No question, 2024 has been a coming out party for Minnesota Vikings quarterback Sam Darnold. After lackluster stints as a starter with the New York Jets and Carolina Panthers, the former third overall pick in the NFL Draft has outplayed everybody’s expectations. Without Vikings rookie quarterback J.J. McCarthy getting injured during training camp, it’s unlikely Darnold would’ve seen the field this season.
A myriad of factors has contributed to Darnold’s ascension this season; a solid defense, elite weapons like Justin Jefferson, and a good coach among them. But NBC’s Sunday Night Football analyst Cris Collinsworth is chalking Darnold’s success up to something a bit more abstract.
“He comes in the room, he feels very Midwestern.”
Cris Collinsworth on Vikings quarterback Sam Darnold, who was born and raised in Southern California. pic.twitter.com/4QBjilvhiW
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) November 4, 2024
During Sunday’s game between the Vikings and Indianapolis Colts, Collinsworth suggested that part of Darnold’s success in Minnesota is his cultural fit. “You know, I don’t know if I really understood it until I met him,” Collinsworth began. “And he comes in the room, he feels very Midwestern. He sort of feels very loved in Minnesota. The people on the team, the coaches, and the neighboring communities. He has just had a really nice, comfortable stay here and they have embraced him. And I think we’re finally seeing that top three pick in the NFL Draft coming out in him.”
It seems no one told Collinsworth that Darnold is from Orange County, California and attended USC, then spent his first five seasons in the NFL on the East Coast. Now perhaps Darnold exudes some “Midwest nice” temperament that the region is known for, but it seems like a stretch that that would be the reason for his newfound success.
Nevertheless, it’s great that Darnold is being embraced by the community, and it likely takes at least some pressure off of him as a quarterback. But you have to think there are some X’s and O’s reasons for Darnold’s recent improvement that Collinsworth could’ve pointed to in this moment.
[NBC via Awful Announcing/X]
