The Minnesota Vikings are now 2-0 and Sam Darnold is the man under center. No one gave Darnold or the Vikings much hope this season, but they are on a weekly venture to change that narrative. It will probably take a few more weeks to stick, but the early results have been positive.
Prior to the season Sam Darnold polled as one of the worst starting quarterbacks across the entire NFL. Of course that was rooted in everything that he has been to this point in his career. In a more ideal situation, there was always a reason to believe he could be better.
The Athletic’s Jeff Howe recently published his Week 3 QB stock report and the Vikings undefeated quarterback is starting to make his way up the rankings. Darnold started the season at 28th, and now ranks 19th, through two weeks.
Sam Darnold could lay claim to the biggest gripe in the rankings … Vikings coach Kevin O’Connell runs a QB-friendly offense, and wide receiver Justin Jefferson makes everyone around him better at their jobs — 20.4 percent of Darnold’s passing yards this season occurred on one throw to Jefferson on Sunday, after all.
Darnold appears to be set up for success more than any other point in his career, and it wouldn’t be too difficult to argue Darnold is off to a better start than some of the quarterbacks who are ranked ahead of him. So why the low ranking?
It’s still too small of a sample for a QB who has shown flashes like this at various points in his career, notably during a solid 3-0 start with the Panthers in 2021 before it all came crashing down. If Darnold sustains this pace, he’ll move up the rankings.
Jeff Howe on Sam Darnold’s Week 3 QB stock ranking (The Athletic)
The end zone view of the 97-yard TD is unsurprisingly very cool pic.twitter.com/H5HCpsV3fZ
— Bill Barnwell (@billbarnwell) September 16, 2024
Darnold has had a much better year than being the 19th best quarterback in the league, but the year is just two weeks old. If he can continue to substantiate this performance, there’s no reason why he can’t inch closer to the top ten.
Minnesota hosts the Houston Texans on Sunday. They do so as home underdogs once again. Another big performance by Darnold will only continue to generate belief behind Kevin O’Connell’s group.
Realistically there is a ceiling to Sam Darnold’s placement amongst NFL quarterbacks. Even if he were to challenge for an MVP award this season, he simply won’t overtake some of the other signal callers across the league. Looking at the Week 3 stock report though, there is an area for him to settle in.
Darnold finds himself just behind Trevor Lawrence and former Vikings quarterback Kirk Cousins. Brock Purdy, Derek Carr, and Geno Smith are all ahead of him, and seemingly passable, if Darnold can perform in week three vs the Houston Texans.
Sam Darnold. 4th quarter. 3rd and 8. No Justin Jefferson, Jordan Addison or TJ Hockenson on the field.
— Ian Hartitz (@Ihartitz) September 16, 2024
pic.twitter.com/czIeoIwUt0
Kyler Murray had the biggest jump of any QB in week two, going from 17th to 7th, after a strong performance against the Los Angeles Rams. The greatest thing holding Darnold back is the bias evaluators will have regarding his past stops in the league.
But through two games, Sam appears to be a different guy, in head coach Kevin O’Connell’s system. When Cousins was under center in Minnesota, he usually ranked in the 10-15 range, among his peers. That feels like a realistic landing spot for Darnold as well… and at a fraction of the cost.
*Whispers Sam Darnold is playing winning football
— Robert Griffin III (@RGIII) September 16, 2024
If the Vikings can get a top-third, or even top-half quarterback performance out of Darnold for the remainder of this season, they should find themselves in the playoff conversation, come January. You can’t make the playoffs with two wins, but stacking them now will certainly help later.
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Shortly after Miami Dolphins players reported for training camp on Tuesday, Dolphins wide receiver Tyreek Hill suggested he wants to be "better as a leader" after he controversially subbed himself out of Miami's regular-season finale this past January and then told reporters he was "out." While speaking with reporters on Wednesday, Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa addressed the Hill-sized elephant in the room. "I think there’s a lot more vulnerability with Tyreek," Tagovailoa explained, as shared by Michael David Smith of Pro Football Talk. "He’s conversating a lot more with the guys, not just about football, but about things off the field, being vulnerable about some of the things people know about his personal life and things of that nature. I think that’s the first step toward him building true relationships and a real connection with a lot of the guys in there." Following Hill's "out" comment, Dolphins general manager Chris Grier revealed that the 31-year-old speedster never requested a trade. While publicly apologizing to his teammates during a Super Bowl week interview, Hill directly said that Tagovailoa is his "guy." Hill also insisted at the time that he loves Tagovailoa. "Everybody makes mistakes," Tagovailoa added about Hill. "It’s just, some people, they’re in the spotlight, and their deals get pushed out more than some others. So you’ve just got to cut him some grace. That’s our teammate. We love him, but as a person, I think if you get to know him, you’ll love him too." Hill and Tagovailoa likely will need to be on the same page if they want to prevent the Dolphins from going through a franchise reset next offseason. At least head coach Mike McDaniel is reportedly on the hot seat this summer, while Tagovailoa's status beyond the upcoming campaign is up in the air after he suffered a third reported concussion since the fall of 2022 last season. "You guys aren’t the only people that heard that," Tagovailoa said about Hill's "out" statement. "...So when you say something like that, you don’t just come back from that with, 'Hey, my bad.' You’ve got to work that relationship up. You’ve got to build everything up again. It’s still a work in progress, not just for me but for everybody. But like I said, he’s working on himself, he’s working on the things he says he wants to get better with and do better on. So that’s the first step to me, so I commend him for doing that." As of Wednesday morning, DraftKings Sportsbook had the 2024 Dolphins at -275 betting odds to miss the playoffs. Those who believe the relationship between Tagovailoa and Hill is on shaky ground following Wednesday's developments may want to take a flier on such a wager before the odds change later this year.
