The Minnesota Vikings have proven a team in transition all year long and that may not change just because the regular season begins.
Kirk Cousins left in free agency after six years as the starting quarterback. In response, the Vikings selected J.J. McCarthy with the 10th overall pick in the NFL draft and signed veteran Sam Darnold to a one-year, $10 million contract in free agency.
Darnold is in the driver’s seat to start the year under center after taking all of the first-team reps during the offseason thus far and appearing on Minnesota’s first unofficial depth chart as QB1. However, the Vikings have said their intention is to elevate McCarthy into a starting role when he is ready, based on a series of benchmarks the team has defined.
As such, Ryan Fowler of Bleacher Report predicted McCarthy the fourth-most likely starting QB to lose his position at some point during the upcoming season.
“Now in camp, the race between McCarthy and Darnold for the starting gig is as close as it’s ever been,” Fowler wrote on Tuesday, August 7. “If the Vikings stumble early with Darnold under center, they could bench the veteran and hand the keys to McCarthy earlier than expected.”
Vikings Keeping Options Open at QB as Preseason Progresses
For his part, Vikings head coach Kevin O’Connell has avoided making definitive statements of any kind on the team’s quarterback situation. That is true both externally and internally, per an interview O’Connell had with Dan Barreiro of KFAN on August 1.
“I definitely don’t want to be in a world where anybody shows up to this building every day thinking they’ve got a ceiling, you know a timestamp on them of what the expectations are,” O’Connell said. “The expectations are to come in here and be on a daily mission to be the best version of J.J. McCarthy, of Sam Darnold, of Aaron Jones, of Justin Jefferson and that’s the challenge we’ve gotten these players to really understand.”
Darnold has displayed chemistry with Jefferson thus far, and the former No. 3 overall pick who played on some of the league’s worst teams year over year as a member of the New York Jets and Carolina Panthers surely recognizes the 2024 Vikings offense offers him the best cast of skill-position players he’s ever had as a professional.
Sam Darnold Has Chance to Reclaim Career as NFL Starter With Vikings
Darnold has a chance to revitalize his career, earn another big contract at a time when NFL quarterbacks are securing $50 million annually left and right, and lead a team long-term as the starter — either in Minnesota, or more likely elsewhere following this season. Considering the opportunity, Vikings fans shouldn’t expect Darnold will just sit back and accept a lame duck role.
That reality coupled with the physical talent that made Darnold, who is still only 27 years old, a top-three pick in 2018 combine to form the opposition argument to Fowler’s prediction, which Ari Meirov of 33rd Team articulated on August 7.
“I believe Darnold has the edge in Minnesota’s quarterback competition,” Meirov wrote. “With their weapons and Kevin O’Connell as the play-caller, I could see a scenario where Darnold finds early success, and McCarthy sits for more than just a few games.”
