Good Draft - but the Net Effect...

A lot of us did, and QB play definitely held the offense back... Even when Kirk was playing that 4-4 start had 4 losses that could have been easily flipped to Ws if we had protected the ball. It was the defense that stole the show last year, and Flores was doing that with smoke and mirrors. He's got some real players now. I'm not in the camp of us being contenders at least in 2024. I've said before that our ceiling is probably a first round exit unless Darnold or JJ really balls out at the QB position, and I don't see that happening. But Flores should have a ton more to work with than Hunter and "when will Davenport return?" for pass rush, so we should be pretty competitive.

To your point, this team has holes. We're on the third year of "fix the running game" and I don't think it's fixed. The IOL is still going to be an issue for whomever is under center. Depth on the defense should be a lot better, but offensively we'll be down Hock to start the year and our WR group is thin outside of 1/2. IDL pass rush is still lacking, though Flores could potentially move someone inside in place of a run stuffer in passing situations now as long as people are healthy and not have to blitz as much, or the very least see his blitzes hit home more often. I didn't see much year 2 growth with KOC either, which doesn't excite me as he's still calling plays.

There is, however, a lot of talent and without that albatross of a contract that Cousins had, we have room to spend in the next few years. 2025 is more where I'm looking to as a starting point of hopefully a new window. Hopefully KAM doesn't constantly get rid of all those picks, but in context I don't mind what he did this year.

The b*tching is mostly analytics guys on twitter, not fans on message boards. KAM is a part of the analytics crowd and for some of them it's a difficult moment. He broke the faith but their desire to see him succeed has them in a dilemma so their criticisms have been somewhat muted which surprised me anyway.

Nobody is saying that's not possible, but since it came to pass that McCarthy was the pick being that he needs development time, it is more logical to have him back up Darnold who is being paid to be the bridge QB.

If Daniels, Nix, or Penix were the pick there would be more chatter about them starting due to age and college experience.

Where did the “needs development time” narrative come from though? He ran a system that is much closer to the NFL systems than the rest of the draft class so I’m not getting why he would need development anymore than other QBs . Not directed at you personally, we just see these narratives pop up out of nowhere and they become part of the spin cycle until eventually they are taken as established fact when most times they are just made up by someone farming for clicks.

Spoken like poetry. Most of us who wanted change had a eye on 2025 and beyond if we hit. I had no real expectations this year regardless. The delight is 7 or 8 wins isn’t a all in fail, instead it can be a floor for years to come a window. This was about shutting a window that was going nowhere and trying to open another. One that’s bigger than one year or bust. Well said can’t speak for all but that was my vision and they did that. Now it’s on them to coach up guys development to reach their potential Skol

We wouldn't rush him and not one person is suggesting we rush him. What those of us like me believe is he will be ready sometime this year and possibly even week one. 

It was a consistent thing I was seeing pre-draft. I am giving my opinion as a draftnik - I'm trying not to be biased with being a Vikings fan. And while his experience in a pro system will help (Thor Nystrom gave a good explanation (pre-draft) that Maye definitely needed development time and McCarthy did too but to a lesser degree because of this), there are still issues that need to be ironed out (footwork (throwing while moving to the left) / deep accuracy / getting off first read faster / operating in pass-heavy comeback scenarios which he rarely did at Michigan). Given JJ's age and experience and paying Darnold what we did, I'd keep the rookie as the gameday QB2 and go from there. Being in a run-heavy offense he didn't throw a whole ton - which doesn't limit his upside but I do think it limits how soon he will be ready.

I suppose there's an argument to be made whether he really "needs" it, many successful QBs play immediately and work through the mistakes they make.


When you say "we" do you mean the fans? The average fan would probably pull Darnold after throwing his first pick.


That's not something KOC is going to admit to the masses.