The Minnesota Vikings are off to a 2-0 start this season . Plenty of national outlets suggested they would win only a select number of games. Kevin O’Connell doesn’t care about any of that and he has Sam Darnold playing the best football of his life . Football that looks like Kirk Cousins you could say.
Sam Darnold reaching a Cousins threshold is a win for the Minnesota Vikings
When the Minnesota Vikings kicked off the 2024 regular season there was very little belief as to what they could accomplish. Now with two wins in two weeks, that belief from the outside should be growing . Sam Darnold’s play is a significant reason for the victories, and it’s time to start viewing him through the lens of how he is currently playing. Colin Cowherd thinks it looks a lot like Kirk Cousins.
“I always felt if you compare Sam Darnold to Kirk Cousins it would be like comparing a bake off to the iron chef. Baking is more formulaic, following directions, precise, more science. Chefs, it’s more about improvisation, adapting, freestyling. It’s more art. Both are fine. Kirk Cousins is a baker, Darnold is more the chef. A little reckless, a little more juice and flare and art. Cousins is about intense preparation. Getting to his spot. Again steady results. That’s not what you get with Darnold. Darnold has a little Andrew Luck, though not as talented, and a little Carson Wentz, though not as reckless. He’s an athlete, he improvs, he ad libs, more dramatic upscale touchdowns, but more ugly games. By the way, he’s not obviously Brett Favre, but Brett Favre when he was in Minnesota was sort of like that. Brett Favre was a chef… There’s no question this offense has more juice. Kirk Cousins was steadier.”
Colin Cowherd on the comparison of Sam Darnold to Kirk Cousins (Fox Sports)
There’s a lot of gibberish in what Cowherd is trying to articulate. There is also a sound point in that Darnold’s athleticism gives Minnesota something they have not previously had. To this point we have not seen Darnold operate in a reckless or unfortunate manner. That may take place when the Vikings find themselves in an adverse situation . It’s also somewhat a reflection of what Darnold has been in two previous stops.
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The reality for the Minnesota Vikings is that Sam Darnold has been everything they had hoped for to this point. He was signed at $10 million to be a veteran placeholder. Through two games, he looks to be worth every penny.
Darnold replicating Cousins works for Vikings
The Minnesota Vikings would be ecstatic if Sam Darnold wound up producing to the level of Kirk Cousins. He has yet to do so over the course of his career . 30 touchdowns with interceptions landing somewhere in the teens would work wonderfully for this Kevin O’Connell offense. That all works because Darnold is making just a shred of what Cousins consistently cost the Vikings.
Without a sizable cap hit, the Vikings have been able to spread money around and bring in additional talent. Cousins was always first about getting his paycheck , and that limits an organization in a salary cap sport. Should Darnold end the season with a similar level of production, Minnesota will find itself in the playoffs.
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Regardless of how you want to describe the playstyle of either quarterback, it’s clear that Darnold is the better athlete. If he can translate that into being a similar level of quarterback, the Vikings stand to benefit in a big way.
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