Two Minnesota Vikings Get the Dark-Horse Treatment (2024)

Following the 2022 season, Vikings receiver Justin Jefferson was named the league’s Offensive Player of the Year. It was the first hardware to go to a player employed by the Vikings since Adrian Peterson earned his MVP trophy. To this day, he has been the last non-quarterback to win the MVP trophy for his electric 2,000-yard season.

Two Minnesota Vikings Get the Dark-Horse Treatment

The expectations are low for the Vikings entering the 2024 campaign. Kirk Cousins’ departure led to a significant downgrade at the most important position in the sport. Because nobody expects the team to win anything in the upcoming season, there will be a solid opportunity to stun folks.

If they can indeed surprise some people and be competitive, the players could enter award consideration. A duo has been named Dark Horses to win some silverware by Bleacher Report’s Brad Gagnon. He named three longshot candidates for each of the seven trophies.

The top honor every season is the valuable MVP trophy. Alan Page (1971), Fran Tarkenton (1975), and Peterson (2012) managed to win the trophy after a season in a purple and gold uniform. Gagnon views Jefferson as a longshot candidate.

I’m imagining a scenario in which the NFL’s most talented receiver simply explodes in his prime, possibly at a record-setting tune. And if that happens with Sam Darnold and J.J. McCarthy splitting up time at quarterback, this far-fetched scenario could lead to a wide receiver winning the MVP award for the first time.

A fascinating fact is that no wide receiver has ever won MVP. Jefferson is one of the few candidates who could be in the race at some point. He finished fifth in 2022 behind four passers. There is only one scenario in which he has a chance: if he can break Calvin Johnson’s single-season record of 1,964 yards.

He hit 1,809 in 2022. Another element is that no quarterback can have a big season. If Patrick Mahomes or Josh Allen tosses 45 touchdowns, no receiver will win MVP. Quarterbacks are more valuable, and that’s quite literally the definition. His odds of +12,000 show how hard it is to be in contention as a non-quarterback, regardless of how good Jefferson is.

As a wideout, he is dependent on his quarterbacks to feed him the ball. Cousins was good at finding Jefferson; it remains to be seen if Sam Darnold or J.J. McCarthy can replicate that success.

The former, Darnold, made Gagnon’s list as a potential Comeback Player of the Year. With odds of +2,000, he is viewed as a more likely candidate than Jefferson for MVP.

I’m not giving up on Darnold, who has had his moments despite few opportunities since the Jets gave up on the 2018 No. 3 overall pick. And neither are the Vikings, who may give J.J. McCarthy some serious time to develop. In fact, with plenty of support in that offense, I wouldn’t be surprised if the 27-year-old Darnold excelled as a starter throughout the 2024 campaign.

Darnold’s struggles with the New York Jets and Carolina Panthers are well-documented. When Steve Wilks named him the starter in his second (and last) year with the dysfunctional Panthers, he played well in the season’s final six games. Darnold also had some success as Brock Purdy’s backup in San Francisco, looking sharp in garbage-time duties and the irrelevant Week 18 contest.

Besides the limited snaps in San Francisco, Darnold will undoubtedly have the best supporting cast of his career in the upcoming season. He has the arm talent to make it work but must hold off rookie McCarthy from taking over. Keeping the team in playoff contention and limiting mistakes are the two crucial aspects in that regard.

Darnold’s issue could be the new guidelines for the award. After the race between Bills safety Damar Hamlin and Cleveland’s QB Joe Flacco led to a controversy, the rules have been clarified by AP senior NFL writer Rob Maaddi, who oversees All-Pro and NFL awards voting to emphasize the spirit of the honor:

The spirit of the AP Comeback Player of the Year Award is to honor a player who has demonstrated resilience in the face of adversity by overcoming illness, physical injury or other circ*mstances that led him to miss playing time the previous season.

Rob Maaddi

Darnold missed time because he wasn’t good enough to earn a starting role. Players who return from injuries or comparable circ*mstances should be favored.

The Vikings will play their first matchup of the 2024 season on September 8th, when the crew travels to MetLife Stadium to clash with the New York Giants.

Janik Eckardt is a football fan who likes numbers and stats. The Vikings became his favorite team despite their quarterback at the time, Christian Ponder. He is a walking soccer encyclopedia, loves watching sitcoms, and prefers Classic rock over other genres. Follow him on Twitter if you like the Vikings:@JanikEckardt