The Herd with Colin Cowherd - Colin Cowherd Podcast - Darnold Set Up For Success With Vikings, Can He Rise To The Occasion?

Episode Date: August 27, 2024

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.   (Timestamps may vary based on advertisements.) Follow Colin and The Volume on Twitter for the latest content and updates!  #Volume #HerdSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an I-Heart podcast. Guaranteed Human. Another podcast from some SNL, late-night comedy guy, not quite. Unhumor me with Robert Smygel and friends. Me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman help make you funnier. This week, my guest, SNL's Mikey Day and head writer, Streeter Seidel, help an a cappella band with their between songs banter.

Where does your group perform? We do some retirement homes. Those people are starving for banter. Listen to humor me with Robert Smigel and friends on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Imagine an Olympics where doping is not only legal, but encouraged. It's the enhanced games. Some call it grotesque.

Others say it's unleashing human potential. Either way, the podcast's Superhuman documented it all, embedded in the games and with the athletes for a full year. Within probably 10 days, I'd put on 10 pounds. I was having trouble stopping the muscle growth. Listen to Superhuman on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey, this is Robert from the Stuff to Blow Your Mind podcast. Joe and I are both lifelong Star Wars fan, so we're celebrating May the 4th with a brand new week of fun, thought-provoking Star Wars-related episodes.

Join us as we tackle science and culture topics from a galaxy far, far away, such as the biology of tauntons and wampas on the ice planet hot, or the practicality and corporate business sense of the Sith ruling. of two. Listen to Stuff to Blow Your Mind on the Iheart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. On the Look Back at it podcast. From 1979, that was a big moment for me.

84 was big to me. I'm Sam J. And I'm Alex English. Each episode, we pick a year, unpack what went down, and try to make sense of how we survived it with our friends, fellow comedians, and favorite authors. Like Mark Lamont Hill on the 80s. 84 was a wild year. It was a wild year.

I don't think there's a more important year for black. people. Listen to look back at it on the Iheart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. A win is a win. A win is a win. I don't care what I'm saying. Yep, that's me, Clifford Taylor the 4th.

You might have seen the skits, my basketball and college football journey, or my career in sports media. Well, now I'm bringing all of that excitement to my brand new podcast, The Clifers Show. This is a place for raw, unfills of conversations with athletes, creators, and voices that not only deserve to be heard, but celebrated. So let's get to it. Listen to the Clifford show on the IHeard Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more behind the scenes, follow at Clifford and at TikTok podcast network on TikTok.

The volume. I'll want you to go and download the GameTime app. 90 seconds. Code Colin that'll always get you $20 off your first purchase. Nobody gets you better seats at better prices for live events. then game time. Also, ticket prices go down, the closer you get to the first pitch, or to kickoff. Take the guesswork out of buying tickets with game time. You download the app, you create an account, you put in the code column, that's me, 20 bucks off your first purchase. Terms apply. It's lowest

prices 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, 20 bucks off. So one of the things that I'm hoping for is this draft, this past draft looks like the 2020 draft, when you have Jordan Love and Herbert and Burrow and Tua and Jalen Hertz. And all 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 had, we've had some good quarterback years, you know,

the legendary Jim Kelly, Dan Marino, John Elway years and years ago. But we recently, 2020, had five guys four in the first round hit. The Drake May situation reminds me a lot of Sam Darnold. And this is why I think he's going to struggle. So I like Sam Darnold a lot out of college. And I like Drake May. I think his comp is accurate. But I want you to think about this. Both come out, Sam Darnold and Drake May of the Patriots, as the number three pick. Both are from athletic families. Both played in weaker college conferences at the time they came out, the ACC now and Darnold's Pack 12 then.

They had remedial college coaching offensively. You know, Sam Darnold did not have a Lincoln Riley at the Whiteboard, like a Kyler Murray or a Baker Mayfield or a Jalen Hurst. where they come in kind of ready to play and have been well-schooled. This is not a knock on Mack 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 at 21. To give you some sense of how young that is,

Kenny Pickett is already 26 years old. Sam Darnold just turned 27 a month and a half ago. right, a couple months ago. So Drake May, Sam Darnold, come in very, very young. They're both big enough. Six three are up. Both athletic enough. They both move well.

