Ranking Top 5 enigmas of 2024 NFL season: Vikings’ Sam Darnold, Chiefs’ Travis Kelce offering mixed results

Some NFL players are enjoying career production in 2024. Think Lamar Jackson, who’s on his way to a second straight MVP award. Or Saquon Barkley, who’s revived his rushing game with a new team. Others are undeniably struggling to meet expectations. No. 1 draft pick Caleb Williams is one example, as is the recently benched — and recently reinstalled — Anthony Richardson.

But what about the players in between? The guys who’ve both flashed greatness and run cold? Here, we’re identifying five of this season’s biggest enigmas, including a pair of stars from the reigning champions:

When he’s active and involved, the former Alabama standout looks like one of the NFL’s best field-stretchers, averaging almost 21 yards per catch with eight different plays of 20+ yards this year. The issue is, Williams also has a tendency to disappear in the Detroit Lions’ vaunted offense, either due to sheer unavailability (e.g. injuries, suspensions) or a lack of looks behind Amon-Ra St. Brown and Sam LaPorta, logging two games with just a single catch. Just don’t sleep on his speed come playoff time.

The perennial Pro Bowler is commanding a ton of volume, easily leading the Kansas City Chiefs in catches and targets, but he’s operated almost exclusively as a short-yardage outlet for an increasingly  slow-burn offense, averaging a career-low 8.3 yards per catch. Not only that, but he’s not really breaking free, ranking 50th — behind 10 other tight ends — in yards after catch (190). It may just be a symptom of age, because at 35, he’s been saddled with offsetting multiple injuries to the club’s pass catching unit.

Is Atlanta getting what it paid for in the $180 million quarterback? It depends on the week. Cousins is generally known for being steady rather than spectacular, but his 10-game start with the Falcons has been something of a roller coaster: His best days have bordered on career performances, but his off days have basically sunk his team with off-balance throws in winnable games. Eleven of his 17 touchdown passes (or 65%) have come in just three games, putting the pressure on Atlanta to keep him well-protected.

By most surface-level metrics, the three-time Super Bowl champion has been merely a mediocre quarterback in 2024, barely throwing more scores (12) than picks (9), ranking 17th in passer rating, and throwing it deep just 4.5% of the time — easily the lowest mark of his career. Yet he’s also completing passes at a higher rate than ever (69.5%), taking what’s given amid a steadily shuffled supporting cast and, best of all, posting largely superb marks when trailing to shepherd a 9-0 start.

In many ways, nobody’s winning the “Sam Darnold argument” right now. On one hand, the Minnesota Vikings don’t start 5-0 without him; the journeyman was even more composed than expected as an authoritative point guard for Kevin O’Connell’s deep lineup out of the gate. Suddenly, however, he now leads the NFL in giveaways (13), fighting to halt his own instincts and stop slinging balls downfield when the moment doesn’t call for it. Minnesota’s still-solid playoff hopes may depend on his next steps.