Who will be the starting quarterback for the Minnesota Vikings in 2024? Although Minnesota drafted former Michigan quarterback J.J. McCarthy in the first round of the 2024 NFL Draft, he won’t be handed the starting job. All signs point to Sam Darnold — not McCarthy — starting off the year as the team’s QB1. But how long will that last?
According to Sports Illustrated senior NFL writer Conor Orr, McCarthy may be taking the reins by mid-season, but probably not for the reason you think. Instead of being benched for poor performance or because the team’s bye week is a perfect transition point, Orr projects Darnold to be trade bait and wind up with a contender who has their starter go down with an injury.
In his 100 predictions piece for Sports Illustrated, Orr made several Vikings-centric predictions, but the most interesting one, by far, involved the team’s starting quarterback. Orr believes Darnold will be traded before the Nov. 5 trade deadline, paving the way for the McCarthy era to start for the Vikings.
That prediction, paired with Orr’s prediction that the Vikings will exceed their projected win total of 6.5, seems to indicate that Orr believes Darnold will have a productive season for the Vikings.
Darnold plays in an offense with Justin Jefferson, Jordan Addison, Aaron Jones, and a quarterback-friendly head coach in Kevin O’Connell, so it’s certainly possible. How well would Darnold have to play in 2024 to be trade bait? We’ll have to see!