The Minnesota Vikings went through a drastic change during the NFL offseason, with the team letting veteran quarterback Kirk Cousins walk in NFL free agency, who ultimately signed with the Atlanta Falcons to be their starter for the foreseeable future.
With Cousins in Atlanta, the Vikings made a valiant effort to replace their longtime starter by drafting Michigan star JJ McCarthy and signing veteran journeyman Sam Darnold.
Unfortunately, the Vikings saw the promising young rookie go down with a season-ending knee injury in the preseason, which thrust Darnold into the starting position to begin the 2024 NFL season.
Although McCarthy’s injury was thought to be devastating to the team’s chances of competing this season, if he became the real deal, Darnold has played remarkably well in the first five games of the season, leading to five straight wins and an undefeated record.
Even though Darnold is coming off his worst performance thus far against the New York Jets, the veteran has been solid, and it appears head coach Kevin O’Connell had a lot of confidence in the journeyman playing at a high level via The Pat McAfee Show.
“Sam Darnold was really confident going into the season, and he’s been making critical throws for us. Our team has confidence in him, and he’s an igniter for our team,” O’Connell said.
"Sam Darnold was really confident going into the season and he's been making critical throws for us..
Our team has confidence in him and he's an igniter for our team" ~ @KevOC7 #PMSLive pic.twitter.com/PpjWdUqIMy
— Pat McAfee (@PatMcAfeeShow) October 8, 2024
The real question for the Vikings is whether Darnold can continue to play at this level and keep Minnesota stacking up wins from week to week.
Although Darnold has been much better than advertised, he did show signs of his old form in the win over the Jets, which is concerning, but he’s played great more often than not, so he might be able to keep it up, especially with O’Connell signing his praises.
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