Vikings camp Sam Darnold will have fans forgetting about every real snap he has taken

"I ain't afraid of no ghosts!" said Sam Darnold at Minnesota Vikings training camp earlier this week, probably. I cannot confirm or deny that this was what he said, but he sure is slinging the pigskin most triumphantly to the likes of Jordan Addison and Justin Jefferson in gym shorts. Nothing tells me a real football game is going on than seeing wideouts rocking guardian caps atop their purple helmets.

For better or worse, Minnesota is putting its full faith and trust into Darnold to start the season. He may have been a diamond in the rough era of USC football under Clay Helton, but he did do the unthinkable in my mind as a first-round pick way back in 2018. He busted, hard. While I suspect that he will play some of his best football in Kevin O'Connell's offense in Minnesota, Darnold is also him...

So before you take your shirt off and tell someone at a Minneapolis tattoo parlor to give you a purple Sam Darnold jersey yesterday, save yourself from future embarrassment. Your skin will thank you later. Even if Darnold plays up to his lofty potential this season, who has ever heard of the seventh-year leap? Assuming Darnold does play well, he is not the quarterback of the future. J.J. McCarthy is.

This dime to Addison would look even better if it came against the Detroit Lions later on this fall.

Can you see Jefferson doing this after a perfectly thrown Darnold pass vs. the Green Bay Packers?

For quarterbacking volatility reasons, I have the Vikings finishing in last place in the deep NFC North.

Minnesota Vikings fans should not be fooled by Sam Darnold in shorts

Again, I would love to be proven wrong. Darnold seems like a good person and it would be amazing if he finally played like we all thought he would when the New York Jets drafted him No. 3 overall out of USC way back in 2018. Unfortunately, I have seen what happens when it hits the fan in an NFL game. The bullets are flying everywhere, pets heads are falling off. The dude panics and sees some ghosts.

I will say going to the Jets coached by smelling salt enthusiast Adam Gase was less than ideal for his future. So was going to the Carolina Panthers to be coached by the jawer that is Matt Rhule under the meddling over that is David Tepper. Darnold may have been able to catch a breather playing for an excellent San Francisco 49ers team, but he was firmly the backup to Mr. Irrelevant in one Brock Purdy.

What I am getting at is Darnold will probably play quite well for the Vikings, at times, this season, but it is ultimately going to boil down to this. Do you think he will be calm, cool and collected when it is crunch time and the Vikings have a chance to win it? Keep in mind he plays in a division with two franchise quarterbacks in Jared Goff and Jordan Love, as well as a No. 1 pick in Caleb Williams...

No matter how you and I feel about it, Darnold's tenure as the Vikings' stop-gap sure will fascinating.