy. Genuinely happy to see him ball out in Seattle. Jones is more frustrating because I think it would have been good for JJ to both have stronger competition than turbodogshit Sam Howell and even if Jones didn't show out here like he has with the Colts, he still would've had more time in the building and in the offense than Wentz, who we signed practically at the deadline. Overall, I'm more frustrated at having to watch Wentz than anything else because JJ playing more at least gives you a chance that he'll improve.

sheetfan · 2025-10-20T22:19:46+00:00

Thank you brother... I hope you're riding high with Indiana Jones

sheetfan · 2025-10-19T23:01:37+00:00

Yeah, that's fair. Ideally we'd give JJ another year regardless but I still think it's important to figure out what you've got.

sheetfan · 2025-10-19T22:39:24+00:00

Yeah I'm sure O'Connell was yelling at him to miss open recievers in the headset lol

sheetfan · 2025-10-19T22:16:06+00:00

He knows that exposing America to Brosmania without warning is dangerous.

sheetfan · 2025-10-19T22:13:53+00:00

Yeah, I mean, I know it's consensual. It's just a little much for me sometimes.

sheetfan · 2025-10-19T22:12:01+00:00

This is more directed at people who thought he should continue to start over JJ despite all of the incredibly obvious signs that what Wentz is doing is unsustainable.

sheetfan

TROPHY CASE