FS1.
It’s a reunion several years in the making: Colin Cowherd is hyping up Sam Darnold once again.
Cowherd made waves a few days ago when he ranked the Minnesota Vikings – a team that missed the playoffs last year – as his No. 10 team in the NFL following the first week of free agency. Given how Cowherd immediately started hyping the team after the Vikings signed Darnold in free agency, fans accused him of just riding the Darnold hype train again, as he did back in 2018.
But on Wednesday, Cowherd decided to explain his decision to rank the Vikings so high. He explained that while the addition of Darnold was a “small part” of his decision, he firmly believes that they have the personnel to be a Wild Card team in 2024.
“Yes, I do believe Sam Darnold can win games and find a way if healthy to engineer a possible Wild Card spot,” Cowherd said.
Cowherd declared back when Darnold was a prospect coming out of USC that he would be one of the league’s next great quarterbacks – contrasting him heavily with Baker Mayfield, who would up going No. 1 overall to the Browns that year. Darnold went to the New York Jets No. 3 overall and their careers have gone in wildly different directions ever since.
Now, Cowherd sees Darnold as a “perfect bridge quarterback” for the Vikings as the team tries to identify their franchise quarterback either through the draft or some future free agency deal.