Perhaps the most surprising storyline through three weeks of the young 2024 NFL season has been the play of quarterback Sam Darnold and the Minnesota Vikings. Darnold was given the starting job after rookie quarterback JJ McCarthy went down with a season-ending injury, and the journeyman has responded by leading the Vikings to a 3-0 record so far in 2024.
In fact, so impressive has Darnold’s play been that the good folks over in Las Vegas are rewarding him with a boost in his MVP odds.
As of now, Darnold has the 11th best odds in the NFL to win the league MVP at season’s end at +2800, per the FanDuel Sportsbook. This is a stark contrast to the beginning of the season, when Darnold had +10000 odds to win the award, per ClutchPoints Betting on X, formerly Twitter, via DraftKings.
The distinction places Darnold ahead of names like Matthew Stafford of the Los Angeles Rams, Jared Goff of the Detroit Lions, Kirk Cousins of the Atlanta Falcons, and other more established names who have competed for league MVP’s in the past and is a reflection of just what a dominant start the Vikings quarterback has gotten off to this year.
How did the Vikings get here?
Heading into this season, not many pundits or fans projected the Vikings to be one of the league’s last remaining undefeated teams just a few weeks into the campaign.
While their opening week win against the lowly New York Giants wasnt’ necessarily a shock, few could have predicted the Vikings beating the San Francisco 49ers (for the second year in a row at that) and the Houston Texans in back to back weeks, with neither game being particularly close.
Specifically, the game against the Texans was a showcase for a Vikings defense that many projected to be among the worst in the league this year, holding CJ Stroud and the usually potent Texans offense to just seven points on the afternoon.
Meanwhile, Darnold has taken full advantage of his newest opportunity in the NFL, seeming to have completely eliminated many of the mistakes that defined the early portions of his career and looking much more poised and in control in the pocket.
In any case, the Vikings will look to make it 4-0 in 2024 when they take on the Green Bay Packers on Sunday from Lambeau Field in Winsconsin. That game is slated to kick off at 1:00 PM ET.
The post Vikings QB Sam Darnold’s NFL MVP odds after dominant 3-0 start appeared first on ClutchPoints.
