Sam Darnold has a lot of Vikings bulletin-board material thanks to J.J. McCarthy

The Minnesota Vikings have made it perfectly clear. Sam Darnold is the starter, for now, while J.J. McCarthy is the future face of the franchise. Although Darnold has plenty of starting experience, most of it hasn't been any good. He had moments with the New York Jets and Carolina Panthers, but he is now on his fourth NFL team in seven seasons. McCarthy is Minnesota's shiny new quarterback.

Despite Vikings head coach Kevin O'Connell being adamant about Darnold's best days of football being ahead of him, writers like Alex Kay of Bleacher Report question Darnold's ability to hold onto a job. Sports Illustrated's Albert Breer did say that feels like there is maybe a 10 percent chance that McCarthy beats him out for the starting job in training camp. He trusts O'Connell's judgement in this.

So with the narrative having been written before the story has unfolded, it is safe to say that Darnold has all the proverbial bulletin board material in the world to hold onto the Vikings' starting job for as long as possible. Unfortunately, I tend to agree with everyone that it is not a matter of if, but when, McCarthy will overtake him this year on the depth chart. I think this could be well before Halloween...

To me, it all comes down to if the Vikings want to seriously compete for a playoff spot or not this year.

Sam Darnold has all the bulletin-board material he could ever need

No doubt about it. This is a big opportunity for Darnold. He may not have more than a one-year run with the Vikings, but if it goes well for him, he could be somebody else's stop-gap starter in 2025. Better yet, if he really balls out, and McCarthy hardly plays at all, he could be getting a multi-year deal to lead some team desperate for a franchise quarterback. Darnold is still on the good side of 30, too.

Unfortunately, the past is the best indicator of future performance. Darnold was great at times playing for Clay Helton at USC, but he has proven to be inherently reckless with the football during his pro career. Admittedly, pretty much everyone other than Peyton Manning would have failed with Adam Gase as their head coach. Darnold didn't stand a chance. Gase was hitting those smelling salts hard.

Right now, the biggest thing hurting Darnold's chances of starting more than half of the the Vikings' games this season is the fact that I don't think this team wants to tank. If they are within a few games of a playoff berth, they are going to go for it. If this team underperforms because of Darnold's play, look for O'Connell to backtrack on his praise of the journeyman quarterback and go with McCarthy.

Even if we don't always agree with the plan the Vikings have in place, they most certainly have one.