Minnesota Vikings first quarter awards: Sam Darnold takes two, top rookie isn't who you'd think

Of the many, many surprises through the first quarter of the 2024 NFL season, the Minnesota Vikings have to rank right up there near the top.

With Kirk Cousins leaving town to sign a lucrative contract with the Atlanta Falcons, it's safe to say that not many predicted the Vikings would be 4-0 to start the year, especially given the strength of their opponents. Well, three of the four, anyway. Sorry, New York Giants.

But with a resurgent Sam Darnold, Justin Jefferson, and Aaron Jones leading an electric offense and Brian Flores' defense wreaking havoc on some of the best quarterbacks in the league, here they are as the last remaining undefeated team in the NFC. The only other undefeated team in the league is the two-time defending champion Kansas City Chiefs, so Minnesota is in good company.

As for the awards we're prepared to hand out today, we'll be looking at Rookie of the Year, Defensive Player of the Year, Most Improved Player, and, of course, Most Valuable Player. Truth be told, all three players mentioned above (Darnold, Jefferson, Jones) could take Offensive Player of the Year for the Vikings right now, so we'll leave that be for now and revisit at the halfway point.

So, without further ado, let's get to the players who've earned some extra recognition during the Vikings' surprising start.

Minnesota Vikings first quarter Rookie of the Year: Will Reichard

Honestly, there aren't many options from which to choose here, as most of Minnesota's rookies haven't seen much playing time for various reasons.

The most high-profile player from the Vikings' 2024 draft class, of course, is Dallas Turner, who was actually the preseason favorite to win Defensive Rookie of the Year and is still among the top five on most betting sites.

Turner, who was taken 17th overall out of Alabama, wasted no time recording his first NFL sack in the Vikings' Week 1 win over the Giants. But he's failed to notch one since and has only five total tackles on the season.

To be fair, however, he left Minnesota's Week 2 win over the San Francisco 49ers early with a knee injury, missed the Week 3 victory over the Houston Texans, and was given limited snaps in Week 4 against the Green Bay Packers.

Given Turner's talent, he'll pick things up. But for now, the Vikings' top rookie is his college teammate, kicker Will Reichard.

A two-time Second-Team All-American with the Crimson Tide, Reichard was selected in the sixth round at No. 203 overall and has yet to miss a kick at the professional level. The 23-year-old has gone 14-for-14 on extra-point attempts and six-for-six on field-goal tries, including a 58-yarder against Houston.

Reichard is one of just nine kickers who remain perfect on field goals heading into Week 5 and one of only six who remain perfect overall.

Again, Turner will pick things up and likely take this award at season's end, but Reichard is the clear choice for now.

Minnesota Vikings first quarter Defensive Player of the Year: Andrew Van Ginkel

This certainly wasn't an easy decision to make, given how many Vikings defenders have contributed to the team's undefeated start.

Overall, Brian Flores' unit has allowed the fourth-fewest points in the NFL, giving up just 14.8 per game. The Minnesota defense has the most sacks of any team (17.0) and is tied with the Packers for the most interceptions (eight). And they've done all this against top-tier quarterbacks. Well, three out of four, anyway. Sorry, Daniel Jones.

Blake Cashman deserves some consideration, as he leads the team in total tackles with 34. Patrick Jones II is another strong choice, as he leads the team in sacks with five. Jonathan Greenard isn't far behind with four.

Camryn Bynum is having another fine season, as he has the second-most tackles on the team (25) and has recorded an interceptions and three passes defended.

Overall, however, I think the edge (pun intended) at this point goes to Andrew Van Ginkel, who's simply done it all in the early weeks of this campaign.

After surprisingly not being retained by the Miami Dolphins, the 2019 fifth-round pick signed a two-year, $20 million deal with Minnesota and has proven to be a steal thus far.

Through four games, Van Ginkel has amassed 18 total tackles, the sixth-most on the team, three sacks, good for third behind only Jones and Greenard, three quarterback hits, a pair of passes defended, and an interception, which he ran back for a touchdown in the Vikings' 28-6 win over the Giants.

Per Pro Football Focus, the former Wisconsin Badger also ranks first among all NFL edge rushers with an 83.0 coverage grade. Much like Minnesota as a whole, Van Ginkel has been a pleasant surprise and is quickly becoming a fan favorite.

Minnesota Vikings first quarter Most Improved Player: Sam Darnold

Let's get real here. When Cousins signed with the Falcons, Sam Darnold was brought in as a placeholder until the Vikings were ready to hand the keys to the castle to J.J. McCarthy. It's unclear how much time McCarthy would have seen as a rookie, but that obviously became absolutely none when a torn right meniscus ended his season before it began, leaving Darnold as the clear QB1.

And it's worked out beautifully.

Yes, Darnold wasn't put into a great situation when the New York Jets drafted him No. 3 overall in 2018. The 13-25 record with Gang Green isn't all his fault, but it's not as if he performed up to his draft position, as he completed just 59.8% of his passes and threw nearly as many interceptions (39) as he did touchdowns (45).

And he had even worse numbers with the Carolina Panthers, completing 59.5 percent of his passes with 16 touchdowns and 16 interceptions in 18 games.

Wearing the Purple & Yellow, however, Darnold looks like a No. 3 overall pick. His accuracy has improved immensely, as he's connected on 68.9 percent of his throws, easily the best clip of his career. And his touchdown-to-interception ratio is also the best he's ever had, as he's thrown a league-leading 11 touchdowns to just three picks.

To put his 11 TD passes into perspective, his career high is 19, which he set with the Jets in 2019. And here we are after just four weeks, and he's already more than halfway there. The 2019 season also marks the year in which he had a career-best 61.9 percent completion percentage. A seven-point improvement in that department is massive.

Does having a guy like Justin Jefferson to throw to make things easier? Absolutely. But Darnold is just different these days. And the fact that he was a backup a year ago with the Niners just makes what he's doing that much more impressive, as he only threw 46 passes in 2023.

Darnold isn't just the most improved player on the Vikings' roster right now; he's easily one of the most improved players in the entire league.

Minnesota Vikings first quarter MVP: Sam Darnold

Okay, so it might be a bit of a copout to distribute two awards to the same person, but is there anyone else we could give this to right now? I mean, the official NFL MVP is typically awarded to the quarterback of the best team, and that's what Darnold is. So, who are we to argue?

As mentioned in the previous section, the USC alum is completing a career-best 68.9 perfent of his passes and leads the league in touchdown passes with 11 against just three interceptions, numbers that helped him win NFC Offensive Player of the Month.

In addition, Darnold also has the highest passer rating of any NFL quarterback at 118.9, more than two points higher than second-place Josh Allen (116.5). And it's not as if he's making easy throws, as he ranks second in yards per pass attempt at 8.8, trailing only Brock Purdy (9.3).

Again, having Justin Jefferson, who's racked up 358 yards and four touchdowns, at his disposal makes life easier. But Darnold is simply making better choices with the football and has cut down on the mistakes that have cost his teams victories in the past.

He isn't just the Vikings' MVP at the moment but one of the clear favorites in the NFL MVP race. And if he continues to play the way he's been playing, he'll be right in the thick of things at the end of the season.

Darnold will get the opportunity to show one of his former teams his newfound confidence when the Vikings take on the Jets in London in Week 5.