Nov 10, 2024; Jacksonville, Florida, USA; Minnesota Vikings quarterback Sam Darnold (14) heads into the tunnel after the game against the Jacksonville Jaguars at EverBank Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Morgan Tencza-Imagn Images.
Minnesota Vikings quarterback Sam Darnold is the NFL’s 11th-best passer by the numbers, says the efficiency metric known as EPA+CPOE.
But per experts’ power rankings, the 27-year-old has tumbled out of the league’s Top 11 altogether.
NFL.com posted the latest example this week, revealing its weekly quarterback power index. Darnold checked in at No. 14, down four spots from No. 10 heading into Week 10. Per Nick Shook, Darnold is sandwiched between Jalen Hurts (No. 13, Philadelphia Eagles) and Tua Tagovailoa (No. 15, Miami Dolphins).
“If Minnesota’s win over the Jets in London was a precursor, Week 10 was the realization of Vikings fans’ lingering fear that Darnold might eventually run out of pixie dust. He reverted to the Darnold of old in Jacksonville, turning it over with reckless play that included too many examples of the QB locking onto Justin Jefferson and paying the price when Jacksonville was there to pick him off,” Shook wrote this week.
Darnold produced a turnover-riddled outing last weekend, delivering 3 interceptions to Jaguars defenders and damn near costing the Vikings a win. An odd factoid, however, about that contest was that Minnesota’s offense performed quite well sans the Darnold picks.
Shook added, “He still racked up 241 passing yards on the day, but some of his forced throws numbed the mind. He’d have finished with four interceptions had one not been wiped out by a penalty, and the Vikings were lucky to win. Perhaps this is the lesson Darnold needed to earn in 2024: While Jefferson is quarterback-proof, it’s not impossible to dedicate vast resources toward eliminating him from a quarterback’s options.”
Darnold began the 2024 season at a breakneck clip, earning fringe MVP consideration through the season’s first five games and garnering attention from many as the NFL’s latest reclamation project. By most standards, Darnold’s 2024 campaign is still really successful — he’s the leader of a 7-2 team. It’s just that Vikings fans hope he reduces the giveaways in the season’s final eight regular season games.
He acknowledged his errors after Sunday’s win: “I’ve got to do a lot better job taking care of the football. I think that’s obvious. Just being situationally aware of where we are at on the field, first and second down, just being able to put the ball in play and let our guys go run with it. I thought I should have done a lot better job of that today, but we’ll just look at the tape and learn from it that way.”
Darnold will hope to fire up a turnover-free outing this Sunday at the Tennessee Titans, a game his team is expected to win by six points, according to sportsbooks.
Dustin Baker is a political scientist who graduated from the University of Minnesota in 2007. Subscribe to his daily YouTube Channel, VikesNow. The show features guests, analysis, and opinion on all things related to the purple team, with 4-7 episodes per week. His Vikings obsession dates back to 1996. Listed guilty pleasures: Peanut Butter Ice Cream, ‘The Sopranos,’ Basset Hounds, and The Doors (the band). He follows the NBA as closely as the NFL.
All statistics provided by Pro Football Reference / Stathead; all contractual information provided by OverTheCap.com.