2024 Vikings

JJ to JJ has a nice ring to it.

Man I can’t wait for football season. I do miss a lot of games when I’m out pheasant hunting. I love a night game after a day afield though.

CaptainMusky wrote:

JJ to JJ has a nice ring to it.

I believe Jefferson prefers Jet or Jetta, so it will be “JJ to Jetta for 6 as he leaves Jaire Alexander in his dust once again!”

Im just saying I know PA is going to make that call on the radio. Yes, he likes Jets better but you know PA.

“leaves Jaire Alexander in his dust once again!”

Not the way I remember it from last year. Alexander didn’t cover JJ much in the first game. In fact here are JJ’s stats for the second Packer game when Alexander covered him more. 10 targets for 5 catches for 59 yards and no td’s. Not very impressive for the highest paid receiver in the league IMO.
Alexander also told the coaches he wanted to cover Jefferson more than he did in Week 1, when Packers defensive coordinator Joe Barry played a high volume of zone and off coverage. On Sunday, Alexander lined up across from Jefferson 20 times, with no other Packers defender lining up across from Jefferson more than twice, according to NFL Next Gen Stats. Alexander was on Jefferson on 65% of his routes as opposed to 36% in Week 1. After holding Jefferson without a catch in the first half and to just one reception for 15 yards the entire game.

Do the Vikings have a new kicker this season????

yes. evidently this baby faced assassin is the all time points leader in FBS or something like that? I saw he had his first one blocked but hopefully he shook that off as I missed the rest of the game.

I watched the fourth quarter. He nailed one from 43 yards as time expired for the win.

Obviously not exactly of high significance in week 1 of pre season but a good sign of things to come, hopefully. In your face Blair Walsh.

Crawdaddy – listening to a Sunday noon game while hunting in MN during the month of September (grouse or other) or October works well. I usually scout other properties noon – 3 or so … Stop and have a lunch or go to town for a lunch.

Vikings drafted the kicker. Carlson kicking for the Raiders has had a pretty nice career after the Vikings booted him to the street.

i see where Stephon Gilmore is coming to Minnesota to chat with the Vikings….sign’em up!!!!!!

McCarthy looked pretty good.Hall wasn’t bad either but not nearly as good as JJ.

JJ ended up having a very solid game, with some big league highlight reel throws. I watched his first series, nice completion, over threw Hamm in the flat, and then threw a pick…and that was enough preseason for me!

I would like to see him play with some starters on the field just to see what that would look like. Id still go with Darnold, but it would be nice to see what starters and JJ would be like.

CaptainMusky wrote:

I would like to see him play with some starters on the field just to see what that would look like. Id still go with Darnold, but it would be nice to see what starters and JJ would be like.

That’s not going to happen. KOC doesn’t play starters in the pre season. Unless Darnold completely blows up early in the regular season, you won’t see McCarthy at the helm with the other starters anytime soon.

Ive been seeing videos of him with starters in practice at least and he has looked pretty good.

gimruis wrote:

That’s not going to happen. KOC doesn’t play starters in the pre season.

Then who is going to start the season at QB in the regular season? Mullins? He’s the only QB that didn’t play on Saturday.

I finally got to watch a recap of the game and JJ made all the throws and used his feet when needed (something we’ve yelled at Cousins to do forever) that will be a HUGE benefit once JJ becomes the starter. Speaking of the starter, Darnold looked good in his only series and I fully expect him to start the season…

My guess is that Darnold will start the season well and then turn into the Darnold of old after 3-4 games and that’s when JJ will get the torch, its upto him if he ever gives it back…

It seems like there’s some radio reception issue with 93.3 Power Loon up north around 3:00pm…My reception was perfect for the pre-game, but started to fall apart at 3:00pm on all of my different radio devices…I wonder if its just the sun angle or some other weather issue? (it was perfectly sunny Saturday)

They’ve stated from day 1 that Sam Darnold is the starting QB and number 1 on the depth chart.

