Vikings head coach Kevin O’Connell is a maestro, and Sam Darnold is his excellent backup instrument

Minnesota Vikings head coach and offensive play-designer Kevin O’Connell is not any stranger to constructing his emergency quarterback system on the fly out of spit and baling wire. In 2023, O’Connell had Kirk Cousins within the first half of the season, and all was properly. Then Cousins suffered a torn Achilles in Week 8 in opposition to the Inexperienced Bay Packers, and his season was over.

O’Connell then needed to piece it along with Joshua Dobbs, Nick Mullens, and Jaren Corridor. The Vikings misplaced six of their final seven video games, and thru the Vikings had been assured in choosing Michigan quarterback J.J. McCarthy with the tenth total choose within the 2024 draft – even buying and selling up to take action – in addition they needed a greater reply at backup quarterback if something occurred to McCarthy.

When McCarthy suffered a torn meniscus within the preseason, the choice to signal Sam Darnold to a one-year, $10 million contract with $8.75 million this offseason got here into clear focus.

Darnold just isn’t enjoying for his future because the Vikings’ beginning quarterback; he’s enjoying for his NFL future total. Darnold, the third total choose within the 2018 draft out of USC, fell out of favor with the New York Jets, the crew that drafted him, after which wandered the earth with the Carolina Panthers in 2021 and 2022, and as Brock Purdy’s backup with the San Francisco 49ers in 2023.

Towards the New York Giants final Sunday, Darnold had the most effective video games of his NFL profession as a pure passer. The stats had been respectable – 19 completions in 24 makes an attempt for 208 yards, two touchdowns, one interception, a passer score of 113.2, and a Passing EPA of +2.4 – however the actual story right here was how seamlessly Darnold match into O’Connell’s ideas, and the way Darnold had clearly engendered perception from his coaches and teammates.

Specifically, there have been three explosive performs from Darnold that O’Connell needed to debate post-game.

“I assumed there have been a pair,” O’Connell mentioned when requested which Darnold throws impressed him probably the most. “I assumed the seam ball to Josh Oliver from below heart, attempting to make the most of a glance, attempting to see if [he] may manufacture a simple throw however an explosive throw with that play, and he simply completely drilled it.”

That throw got here with 5:26 left within the first quarter. The Vikings had been in 21 personnel with a full backfield on first-and-10 from the Giants’ 27-yard line. Justin Jefferson was within the left slot, and he was clearly the main target for Bug Blue’s Cowl-2 protection.

On the snap, the Vikings went 4 verts with Jordan Addison, Jefferson, Oliver, and fullback C.J. Ham all displacing New York’s protection with downfield routes. The Miami Dolphins and San Francisco 49ers love to check defenses by throwing a number of vertical ideas out of heavy appears, and O’Connell’s model was fairly candy as properly. Darnold exploited the deep give attention to Jefferson to Oliver’s different facet, and the hole in intermediate protection when rookie linebacker Darius Muasau stayed beneath to cowl halfback Aaron Jones’ launch route.

ESPN’s Dan Orlovsky broke this play down very properly.

The Vikings discovered themselves pinned at their very own 1-yard line with 13:39 left within the first half when security Dane Belton downed Jamie Gillan’s 39-yard punt there. If O’Connell didn’t trust in his quarterback, the thought right here would have been to throw wanting the sticks in a protected trend, and run the ball down the Giants’ collective throat. As a substitute, with second-and-12 from his personal 10-yard line with 11:41 left within the first half, O’Connell known as a deep bottom nook route for Jefferson, and Darnold nailed the throw.

“I assumed on the 99-yard drive, which I do know it’s been some time since we did that, I simply thought that throw to Justin was outstanding,” O’Connell mentioned. “To have the ability to lean on the quarterback in that second to activate your finest participant and for his belief and simply loads of time on job with these two opening up. That’s a very big-time play in that second to essentially set the stage for us to go down the sector and are available away with seven when the crew will get you backed up 99 yards like that, so I simply thought there have been examples of that all through the sport.”

O’Connell later obtained into the small print of simply what made that throw so particular.

