August 26, 2024 • 10 mins
Colin does a deep dive into the Minnesota Vikings offense and why Sam Darnold has every tool he needs at his disposal, but Colin has his doubts about whether Darnold can rise to the occasion. He also compares Darnold’s early career situation to that of a highly drafted rookie from the 2024 class.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
The volume. I'll want you to go and download the
game Time app ninety seconds code colin. That'll always get
your twenty dollars off your first purchase. Nobody gets you
better seats at better prices for live events than game time. Also,
ticket prices go down the closer you get to the
first pitch or to kick off. Take the guesswork out
(00:24):
of buying tickets with Game Time. You download the app,
you create an account, you put in the code colin.
That's me twenty bucks off your first purchase. Terms apply.
It's lowest price is guaranteed on last minute deals. College football, NFL,
Major League Baseball. You don't have your mind made up
days in advance for all these game Time code Colin
(00:47):
twenty bucks off. So one of the things that I'm
hoping for is this draft. This past draft looks like
the twenty twenty draft when you have Jordan Love and
Herbert and Burrow and Tua and Jalen Hurtz, and all
(01:08):
of a sudden, we have like five quarterbacks who eventually
all get that second big contract. The league's better when
the quality of quarterback is better. That's indisputable. And we've
had some good quarterback years you know the legendary Jim Kelly,
Dan Marino, John Elway years and years ago, but we
recently twenty twenty had five guys four in the first
(01:30):
round hit. The Drake May situation reminds me a lot
of Sam Donald, and this is why I think he's
going to struggle. So I like Sam Donald a lot
out of college, and I like Drake May. I think
they're his comp is accurate. But I want you to
think about this. Both come out Sam Donald and Drake
May of the Patriots as the number three pick. Both
(01:53):
are from athletic families. Both played in weaker college conferences
at the time they came out the ACC now and
Donald's PAC twelve. Then they had remedial college coaching. Offensively,
you know, Sam Donald did not have a Lincoln Riley
at the whiteboard like a Kyler Murray or a Baker
(02:14):
Mayfield or a Jalen Hurts, where they come in kind
of ready to play and have been well schooled. This
is not a knock on Mac Brown, but the feeling
was it was a pretty simplistic offense for Drake May.
Both Drake May and Sam Donald are very very young,
younger than you'd like. They both come into the league
(02:35):
at twenty one. To give you some sense of how
young that is, Kenny Pickett is already twenty six years old.
Sam Donald just turned twenty seven a month and a
half ago, right, a couple months ago. So Drake May
Sam Donald come in very very young. They're both big enough,
six three are up, both athletic enough, they both move well,
(02:57):
arms are strong enough. But then they both go to
the NFL. Sam Donald and Drake May inherit first time
defensive coaches Todd Bowles and Drawn Mayo shaky o lines,
no current when they enter it, no current cultural or
winning momentum in the franchise, and a lack of weapons.
(03:20):
Donald enters the league in twenty eighteen, faces Belichick twice
a year and Sean McDermott, two of the top five
defensive coaches. A year later at Brian Flores, remains an
excellent defensive mind. That's rough. Sam Donald inherits that Drake
may gets Sean McDermott and Robert Salah. Now McDermott's top
(03:40):
five six seven coach, but as a defensive coach, he's
near the top of the league and solid knows what
he's doing on that side of the ball, just give
you SIPs. Both Donald and Drake May are liked by
people I trust, but they're not perfect. They're a little raw.
They come in a little underdeveloped on the whiteboard, a
(04:02):
little younger than you want. And Sam is now on
his what fourth team Jets Carolina, San Francisco and now Minnesota,
and he finally gets his best situation. Now, compare that
to bo Nicks, who enters the league get twenty four
years old, three years older than both May and Sam Donald.
(04:24):
Denver has an offensive coach, a brilliant one. Denver's good
at left tackle, wide receiver, and running back to have talent.
Then Denver also drafts Troy Franklin, bo Nix's great college
receiver had fourteen touchdowns alone for Oregon last year, over
one hundred yards per game for Oregon last year. So
(04:45):
think of all those advantages. And in that division that
bo Nix inherits, it's not defensive coaches. There's one rookie
defensive coach, Antonio Pierce, but it's Andy Reid and Jim Harbaugh. Situationally,
Drake Man, Sam Donald little too young, young defensive coach
shaky oline weapons, weaker college conferences, didn't have a great,
(05:09):
brilliant offensive coach. It's rough. I think it's going to
be rough for Drake Man. To me, of all of
these quarterbacks, he's the one that could struggle, you know.
