Vikings Have a Training Camp Battle on National NFL Radar
For the first time in about 10 years, the Minnesota Vikings will host a training camp and preseason roster battle at quarterback. Sam Darnold and J.J. McCarthy are the combatants, with a side dish of Nick Mullens, who could be angling for QB2.
Vikings Have a Training Camp Battle on National NFL Radar
And per Pro Football Network, the Vikings’ QB1 battle is firmly on the national NFL radar. PFN’s Dallas Robinson previewed the league’s top dozen camp battles afoot, and Darnold v. McCarthy made the cut.
“While the Minnesota Vikings are surely excited about McCarthy’s future after selecting him 10th overall, every report has indicated that Darnold is the clear favorite to begin next season as the team’s starting quarterback,” Robinson explained. “Still only 27 years old, Darnold is more than physically talented enough to guide an NFL team. But the simple fact is Darnold has never been productive at the NFL level.”
Darnold, indeed, is the clear frontrunner to start Week 1 at the New York Giants, according to head coach Kevin O’Connell. The skipper said at minicamp in June, “We haven’t had to put out a depth chart or anything like that, but I would say Sam would be the guy I would look to based on the spring he’s had and, really, where he’s at in his career and his quarterback journey, and what he’s been able to do coming in and [hitting] the ground running and taking advantage of the competitive situation.”
Robinson continued about Darnold v. McCarthy: “A hot five-game run with the Carolina Panthers at the end of the 2021 season remains his only streak of above-average play. Minnesota has a Week 6 bye after what could be a nightmare revenge game for Darnold against the vaunted New York Jets defense. If the Vikings are 1-4 by that point, Kevin O’Connell could turn the reins over to McCarthy.”
Per sportsbooks — yes, they offer odds for Week 1 starters — McCarthy has around a 30% chance to score the upset and start right away for Minnesota. It would take a borderline miraculous summer for the young Wolverine, but stranger things have happened.
Paul Allen, the voice of the Vikings, recently mentioned McCarthy’s QB1 stakes on his show. “I would make it prohibitively favored in that it would be Sam Darnold starting, Nick Mullens as the backup, and then J.J. McCarthy as the 3rd QB … But this is an opportunity for McCarthy,” Allen said on July 8th.
Allen added, “Puncher’s chance would be too strong, but long-ish shot fashion to win the two jobs in training camp. And I don’t necessarily know if it’s going to happen, but I would make 3 QBs on the active roster prohibitively favored.”
So, if you’re keeping score at home, national media believes the QB1 battle between Darnold and McCarthy is alive and well, whereas Twin Cities voices claim McCarthy is vying for QB2 against Mullens.
The Vikings have never started a rookie quarterback in a Week 1 game.
Dustin Baker is a political scientist who graduated from the University of Minnesota in 2007. Subscribe to his daily YouTube Channel, VikesNow. He hosts a podcast with Bryant McKinnie, which airs every Wednesday with Raun Sawh and Sal Spice. His Vikings obsession dates back to 1996. Listed guilty pleasures: Peanut Butter Ice Cream, ‘The Sopranos,’ Basset Hounds, and The Doors (the band).
All statistics provided by Pro Football Reference / Stathead; all contractual information provided by OverTheCap.com.
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