EAGEN, Minn.—What a beautiful day in Minnesota. Blue skies, brisk, and bright sunshine for the 17th and final stop of my initial training camp swing. Here’s what I saw with the Vikings …
• My sense is Sam Darnold is going to be the starting quarterback, for a few reasons. The first is that he’s really improved. He’s playing faster than he did earlier in his career, and the progress was evident to the Vikings going from his late 2022 tape in Carolina, to last year’s preseason with the 49ers, to the Christmas night cameo in Baltimore’s blowout of San Francisco (go back and watch that one). Playing for Ben McAdoo and Kyle Shanahan also gave Darnold a really good baseline for the transition to Kevin O’Connell’s system, and the decisiveness with which he’s playing now make that evident. The second reason? While J.J. McCarthy’s arm talent, athleticism and intangibles have come as advertised, I believe O’Connell is going to be very disciplined about actually putting the rookie out there—this won’t be one of those situations where the team has a couple tough weeks, and they put him out there to try and create a spark. I also believe McCarthy, who’s reworking some things fundamentally (he’s cleaned up stuff with footwork), will benefit greatly from having a coach who’s prioritizing his development.
