Skolarship

Data-driven answers to Minnesota sports questions

[Skolarship @Skolanalytics]

You love to see it

[Alec Lewis @alec_lewis]

One thing I’ll say, having talked to people about Nolan Teasley: He wants as many data points as he can get. Including the numbers. He’s a former player who entered through scouting but isn’t silo’d there. Understands performance science & the metrics, too.

[Skolarship @Skolanalytics]

@eric_j_thompson Sorry man, was hoping they’d pull it out

[Skolarship @Skolanalytics]

The Vikings have a top ______ backup QB.

[Skolarship @Skolanalytics]

@TheRealForno @OlearyCarl I’ve noticed that whenever a team has n good players, fans always seem to believe that they can only afford to pay n-1 of them

[Skolarship @Skolanalytics]

@ArifHasanNFL @MitchSchwartz71 People also seem to be making this strange leap in logic whereby they assume that anyone who creates a consensus board thinks that every NFL team should and/or will follow said board to a T

[Skolarship @Skolanalytics]

🐐

[Minnesota Lynx @minnesotalynx]

on this day in 2011, Maya went No. 1. 🐐

[Skolarship @Skolanalytics]

Super excited to see Kyler in purple.

But also…it’s interesting how quickly Vikings fans (and the organization?) departed from their pre-2025 commitment to developing a young franchise QB through his growing pains. 1 year of that and it seems most of us want out

[Skolarship @Skolanalytics]

Which QB would you prefer to have starting for the Vikings in 2026?

[PurplePTSD.com @purplePTSD]

Should the Vikings Rebuild or Go All In? https://t.co/o0edP8Sb1b #Vikings #NFL #Skol

[USA Hockey @usahockey]

RED, WHITE, BLUE AND GOLD. TEAM USA IS BRINGING HOME THE #WINTEROLYMPICS GOLD. 🇺🇸🦅

[Skolarship @Skolanalytics]

Rookie contract QBs are now 1-8 in the Super Bowl since 2014…and the 1 was Patrick Mahomes.

Tbh this doesn’t prove much, but so many point to rcQB Super Bowl starters as evidence that it’s the key to success. If they can base their whole argument on one noisy stat, I can too

[Phil Mackey 🎙 @PhilMackey]

Do you want your favorite NFL team to compete in a Super Bowl?

Hi, fellow Vikings fans 👋🏼

If your QB situation doesn't fall into one of these two bins, GOOD LUCK...

1 - You have a GOAT at QB
2 - You have a QB who makes virtually no $$

Of the last 24 participating Super Bowl teams:

9 of 24 were led by Tom Brady, Peyton Manning or Patrick Mahomes on large contracts 🐐

12 of 24 were led by QBs on rookie scale contracts

So, to recap… 21 out of the last 24 Super Bowl participants (88%) = GOATs or rookie-scale QBs

The other 3 (12%) = 2021 Matthew Stafford, 2016 Matt Ryan and 2019 Jimmy G

[Skolarship @Skolanalytics]

The 2017 Chiefs’ offense was better than the 2024 Vikings’ offense in terms of ppg and epa/play. Then they made the terrible decision to move on from Alex Smith.

[Skolarship @Skolanalytics]

@Jerry10071111 @DailyNorseman Touché, great examples. Let me revise “in NFL history” to “in the last 20 years”

[Skolarship @Skolanalytics]

Almost all Vikings fans wanted to move on from Darnold after 2024, but it’s wrong to act as though that was based only on the last two games.

We’d seen years of mediocrity from Darnold before one good season. No other QB in NFL history has parlayed that into sustained success.

[Skolarship @Skolanalytics]

@Erickson10B “No other QB” means “No QB other than Darnold”

[Skolarship @Skolanalytics]

Need to add yet another asterisk to account for Sam Darnold lol

[Skolarship @Skolanalytics]

You can’t win a Super Bowl without a rookie contract QB.*********

*Unless you have an elite QB
**Or a QB who’s been really good this season
***Also your rookie contract QB has to be good
****Also by “win a Super Bowl” I mean “lose in a Super Bowl”

Somehow this theory lives on

[Skolarship @Skolanalytics]

Great article, definitely worth a read

[Matthew Coller @MatthewColler]

Drafting has been brought up repeatedly with the firing of Kwesi Adofo-Mensah so I attempted to go back through the picks and understand how the Vikings got to a place with so few drafted contributors. It’s way more complicated than “he can’t draft”

https://t.co/FZxjCwmQao

[Skolarship @Skolanalytics]

I expressed this same confusion a few months ago:

https://t.co/Xzc9GaINRu

[Arif Hasan, but NFL 🏈 @ArifHasanNFL]

I mean I don't know if he did or didn't, all I can tell you is that multiple people involved in data analysis for teams and third parties could not find analytical reasoning behind many of his moves. I'll check his spreadsheets next time

[Skolarship @Skolanalytics]

@ArifHasanNFL I’ve been similarly puzzled and waiting for this sort of article. Really nice job

[Skolarship @Skolanalytics]

@flakes @DailyNorseman A QB Spielman passed on 3 times won Super Bowl XLVIII

[Skolarship @Skolanalytics]

In his first 4 seasons as GM, Spielman went 33-30-1, plus 0-2 in the playoffs.

In his first three drafts, he picked a total of three long-term starters for the Vikings.

His rookie QB—Bridgewater—got injured and never recovered.

The Vikings kept him around for 10 years.

[vikesinsider @vikesinsider]

They're making Kwesi Adofo Mensah the scapegoat