ESPN Drops Another J.J. McCarthy Hint
The Minnesota Vikings plucked Michigan quarterback J.J. McCarthy out of the 2024 NFL Draft with the 10th overall pick, and folks have spent the last three months wondering, “When will he play?”
ESPN Drops Another J.J. McCarthy Hint
His teammate, Sam Darnold, is the odds-on favorite to start for Minnesota out the gate in September, though some maintain that McCarthy could dethrone the veteran with a wonderful training camp and preseason.
While that theory does make sense — it’s not weird for 1st-Round quarterbacks to start right away in the modern NFL — ESPN recently sang a different tune about McCarthy’s ascension to QB1, citing Kevin O’Connell’s experience. In short, ESPN’s Kevin Seifert claimed that O’Connell’s time with the late Dwayne Haskins could affect his handling of McCarthy.
“McCarthy’s moment might not come as soon as the Vikings hope,” Seifert wrote on July 19th. “O’Connell, scarred by Washington’s botched development of late quarterback prospect Dwayne Haskins during his tenure there as quarterbacks coach and offensive coordinator, laid out for ESPN his plan to ensure that McCarthy won’t have to play until he is ready.”
For context, Haskins didn’t see playing time until Week 4 of his rookie season with Washington Commanders, and O’Connell served as the offensive coordinator, not the head coach.
But generally speaking, ESPN’s current information meshes with its reporting since the draft.
Right after the draft, Seifert mentioned a checklist that would be used in application to McCarthy’s game-readiness. “The Vikings will follow an individualized development plan they created for each of the quarterbacks they considered drafting, one that requires McCarthy to hit specific benchmarks and gives coach Kevin O’Connell full authority to make the timing decision,” Seifert explained on April 26th.
Fast forward to Monday, the day before the start of 2024 training camp, and O’Connell talked more judiciously about his impending quarterback battle. “I have no preconceived, pre-set chart depth chart in my mind. I said at the end of spring that Sam was the No. 1 quarterback,” O’Connell mentioned.
O’Connell continued, “I don’t know if it’s the former quarterback in me, but I will not allow any factors outside what’s best for J.J. and what’s best to help the Vikings win in regards to that question.”
This insinuated that McCarthy wouldn’t be handed the QB1 scepter “just because.” It’s all about what’s right for the team in 2024.
O’Connell finished by saying, “We get a whole lot of time on the grass and three preseason opportunities to joint practices to really work through exactly where each individual] is at this point in time.”
The message has been consistent from O’Connell and reporting by ESPN: McCarthy will be involved with an honest-to-goodness quarterback battle, but the 1st-Round expectation is basically meaningless for getting the young quarterback in the lineup right away.
O’Connell may not want to replicate the 2019 Washington Commanders, a club that finished 3-13 with little hope thereafter that Haskins would blossom into a QB1.
Dustin Baker is a political scientist who graduated from the University of Minnesota in 2007. Subscribe to his daily YouTube Channel, VikesNow. The show features guests, analysis, and opinion on all things related to the purple team, with 4-7 episodes per week. His Vikings obsession dates back to 1996. Listed guilty pleasures: Peanut Butter Ice Cream, ‘The Sopranos,’ Basset Hounds, and The Doors (the band). He follows the NBA as closely as the NFL.
All statistics provided by Pro Football Reference / Stathead; all contractual information provided by OverTheCap.com.
You must be logged in to post a comment.