There may not be many more than three guys who’d pick this play out of Sam Darnold’s renaissance season and recognize it as a preeminent illustration of the 27-year-old’s growth.
One would be Kevin O’Connell. Another is Darnold himself. And third would be Tom Brady.
It came in Week 17, in a massive home game against the Green Bay Packers. The Minnesota Vikings were 13–2, Green Bay came in at 11–4, and Minnesota was still chasing the Detroit Lions in the NFC North. It was second-and-4 with Darnold’s team up 20–10, the ball at the Vikings’ 47, and 3:40 left in the third quarter. The Vikings were looking to get separation they’d wind up needing in the end.
Justin Jefferson was split left, T.J. Hockenson was lined up in the left slot, Josh Oliver was the in-line tight end to the right, Jordan Addison was flanked right and, at the snap, all four guys released straight downfield. Aaron Jones stutter-stepped and leaked out of the backfield.
“We ran a four-verts concept. They bailed out into Tampa 2,” Darnold told me, late Thursday afternoon. “On my first hitch in my drop, I ended up getting it down to Aaron Jones for a checkdown and he went for like 13 yards. That’s a play I feel like I maybe would’ve tried to force a bender in there to T.J. or a hole shot to J.J. down the sideline [in the past]. We got a first down and we’re going fast. These guys are panic dropping out of there—.
“Sure enough, he gets a first down and we keep the drive going. It’s just little things like that, that you learn as you keep playing this game.”
As Darnold said, the play was good for 13 yards. Four plays later, the Vikings scored to make it 27–10. They hung on to win 27–25, and you know how the rest of the season played out from there.
And, again, few would pick it out of Darnold’s season.
But after he did it for me, I went back and watched the play. I saw how fast Darnold recognized the coverage and got the ball to Jones, and it turns out the guy who was calling the game—who happens to be the best of all time—noticed it, too.
“K.B. [Kevin Burkhardt], that play, it reminds me, you said earlier in the game, Sam getting to a read that’s normally later really quickly, that was one,” Brady said. “They tried to take a shot down the field. [The Packers] were playing a structure that wasn’t going to allow a big play. The ball came out of his hand so quickly there to Jones, it looked like it was his first read. But it wasn’t his first read. It was his last read.”
This is the new Sam Darnold, different from the one that came out of USC seven years ago: a raw, gifted athlete who’d played in a simplistic Air Raid scheme in the Pac-12. He’s seeing the game faster, feeling it faster and, as a result, playing it faster—and a whole lot better.
This is also the guy the Seattle Seahawks are betting big on, giving him a three-year, $100.5 million deal that mirrors the one Baker Mayfield got from the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Is that a good bet for Seattle to take? The above is just one reason to think it is.
• A look at what Aaron Rodgers has left for the Pittsburgh Steelers, New York Giants or Vikings.
• More on the timeline ahead for Kirk Cousins and the Atlanta Falcons.
• What the Kansas City Chiefs’ and New Orleans Saints’ big restructures actually mean in the grand scheme.
And a whole lot more.
But we’re starting with a deep dive into Darnold’s rebirth, the Seahawks’ pursuit of him and what it means for the NFL going forward.
