Sam Darnold Is On the Right Side Of the Bus

Picture, if you will, a random day off in London for Minnesota Vikings quarterback Sam Darnold.

During a tour around the city, he decided to hop on a double-decker bus. In an attempt to see the sights, Darnold had an open seat on both sides. He sat on the left side, and, to his horror, he realized he had made a massive mistake.

A man in a Fireman’s hat was sitting on someone’s shoulders, presumably drunk, chanting, “J-E-T-S, JETS! JETS! JETS!” A reporter asked one too many questions before screaming into the microphone for talk-radio engagement bait. There was Adam Gase and Dowell Loggains. Robbie Chosen yelled, “THROW ME THE DAMN BALL.”

“I’m seeing ghosts,” Darnold muttered under his breath.

But just as he was about to deem this the worst tour of London, Darnold switched over to the other side of the bus.

Christian Darrisaw and Brian O’Neill sat beside him, ensuring nobody bothered him. Aaron Jones was sitting behind him. Justin Jefferson gave him a high-five before breaking into The Griddy.

This may have been the most pleasant sight that Darnold had seen. It's also a metaphor for Sunday’s game against the New York Jets, where Darnold may have been sitting on both sides of the bus.

People have discussed Darnold’s situation in New York since he signed with the Vikings. The third-overall pick in the 2018 NFL Draft, Darnold was heralded as the savior of the Jets, only to crash and burn thanks to the infrastructure around him.

Darnold broke into the league with Todd Bowles, who was just learning how to be a head coach in the NFL. While Darnold had the physical tools to be a franchise quarterback, he had just turned 21, and the Jets thrust him into action in Week 1.

It was a mistake. New York had nothing in place to support a franchise quarterback. Surrounded by targets like Chosen and Vikings legend Chris Herndon, Darnold led the Jets to a 4-12 record. The Jets replaced Bowles with Gase, which led to the infamous “I’m seeing ghosts” game on a Monday night against the New England Patriots.

The comment might as well have been written on Darnold’s football tombstone. The Jets traded him to the Carolina Panthers in 2021, and Carolina thrust him into another toxic situation under Matt Rhule. Despite posting a 4-2 record after the Panthers fired Rhule in 2022, many thought Darnold was destined to be a backup – or fall out of the league altogether – when he signed with the San Francisco 49ers that spring.

But Darnold’s season in San Francisco proved to be beneficial. He worked with top weapons like Deebo Samuel, Brandon Aiyuk, and George Kittle. He observed as Brock Purdy took that team to the Super Bowl. He learned under Kyle Shanahan and ran an offense that has revitalized the careers of several quarterbacks, including Matthew Stafford and Jared Goff.

You could think of Darnold’s time in San Francisco as a football baptism. The waters underneath the Sean McVay coaching tree washed away whatever sins people committed in his development. The Vikings are now reaping the benefits.

Minnesota enters Sunday’s game fifth in points scored (116) and seventh in yards per play (6). While having all of the luxuries listed on the metaphorical bus helps, so does having a reliable system and culture under O’Connell, a McVay disciple.

It’s helped Darnold become one of the best quarterbacks in the NFL over the first four weeks, completing 68.9% of his passes for 932 yards and an NFL-high 11 touchdown passes. But this week offers a stark comparison considering what’s going to be on the opposite sideline in London.

Some franchises learn from their mistakes, but the Jets aren’t on that list. After trading Darnold, the Jets turned to Zach Wilson. They also played him immediately, and Wilson busted. His top targets? Jamison Crowder, Braxton Berrios, and Elijah Moore.

The 2022 draft class fixed some of their problems by adding Sauce Gardner on defense and Garrett Wilson on offense. The Jets entered the dreaded “one quarterback away” mode and traded for Aaron Rodgers.

Rodgers’ tenure in New York has been lukewarm, partly due to a torn Achilles that wiped out his 2023 season but also due to the culture that Saleh has established. The Jets are seventh in the league in penalties heading into Sunday’s game. After Saleh hinted that Rodgers’ cadence was an issue, he backtracked as quickly as the future Hall of Famer could throw a death stare in his direction.

It also doesn’t help that the Jets feel like a team in disarray, fueled by Rodgers’ preference to use an offense that might be controlled by Navajo Code signals. Not even Wilson, a former offensive rookie of the year, can break through the malaise, logging just 20 catches for 191 yards and a touchdown over the first four games.

It’s a culture that might have dark clouds and lightning as Darnold stares across from it on Sunday. But just as comforting as the guiding hand of O’Connell on his shoulder, Darnold can smile, knowing he’s on the right side of the bus.