By Mark Halpern
Well, here we are again with a Quarterback who doesn’t need that much of an introduction as he has moved around this league and that’s Sam Darnold. Darnold was selected third overall in 2018 by the New York Jets. I actually liked Darnold but he was never given the talent for him to succeed. His best season in my opinion was his season in 2021 with the Carolina Panthers. Darnold played in 12 games that season throwing for 2,527 yards, nine touchdowns and 13 interceptions and he was sacked 35 times. Sacks and turnovers have been the story of Darnold’s career. Darnold was the backup Quarterback in San Francisco last year and what’s better than being a part of a Super Bowl team you learn and gain experience and confidence.
During the off-season Kirk Cousins left for Atlanta on a massive 4-year deal (only to get dissed by the Falcons drafting Michael Penix) and at that point the Vikings grabbed Darnold to be the starting Quarterback, with the intentions of drafting a Quarterback in the first round and they did just that by moving up in the draft to get J.J MCCarthy. Despite the Vikings continuing to say it’d be a competition during training camp, Darnold began to believe he would be the backup yet again. However, an unfortunate accident at practice confirmed that rookie Quarterback J.J Mcarthy would miss the season due to a torn MCL. Not what any team wants is their number one pick down before he even gets started. Sam Darnold now knows he is the starting Quarterback for the Vikings.
There are a lot of skeptics out there that Darnold won’t do any better than before due to his age. I tend to disagree with anyone who says he will fail. For the first time he has a above average offensive line, Darnold has an experienced Running back in Aaron Jones who will have a good season with over a thousand yards and 12 total TD’s. Darnold also has been handed the keys to one of the they most Deadly offenses in the NFL today. I have mentioned Jones and what he will accomplish but you have the best wide receiver in football in Justin Jefferson. Darnold has never had a Wide Receiver with Jefferson’s talent and I trust Jefferson will shine with a massive 1400-yard season and 13 Touchdowns. Now if being given the gift of the number one wide receiver in the game Darnold now has one of the best #2 wide receivers in the game with Jordan Addison who had an impressive rookie season (911 yards and 10 TD’s) and is poised for an even better sophomore year and I truly believe we will see both Addison and Jefferson surpass 1000 yards but also possible both attaining double digit Touchdown’s on this season. If that weren’t enough the Vikings also have T.J. Hockenson who is clearly a top five Tight End in the league. Darnold has been given a near perfect offense to work with. The Offensive line is more than capable in making holes but now it comes down to making time and if they can give Darnold that 3 seconds the Vikings will be the talk of the league. This is the best group of weapons that Darnold has ever had and with Kevin O’Connell coming from the Sean McVay/Kyle Shannahan coaching tree Darnold can succeed.
I really hope Darnold gets to prove all the nay sayers (yes including myself over the years) wrong and has a “Pro Bowl” season and finally shows why he was worthy of being a first round pick. Who knows if Darnold plays well, maybe he’s played himself into starting somewhere else in 2025.
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