Sep 8, 2024; East Rutherford, New Jersey, USA; Minnesota Vikings quarterback Sam Darnold (14) warms up before the game against the New York Giants at MetLife Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images.
VikingsTerritory’s Purple Rumor Mill is a two-day chronicle each week. All the week’s Vikings rumors are lassoed and plopped in two spots — articles on Saturday and Sunday — for review. Today is the September 14th edition.
Remember — rumors are rumors. What you read on weekends in these pieces is what the world is talking about pertaining to the purple team, not necessarily items that will come to fruition.
Here’s the first batch of the week. All past rumors can be read here.
According to former NFL quarterback and current ESPN analyst Dan Orlovsky, Darnold has mostly fixed his footwork, an explanation for his newfound success in Minnesota, at least in Week 1.
“I think he’s done a remarkable job, at least in week one, of marrying his feet to the pass concept, and that’s a lost art right now in the NFL. I remember, in Carolina, Sam was bad at this, and he’s really showing great growth,” Orlovsky said Wednesday.
Darnold’s EPA-CPOE, an efficiency stat measuring quarterbacks’ wins added, led all passers in Week 1. It likely won’t remain, but Darnold set the pace out of the gate. So did his grade from Pro Football Focus.
Orlovsky added, “Sam really struggled with this early on. He really struggled with this in Carolina. I remember doing a breakdown of Sam being ready to throw, cause 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, hitch… and the receivers weren’t even close to breaking on the routes.”
“I think it’s a lost art in much of the NFL right now, and he has really grown when it comes to ‘ok, my drop has to have this type of pace with this type of feel, and I have to be ready to throw at this moment, marrying it with those routes… that’s why you see some of his talent start to shine,” Orlovsky concluded.
Good news, indeed, if Orlovsky is on to something.
Kirk Cousins did not play well — at all — in his Falcons debut, losing at home to the Pittsburgh Steelers. Atlanta curiously used Cousins in a pistol formation, an odd development for a playaction passer.
Some quickly speculated that Cousins’ Achilles recovery might’ve gone off the rails, causing the Week 1 struggles. It’s probably too early to diagnose that, but Cousins, no matter what, has Michael Penix Jr. nipping at his heels.
We think Cousins will rebound, but he may not regain peak form. He could be a 22-25 touchdown guy rather than the habitual 30 per season of yesteryear.
Rudolph joined Kay Adams this week to predict a Vikings’ upset over the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday and pounded the table for Sam Darnold’s Baker Mayfield-like reclamation season. The ex-Vikings tight end mentioned all of Darnold’s weapons in Minnesota and claimed he had nothing to lose this season.
“I said this on KFAN, the local radio here in Minnesota on Monday after the game to Paul Allen, this could be a Baker Mayfield situation from Tampa last year where you ultimately go sign a guy on a one-year contract — Sam’s got nothing to lose,” Rudolph told Adams.
Rudolph said about a Vikings-49ers prediction for Week 2, “I’m going with the Vikings again. They’re gonna knock ’em off. Christian McCaffrey also missed the game in Minnesota last year.”
He misspoke about McCaffrey. Deebo Samuel missed the 2023 showdown, and although McCaffrey was questionable leading into the contest last year, McCaffrey indeed played.
But he does believe his old team will hold off the mighty 49ers.
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 MIN 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.