One wild Sam Darnold stat shows why Kevin O’Connell misses him

Kevin O’Connell received a boatload of credit for revitalizing Sam Darnold’s career in 2024. The journeyman QB passed for 4,300 yards, led Minnesota to the playoffs, and earned his first career Pro Bowl nod.

Now, a third of the way through the 2025 regular season, it’s clear that more respect should be flowing Darnold’s way. 

After walking away from an awkward situation with the Vikings and No. 10 overall pick J.J. McCarthy this offseason, Darnold has picked up right where he left off in Minnesota. He enters Week 7 as the NFL’s third-leading passer with 1,541 yards, 11 touchdowns, three interceptions, and a 116.0 QB rating for the 4-2 Seattle Seahawks.

It’s safe to assume that O’Connell is missing his QB right now. O’Connell loves to attack the defense vertically with long-developing routes, and Darnold continues to be elite at pushing the ball down the field. The Seahawks currently lead the NFL in total yards per pass attempt at 9.5, and one eye-popping stat in particular proves why Darnold might have been the perfect QB for O’Connell’s system.

Former Minnesota Vikings QB Sam Darnold is completing 70% of his passes of 20 or more air yards to start 2025

The Vikings have spent the first month-plus of the season in problem-solving mode. Injuries have depleted over 30 percent of the team’s starting lineup from Week 1, with core position groups like quarterback, tackle, and edge all affected.

That’s made it hard to gauge where the Vikings are really at coming out of their Week 6 bye, and O’Connell’s wishy-washy stance on McCarthy as QB1 has only blurred things further.

Minnesota had its reasons for moving on from Darnold this offseason. He looked rattled in the two biggest games of that 2024 season, had McCarthy looking over his shoulder, and was worth a high-value compensatory pick after he signed his $100 deal with Seattle. 

The Vikings also had no issues moving the football and scoring points with Darnold under center, and his elite accuracy and timing down the field have been on full display in Seattle with less skill position talent around him.

A completion percentage north of 70 percent on passes traveling more than 20 air yards is elite quarterback play. A stat like that should have O’Connell — and Justin Jefferson — lying awake at night, wondering what might have been.

Would it have been a surprise if Minnesota signed Darnold to a three-year, $100 million deal to start over McCarthy in 2025 and potentially beyond? Absolutely. In fact, no Vikings fan was surprised when the team decided to move on back in March.

But with O’Connell seemingly torn between McCarthy and Wentz — their Plan C, who wasn’t even given a contract until Aug. 24 — it’s becoming clearer by the week who the best option was all along.

Minnesota easily could have absorbed the deal Darnold got from Seattle — the Seahawks could move on after one season for just a $25.6 million dead salary-cap hit, per an ESPN report — and continued to develop McCarthy behind the scenes. Coming off a rookie season devoid of organized team practice reps from September through late May, that strategy would have made sense.

Ultimately, O’Connell and the Vikings chose to end the Darnold vs. McCarthy media circus and roll with their franchise QB of the future in 2025. That made perfect sense at the time, too.

But O’Connell seems half-hearted at best when it comes to sticking with McCarthy entering Week 7, and it only fuels what should be a clear feeling of regret.