J.J. McCarthy’s Knee Injury Puts Spotlight on Sam Darnold With Vikings

There was already speculation that Darnold, a six-year veteran, would start the Vikings’ first five games against a tough schedule before the Week 6 bye. Now, the injury to McCarthy might delay the No. 10 pick’s debut even further.

Minnesota signed Darnold in March the day after Kirk Cousins’ left for the Atlanta Falcons. The Vikings were linked to multiple quarterbacks in the pre-draft process and they ultimately traded up one spot to take McCarthy out of Michigan. That set up a training camp battle that Darnold appeared to be winning. He was listed as QB1 on the team’s unofficial depth chart and he took the first drive with the starters in Saturday’s preseason opener.

Now on his fourth team, Darnold is poised to be a Week 1 starter for a third different team in four years, which begs the question: How did the 2018 No. 3 pick get here?

New York Jets (2018-20)

On the heels of a 5–11 season in 2017, the Jets ended up with the No. 3 pick, their earliest selection since 1996. After the Cleveland Browns took quarterback Baker Mayfield with the No. 1 pick and the New York Giants selected Saquon Barkley second overall, New York drafted Darnold, a two-year starter at USC.

Darnold started Week 1 and led the Jets to a blowout road win over the Detroit Lions. The rest of his rookie season was less inspiring. He finished 4–9 as the starter and completed just 57.7% of his pass attempts for 2,865 yards, 17 touchdowns and 15 interceptions.

In his second season, Darnold took a step forward. He went 7–6 and improved his completion percentage to 61.9% while throwing for 3,024 yards, 19 touchdowns and 13 interceptions. That was also the year of his infamous “seeing ghosts” game in which he finished 11-of-32 for 86 yards and four interceptions in a 33–0 loss to the Patriots.

The 2020 season wrought worse results for Darnold and the Jets, who started 0–13. Darnold regressed, again completing 59.6% of his passes and throwing more interceptions (11) than touchdowns (nine) while he went 2–10 as the starter.

New York’s second-worst season in franchise history set up the team with the No. 2 pick and an opportunity to move on from Darnold in the 2021 draft. A few weeks before the Jets selected Zach Wilson, they shipped Darnold to the Carolina Panthers in exchange for a 2021 sixth-round pick and 2022 second- and fourth-rounders.

Carolina Panthers (2021-22)

Before Darnold ever took a snap in Carolina, the Panthers exercised his fifth-year option to keep him under contract through 2022. His first game with Carolina offered an opportunity for revenge against the Jets. He led the Panthers to a Week 1 win and a 3–0 start, but things turned south when star running back Christian McCaffrey went down in September.

Losses began piling up and Darnold later ended up on injured reserve with a shoulder injury, which opened the door for Cam Newton’s brief return to the Panthers. Darnold was activated in December and started the final two games of the season. He finished 4–7 as the starter, completing 59.9% of his throws and once again tossed more picks (13) than scores (nine).

Carolina traded for Mayfield in the 2022 offseason, which set up a training camp battle between the top two quarterbacks from the 2018 class. Mayfield won and he and P.J. Walker each started six games under center until Darnold took back the job in late November. Darnold started the final six games and went 4–2. His completion rate was a lowly 58.3%, but he threw for 1,143 yards, seven touchdowns, just three interceptions and had the lowest sack rate of his career.

With Darnold’s rookie contract up and the Panthers in search of a long-term answer under center, he hit free agency in the summer of 2023.

San Francisco 49ers (2023)

The 49ers inked Darnold to a one-year, $4.5 million contract last March. He joined a quarterback room of Brock Purdy, the presumptive starter who was coming off an elbow injury, and Trey Lance, the No. 3 pick in 2021. Darnold beat out Lance for the backup job in training camp and San Francisco ended up trading Lance to the Dallas Cowboys in late August just ahead of the 2023 season.

Darnold played sparingly for the 49ers. He appeared in nine games, most of which were blowouts, but he did get to start in Week 18 against the Rams. San Francisco sat its starters with the No. 1 seed already secured and Darnold went 16-of-26 for 189 yards and two total touchdowns. However, with the 49ers trailing by one and driving in the game’s final minute, Darnold took a game-ending strip sack.

He didn’t play in the postseason during San Francisco’s return to the Super Bowl and again hit free agency.

Minnesota Vikings (2024-)

Soon after Cousins left Minnesota, the Vikings signed Darnold to a one-year, $10 million deal in March to be their bridge starter. Minnesota later drafted McCarthy as the long-term answer under center on an offense that already has cornerstones like All-Pro wide receiver Justin Jefferson and Pro Bowl tight end T.J. Hockenson, plus an above-average offensive line.

But for the time being, Darnold will be taking snaps under center in head coach Kevin O’Connell’s offense. The season starts Sep. 8 on the road against the New York Giants. Minnesota hosts the 49ers, one of Darnold’s former teams, in Week 2 and draws the Houston Texans at home the following week. The Vikings open division play on the road against the Green Bay Packers in Week 4 and draw the Jets in London in Week 5 in another game against one of Darnold’s old teams.

Minnesota has its bye in Week 6, but the schedule doesn’t necessarily slow down with games at home against the Lions and on the road against the Los Angeles Rams on the other side. That Week 7 game against Detroit was seen by some as a target date for McCarthy to make his debut, but the need for surgery could change that timeline.

Across six seasons and 56 starts, Darnold has done little to validate the draft capital the Jets spent on him. But with the Vikings, he’s in the best situation of his career with the reins to the offense until the rookie is ready to go.

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