Darnold completed 19 of 24 passes for 208 yards with two touchdowns and one interception in the Vikings' 28-6 win over the Giants on Sunday. He also rushed three times for three yards. Returning to a MetLife Stadium field that was often a proverbial house of horrors for him during a difficult early career stint with the Jets, Darnold looked like a quarterback out for redemption over the course of a stellar Vikings debut. The veteran signal-caller connected with Justin Jefferson (three yards) and Jalen Nailor (21 yards) for his two touchdown passes, and his 12 consecutive completions to open the game tied franchise legend Fran Tarkenton's record in that category. Darnold had the perfect game environment to ease into his new role thanks in part to a dominant defensive performance by Minnesota, but the going figures to be a lot tougher in a Week 2 home showdown against the 49ers.
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Status
ACTIVENext game projections (vs. SF 9/15)
Latest Sam Darnold news
2024 Season Passing
2024 Season Rushing
Career History
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Vikings1-0
vs.
49ers1-0
DraftKings points 14.7FanDuel Points 14.7ATT 30.5CMP 20.3PASS YDS 227.1TD 1.2LNG 39.0CMP% 66.6SACK 3.1SYL 20.8INT 0.7RUSH YDS 2.9CBSS fantasy points 15.8ESPN fantasy points 13.4Yahoo fantasy points 14.1
Pregame Probabilities
Expected to pass >300 YDS28%Passing Touchdowns 3+6% -
Full season projectionsATT 502.4CMP 306.0PASS YDS 3,227.1TD 17.0LNG 40.0CMP% 60.9SACK 34.0SYL 240.0INT 8.5
Darnold completed 19 of 24 passes for 208 yards with two touchdowns and one interception in the Vikings' 28-6 win over the Giants on Sunday. He also rushed three times for three yards. Returning to a MetLife Stadium field that was often a proverbial house of horrors for him during a difficult early career stint with the Jets, Darnold looked like a quarterback out for redemption over the course of a stellar Vikings debut. The veteran signal-caller connected with Justin Jefferson (three yards) and Jalen Nailor (21 yards) for his two touchdown passes, and his 12 consecutive completions to open the game tied franchise legend Fran Tarkenton's record in that category. Darnold had the perfect game environment to ease into his new role thanks in part to a dominant defensive performance by Minnesota, but the going figures to be a lot tougher in a Week 2 home showdown against the 49ers.
Coach Kevin O'Connell relayed Thursday that that Darnold's teammate Jaren Hall will start Saturday's preseason finale against the Eagles. O'Connell added that Matt Corral is likely to see snaps after Hall on Saturday, with Darnold's next start thus slated to occur Week 1 against the Giants on Sunday, Sept. 8. The veteran QB is slated to open the regular season as Minnesota's top signal-caller, with first-round rookie J.J. McCarthy having landed on IR last week due to a knee injury.
Darnold is poised to start the Vikings' Sept. 8 season opener versus the Giants and could start for the entire 2024 campaign after 10th overall pick J.J. McCarthy (knee) underwent season-ending meniscus surgery Wednesday, Kevin Seifert of ESPN.com reports. Darnold will continue dominating first-team reps while Nick Mullens moves up to the No. 2 role. The team may also consider signing another quarterback, but if Darnold is able to competently command the offense he now has a clear path to a season-long starting gig. While he's mostly struggled throughout his career and has never played more than 13 games in a season, this is the best environment Darnold has seen in the NFL. Justin Jefferson is arguably the best receiver in the league, Jordan Addison (ankle) is primed to build upon a 911-yard, 10-TD rookie campaign, and TE T.J. Hockenson (knee) should eventually add a third talented option. However, the Vikings offense could be somewhat limited if Addison is suspended for his offseason DUI arrest and/or Hockenson's recovery from an ACL tear stretches into the later portion of the regular season. Even with those concerns, it's a better situation than Darnold ever had in New York or Carolina, making him a fantasy option for two-QB and superflex leagues, if nothing else.
Darnold is in line to open the regular season as Minnesota's starting quarterback with J.J. McCarthy (knee) set to undergo surgery to address a meniscus tear, Adam Schefter of ESPN reports. Darnold has been handling the majority of first-team reps throughout training camp, and he played just one series on offense in Saturday's preseason win over the Raiders, but the plan had reportedly been for McCarthy's involvement to grow leading up to Week 1. Now, with McCarthy slated to miss anywhere between 4-to-6 weeks or multiple months, depending on whether he requires a meniscus trim or repair, Darnold has a clear path to the starting gig to open the regular season, and potentially the foreseeable future. In his lone preseason series thus far, Darnold completed four of eight pass attempts for 59 yards with no touchdowns or interceptions. Given the quality of Darnold's pass-catching corps, headlined by wideouts Justin Jefferson and Jordan Addison, plus Aaron Jones out of the backfield, the veteran journeyman could be in the mix as an under-the-radar fantasy option in deeper leagues when Minnesota faces the Giants on the road Week 1.
Darnold started at quarter back but played just one series on offense in Saturday's preseason win over Las Vegas. He was 4-of-8 passing for 59 yards with no touchdowns or interceptions. Darnold essentially led the Vikings on a scoring drive, but his pass to Jalen Nailor on fourth and goal fell incomplete. Darnold only playing one series is likely a sign he's the favorite to begin the season as the starting quarterback. Rookie J.J. McCarthy played most of the game after Darnold left and had a strong performance with two touchdown passes, albeit largely against the second- and third-string defense.
Coach Kevin O'Connell said Thursday that Darnold will start Saturday's preseason game against the Raiders, and that rookie first-round pick J.J. McCarthy will also get "a significant amount of work," Ben Goessling of the Minneapolis Star Tribune reports. Darnold is listed atop Minnesota's initial preseason depth chart, and he's taken the majority of first-team reps to this point in training camp, though McCarthy is expected to be increasingly worked in with the starting unit as things progress. As long as he can turn in some solid preseason showings, though, Darnold still seems in solid position to win the starting gig for Week 1's regular-season opener against the Giants.
Darnold is listed as the starting quarterback on Minnesota's initial preseason depth chart. The preseason depth charts often don't mean much, but this does line up with what's been reported by Vikings beat writers all summer. The catch is that coach Kevin O'Connell recently said J.J. McCarthy will start getting first-team reps later in August once more of the offense has been installed, at which point the rookie QB could perhaps make a strong enough impression to push Darnold out of the top spot. So far, Darnold has dominated first-team reps, dating back to the offseason program and now through two weeks of training camp.
Darnold will be the first-team quarterback when Minnesota begins training camp in late July, ESPN.com's Kevin Seifert reports. Darnold took all the first-team reps at June minicamp and reportedly looked sharper than 10th overall draft pick J.J. McCarthy. Vikings coach Kevin O'Connell said Wednesday that Darnold will remain the top QB for the start of training camp, but O'Connell cautioned that it's one of the many positions at which he anticipates competition later this summer.
Darnold took every first-team rep during mandatory minicamp, with Alec Lewis of The Athletic reporting that the veteran quarterback's "consistency stood out for three days" while J.J. McCarthy missed more throws. Lewis says McCarthy's inconsistency is to be expected and adds that "overarching quarterback observations are largely unimportant at this stage" of the offseason. The rookie will have a chance to win the starting job this summer, so it'll be more of a story if he's still lagging far behind Darnold in early-to-mid August after a few weeks of training camp. Lewis also notes that McCarthy had his best day yet Thursday, the final day of minicamp, perhaps giving him something to build on when the Vikings hold their final round of OTAs on June 10-13.