McCarthy sat out all of last season with a knee injury
McCarthy sat out all of last season with a knee injury
Last year, the Minnesota Vikings settled on their quarterback succession plan. They allowed Kirk Cousins to leave in free agency for a monster-sized deal with the Atlanta Falcons. They signed Sam Darnold to be the bridge to a rookie-contract scale quarterback. And finally, they traded up in the draft for Michigan’s J.J. McCarthy.
But things didn’t go 100% according to plan. McCarthy suffered a season-ending knee injury during the preseason and in his absence, Darnold led the Vikes to a 14-3 record and nearly captured the No. 1 seed in the conference. Darnold faltered down the stretch and in the playoffs, though, so Minnesota allowed him to leave in free agency this offseason as well.
After a reported flirtation with potentially signing Aaron Rodgers that did not come to fruition, it seems clear that the plan that was put in motion last offseason is now kicking into gear, and McCarthy will be under center for the Vikings in 2025. And head coach Kevin O’Connell says that McCarthy is healthy and ready to go as the team heads into its offseason program.
“I’d consider him full. Really, no limitations,” O’Connell said, via NFL Media. “I want to credit J.J. for how he’s handled these last two, two-and-a-half, three months or so where I think he’s ready to hit the ground running as of today.”
McConnell is also confident that McCarthy will be able to handle the job on the field because of the work he’s done off it.
“He’s done a phenomenal job [with] what I would really call [those] invisible habits, invisible work that he’s done when really nobody’s been watching, in many ways solidifying and finalizing his rehab,” he said. “Then, on into a phase where he’s really been able to push it on the field from a throws [standpoint] and working his technique and fundamentals and then ultimately the mental side of it as well.”
The Vikings under O’Connell have shown that they can raise the floor for quarterback play almost no matter whom they have under center, but they’re surely counting on McCarthy to raise the ceiling with his skill set. You don’t spend a first-round pick on a quarterback — let alone trade up for him — if you don’t think he can lift the level of play of the guys around him. We’ll just have to wait and see whether McCarthy can indeed do that, and whether the Vikings’ faith in him was well placed.
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