Vikings Coach Kevin O'Connell Reveals Surprising Catalyst For Sam Darnold's Comeback Season

Sam Darnold has played for four NFL teams since he was drafted by the New York Jets with the third overall pick in 2018's NFL Draft.

Darnold is completing a career-best 68.9 percent of his passes so far on the young season for the undefeated (4-0) Minnesota Vikings, a development that is not lost on fans and analysts across the National Football League.

O'Connell shared his number one reason for Darnold making the "leap" this season into a highly regarded starting quarterback in the NFC North. According to the Vikings coach, Darnold needed to make a major adjustment to his decision-making to take advantage of one of his biggest strengths as a passer.

"If I've told him once I've told him 100 times," O'Connell said .

"You're as talented of a deep-ball thrower as I've been around, and I want you to take the (opportunities), and I want you to be confident to pull the trigger."

Darnold said he's been working to improve his deep throw accuracy for quite some time as a starting quarterback.

"I feel like that was kind of something I struggled with early on," Darnold said. "And I'm just going to continue to work on that. Because when you do get those (opportunities), you don't want to miss them."

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