Sam Darnold signed a one-year, $10 million deal last Wednesday to be the starting QB for the Minnesota Vikings. The agreement raises significant questions for the franchise, Darnold, and most importantly for Justin Jefferson, T.J. Hockenson, and Jordan Addison. Jefferson has spent the past two seasons as the No. 1 ranked WR in dynasty leagues and the No. 1 ranked overall player in single-QB formats. Hockenson was the No. 1 scoring fantasy TE last year before he suffered a torn ACL and MCL in Week 15. And Addison was a top-24 WR in his rookie season. Much of that was with Kirk Cousins under center, but plenty came after he had already torn his Achilles in Week 8. If a grab-bag of journeymen could keep the offense functional in the Twin Cities in 2023, what can we expect from them with Darnold under center in 2024?
SAM DARNOLD AND HIS SIXTH SENSE
Darnold was taken with the No. 3 pick in the 2018 NFL draft, behind Baker Mayfield and Saquon Barkley. He was made to marry the New York Jets and a nightmare situation. He completely crashed on the field, famously saw ghosts, and quickly lost the favor of the Jets’ fan base. And so, he was traded to Carolina in 2021 — a second chance. Sadly, his new situation didn’t improve, as he missed time with an injured scapula. The following year, he was benched in favor of Mayfield, who was living his own version of Darnold’s story, getting traded after four run-of-the-mill seasons in Cleveland.
Of the QBs taken in the first round of the 2018 NFL Draft, Darnold has clearly been the second worst:
Last year, Darnold was the backup in San Francisco, and though he barely played, he was fine in garbage time against Baltimore after Brock Purdy was yanked from the worst performance of his career. There isn’t much to glean from that, as the game was no longer competitive. And yet, there has always seemed to be a strange rush of hope for Darnold Truthers, which exist, and the hope of seeing him play in a setting that wasn’t train wreckage.
Though a Darnold takeover rightfully didn’t materialize in San Francisco last year, the Truthers will finally get their chance as the Vikings picked Darnold to Moneyball QB after Cousins departed for Atlanta. The move is reminiscent of Mitch Trubisky signing in Pittsburgh in 2022 after he spent a year backing up Josh Allen in 2021, not really playing there, and still somehow gaining helium and turning it into a starting gig the following year. Just over a month after they signed Trubisky, Pittsburgh selected Kenny Pickett in the first round in 2022, then rushed to turn the reins over to him; so, Trubisky was fated to be a bridge QB. Does the same fate await Darnold, or is there a chance it’s different?
KEVIN O’CONNELL IS PROBABLY A GOOD COACH
These days, it feels like just knowing Sean McVay or Kyle Shanahan can get someone an NFL coaching gig. The direct connections include Vikings coach Kevin O’Connell, along with Matt LaFleur, Mike McDaniel, Zac Taylor, Mike LaFleur, Bobby Slowik, Shane Waldron, Klint Kubiak, Adam Stenavich, Zac Robinson, and Wes Phillips, all of whom are head coaches or offensive coordinators. This doesn’t count friends of friends like Brian Callahan, Kevin Stafanski, Arthur Smith, Drew Petzing, or Dan Pitcher (nor the defensive coordinators who have become coaches — DeMeco Ryans, Brandon Staley, Raheem Morris, and Robert Saleh). There are rumors that McVay’s pool boy was interviewed for the job in Tennessee, but the reports can’t be substantiated.
O’Connell worked as McVay’s offensive coordinator in 2020-2021, winning the Super Bowl and immediately getting snatched up by the Vikings. In his first season, the Vikings surprised the Packers by winning the NFC North. They made a decent run of it this past season despite a plodding start, followed by a series of unfortunate events: major injuries to Cousins, Jefferson, and eventually Hockenson; disastrous play at RB, prompting a trade for Cam Akers, who immediately suffered his own catastrophic injury; and a roll-with-the punches game of “American Idol” at the QB position that gave auditions to Nick Mullens, Jaren Hall, and Josh Dobbs when he had been with the team for five days.
In a way, O’Connell turned in one of the most incredible coaching efforts in the league. This Tomlinesque water-to-wine epic surged through almost weekly doses of bad news to remain competitive. I heaped a lot of praise on Dobbs for his heroic effort in Week 9 to beat the Falcons on short notice, but much of that credit should also go to O’Connell, whose coaching that day was masterful. O’Connell was even in the running for Coach of the Year until it became apparent the Vikings wouldn’t make the playoffs.