You know, I like Darnald a lot, and I'm not
saying he would have ever been great. There was about
six starts in Carolina. Then there was the twenty nineteen
year with the Jets, year two where he had an
(05:29):
eighty five passer rating, twenty one total touchdowns, only thirteen interceptions.
You know, that's always been the bugaboo for Sam Darnold.
And Darnald also loses out on the optics because Tom
Brady had over two hundred interceptions in his career. I
think it's two twenty or two twelve, but very few
were awful, very few were memorable. Right, That last one
(05:52):
in New England against Tennessee sticks in my head one
of the Super Bowl interceptions. Same with Aaron Rodgers. Not
that many terrible interceptions. Sam Darnold's picks at least one
a Sunday Alla Koffle Alla Kaffle. So I am again
I don't think Drake Mays as talented as Caleb Williams.
(06:12):
But I think he's bigger, stronger in moves just as
well as bow Knicks. But the situation for bow Knicks
and eventually a JJ McCarthy are just much better than
they were for Donald or Drake May. I think the
Vikings are one of the more fascinating teams in the league.
Last year, when everybody was saying, hey, Rams were in
(06:34):
a rebuild, I said, time out, it's a coach quarterback, weapons,
left tackle league. If you can generate some pass rush
and so I said, the Rams are going to be
a playoff team or battle for a playoff team Minnesota Weapons,
although Jordan Addison will be out probably for the first
three to four weeks. Weapons, great left tackle, running back
(06:55):
that can catch out of the backfield, smart offensive coach.
It will all come down Donald because all the components
are here as they were for the Rams last year
and Stafford got down to the playoffs. No, Donald's not
Matt Stafford. So this will be I'll get my comeuppance
on Sam Donald because my takeaway as their schedule is
tough early, but it is. When you were selling the
(07:19):
Rams last year, I said, if it's a coach quarterback,
weapons protection, pass rush league, the Rams have it Minnesota does.
The question is can the trigger guy Sam Donald pull
it off. I've got my doubt. He's frankly just not
accurate enough. His career completion percentage hovers around fifty nine
to sixty percent. If it was sixty three, I'd be fine. Now.
(07:42):
I think he'll get to sixty three to sixty three
and a half percent with Kevin O'Connell. But with most
quarterbacks that Kevin O'Connell will teach, mentor and coach, they'll
be in the sixty five to sixty six percent. And
that's the difference. With Donald's guaranteed mistakes. He can be wrecked.
You've got to build him in. He just will not
(08:03):
complete enough passes. But it is really built to win.
They are bib. Minnesota is built to be the surprise
team in the NFC like the Rams did last year.
Smart offensive coach, protections, fine, a couple of weapons, generate
somewhat of a pass rush. It's all there for Minnesota,
and it's all there for Sam Darnel. It would be
(08:23):
nice if I don't know, one time you guys would
pull for somebody, I like, I'm always here pulling for
your team. This one time but it does show you situationally,
Caleb defensive coach in the hot seat, Jade and Daniels
defensive coach. Drake may defensive coach. I think two of
(08:45):
those three are going to be hits. But I would
virtually guarantee it if Caleb was walking into this league
with Kevin O'Connell or Jaden Daniels was walking into this
league with Sean Payton. It does make it tougher. I mean,
Belichick's the best coach of all time. Tom Brady has
joked even on his documentary like Bill doesn't speak that language.
(09:05):
I mean, you're watching the Steelers justin field Russell Wilson,
You're watching them. I mean, how many first downs did
Russell Wilson have in like five series? Steelers can't get
the offensive line right Buffalo for years, defensive coach can't
get the offensive line right. I mean you start looking
Pete Carroll to me in the end, his personnel on
the offensive line was better than production. Pete Carroll couldn't
(09:27):
get the offensive line right last several years in Seattle.
So all this stuff matters. It's like, you know, there's
a saying that parents use, you know, set your kid
up for success. If your kid has anxiety, don't put
him in situations where there's a lot of anxiety. It's
the same for quarterbacks. There's only been four or five
quarterbacks in my life. You know, Peyton Manning, John Elway,
Andrew Luck. I think Trevor Lawrence to some degree. In
(09:50):
Caleb Williams, I think can overcome obstacles, bad coaching, cruddy gms.
Not saying they've all had it, but I think they're
good enough to be productive beyond that. I think Kyler
Murray was c to that level, but most guys are.
