Overlooked as Vikings’ placeholder, Sam Darnold is delivering elite QB play to lead Minnesota’s 3-0 start |Max Sporty|

MINNEAPOLIS — Poll some Minnesota Vikings fans this summer, and you’d get some different answers to this simple but all-important question: Which quarterback should lead the team this fall? Some would happily advocate for JJ McCarthy, the mild-mannered first-round rookie whose NFL debut was ultimately delayed indefinitely due to a pre-season injury. Others would mourn the departure of Kirk Cousins, who at least had been a steady hand for more than half a decade prior. Few would have said Sam Darnold with strong conviction.

Even the most optimistic Vikings fans, you see, had little trouble treading lightly with a Darnold boom entering the season. Signed to a very modest one-year contract, on his fourth team in five years, fresh off a 2023 campaign spent almost exclusively on the sidelines, the former New York Jets prospect and journeyman was always ready to benefit from arguably the best supporting cast. of his NFL career He was always primed for career marks working under coach Kevin O’Connell, the definition of quarterback-friendly in both offensive design and friendly attitude. Yet no one would really, deep down, be stunned if the “real Darnold” finally showed up, throwing balls into traffic.

To be clear, three weeks into the 2024 NFL season, there’s still time for that. The Vikings (3-0 after Sunday’s rout of the Houston Texans) know as well as anyone that a hot start or sterling record can come undone, as it did in the playoffs after O’Connell’s otherwise magical debut coaching the 13- 4 squad. of 2022. And Darnold has flashed a first-round draft pick before, only to slide into turnover- or injury-riddled slumps that wore out his welcome in both East Rutherford and Charlotte, North Carolina, a recent hotbed of failed promotion projects.

The Vikings probably also have never enjoyed a more promising three-game stretch of quarterback play this side of… Brett Favre? Daunte Culpepper? Or, dare we say, ever? As noted by CBS Sports sunday, this Darnold is the first Vikings signal-caller in the history of the 1960-founded franchise to throw multiple touchdown passes in three straight wins to start a season. His eight passing scores through Week 3 lead the entire league. And those are just small slices of the pie: He’s protected the ball far better than at any other point in his career, and he’s doing it without some of the club’s best playmakers in injured wideout Jordan Addison and tight end TJ Hockenson .

Minnesota is a surprising undefeated contender in what once looked like an NFC North division gauntlet, for many reasons. O’Connell fostered an almost unparalleled culture built on positivity. The running game returns to turbo mode with former Green Bay Packers star Aaron Jones. The O-line, led by left tackle Christian Darrisaw, holds its own against some of the NFL’s best defensive fronts. And Brian Flores’ defense is a Frankenstein’s monster of swarming standouts, with quick, physical, versatile veterans — many of them rookies — at every level.

It’s clear, then, that Darnold’s setup isn’t just the best he’s ever enjoyed; it’s also better and deeper than anyone anticipated, with secondary weapons like Ty Chandler, Jalen Nailor and Brandon Powell making a habit of critical splash plays. We’ll find out in time if the vaunted infrastructure is simply “masking” Darnold or, more importantly, if Minnesota can sustain this sudden and unexpected nationwide appeal. But anyone who opened a single eye during any of Darnold’s first three starts in purple would be a fib if they said Darnold was simply along for the ride. This man served as the top three talent he was drafted to be, with not only the passing zip but, better yet, the resilient authority required of a true under center leader.

It would be one thing if he shook off a rare pick against a lowly defense. Instead, he delivered a top-10, if not top-five, quarterback in back-to-back upsets of Houston and the San Francisco 49ers, two of the most formidable contenders in the NFL. And the last one, against the Texans, wasn’t even a close game. Maybe, just maybe, we should listen to Powell, who told CBS Sports before Week 1 that Darnold “can throw the ball” like the best of them, and that he’s hard-wired to recover quickly from mistakes — perhaps properly tempered by those lost years with the rebuilding Jets. Maybe we’re supposed to believe the internal consensus that finally afforded acceptable coaching and skilled talent — like, say, the most electrifying receiver in the NFL in Justin Jefferson — Darnold is no less likely to restore his reputation than fellow 2018 draftee Baker Mayfield. with the Tampa Bay Pirates.

Will this last? It’s a fair question that can’t be answered at the moment, which is frankly the beauty of this unpredictable game. But Darnold’s help should only improve as the year goes on, with Addison and Hockenson eventually joining Jefferson and Co. in the offensive line-up. And not one soul — not one that bleeds purple routinely yelps “Ope!” or spent at least one hot August afternoon at the Minnesota State Fair — could have fully anticipated Darnold headliner a perfect Vikings team heading into October.

Yes, Cousins ​​drew his own MVP buzz to open 2023, only to fall victim to injury and a final contract standoff. But most agree he has already hit his ceiling in this organization. Darnold, on the other hand, is still only 27 years old, just now experiencing a shot at real contention. It’s a storybook trajectory for both the team and its quarterback, who about a month ago was designated as little more than a veteran placeholder for the “real” future that is McCarthy.

If we’re being honest, the same Vikings fans who went in with cautious hope, but are now spoiled by this sudden success, might prefer to keep this whole thing under wraps, on the down low, so as not to taint the moment in favor of. fantasy dreams involving late-season winter glory. But who says it’s time to be reasonable? “Reasonable” expected Darnold to be passable — nothing more, nothing less. He has surpassed that mark at the moment, and so far there is no clear reason to expect a downward shift. Any Vikings fan can agree on that.