You will not see McCarthy playing any game action with the other starters unless Darnold completely tanks in the regular season. I’m sure the fans will call for McCarthy to get tossed into the fire because he’s the shiny new toy though.

I personally hope Darnold makes it through the entire season and McCarthy just stands on the sideline with a headset and a clipboard, learning and observing. Rookie QBs rarely do well if they are thrust into game action right away. Patience is the key here.

KOC has said on multiple occasions that he wants to the team have “competitive environment” at every position especially at quarterback. I havent seen him say exclusively that Darnold will start but I certainly may have missed it.

I also got a chance to see the Bears game recap and I hate to say it, but Caleb Williams is one cool customer in the pocket and looks like the real deal… the NFC North is going to be a young QB battle the next decade+….

CaptainMusky wrote:

KOC has said on multiple occasions that he wants to the team have “competitive environment” at every position especially at quarterback.

This is the way. If/when JJ beats out Darnold, he should play whether that’s Week 1, 6, 12 or 17. If he doesn’t win the job or it’s pretty close, then Darnold gets the call. Experience matters too, and you don’t get real experience with a headset on.

BigWerm wrote:

This is the way. If/when JJ beats out Darnold, he should play whether that’s Week 1, 6, 12 or 17. If he doesn’t win the job or it’s pretty close, then Darnold gets the call. Experience matters too, and you don’t get real experience with a headset on.

I also think it doesn’t hurt to get the full team back (Addison (if suspended) & Hockenson) before we start a rookie…I heard a proposed plan that JJ could start week 7 AFTER the Overseas game and Bye week…Of course IF Darnold is lighting it up there’s no need to pull him…

It’s the typical Minnesota Viking “Cautious Optimism” from me. Darnold looked the part of a starter for the one series we saw him – but was disappointed to see lack of a TD on that first drive. Tempering my JJ excitement. He looked really good against players that might not make a pro roster (IE 2nd & 3rd quarter). His first drive against likely starters ended in a pick. BUT – the big throws he made were truly works of art, I really hope we can develop him. He’s an easy guy to like.

Kind of a long-shot pipe dream for a season where the Vikes are showing some promise but below .500 with a tough schedule…but I would love to see a situation like that where Darnold is playing well and they can somehow trade Darnold to a team in playoff contention that needs a QB due to injury. That rarely, rarely happens, but since Darnold won’t be with the team next year anyway it would be awesome to get something in return for him.

Would it be to much to ask that maybe Darnold is just serviceable enough to win some games but poor enough to stay with the team next year as the back up?

I think people underestimate Sam Darnold. He’s a first round pick but has really only played on terrible teams in Carolina and the NY Jets. He played for the Niners last season as the primary backup but never had any play of importance. It was all mop up time or in the pre season.

Given a decent squad around him, he might be better than some think. Obviously he was only signed with the intent of being a “bridge” between Cousins and McCarthy, or at least that’s the idea. I for one hope they don’t skip that bridge and go directly from Cousins to McCarthy.

Pre season is a joke these day. With the possible exception of the final one. I fully understand it. Nothing worse than having a key player injured in the Pre-season. As far as a starting QB goes, They should have it totally open and let them fight for the starter position. I see nothing wrong with starting JJ if he does the best and wins the job. Its not like Darnold has been a superstar. If he’s good enough to win the job, good for him. These days with using top draft picks for a QB, its hard to let them sit and develop like they use to.

fishthumper wrote:

These days with using top draft picks for a QB, its hard to let them sit and develop like they use to.

Some teams still do it. The Packers seem to have it down pretty well with Favre/A-Rodg and A-Rodg/Love.

Patrick Mahomes sat for an entire season behind Alex Smith too. He’s pretty good.

Historically starting a rookie QB is a recipe for disaster because the O-Line protecting him is a disaster and the skilled players helping him are non-existent… not the case with the Vikings…

Whomever is the better option should be the starter, although I wouldn’t mind giving Darnold the first start and see how he plays, JJ could likely use more time getting used to everything…