Sam Darnold has been everything the Minnesota Vikings hoped he would be during the 2024 National Football League season. He has been a perfect bridge quarterback as J.J. McCarthy remains expected to take over in 2025. That’s not going to net him any awards, however.
Minnesota Vikings quarterback Sam Darnold isn’t winning CPOY
Last season Joe Flacco won the Comeback Player of the Year award for the Cleveland Browns. That wasn’t within the intentions of the award. The Associated Press changed the criteria in June and told voters, “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 circumstances that led him to miss playing time the previous season.”
Those new stipulations mean that Darnold isn’t a candidate to win the award, and bettors would be throwing away their money. The Associate Press’ Rob Maadi said as much as well.
#Vikings QB Sam Darnold probably would’ve been a candidate for the Comeback Player of the Year award before the AP issued guidance to voters before the season, instructing them that “the spirit of the award is to honor a player who has demonstrated resilience in the face of…
— Rob Maaddi (@RobMaaddi) October 11, 2024
Interesting. So Sam Darnold can’t be the Comeback Player of the Year. https://t.co/U8mPDLT4Mo
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) October 11, 2024
Ok. So it's MVP or bust for Sam Darnold. https://t.co/JAmJqbxJxN
— Kevin Seifert (@SeifertESPN) October 11, 2024
Of course it will be interesting to see how voters actually follow the new guidelines. If you follow Major League Baseball Hall of Fame voting at all, you’re well aware that the BBWAA marches to the beat of their own drum. How voters decide to operate still remains a question. Darnold may receive votes, and then the powers that be have a decision to make.
Related: Sam Darnold Revenge Tour Continues with NFC OPOM Award
Darnold has certainly overcome the “other circumstances” that are described by the Associate Press. His win over the New York Jets in London was a nice reminder of that. If the award is simply intended to go to a player that was hurt and then returned to action, the pool gets small and is relatively meaningless. Sportsbooks have raked in money on players like Darnold, and further clarification is clearly needed.
Related: 4 Minnesota Vikings Stats That Help Make Sense of Undefeated Start
This whole situation is a train that left the station before everything was thought out. It’s not going to be fixed for the 2024 season, but should be addressed going forward.