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 Gerard Mayo, shaky O-lines, no current when they enter it, no current cultural or winning momentum in the franchise and a lack of weapons. Darnold enters the league in 2018, 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 Darnold inherits that. Drake May gets Sean McDermott and Robert Sala. Now, McDermott's a top five, six, seven coach. He's a defensive coach. He's near the top of the league. And Sala knows what he's doing on that side of the ball. Just give you a sense. Both Darnold 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 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 Nix, who enters the league at 24 years old, three years older than both May and Sam Darnold. Denver has an offensive coach, a brilliant one. Denver's good at left tackle. Wide receiver and running back, they have talent. Then Denver also drafts Troy Franklin. Bo Nix's great college receiver had 14 touchdowns alone for Oregon last year, over 100 yards per game.

for Oregon last year. So 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 Reed and Jim Harbaugh. Situationally, Drake May and Sam Darnold, little too young, young defensive coach, shaky O-line weapons, weaker college conferences, didn't have a great, brilliant offensive coach, it's rough. I think it's going to be rough for Drake May. To me, of all of these quarterbacks, he's the one that could struggle. You know, you know I like Darnold a lot, and I'm not saying he would have ever been great. There was about six starts in Carolina. Then there was the 2019 year with the Jets, year two, where he had an 85 passer rating,

21 total touchdowns, only 13 interceptions. You know, that's always been the bugaboo for Sam Darnold. And Darnold also loses out on the optics because Tom Brady had over 200 interceptions in his career. I think it's 220 or 212. But very few are awful. Very few are memorable, right? That last one in New England against Tennessee sticks in my head, one of the Super Bowl interceptions. Same with Aaron Rogers. Not that many terrible interceptions.

Sam Darnold's picks at least one a Sunday. All look awful. All look awful. So I am, again, I don't think Drake Mays is talented as Caleb Williams, but I think he's bigger, stronger, and moves just as well as Bo Nix. But the situation for Bo Nicks and eventually a J.J. 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 a rebuild. I said, timeout.

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 that can catch out of the backfield, smart offensive coach. It will all come down to Darnel because all the components are here as they were for the Rams last year. and Stafford got them to the playoffs. No, Darnold's not Matt Stafford. So this will be, I'll get my comeuppance on Sam Darnold, because my takeaway is their schedule is tough early.

But when you were selling the 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 doubts. He's frankly just not. accurate enough. His career completion percentage hovers around 59, 60%. If it was 63, I'd be fine.

Now, I think he'll get to 63 to 63 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 65 to 66 percent. And that's the difference with Darnold's guaranteed mistakes. He can be reckless. You've got to build them in. He just will not complete enough passes. but it is really built to win. They are, Minnesota is built to be the surprise team in the NFC, like the Rams did last year. Smart offensive coach, protection's fine,

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 nice if, I don't know, one time you guys would pull for somebody I like. I'm always here pulling for your team. It's one time.

But it does show you situation. Capitably, Caleb, defensive coach in the hot seat, Jaden Daniels, defensive coach, Drake May, defensive coach. I think two of 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. I mean, you're watching the Steelers. Justin Fields, 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 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 them 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 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 close to that level. But most guys are. They're just not, Jaden Daniels, Bowenicks, J.J. McCarthy, Michael Pennix, Drake, May. I don't think they're gifted enough to overcome bad bosses. The volume. Thanks so much for listening. If you've enjoyed the podcast, take a moment, rate and review.

Another podcast from some SNL late-night comedy guy, not quite. Unhumor me with Robert Smygel and friends. Me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman help make you funnier. This week, my guest, SNL's Mikey Day and head writer, Street or Seidel, help an a cappella band with their between songs banter. Where does your group perform? We do some retirement homes. Those people are starving for banter.

Listen to humor me with Robert Smigel and friends on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Imagine an Olympics where doping is not only legal, but encouraged. It's the enhanced games. Some call it grotesque. Others say it's unleashing human potential. Either way, the podcast's Superhuman documented it all. embedded in the games and with the athletes for a full year. Within probably 10 days, I'd put on 10 pounds.

I was having trouble stopping the muscle growth. Listen to Superhuman on the I-Hard Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey, this is Robert from the Stuff to Blow Your Mind podcast. Joe and I are both lifelong Star Wars fan, so we're celebrating May the 4th with a brand new week of fun, thought-provoking Star Wars-related episodes. Join us as we tackle science and culture topics

from a galaxy far, far away, such as the biology of tontons and wampas on the ice planet hot, or the practicality and corporate business sense of the Sith rule of two. Listen to stuff to blow your mind on the iHeart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. On the Look Back at it podcast. From 1979, that was a big moment for me. 84's big to me.

I'm Sam J. And I'm Alex English. Each episode, we pick a here, unpack what went down, and try to make sense of how we survived it. with our friends, fellow comedians, and favorite authors. Like Mark Lamont Hill on the 80s. It was a wild year. It was a wild year.

I don't think there's a more important year for black people. Listen to look back at it on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. A win is a win. A win is a win. I don't care what I'm saying. Yep, that's me. Clifford Taylor the 4th.

You might have seen the skits, my basketball and college football journey, or my career in sports media. Now I'm bringing all of that excitement to my brand new podcast, The Clifford Show. This is a place for raw, unfilled of conversations with athletes, creators, and voices that not only deserve to be heard, but celebrated. So let's get to it. Listen to The Clifford Show on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more behind the scenes, follow at Clifford and at TikTok podcast network on TikTok. This is an IHeart podcast.

Guaranteed human.