Former NFL QB Has Bold Vikings Take
On Monday Night Football, Kirk Cousins delivered a game-winning drive for the Atlanta Falcons that turned back the clock to his 2022 season with the Minnesota Vikings.
Former NFL QB Has Bold Vikings Take
The win served as a ginormous accomplishment for Cousins with his new team, as he can now reasonably put any Michael Penix Jr. chatter to rest. He’s the guy Atlanta drafted in Round 1 five months ago to eventually replace Cousins.
However, before the Cousins masterclass on Monday Night Football, former NFL quarterback Chris Simms offered a bold proclamation about new Vikings quarterback Sam Darnold and Cousins: he basically said Darnold is better for the Vikings and perhaps a superior football player to Cousins on the whole.
“He’s got more potential to make that Minnesota offense look good than Kirk Cousins did. He has more physical ability. His arm is stronger, he’s got a quicker release, he moves better,” Simms opined about Darnold over Cousins on The Dan Le Batard Show Monday.
Through two games, Darnold ranks as the NFL’s fifth-best quarterback per EPA+CPOE. Cousins ranks 15th.
Simms also pounded the table for the Vikings, in general. “I think the Vikings are one of the most well-coached teams in football. We know Brian Flores on the defensive side, he’s one of the few guys in the game that can match wits with Kyle Shanahan and the 49ers,” he said. “I am expecting Minnesota as a fringe playoff team, maybe just misses out, but a big pain in the ass, and everyone is going to see what Sam Darnold is made of this year.”
Of course, Minnesota has a long way to go before reaching the postseason or winning the NFC North, but like Baker Mayfield in 2023, there is no evidence to suggest Darnold will encounter a faceplant. Last year, for example, former Vikings passer Joshua Dobbs produced two glorious games before the rest of the NFL re-realized his arm talent suspicion. The guy couldn’t throw outside the numbers and had difficulty stretching the field with his pass-catchers.
Darnold is emphatically the antithesis. His major malfunction through six seasons arose in the form of turnovers and rotten situations. In Minnesota, he’s still clocking one turnover per game — which this brand of Vikings can probably swallow and be just fine — and has the scenery to die for.
And even when Justin Jefferson, Jordan Addison, T.J. Hockenson, and Aaron Jones weren’t on the field late in the 4th Quarter in Week 2 against San Francisco, Darnold delivered a clutch 3rd Down dart to wide receiver Jalen Nailor, extending the drive and enabling the Vikings to snuff out the Super Bowl runner-up 49ers, a team that formerly employed Darnold.
Darnold could encounter a spike in turnovers; that’s not an unreasonable hypothesis. But his undeniable arm talent — to the tune of the third overall pick in the 2018 NFL Draft — won’t go away.
Simms might be onto something about Darnold over Cousins. Why? Well, the New York Jets selected Darnold third overall in the 2018 NFL Draft because he was the total package. Back then, his scouting report didn’t have many red flags. As a thrower of the football, he might just be more talented than Cousins.
Darnold’s next step is sustainability. If he achieves it, he’ll make Simms’ bold take look rather prophetic.
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.
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