Sep 8, 2024; East Rutherford, New Jersey, USA; Minnesota Vikings quarterback Sam Darnold (14) drops back to pass during the first quarter against the New York Giants at MetLife Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images.
After the Minnesota Vikings’ 4-0 start to the season, it’s a good time to examine what we learned about Sam Darnold through the first four games and where this story can go.
The second JJ McCarthy went down with a season-ending knee injury, the hopes of the Vikings’ season were pinned on Darnold. That led some to write the Vikings’ season off immediately, but Darnold and the Vikings had other ideas. In truth, Darnold was always likely to be the Vikings’ starter to begin the season. The injury to the Vikings’ first-round rookie quarterback was a blow, but the clarity it gave Darnold for his role this season has likely helped him.
With four straight wins to start the season, the Vikings have moved from talk of a high draft pick in next year’s draft to Super Bowl contenders. Darnold’s name is all across NFL media outlets for positive reasons for the first time in his career. Early chatter of Darnold, the MVP candidate, is above what even those who believed he could make a go of it in Minnesota could have expected. Those who did preach that Darnold was landing on the best situation of his career and had every chance of succeeding are being proved right. Now the question is can he keep this up?
Coaching matters, and Kevin O’Connell’s reputation as a QB whisperer has risen with Darnold’s success. O’Connell was on the Rich Eisen Show when he said a line that should be pinned on the wall at the facility of every team that drafts a QB. He said that organizations can fail young quarterbacks before they fail the organization. Teams draft a quarterback into a bad situation and expect them to be the answer to fix everything. See Bryce Young, Justin Fields, and Sam Darnold. It doesn’t work.
Patrick Mahomes is a super talented player, but will his career take off like it did if he doesn’t land in Kansas City with Andy Reid? The good news for the Vikings is that O’Connell is a really good coach and already one of the best play-callers/scheme specialists in the league. To boot, he has created an environment in Minnesota that gets the best out of his players, with his specialty being the quarterback.
We saw last season when he got the absolute most out of Joshua Dobbs and Nick Mullens, but there was a ceiling to what both of those could do, and O’Connell could only raise them so far. Neither had the talent level that saw a team draft them third overall. Darnold has always had the potential. He has the intangibles you can’t teach – elite arm strength and athleticism. There is talent for the Vikings head coach to tap into, which was not in those other QBs. Flaws that dogged him in the early years of his career, like decision-making and footwork, were fixable, and in a short time, O’Connell is fixing them.
The numbers so far speak for themself. Darnold has thrown for 932 yards and a league-leading 11 touchdowns with 3 interceptions. His completion percentage is a good 68.9%, which is well above where he has been before in his career. His passer rating of 118.9 is also lightyears ahead of where it has been throughout his career. He doesn’t have any game-winning drives to his name, as he hasn’t been required to attempt one yet.
The Vikings have been playing in front for nearly the whole season. They only trailed for 3 minutes and 26 seconds between a New York Giants field goal and Aaron Jones’ touchdown run during the first quarter in Week 1. That’s been down to explosive starts from both the offense and defense.
The Vikings don’t even have their full cast available on offense yet. The return of Jordan Addison was a boost to add to the already dynamic Vikings offense led by Justin Jefferson. Aaron Jones proved to be a revelation, and we saw Jalen Nailor step up while the Vikings were shorthanded. In the coming weeks, Minnesota will finally get TJ Hockenson back in the ranks giving Darnold even more to work with.
Darnold has been playing great football to start the season, but it hasn’t been flawless. That’s actually a good thing. Darnold has made some mistakes, and the fact that he’s bounced straight back up from them and carried on balling is a testament to the work O’Connell has done. This was evidenced at Lambeau Field on Sunday when a couple of turnovers aided Green Bay in turning the tide and putting them on the verge of a monumental comeback.
Darnold dusted himself down and led his team down the field for the pivotal field goal. He then did it again, taking the Vikings to the shadow of the goalposts. Although a failed sweep on 4th and 1 meant the Vikings didn’t put points on the board. The time consumed on both drives was enough for the defense to catch their breath, and the Vikings wound up victorious. With everything collapsing around them late in the game, Darnold held his nerve. That’s a huge box ticked for the sustainability of this fascinating story.
Playing his part as the Vikings stomp teams is one thing; stepping up and putting the team on his shoulders in adversity is another. If the Vikings are going to turn this excellent start into a deep playoff run, there will be adversity along the way. At some point, they will fall behind in a game. That’s the next thing we need to see: Can Darnold bring the team back into a game and win it?
If Darnold proves he can do that, it is time to start dreaming big.