How the Vikings' Sam Darnold went from bust to NFL MVP candidate

EAGAN, Minn. (AP) — The NFL is rife with concerns this season about quarterback play and the lockout defenses have shown when throwing downfield — on most teams, anyway.

In Minnesota, the message to quarterback Sam Darnold was significantly different.

“If I told him once, I've told him 100 times,” coach Kevin O'Connell said this week: “'You're just as talented a deep-ball thrower as I've ever been, and I want you.'” to take advantage of the (opportunities) and I want you to be confident to pull the trigger.'”

Part of that belief comes from the Vikings facing defenses that use a two-high safety system to limit big downfield plays from star receiver Justin Jefferson. Since the start of the 2022 season, the Vikings have played more offensive snaps against such looks (354) than all but one team (Dolphins, 429).

Mostly, though, it's due to O'Connell's genuine respect for Darnold's high level of accuracy, a skill the 2018 No. 3 draft pick has honed over the last few years and an advantage the Vikings will have as the season progresses, starting with Sunday's match against the team that drafted him, the New York Jets, at London's Tottenham Hotspur Stadium (9:30 p.m. ET, NFL Network).

As Darnold has begun to revive his career and establish himself as a (very) early MVP candidate (+1300, according to ESPN's bet), he has attempted 11 passes that were at least 20 yards in the air beyond the line of scrimmage flew (T-19). However, he scored on seven of them, including perfectly placed hits to Jefferson that resulted in receptions of 97 and 44 yards, a league-best 63.6%. Overall, Darnold completed 10.4% of his passes 20 or more yards beyond the line of scrimmage (15th).

Questions about mechanics plagued Darnold early in his career, which began with the Jets and later moved to the Carolina Panthers and San Francisco 49ers. O'Connell and the Vikings' coaching staff have tried to adjust, mostly by softening his movement in the pocket as his reads progress, but none of their changes have focused specifically on deep throws.

Darnold had dropped big since the first day of training camp, when he confidently hit Jefferson on a pass 50 yards down the field, and the Vikings soon realized he could improve their offense with similar throws during the regular season.

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The Vikings featured an efficient passing offense in O'Connell's first two seasons with the Vikings, but it wasn't necessarily explosive. With quarterback Kirk Cousins ​​(now with the Atlanta Falcons) and the three backup players playing after he tore his Achilles tendon last season, the Vikings finished 27th in the league with 9.4% of their attempts reaching 20 yards or more traveled in the air.

This season, Darnold's first-ever pass went for 34 yards in a game against the New York Giants in Week 1. This led to Jefferson escaping double coverage near the sideline and gaining another 10 yards after the catch.

The connection was made with almost flawless mechanics; Darnold did a three-step shotgun drop, planted his back foot, took a swing and let it go with a pass that mixed what Jefferson thought was the ideal balance of momentum and air underneath.

Darnold. Jefferson. 44 meters.

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“Overall, I feel like every single ball he throws isn’t particularly fast,” Jefferson said. “And it’s not too slow. So I feel like he's applying the right amount of force and allowing us to catch a ball that's not too hard, but we also see the ball coming at a good speed.”

“So I feel like he understands from a receiver standpoint that we don’t like trying to catch a hard throw every time. So he's trying to make it a little easier for us, try to have a little more contact with the ball on it so we can catch it, grab it and turn our foot.

However, it would be wrong to assume that Darnold is just a naturally accurate thrower. He has spoken several times in recent weeks about his efforts to improve his deep-ball accuracy in the NFL.

“I feel like I struggled with that early on,” he said. “And I’m just going to keep working on it. Because when you get those (opportunities), you don’t want to miss them.”

Although he admits that “it sounds fun,” Darnold has two main priorities in this work: keeping your head still and keeping your eyes on the goal.

“When I was a young player,” he said, “I immediately threw the ball and looked up. I think for me it's about hitting the target, keeping an eye on it and then if I want to, go after the ball, which comes naturally to me, I can do that.

“But I really want to make sure I hit my goal, especially on the deep balls, to be able to get the football through my fingertips as much as possible.”

NFL defenses are more focused than ever on stopping such throws. But with Jefferson and his fellow receivers stressing those defenses and Darnold feeding them, the Vikings hope they have the antidote to that trend.