Sam Darnold went 20 for 28 for 275 yards against the Green Bay Packers, throwing three touchdowns and one pick. It was a typical performance for Darnold, who Kevin O’Connell has managed with aplomb throughout the season.
O’Connell never gives Darnold more than he can handle. As a result, Darnold hasn’t tried to do too much with the football. Everyone should be happy with Darnold’s production this year, especially Darnold. Still, he has hesitated to publicly reflect on his season, or his past, this year.
“You can’t think about what might happen or what has happened, [Green Bay] coming back,” Darnold said after the Packers game, echoing a refrain he has repeated all season. “You always got to continue to have that mindset of just one step in front of the other. As long as we continue to have that mindset as an offense, as a whole team, I feel like we’ll be all right.”
It’s a boring response, but it’s probably the right answer for Darnold. In signing a bridge deal with the Minnesota Vikings in the offseason, Darnold stands on a precipice in a world between worlds. If he looks back, he’ll see his past, where the New York Jets and Carolina Panthers organizations failed him. If he looks too far ahead, he may not perform well enough to earn a Geno Smith or Baker Mayfield–type contract from a team like the Pittsburgh Steelers or Denver Broncos.
“The snowball effect may be no greater example than at the quarterback position,” O’Connell said before the Houston Texans game. “You guys have heard me say this many, many times about myself, but had that not been a thing, maybe I wouldn’t be standing here in front of you. I’d be on a warm beach somewhere relaxing in retirement.”
The New England Patriots took O’Connell in the third round of the 2008 draft, and he hung around the NFL until 2012. However, he only played in two games and threw six passes. Conversely, the New York Jets took Darnold third overall. He’s flashed his natural ability throughout the year, especially on his 97-yard bomb to Justin Jefferson against the San Francisco 49ers and the throw he stuck between Jefferson’s numbers at Lambeau this week.
Still, Darnold hasn’t entirely shed his reputation for erratic turnovers. He nearly fumbled when two Vikings players went in motion against San Francisco, and Fred Warner picked him when Darnold tried to force a pass to Trent Sherfield. Darnold also threw an ill-advised shovel pass to Aaron Jones against Houston; Xavier McKinney picked him when Darnold targeted Jones in the end zone – perhaps to allow him to Lambeau Leap.
“Yeah, those always scare us a little bit,” offensive coordinator Wes Phillips said, referring to the shovel pass to Jones. “There is a time (for them), and that’s part of the growth, the maturation as a player.
However, Phillips admits that while coaches preach caution to their players, sometimes they also get caught up in the moment.
“[Darnold will] learn from [his mistakes]. He already has,” said Phillips. “He’s looked at it, and he knows better. But that’s part of the game a little bit, too. Guys are competitive, trying to make plays. Sometimes those plays, as coaches, sometimes you can say ‘No!’ and then they score a touchdown, and you say, ‘Alright, good job, just don’t do it again.’”
Even with the occasional mishap this year, Darnold is third in the league in ESPN’s QBR metric (73.5). He only trails Josh Allen (82.5) and Andy Dalton (76.1), who took over for Bryce Young in Week 3. Jayden Daniels and Brock Purdy (both 73.3) trail closely behind him. Darnold is at his peak. He has ascended from the player he was with the Jets and Panthers. However, he must avoid looking too far ahead, on the field and in his career, or he may begin to snowball.
“[Snowballing] is a real thing,” said O’Connell. “When I say his quarterback journey’s kind of helped him with his immediate response to adversity, I think he’s pulling from the long-term feeling of, ‘Shoot, it’s another offseason of unknown,’ or it’s, ‘Man, that game seemed really hard last Sunday, and we’re playing against the No. 1 defense in the league this Sunday, and it’s going to be on me to figure that out.’
“I’m hoping when he looks inward, he worries about, ‘How do I do my job with great rhythm, timing, fundamentals, eye progression, and discipline, and then allow his talent?’ … His immediate ability to kind of cope with that cold splash of water of adversity, let’s go back out there, and each play is its own.
“The previous one, no matter how much sometimes that snowball effect makes it feel like it has an effect on the next play, it really doesn’t, and we’ve just got to go play.”
Darnold has embraced O’Connell’s instruction wholeheartedly. He’s present and focused on the moment, almost to a fault. However, it’s the right approach for a player who people labeled a bust early in his career, even if the fault resided more with the Jets and Panthers. Darnold has risen rapidly as a player this year, but it also means he will fall a long way if he doesn’t stay at his peak.
