A revelation this season has been Minnesota Vikings quarterback Sam Darnold and his scorching start. Darnold's play has him connected to NFL MVP chatter.

While Darnold has excelled with the Vikings so far, there is a ton of season remaining to determine the MVP, but there has always been belief from head coach Kevin O'Connell.

The Minnesota head coach joined “The Rich Eisen Show” where he recalled scouting Darnold when he was with the University of Southern California.

“I just remember going through his tape and seeing him play in the Cotton Bowl against Ohio State and that was Bosa and Young and just one of the best defensive fronts in the country,” O'Connell said. “It was kind of a grimy tough day, he was getting hit a lot, had a ton of pass attempts but he just kept standing in there showing kind of that big field vision. The willingness to kind of make throws from the pocket, used his athleticism when he needed to.”

Kevin O'Connell was confident in Sam Darnold's success with the Vikings

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At that time, O'Connell was with the Washington Commanders back in 2018 where he scouted Darnold and was even amazed by his performance at his pro day before the NFL Draft. He would also talk about how the disappointing results beforehand for Darnold in the NFL didn't concern him since he believed he could unlock the talent in Minnesota.

“Then his pro day you know in Southern California,” O'Connell said. “The whole reason you go to college in Southern California is to have a nice sunny…, sun's out, 70 degrees, no wind pro day. And it poured rain the whole time the guy went out there and threw the ball great. So I just knew that there was the framework in place with the right kind of guy that regardless of what his quarterback journey has been, it didn't really concern me because I feel very confident in what we do here.”

Darnold solidified his position as the starting quarterback for the Vikings after rookie J.J. McCarthy suffered a season-ending injury. So far, the USC product has thrown for 657 yards, eight touchdowns, and two interceptions as Minnesota looks to remain undefeated facing the Green Bay Packers this Sunday.