Minnesota Vikings Head Coach Kevin O'Connell and General Manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah addressed the media from the TCO Performance Center ahead of 2024 Training Camp. July 22, 2024. The duo talked about Khyree Jackson, Jordan Addison, T.J. Hockenson, and the QB1 job, among other topics.
A weekend publication from VikingsTerritory, we present to you: the Vikings Nopedy Nopes of the week.
The nopedy nopes are weekly Minnesota Vikings-themed items that we’re not buying. It’s a spin-off of our rumor mill, and we hope you enjoy. Here is the 26th batch of Vikings nopedy nopes in the series’ history.
Pioneer Press Charley Walters claimed last weekend that the Vikings will probably shop for a new quarterback in 2025.
Minnesota lost McCarthy three weeks ago to a torn meniscus — a disappointing injury but one relatively low on the seriousness scale for an athlete’s long-term prognosis. And per Walters, Minnesota could find a different quarterback in the draft next year if the 2024 season bends perilously.
“Should the Vikings suffer a disheartening season, which appears likely, and end up with a top-5 pick in next spring’s draft, it wouldn’t be a shock if they were to choose another QB of the future,” Walters wrote last weekend.
A mind-boggling take, the inference suggests Vikings leadership would throw in the towel on McCarthy because of a torn meniscus. It is unclear if McCarthy would be groomed as a QB2 henceforth, be traded, get cut, or none of the above. It’s such a wild theory that even the “then what’s” don’t make sense.
In fact, head coach Kevin O’Connell said the very opposite of Walters’ take soon after McCarthy’s injury. “As our fans either have already come to find out or will in the future, this guy is so motivated and so dialed in,” O’Connell mentioned about three weeks ago. “As excited as I was to draft him, he’s confirmed everything that I hoped to see, not only early on through training camp, first performance last Saturday, but he should — our fanbase and everyone should just be excited about the fact that we’ve got our young franchise quarterback, I believe, in the building.”
There’s just no way the Vikings would give up on McCarthy. None whatsoever.
Verdict: Nopedy nope.
Ten days ago, Minnesota Vikings general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah told reporters that Myles Gaskin would be featured as the team’s kick returner.
But when the 53-man depth chart was released for Week 1, Gaskin was not listed as the team’s kick returner or a running back. For now, Gaskin will remain on the practice squad with a possible elevation this Sunday before the showdown in New Jersey with the New York Giants.
So, unless the depth chart is just wrong, it’s Chandler and Powell manning the new kick-returning duties. Adofo-Mensah might’ve jumped the gun.
Verdict: Nopedy nope.
Sportsbooks, on the whole, believe the purple team will win about six or seven games this season, which begins Sunday at the New York Giants, but that directly contradicts ESPN’s simulation from Seth Walder.
Walder claimed Minnesota would end up with next year’s first overall pick, a bittersweet prediction for a squad that lost its rookie quarterback to a torn meniscus three weeks ago. “There was hope, back in the halcyon days of September, that quarterback Sam Darnold would finally figure it out after spending the 2023 season with Kyle Shanahan before playing in Kevin O’Connell’s scheme in 2024,” Walder wrote this week. “How naïve we were. Darnold did not, in fact, figure it out. The Minnesota Vikings’ offense crumbled while the rest of the league came up with adjustments to defensive coordinator Brian Flores’ relentless blitzes.”
“The result? A paltry four-win season,” Walder added. “But with the losing came hope in the form of the No. 1 overall pick. With their quarterback already in hand — J.J. McCarthy is the QB of the future here, despite his right meniscus tear — the Vikings enter the offseason in position to deal the No. 1 pick to a QB-needy team for a series of selections that will bolster the roster for an immediate turnaround. The present is bleak in Minnesota, but the future is bright.”
The only question mark on the Vikings’ roster is the quarterback. The rest of the depth chart is actually pretty impressive.
Minnesota won’t be the worst team in football.
Verdict: Nopedy nope.
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 MIN 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.