Vikings QB Sam Darnold could be poised for a career season, whether it's notable or not

After it was revealed rookie J.J. McCarthy suffered a season-ending injury, the focus shifts to Sam Darnold under center for the Minnesota Vikings.

Darnold, 27, has started in 56 of the 66 games he's played across the past six seasons, serving mostly as a backup the past two years. He has a 21-35 record with the New York Jets — who drafted him third overall in the 2018 NFL Draft — the Carolina Panthers and San Francisco 49ers.

It was expected that Darnold was going to start at least Week 1 against the New York Giants before McCarthy suffered a torn meniscus, but head coach Kevin O'Connell was liking what he was seeing from his rookie in training camp and in the first preseason game against the Las Vegas Raiders.

Related: Vikings QB J.J. McCarthy will miss the entire 2024 NFL season

The Past

Darnold has never started every game in a season, maxing out 13 the first two seasons with the Jets. In his rookie season in 2018, Darnold's stats looked like this:

• 239 for 414 (57.7% completion rate), 2,865 yards, 17 touchdowns, 15 interceptions, 5 fumbles, sacked 30 times, and a rating of 77.6.

While those stats don't jump off the page, that Jets roster wasn't anything to glorify either. Darnold went 4-9 that season with his No. 1 wide receiver being Robbie "Chosen" Anderson.

In 2019, he went 7-6 as a starter — the only season he had a winning record — and had Jamison Crowder as his No. 1 receiver, followed by Anderson again. He did get an upgrade at running back with Le'Veon Bell over Bilal Powell, but otherwise it was yet another Jets team not worth even mentioning if it weren't for a purpose.

Darnold's 2019 numbers looked like this:

• 273 for 441 (61.1%), 3,024 yards, 19 touchdowns, 13 interceptions, 11 fumbles, sacked 33 times and a rating of 84.3

It was his best season to date for the most part across the board statistically, as everything declined after that.

In 2020, he started 12 games and lost 10 of them. His No. 1 receiver was still Crowder and joining him was Denzel Mims and Breshad Perriman. An aging Frank Gore shored up the backfield duties. He also had tight end Chris Herndon his entire time in New York.

His third and final Jets season was one to forget as it was his worst:

• 217 for 364 (59.6%), 9 touchdowns, 11 interceptions, 4 fumbles, sacked 35 times, and a rating of 72.7.

In Darnold's first season with Carolina, things started off well as he helped the Panthers start 3-0 in 2021. After star running back Christian McCaffrey went down with an injury, things turned sour and Darnold was forced to put more pressure on himself instead of a balanced attack. D.J. Moore was Darnold's No. 1 receiver, an improvement from his Jets years, and Anderson also was still catching balls from him.

It resulted in similar stats from the previous season:

• 243 for 406 (59.9%), 9 touchdowns, 13 interceptions, 9 fumbles, sacked 35 times and a rating of 71.9.

Darnold only started in 6 of the 14 games he appeared in in 2022 before he went to the 49ers last season, starting in one game for them as he served as a backup to Brock Purdy.

The Present and Future

Most of the teams Darnold has played on haven't had the talent on the offensive side of the ball like the Vikings do.

For starters, Justin Jefferson is the best wide receiver he's ever had at his disposal and the same could be said for tight end T.J. Hockenson, although he's expected to miss some time as he recovers from an ACL injury. I'm also not counting the 49ers roster since Darnold was never expected to be their starter in the first place.

Then Aaron Jones is in the backfield to round out the offensive playmaker positions and Minnesota has solid offensive tackles in Christian Darrisaw and Brian O'Neill.

To top his 2019 season isn't too much to ask, as he has a better team around him. Darnold just needs to approach it like a game manager and let everyone else do the rest to be successful.

The Vikings already have their own issues at other positions, specifically on defense, but that's out of his control. No one expects Darnold to be the once-hyped up quarterback out of USC he was. But the odds are pretty great for him to top career highs across the board as he will no longer factor in a possible McCarthy debut this season.

That's not to say he couldn't be replaced by the Vikings' other backups, such as veteran Nick Mullins and second-year player Jaren Hall. Or if Minnesota decides to sign a quarterback — or even trade for — but that seems unlikely with the regular season approaching quickly.

The Vikings also have one of the tougher schedules in the league this season, another factor out of Darnold's control in what the results will show. In what will already be a challenging season in multiple facets for the team as a whole, Darnold is Minnesota's guy under center in 2024 and we will see how it improves — or worsens — as each week comes and goes.