A fresh chapter began when Kirk Cousins left the Minnesota Vikings.
The Vikings, who have rarely had continuity at quarterback in their more than 60 years of existence, now have it thanks to their cousins. It was a daring move to let him depart, throwing Minnesota back into the deep end of experienced journeymen and unproven rookies. Everybody was eager to find out who will succeed Cousins. After several hours, they received their response.
“Sam Darnold” Fans were ecstatic when Minnesota decided to give Darnold a one-year, $10 million contract late on a March evening. How could the quarterback for the Vikings go from being a reliable, competent choice to being the target of jokes for two different teams? Having Sam Darnold as their quarterback in 2024 can’t be a real plan! This was not a Minnesota-only viewpoint. In 14 of their 17 games this season, the Vikings are the underdogs. Gilbert Manzano of Sports Illustrated projected them to finish 3–14 the next year. Many believe the Vikings will fail, even with J.J. McCarthy in the fold.
But they may be victims of The Sam Darnold Effect.
However, it’s possible that The Sam Darnold Effect is at play. We’ll refer to it as the Darnold Effect, but it extends beyond Darnold. It occurs when a quarterback who is expected to do great things in the NFL facesplants right away because of their environment. No amount of on-field success will be able to change our initial perception of the quarterback as “bad,” even if he or she makes improvements.A prime illustration of this occurrence is Darnold. Darnold, the third overall selection in the 2018 NFL Draft, joined the New York Jets and entered a living hell. Darnold, who was seen as the team’s savior, took over right away and was paired with top rusher Isaiah Crowell, top target Robbie Chosen, and head coach Adam Gase.
In his three seasons in New York, Darnold had a 13–25 record, with a large number of his setbacks occurring nationally. His two most memorable incidents were when he said he was “seeing ghosts” during a Monday Night Football game and when a mononucleosis graphic went viral. Although I don’t excuse Darnold from his mistakes in New York, a lot of context was there. Prior to the 2021 season, the Jets traded him to the Carolina Panthers, where he was assigned to head coach Matt Rhule, another poisonous environment. As Carolina’s starter for two seasons, Darnold had an 8-9 record. After Rhule was fired by the Panthers late in the 2022 season, he did, however, show improvement, finishing with a 4-2 record, seven touchdowns, and three interceptions.
In order to support Brock Purdy, Darnold joined as a free agent with the San Francisco 49ers. Despite not playing much on the field, Darnold was receiving instruction from a staff of coaches and a system that has propelled other quarterbacks to success. For Baker Mayfield, who was selected two spots before Darnold in the 2018 draft, that strategy proved effective. Following his two seasons of playing for Hue Jackson and Freddie Kitchens, Mayfield appeared to be a franchise quarterback under Kevin Stefanski, who helped the Cleveland Browns win a playoff game in 2020.
From then on, Mayfield’s reputation plummeted as the Browns finished 8-9 in 2021 while he battled through a shoulder injury and concerns about his maturity. The next season, Mayfield moved to Carolina to be with Darnold, but he was let go by them towards the end of 2022. Mayfield had nowhere else to go, so he signed with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers the following offseason after playing five games for the Los Angeles Rams under Sean McVay. Similar to Darnold, a lot of people thought the Buccaneers would rank among the worst teams in the NFL because of Mayfield. But with improved facilities, he was at his best, helping Tampa Bay win the division and earn a postseason berth.
prior to agreeing to a contract with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers the next offseason, Los Angeles Rams. Similar to Darnold, a lot of people thought the Buccaneers would rank among the worst teams in the NFL because of Mayfield. But with improved facilities, he was at his best, helping Tampa Bay win the division and earn a postseason berth. Many NFL general managers will look to Mayfield as an example when a stop-gap quarterback does well. Darnold might, however, end up going in the same direction. While Kyle Shanahan, who is connected to Kevin O’Connell in McVay’s coaching tree, taught Darnold, Mayfield received his education from McVay. Darnold’s chances of having a Pro Bowl season are not assured by that.Justin Jefferson is still with the Vikings and will be for the next four years, despite numerous TikTok videos suggesting otherwise. A lethal weapon himself, Jordan Addison will also be involved after T.J. Hockenson recovers from injury.
With Brian O’Neill and Christian Darrisaw leading the way, Minnesota’s offensive line advanced, while in Brian Flores’ debut season, the Vikings defense shown moments of dominance. Even so, the Vikings are not as appealing as some of their NFC North rivals because of Darnold. Jordan Love and one of the NFL’s youngest rosters are features of the Green Bay Packers. America’s Sweetheart Dan Campbell is the head coach of the Detroit Lions, a club that led 24-7 at the half of the NFC Championship match.Even the Chicago Bears, who selected Caleb Williams with the first overall pick, Rome Odunze with the ninth pick, and added D’Andre Swift and Keenan Allen, look fantastic wearing beer goggles. While all of this was going on, the Vikings signed Sam Darnold. In actuality, no one is anticipating Darnold to become the next Patrick Mahomes. Nevertheless, when Cousins suffered an Achilles injury, he is joining a group that got Nick Mullens and Joshua Dobbs up and running. The Vikings have McCarthy, who could take over and lead the team back toward relevance even if Darnold is unable to perform.
The Sam Darnold Effect is causing too many fans to lose sight of the Vikings’ several routes to a better future.