Rafael Devers played first base for the San Francisco Giants for the first time on Tuesday, and his quote about playing the field likely will not sit well with Boston Red Sox fans. Devers said after Tuesday’s game that he prefers playing in the field as opposed to serving as a designated hitter. “It keeps me active. It keeps my head out of just thinking about the next at-bat,” Devers said, via Shayna Rubin of the San Francisco Chronicle. “I’d rather be on the field than in the cage hitting all the time and thinking about the next at-bat.” Devers, of course, refused to play first base for the Red Sox after they asked him to. He felt disrespected after they moved him off third base to accommodate Alex Bregman, and thought the team went back on its word by later asking him to play first. To Red Sox fans, if Devers is best playing in the field and playing first would have helped the team, it will be baffling why he did not just do it when that would seemingly have been a preferable outcome for all involved. Devers went 2-for-5 in Tuesday’s 9-0 win over the Atlanta Braves, driving in a run in his first appearance at first base. It remains unclear how frequently the Giants plan to use him at the position, but the team might take note of these comments.
Minnesota Timberwolves center Rudy Gobert still has a huge hater in Shaquille O’Neal, as the latter believes that the four-time Defensive Player of the Year doesn’t deserve a spot in the Hall of Fame someday. O’Neal has called out Gobert for years, and the four-time NBA champion went so far as to request that he be removed from the Hall of Fame if the committee inducts Gobert. “If he gets in, take me out,” O’Neal said about Gobert on his YouTube channel. “Go in there and just rip my jersey out. I f***ing hate Rudy Gobert. Because f***ing making 250 (million dollars), he doesn’t deserve it. F**k that. I don’t care.” “As the President of the Big Man Alliance, you’re making big money, play like a f***ing big man, that’s it,” he continued. “Play like a f***ing big man. Throw some bows, knock some people out. Don’t be letting little white dudes from Denver dunk on you and then talk s**t to you. Then you’re going to grab them by the neck at the last second. Come on bro.” Minnesota Timberwolves News: Rudy Gobert plans to sit out the upcoming EuroBasket Minnesota Timberwolves center Rudy Gobert will not play for the French national team in the upcoming FIBA EuroBasket, as he plans to recharge his batteries ahead of the 2025-26 NBA campaign. “I’ve had busy summers in recent years, and it’s taken a toll. People don’t always realize how intense the EuroBasket is,” Gobert said to L’Aisne. “It finishes just before the NBA resumes, and it’s a big responsibility. I had said I’d wait until the end of the season to decide, and now I have. This summer, I’m focusing on myself, my family, and my son,” he added.
Milwaukee Brewers Jacob Misiorowski was back on the mound on Tuesday night against the Seattle Mariners, and even though he pitched just 3.2 innings, he continued to show why he is one of baseball's most exciting young talents. Prior to be pulled after 64 pitches, he allowed just three hits, walked one and struck out seven to continue his stunning start to his big league career. He also continued to light up the radar gun in a way that no other pitcher in the modern era has. Following Tuesday's start, where he regularly clocked in at over 101 mph, he has now thrown 39 pitches this season that have eclipsed 101 mph on the radar gun. He has done that in just 29.1 innings over six starts. By comparison, every other starting pitcher in Major League Baseball has tallied just 17 pitches of 101 mph or higher — combined. But it's not just about how he stacks up with pitchers this season that is staggering. It's that he is near the top of the list for 101 mph pitches for a career. Here are two of his 101 mph heaters from Tuesday. The ball just erupts out of his hand at the hitters. When you add in his mid-90s change-up and high-90s breaking pitches he is already one of the nastiest pitchers in the majors. It is that sort of electric stuff that made him a National League All-Star after just five appearances. For the season, he has now struck out 40 batters in 29.1 innings of work (that is 12.27 per nine innings), allowed only 15 hits and just eight earned runs. And five of those earned runs against came in only one start. Given his age and with the way teams today are extremely protective of their pitchers, he is probably going to see his pitch counts and innings closely monitored this season. When he is on the mound, though, he is quickly becoming appointment viewing.