Baker Mayfield thinks Vikings QB Sam Darnold is 'a lock' to win NFL Comeback Player of the Year award in 2024.
The Minnesota Vikings are one of the most surprising teams in the NFL through two weeks. Vikings fans everywhere were crushed when they learned that QB J.J. McCarthy would miss his rookie season with a meniscus injury. Thankfully, veteran Sam Darnold has stepped right in and led the Vikings to a 2-0 start of the season.
One of Darnold's fellow QBs, Buccaneers QB Baker Mayfield, believes that Darnold is a lock to win the NFL Comeback Player of the Year award this season.
Mayfield made his case on a recent episode of the Casa De Klub podcast.
“I knew that was going to be one of the options after Kirk was leaving. I didn't let it get to the free agency point but that definitely would have been a spot that would have been an opportunity. But for me, I'm actually excited for the Vikings, your buddies should be excited,” Mayfield said. “Sam Darnold, like he's been in some s–t shows from the Jets to Carolina to now being in a place in Minnesota that you know has it put together. You're going to see a different version of Sam Darnold that nobody's really seen but you're going to see the potential of why he was taken so high.”
Baker himself was teammates with Darnold on the Panthers competing for a starting job.
Mayfield and Darnold were the runts of the QB litter for the 2018 draft class.
Mayfield went fist to the Browns and Darnold third to the Jets. They were followed by Josh Allen at seventh to the Bills and Lamar Jackson to the Ravens at 32nd.
Host Corey Kluber chimed in to start the conversation about Comeback Player of the Year.
“I heard a lot of people say just shoe him in now as comeback player of the year,” Kluber said.
Mayfield responded by doubling down.
“It's kind of a lock,” Mayfield declared.
Vikings WR Justin Jefferson gets positive injury update after Week 2 scare
The Minnesota Vikings were given quite the injury scare during Week 2. Justin Jefferson stayed on the ground after suffering an apparent lower-body injury. Many fans feared that Jefferson could miss significant time with a major injury.
Thankfully, the Vikings provided a positive injury update on Jefferson earlier this week.
Vikings head coach Kevin O'Connell said on Monday that WR Justin Jefferson is “day-to-day” with a quad contusion, per ESPN's Adam Schefter.
O'Connell added that it was “pretty positive in the early returns.”
This is great news for the Vikings. Jefferson avoided a major injury and, considering the “day-to-day” comment, it is possible that he is active on Sunday against the Texans.
Vikings fans should keep their eyes on the injury report this week to get updates on Jefferson's status.
