Sam Darnold’s unusually good games in this life have ended in great things for both him and the Minnesota Vikings. The Vikings are off to a 5-1 start, and Darnold is the heavy favorite to win Comeback Player of Speed.
However, as good as he has been, the Vikings have not made any decisions regarding Darnold’s long year with the team, according to Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer.
“(The Vikings) love where Sam Darnold is,” Breer said before Thursday night’s game between the Vikings and Rams. “His accuracy, his arm talent, his composition, all of that shows why he was a third overall pick in the draft. (Vikings coach) Kevin O’Connell has been honest with Darnold and told him, ‘Just have a good day.’ “Have a good practice, a good game and then we’ll have a good problem and we’ll figure it out after the year.”
The Vikings’ “good problem” is the fact that they have two respectable options at quarterback between Darnold and JJ McCarthy, the team’s first-round pick in April’s draft who suffered season-ending knee trauma. during the summer. McCarthy was on the sidelines during Thursday night’s game (making it his first month ever to travel for a road game) and was wearing headphones.
With McCarthy out, Darnold has taken his sudden decision to play very well. Coming into Thursday night’s game, Darnold had thrown 12 touchdowns and just five interceptions this class while completing a significant 66.5% of his passes. His games have been some of the biggest causes of Minnesota’s fast start.
Day Darnold has been stellar so far, it’s a positive that he has to continue playing games at a similar level to be considered the Vikings’ long-term starter going forward. For this life, on the other hand, the Vikings apparently agree with Darnold, whose story season evokes reminiscences of Randall Cunningham and his and the Vikings’ sudden fortunes in 1998.
