GOAT Coach Endorses Sam Darnold
Bill Belichick is all over the place now, one year removed from a glorious run with the New England Patriots that included six Lombardi trophies.
GOAT Coach Endorses Sam Darnold
And he’s so out there — that he’s able to endorse men like Sam Darnold. Yes, him.
The Minnesota Vikings signed Darnold in March as a patchover quarterback, on tap to bridge QB1 duties with a rookie to be named later. Then, general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah drafted Michigan’s J.J. McCarthy in April, and soon after, McCarthy dazzled at training camp and in the preseason. It seemed the purple team had an honest-to-goodness quarterback battle on its hands, but McCarthy tore his meniscus in the first preseason game, handing Darnold the QB1 job without any debates.
Now, the guy is tearing it up, so much so that men like Belichick are singing his praises. Belichick joined The Pat McAfee Show this week and made it sound like everyone knew Darnold was a good football player — except the New York Jets, the franchise that drafted him third overall in 2018.
“I’ll say this — everybody has liked Darnold except the Jets,” Belichick said.
Darnold leads the NFL in touchdown passes through three games and ranks seventh per EPA+CPOE, an efficiency metric measuring expected wins added. In fact, Minnesota’s offense looks improved with Darnold in the saddle following six years of Kirk Cousins at the helm, if that can be believed.
Belichick added, “The people in Carolina I talked to, they really liked him. … I know that Kevin O’Connell and some of the coaches in Minnesota, they really like this guy, too.”
So, if you’re keeping score at home and trust Belichick — some have considered him a bit shady in the past — most of the NFL world knew that Darnold had the juice to succeed as a QB1, sans the Jets organization. Meanwhile, Darnold’s second stop, Carolina, is already infamous for bungling quarterback ceilings. Baker Mayfield can attest. Bryce Young could be next.
Darnold’s next test is sustainability. Minnesota has a 3-0 record, the offense is humming, and credible NFL power rankings have labeled the Vikings as the league’s third-best team behind the Kansas City Chiefs and Buffalo Bills. Still, some remember that Darnold and the Panthers once started 3-0 out of the gate (2021) and utterly crumbled (5-12) thereafter.
Minnesota travels to Green Bay for a date with its foremost rival this weekend and is expected to lose by about two points. A win would ignite the Vikings’ fan base to its hottest temperature since the 2009 season.
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Dustin Baker is a political scientist who graduated from the University of Minnesota in 2007. Subscribe to his daily YouTube Channel, VikesNow. The show features guests, analysis, and opinion on all things related to the purple team, with 4-7 episodes per week. His Vikings obsession dates back to 1996. Listed guilty pleasures: Peanut Butter Ice Cream, ‘The Sopranos,’ Basset Hounds, and The Doors (the band). He follows the NBA as closely as the NFL.
All statistics provided by Pro Football Reference / Stathead; all contractual information provided by OverTheCap.com.
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