2024 Vikings QB competition: Minnesota hopes Sam Darnold will follow in footsteps of this veteran, per report

For months, all signs have pointed to Sam Darnold opening 2024 as the Minnesota Vikings ' starting quarterback. That remains the case with Minnesota set to kick off training camp, according to ESPN , and not only that, but Vikings brass hopes the veteran will follow in the footsteps of another specific signal-caller.

"They believe there's untapped potential here," Jeremy Fowler reported of the Vikings' belief in Darnold. "He's never quite had a supporting cast like this. ... They're hoping maybe he can have a Geno Smith-type impact [like] in Seattle, that second act, where he had a good next career arc."

Smith, of course, spent most of his NFL career as a backup after flaming out with the New York Jets , only to burst back onto the scene as the Seahawks ' starter in 2022, when he threw a career-high 30 touchdowns and earned a multi-year contract extension. Darnold, who's still just 27, is on his fourth team in five years, fresh off a one-year stop with the San Francisco 49ers , for whom he served as Brock Purdy's backup.

As for J.J. McCarthy , the Vikings' first-round draft pick at quarterback, Minnesota "has a plan" for the Michigan product, per Fowler: "When he's ready to play, he'll play." There's simply no rush to get the rookie under center, as coach Kevin O'Connell has confirmed since welcoming McCarthy to the NFL, with the Vikings preferring to patiently integrate the youngster rather than start him out of necessity.