They're just not. Jayden Daniels, Bone Nicks, JJ McCarthy, Michael Pennix,
Drake May. I don't think they're gifted enough to overcome
(10:10):
bad bosses the volume. Thanks so much for listening. If
you've enjoyed the podcast, take a moment, rate and review
The volume. I'll want you to go and download the
game Time app ninety seconds code colin. That'll always get
your twenty dollars off your first purchase. Nobody gets you
better seats at better prices for live events than game time. Also,
ticket prices go down the closer you get to the
first pitch or to kick off. Take the guesswork out
(00:24):
of buying tickets with Game Time. You download the app,
you create an account, you put in the code colin.
That's me twenty bucks off your first purchase. Terms apply.
It's lowest price is guaranteed on last minute deals. College football, NFL,
Major League Baseball. You don't have your mind made up
days in advance for all these game Time code Colin
(00:47):
twenty bucks off. So one of the things that I'm
hoping for is this draft. This past draft looks like
the twenty twenty draft when you have Jordan Love and
Herbert and Burrow and Tua and Jalen Hurtz, and all
(01:08):
of a sudden, we have like five quarterbacks who eventually
all get that second big contract. The league's better when
the quality of quarterback is better. That's indisputable. And we've
had some good quarterback years you know the legendary Jim Kelly,
Dan Marino, John Elway years and years ago, but we
recently twenty twenty had five guys four in the first
(01:30):
round hit. The Drake May situation reminds me a lot
of Sam Donald, and this is why I think he's
going to struggle. So I like Sam Donald a lot
out of college, and I like Drake May. I think
they're his comp is accurate. But I want you to
think about this. Both come out Sam Donald and Drake
May of the Patriots as the number three pick. Both
(01:53):
are from athletic families. Both played in weaker college conferences
at the time they came out the ACC now and
Donald's PAC twelve. Then they had remedial college coaching. Offensively,
you know, Sam Donald did not have a Lincoln Riley
at the whiteboard like a Kyler Murray or a Baker
(02:14):
Mayfield or a Jalen Hurts, where they come in kind
of ready to play and have been well schooled. This
is not a knock on Mac Brown, but the feeling
was it was a pretty simplistic offense for Drake May.
Both Drake May and Sam Donald are very very young,
younger than you'd like. They both come into the league
(02:35):
at twenty one. To give you some sense of how
young that is, Kenny Pickett is already twenty six years old.
Sam Donald just turned twenty seven a month and a
half ago, right, a couple months ago. So Drake May
Sam Donald come in very very young. They're both big enough,
six three are up, both athletic enough, they both move well,
(02:57):
arms are strong enough. But then they both go to
the NFL. Sam Donald and Drake May inherit first time
defensive coaches Todd Bowles and Drawn Mayo shaky o lines,
no current when they enter it, no current cultural or
winning momentum in the franchise, and a lack of weapons.
(03:20):
Donald enters the league in twenty eighteen, faces Belichick twice
a year and Sean McDermott, two of the top five
defensive coaches. A year later at Brian Flores, remains an
excellent defensive mind. That's rough. Sam Donald inherits that Drake
may gets Sean McDermott and Robert Salah. Now McDermott's top
(03:40):
five six seven coach, but as a defensive coach, he's
near the top of the league and solid knows what
he's doing on that side of the ball, just give
you SIPs. Both Donald and Drake May are liked by
people I trust, but they're not perfect. They're a little raw.
They come in a little underdeveloped on the whiteboard, a
(04:02):
little younger than you want. And Sam is now on
his what fourth team Jets Carolina, San Francisco and now Minnesota,
and he finally gets his best situation. Now, compare that
to bo Nicks, who enters the league get twenty four
years old, three years older than both May and Sam Donald.
(04:24):
Denver has an offensive coach, a brilliant one. Denver's good
at left tackle, wide receiver, and running back to have talent.
Then Denver also drafts Troy Franklin, bo Nix's great college
receiver had fourteen touchdowns alone for Oregon last year, over
one hundred yards per game for Oregon last year. So
(04:45):
think of all those advantages. And in that division that
bo Nix inherits, it's not defensive coaches. There's one rookie
defensive coach, Antonio Pierce, but it's Andy Reid and Jim Harbaugh. Situationally,
Drake Man, Sam Donald little too young, young defensive coach
shaky oline weapons, weaker college conferences, didn't have a great,
(05:09):
brilliant offensive coach. It's rough. I think it's going to
be rough for Drake Man. To me, of all of
these quarterbacks, he's the one that could struggle, you know.
You know, I like Darnald a lot, and I'm not
saying he would have ever been great. There was about
six starts in Carolina. Then there was the twenty nineteen
year with the Jets, year two where he had an
(05:29):
eighty five passer rating, twenty one total touchdowns, only thirteen interceptions.
