Even before J.J. McCarthy injured his knee and was lost for the season, we knew that the Minnesota Vikings would head into the season with Sam Darnold as their starting quarterback. The question wasn’t if Darnold would start, it was how long he would remain the starter. It was assumed that it was only a matter of time before Darnold’s play would warrant a switch.
Now, that’s not an option, and Darnold has a firm hold on the starting job, and the Vikings are going to be in a world of hurt if Darnold gets hurt or struggles as he has through most of his career. That history of struggle has many pessimistic about Darnold’s future with the Vikings, and the Vikings’ chances this season.
Among those who are pessimistic is The Sporting News NFL analyst Vinnie Iyer. Iyer recently released his rankings of all the starting quarterbacks in the NFL, ranked 1-32, and Darnold’s placement on the list doesn’t instill confidence that Minnesota can win much in 2024.
The Vikings were able to stay in playoff contention for much of the 2023 season with a quarterback carousel after Kirk Cousins tore his Achilles, so it’s possible the talent on the roster — particularly on defense — can carry the team once again. But they’ll need to with Darnold ranking as the 30th starting quarterback in the league, according to Iyer.
That ranking puts Darnold ahead of just two starting quarterbacks: Las Vegas Raiders’ Gardner Minshew, who was a surprise choice over last year’s starter Aidan O’Connell, and New England Patriots first-round pick Drake Maye, who still hasn’t been officially named the starter over Jacoby Brissett.
That alone speaks volumes about how Iyer — and, to a certain extent, the general populace — sees Darnold as a starter. And that pessimism is warranted for the former third-overall selection. Darnold has famously struggled throughout his career, at one point becoming a meme for proclaiming he was “seeing ghosts out there.”
Still, the talent around Darnold is strong, with arguably the best wide receiver in the league, Justin Jefferson, to throw to. He also has one of the better left tackles in the league, Christian Darrisaw, to protect him. If ever there was a time for Darnold to succeed, it’s now. He’s never had a better supporting cast around him, save for his time in San Francisco — where he seldom saw the field behind Brock Purdy.