“It’s simply the texture. It’s simply the understanding of Justin is exclusive, how he can do issues at full pace and alter course and have complete physique management with the quarterback loads of instances. It may possibly additionally throw the quarterback off so far as, ‘Hey, the place’s he taking this? What sort of angle is he popping out of?’ We’re close to the shadow of our personal finish zone at that second. Acquired nice safety and threw an absolute strike. It’s one thing that I noticed Justin’s face after that drive once we completed it. I feel he felt fairly darn good about who’s throwing him the soccer.”

As he ought to have. Jefferson mentioned post-game that this play hadn’t fairly come collectively in observe via the week, nevertheless it was all good within the second.

“We’ve been engaged on that. We actually simply labored on that play a couple of days in the past and we didn’t join on that play, so simply speaking with one another and attempting to make it possible for we’re on the identical web page that I’m in the precise spot and that he’s throwing it to the precise spot. All the pieces that we’ve talked about occurred precisely on the market on that play and it was a superbly thrown ball. It was an exquisite begin of our drive getting that power up on that 99-yard drive.”

That play got here out of no-huddle as properly, so it’s not as if there was additional time to consider it. And if you wish to understand how a lot confidence O’Connell had in his quarterback, contemplate the fourth-down throw to Jefferson for the landing. The Vikings had been up 7-3 at this level, and it wasn’t as if the Giants had been going to match factors with anyone with Daniel Jones as their quarterback. O’Connell clearly needed his quarterback to really feel the exhilaration of placing a pointy level on the top of that drive. This time, O’Connell had his different receivers flowing away from Jefferson because the bottom iso receiver, and it was pitch-and-catch as cornerback Deonte Banks tried to maintain tempo.

O’Connell additionally introduced up the 21-yard landing cross to receiver Jalen Nailor as consultant of Darnold’s capacity to take the guts of an ever-expanding and adjusting playbook to the sector. The Giants had been attempting to bracket Jefferson and Addison earlier within the sport to try to mitigate the injury, and this was O’Connell’s response.

O’Connell sophisticated the thought of bracketing by throwing a frontside Ranges idea in opposition to the Giants’ Cowl-1. The outcome was not solely a wide-open Nailor, but additionally a wide-open tight finish on the bottom within the particular person of Johnny Mundt.

“You are concerned generally about sending totally different motions and issues and the noise and silent cadence and getting it snapped,” O’Connell mentioned. “However then, that goes proper together with type of simply the efficiency Sam had that may be actually one thing we are able to construct off of.”

First regular-season sport together with his new crew, all types of force-fed ideas from one of many NFL’s finest offensive minds, and the previous draft bust regarded as if he’d been on this offense his whole profession.

O’Connell had some nice issues to say not solely about Darnold, however how quarterback progress will be unpredictable basically.

“A number of the of us I get to talk to very often they know I’ve talked loads concerning the quarterback journey. Quarterbacks in our league don’t get to manage loads of that journey and so they’re anticipated to carry out in some instances instantly. I’ve simply all the time actually preferred the way in which Sam carries himself. He’s a proficient participant and he could make big-time throws, each throw we’re going to ask him to make he’s greater than able to doing that. After which he’s an amazing instance of what this final month and a half have actually been like, getting ready in a approach that may present up on a Sunday.

“There’s loads of issues that Sam will in all probability are available right here and say he can do higher, however I can inform you beginning 12 for 12 [Darnold completed his first 12 passes] and having the presence to assist overcome that early adversity comes straight from the quarterback place. And that’s in all probability why his teammates seen him as a captain and virtually unanimously voted him one. I simply can’t say sufficient about what he was capable of do and the way excited I’m to construct on his efficiency as we speak and transferring ahead.”

As for Darnold, he’s simply getting began in his new setting.

“I feel for me it was simply popping out right here and like I maintain saying, I feel simply enjoying my sport,” he mentioned after the win. “Taking part in one play at a time however once more, simply enjoying with confidence. I feel that’s the largest factor, as a result of we’ve obtained an amazing offense. We’ve obtained an amazing system. If I simply play on time and do all of the issues I must do to execute, we’ll be alright.”

Up to now, so good. The Vikings subsequent face the 49ers, Darnold’s crew final season, so we’ll see what he has in his quiver to beat that stout protection. In a bigger sense, we could also be seeing a type of quarterback rehabilitation tales wherein the participant’s bodily items are completely matched with the man calling the sport.