It’s been well publicized at this point that free agent acquisition and former first-round bust Sam Darnold is heading into training camp as the presumed day one starter for the Minnesota Vikings. Despite that, it seems to be the overwhelmingly prevailing thought that rookie first-round quarterback J.J. McCarthy will overtake Darnold for the starting job at some point during the season.
On the one hand, the Vikings likely didn’t take McCarthy just to have him sit on the bench. On the other hand, is it possible that Darnold will play well enough in 2024 and that he will never relinquish the starting job to the youngster? That’s exactly what the writers over at SBNation propose in their latest “hot takes predictions” article:
All signs point to the Vikings choosing to wait, and not push J.J. McCarthy into a starting job before he’s ready — which is absolutely the correct move. The thing is: Sam Darnold is good enough to make a lot of people have second thoughts, and I think he’s going to do just that.
At 27-years-old there’s plenty of tread left on the tires here, and the Kevin O’Connell offense will mask a lot of Darnold’s deficiencies. Pair that with Justin Jefferson, who is always a factor, and there’s a definite scenario here where Darnold surprises people, leads the Vikings back to the playoffs, and creates concern over whether or not McCarthy should take the job.
Just how well would Darnold have to play to stave off a transition to the rookie? Only Kevin O’Connell knows the answer to that question. But Darnold was taken with the third overall pick in the 2018 NFL Draft for a reason, and we’ve seen flashes of that USC talent during his NFL career.
If there was ever a situation for him to put it all together, it would be with a head coach like O’Connell and weapons like Justin Jefferson, Jordan Addison, Aaron Jones, and T.J. Hockenson at his disposal.