You know, that's always been the bugaboo for Sam Darnold.
And Darnald also loses out on the optics because Tom
Brady had over two hundred interceptions in his career. I
think it's two twenty or two twelve, but very few
were awful, very few were memorable. Right, That last one
(05:52):
in New England against Tennessee sticks in my head one
of the Super Bowl interceptions. Same with Aaron Rodgers. Not
that many terrible interceptions. Sam Darnold's picks at least one
a Sunday Alla Koffle Alla Kaffle. So I am again
I don't think Drake Mays as talented as Caleb Williams.
(06:12):
But I think he's bigger, stronger in moves just as
well as bow Knicks. But the situation for bow Knicks
and eventually a JJ McCarthy are just much better than
they were for Donald or Drake May. I think the
Vikings are one of the more fascinating teams in the league.
Last year, when everybody was saying, hey, Rams were in
(06:34):
a rebuild, I said, time out, it's a coach quarterback, weapons,
left tackle league. If you can generate some pass rush
and so I said, the Rams are going to be
a playoff team or battle for a playoff team Minnesota Weapons,
although Jordan Addison will be out probably for the first
three to four weeks. Weapons, great left tackle, running back
(06:55):
that can catch out of the backfield, smart offensive coach.
It will all come down Donald because all the components
are here as they were for the Rams last year
and Stafford got down to the playoffs. No, Donald's not
Matt Stafford. So this will be I'll get my comeuppance
on Sam Donald because my takeaway as their schedule is
tough early, but it is. When you were selling the
(07:19):
Rams last year, I said, if it's a coach quarterback,
weapons protection, pass rush league, the Rams have it Minnesota does.
The question is can the trigger guy Sam Donald pull
it off. I've got my doubt. He's frankly just not
accurate enough. His career completion percentage hovers around fifty nine
to sixty percent. If it was sixty three, I'd be fine. Now.
(07:42):
I think he'll get to sixty three to sixty three
and a half percent with Kevin O'Connell. But with most
quarterbacks that Kevin O'Connell will teach, mentor and coach, they'll
be in the sixty five to sixty six percent. And
that's the difference. With Donald's guaranteed mistakes. He can be wrecked.
You've got to build him in. He just will not
(08:03):
complete enough passes. But it is really built to win.
They are bib. Minnesota is built to be the surprise
team in the NFC like the Rams did last year.
Smart offensive coach, protections, fine, a couple of weapons, generate
somewhat of a pass rush. It's all there for Minnesota,
and it's all there for Sam Darnel. It would be
(08:23):
nice if I don't know, one time you guys would
pull for somebody, I like, I'm always here pulling for
your team. This one time but it does show you situationally,
Caleb defensive coach in the hot seat, Jade and Daniels
defensive coach. Drake may defensive coach. I think two of
(08:45):
those three are going to be hits. But I would
virtually guarantee it if Caleb was walking into this league
with Kevin O'Connell or Jaden Daniels was walking into this
league with Sean Payton. It does make it tougher. I mean,
Belichick's the best coach of all time. Tom Brady has
joked even on his documentary like Bill doesn't speak that language.
(09:05):
I mean, you're watching the Steelers justin field Russell Wilson,
You're watching them. I mean, how many first downs did
Russell Wilson have in like five series? Steelers can't get
the offensive line right Buffalo for years, defensive coach can't
get the offensive line right. I mean you start looking
Pete Carroll to me in the end, his personnel on
the offensive line was better than production. Pete Carroll couldn't
(09:27):
get the offensive line right last several years in Seattle.
So all this stuff matters. It's like, you know, there's
a saying that parents use, you know, set your kid
up for success. If your kid has anxiety, don't put
him in situations where there's a lot of anxiety. It's
the same for quarterbacks. There's only been four or five
quarterbacks in my life. You know, Peyton Manning, John Elway,
Andrew Luck. I think Trevor Lawrence to some degree. In
(09:50):
Caleb Williams, I think can overcome obstacles, bad coaching, cruddy gms.
Not saying they've all had it, but I think they're
good enough to be productive beyond that. I think Kyler
Murray was c to that level, but most guys are.
They're just not. Jayden Daniels, Bone Nicks, JJ McCarthy, Michael Pennix,
Drake May. I don't think they're gifted enough to overcome
(10:10):
bad bosses the volume. Thanks so much for listening. If
you've enjoyed the podcast, take a moment, rate and review
Host
Colin Cowherd
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