ESPN Analyst Says Vikings Might Have Blown It Big Time after All
The Minnesota Vikings have taken heat lately because Sam Darnold is playing quite well for the Seattle Seahawks, after general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah refused to pay the passer $100.5 million over three seasons as he trusted J.J. McCarthy with the QB1 job.
One prominent figure has now decided that the Minnesota Vikings messed up their offseason decision-making at the quarterback position. A reversal.
ESPN joined the fun this week, too, questioning whether letting Darnold walk was the right move.
Dan Graziano Now Concerned about Vikings Decision-Making
Darnold is balling out; McCarthy is healing from a high ankle sprain.
Graziano Flip-Flops on Sam Darnold — and Owns It
Graziano, once a proponent of rolling with McCarthy, changed his opinion this week.
He explained, “The Vikings should have re-signed Sam Darnold. Verdict: NOT AN OVERREACTION. This is a flip-flop, and I’ll own it. I supported the Vikings’ decision to roll with McCarthy, the 10th pick in last year’s draft, while letting both Darnold and Jones walk and telling Aaron Rodgers no thanks.”
“It was a bet on head coach Kevin O’Connell and his proven ability to generate offense with a variety of different quarterbacks. I figured if O’Connell decided this was the way to go, he’d earned enough trust that we should believe him. And maybe he’ll be right eventually.”
Darnold has Top 10 MVP odds after seven weeks of the regular season.
Graziano added, “But it’s about time to stop predicting and start knowing. The Vikings made six trips to the red zone in Sunday’s game against the Eagles and came away with one touchdown and five field goals, helping them lose a winnable game. Darnold is fourth in the NFL this season in red zone QBR.”
“The Vikings have 11 more games this season to prove O’Connell’s decision right. But the first six have shown it to be worth questioning.”
In short, Darnold is playing too well for Graziano not to have second thoughts about his McCarthy takes.
Darnold’s Performance in Seattle
Through seven weeks, Darnold ranks third in the NFL per EPA+CPOE, a metric measuring expected points added by a quarterback. Only Drake Maye of the New England Patriots and Jordan Love of the Green Bay Packers outpace Darnold at the moment.
Darnold is on track for 4,260 passing yards, 29 touchdown passes, and 10 interceptions. He’s authored a few deadly errors so far in 2025 that caused Seattle to lose, but most commonly agree that Darnold has done the trick and then some for the Seahawks.
McCarthy Trending to Be Back in 9 Days
Meanwhile, the guy whom Minnesota preferred over Darnold — McCarthy — is on his way back to the starting lineup.
McCarthy didn’t play in Week 8 due to a short lead-up to Thursday Night Football, but according to credible NFL sources, the Vikings plan to green-light McCarthy for Week 9 against the Detroit Lions. The young passer played horribly in Week 2 against the Atlanta Falcons, suffered a high ankle sprain, and hasn’t played in five weeks.
He’s on his way back, though, and his performance will be compared to Darnold’s indefinitely.
A Judgement in 2-3 Years, Not 2025
Deciding if Minnesota made the right move by offloading Darnold and leaning full tilt into the McCarthy experience cannot be measured until 2026 or 2027.
McCarthy needs time to develop, and getting mad that he isn’t as productive as Darnold, an eight-year NFL veteran, is just preposterous. Darnold totally crumbled when his team needed him the most in Minnesota last season — two times — so the decision to tab McCarthy for QB1 wasn’t that difficult.
The goal is to develop McCarthy and hope he doesn’t vaporize in winner-take-all games like Darnold did in 2024.
Darnold’s ceiling is pretty defined after eight seasons in the NFL. McCarthy’s is not.
Graziano’s Other Darnold Thoughts
Graziano also noted on Darnold: “Minnesota let Darnold leave in free agency after he threw 35 touchdown passes and led the team to 14 wins because it wanted to give the starting QB job to 2024 first-round pick J.J. McCarthy. Darnold is crushing it in Seattle, ranking third in QBR, passer rating and passing yards entering Sunday. Meanwhile, McCarthy played two very shaky-looking games to start the season, got hurt in the second one and hasn’t played since. His backup, Carson Wentz, threw two first-half interceptions in Sunday’s loss to the Eagles.”
“The only other quarterback on the Vikings’ roster is undrafted rookie Max Brosmer. They’ve told us they won’t decide on whether McCarthy gets the starting job back until his sprained ankle has healed enough for him to be able to play. But nothing we’ve seen from the Vikings’ 2025 quarterback room so far has given us reason to feel confident they have the answer. To make matters even worse, Daniel Jones, who finished the 2024 season as Darnold’s backup, is playing great as the starter for the Colts.”
Minnesota lost its second consecutive game on Thursday night, a beatdown at the hands of the Los Angeles Chargers. The team has nine days to “figure it out” before an away game at the Lions.
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