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 in 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 know Kevin [O’Connell] and some of the coaches in Minnesota they really like this guy too, so it seemed like the only people that didn’t like Darnold was the Jets.”
Darnold has looked extremely efficient in three games while starting for the Vikings in 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 in 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 former Patriots coach was seen laughing on the sideline during the “Monday Night Football” showing in which Darnold threw for just 86 yards and four interceptions in the 33-0 bloodbath.
Now removed from coaching and a media pundit, Belichick has changed his tune on Darnold and seems to be high on the Vikings as a whole.
“It will be interesting to see how they can sustain this,” Belichick continued. “I don’t think anyone is looking past them now. Probably opponents coming up in the future saying, ‘Hey, this is how we measure our program; how do we do right now against probably one of the best two or three teams in the league.’”
The Vikings dominated the Texans en route to a 34-7 victory despite coming into the contest as home underdogs.
Entering Sunday, Pro Football Focus rated the Vikings as the league’s third-best offense and Darnold had the fourth-best passer rating.
After throwing four touchdowns and zero interceptions, Darnold will likely remain in the top-five among quarterbacks if not move higher, according to the data outlet.