Why Sam Darnold Is Primed for a Breakout Season
Over the last decade, the Minnesota Vikings have become a beacon of hope for journeyman quarterbacks. Aside from six seasons with Kirk Cousins, the Vikings have become all too familiar with the quarterback carousel. Now, they find themselves taking a chance on former third-overall pick Sam Darnold. However, there are a few examples in recent history that should give Vikings fans hope that the Sam Darnold experiment may end up being a successful one. In 2016, Teddy Bridgewater suffered a devastating knee injury and Minnesota was forced to turn to veteran quarterback Sam Bradford. After struggling for his first six years in the league, Bradford found himself fortunate enough to get another chance as a starting quarterback. In his first and only full season with the Vikings, Bradford put up career-high numbers in passing yards, touchdown to interception ratio, completion percentage, and passer rating. He led Minnesota to an undefeated start through his first five games as a starter and completed his first season as a starter with more than seven wins. Bradford would start off the next season with one of his best single-game performances as a pro, putting up 286 yards and two touchdowns on 71% completion percentage in a victory over the Green Bay Packers. Unfortunately, Bradford would be forced out of his starting position due to multiple different injuries. This would, however, lead to the next prime example of a quarterback having his best season with Minnesota after being overlooked by multiple franchises.
Case Keenum would take over for Sam Bradford and would go on a magical run as the starting quarterback in Minnesota. Before signing with the Vikings as a backup, Keenum had stints with the Rams and Texans. Both of these runs would be ultimately unsuccessful, but he found himself thrust into a starting role with the Vikings regardless of past performances. Keenum surprised everyone with his level of play during his time in Minnesota. He put up career highs in completion percentage, touchdowns, and passer rating. Keenum’s play would be enough to lead the Vikings to an NFC Championship appearance and his game-winning touchdown pass in the Divisional Round to Stefon Diggs, the Minneapolis Miracle, will go down as one of the most iconic plays in NFL history. For whatever reason, the Vikings have been able to turn quarterbacks who were unsuccessful with other teams into Pro Bowl-level players.
With that kind of track record over the past 10 years, it isn’t an out-of-this-world idea to think that Sam Darnold will have a similar breakout season in Minnesota. With offensive weapons all around him in Justin Jefferson, T.J. Hockenson, Jordan Addison, and Aaron Jones along with a very solid offensive line when it comes to pass protection, Sam Darnold will be in the best situation he’s had in his career by a large margin. With an offense as pass-heavy as Kevin O'Connell's is, I think he could easily put up career highs in touchdowns, completion percentage, and passer rating in a similar manner to Keenum and Bradford in the past. With Justin Jefferson recently signing a massive four-year extension, the hope is that Jefferson and Darnold build a solid rapport early in the season and are able to bring out the best in one another. Darnold’s two previous opportunities as a starter in New York and Carolina were filled with turmoil as he was surrounded with little to no offensive weapons. Now in a near-perfect offensive situation, all signs are pointing toward a Sam Darnold breakout season finally becoming a reality.
