Amid a career resurgence and a red-hot start, Sam Darnold and the undefeated Vikings are headed across the pond this week for a game in London. Their opponent: the New York Jets, the franchise that drafted Darnold third overall out of USC back in 2018.
Darnold was just 20 years old when the Jets selected him with the hopes he would become their franchise quarterback for the long haul — something that obviously didn't happen. He went 13-25 as the Jets' starter, with a sub-60 completion percentage and sub-80 passer rating, and was gone after three years, left to wear the "bust" label as he tried (and mostly failed) to turn things around with the Panthers.
Now on his fourth team, Darnold is 27 years old and playing the best football of his career. A month into the 2024 season, he leads the NFL in passing touchdowns (11) and passer rating (118.9) on a 4-0 Vikings team that has vastly exceeded national expectations so far. He's taking full advantage of a great opportunity to play for Kevin O'Connell and throw to Justin Jefferson as part of a group that believes it can do something special this year.
Darnold's success in this environment in Minnesota has led to renewed discussion about how the situations in New York and Carolina may have contributed to his early-career struggles. Last week, O'Connell told Rich Eisen that he believes "organizations fail young quarterbacks before young quarterbacks fail organizations." Asked on Wednesday if he believes the Jets failed him, Darnold took the high road.
"I had a lot of opportunities in New York and I always felt like I could've played better there," he said.
It's difficult to know how much of a quarterback's success is within or outside of their control, but it certainly didn't help that Darnold had Todd Bowles and Adam Gase and Matt Rhule and Steve Wilks as his head coaches during his first five NFL seasons. He could've probably done more and played better, but those were dysfunctional times with the Jets and Panthers. The same is true in reverse in Minnesota: Darnold is in a great spot, but he's also playing very well.
As he prepares for this week's game, he isn't thinking too much about the opponent being his former team. It was undoubtedly on his mind when he played against the Jets in his Panthers debut, Week 1 of the 2021 season, but it's now been four years since he wore a green jersey.
"I'm not really thinking about that, to be honest," Darnold said. "A lot of new faces over there. Still know a few players. I'm sure before the game, maybe after the game, seeing some of the people that I've built really good relationships with, that's always the fun part about this league, being able to see people that you've worked with in the past. That'll be good to see those guys, but other than that, pretty new defense since I've been there and a lot of new players."
