Bill Belichick thinks Sam Darnold has finally overcome his ghosts after a four-year battle.
Belichick said on Monday’s episode of “The Pat McAfee Show” that Darnold, starring in his first season with the Vikings after crashing out with the Jets as their No. 3 pick within the 2018 NFL Draft, is well-liked throughout the league — outside of the Big Apple.
“I’ll say this: Everybody has liked Darnold except the Jets,” Belichick said to laughter from McAfee and cohost AJ Hawk. “The people in Carolina that I talked to, they really liked him. … I do know Kevin [O’Connell] and a number of the coaches in Minnesota they really like this guy too, so it appeared like the one those that didn’t like Darnold was the Jets.”
Darnold has looked extremely efficient in three games while starting for the Vikings within the place of injured 2024 first-round pick J.J. McCarthy.
The 27-year-old currently leads the NFL in passing touchdowns (eight) and is second within the NFL in quarterback rating behind Josh Allen.
After three lousy seasons with the Jets, they traded him to the Panthers for a 2021 sixth-rounder, 2022 second-rounder and 2022 fourth-rounder.
He spent two seasons with the Panthers before joining the 49ers as Brock Purdy’s backup last season.
Darnold’s rocky time with the Jets included his infamous “Seeing ghosts” comment on Oct. 21, 2019, when Belichick’s defense befuddled quarterback — the previous Patriots coach was seen laughing on the sideline throughout the “Monday Night Football” showing wherein Darnold threw for just 86 yards and 4 interceptions within the 33-0 bloodbath.
Now faraway from coaching and a media pundit, Belichick has modified his tune on Darnold and appears to be high on the Vikings as an entire.
“It is going to be interesting to see how they will sustain this,” Belichick continued. “I don’t think anyone is looking past them now. Probably opponents coming up in the longer term saying, ‘Hey, that is how we measure our program; how will we do straight away against probably among the best two or three teams within the league.’”
The Vikings dominated the Texans en path to a 34-7 victory despite coming into the competition as home underdogs.
Entering Sunday, Pro Football Focus rated the Vikings because the league’s third-best offense and Darnold had the fourth-best passer rating.
After throwing 4 touchdowns and 0 interceptions, Darnold will likely remain within the top-five amongst quarterbacks if not move higher, in accordance with the info outlet.
