What if J.J. McCarthy Is “The One” for Vikings?
Every year, NFL teams draft quarterbacks in the first round, hoping that they’ve found their future franchise quarterback.
What if J.J. McCarthy Is “The One” for Vikings?
The goal is to go from someone like Brett Favre to Aaron Rodgers. You want a succession plan that includes a rookie deal and ultimately leads to a sustained level of winning.
The Minnesota Vikings haven’t had that luxury, maybe ever. They went through a period of ineptitude after drafting Teddy Bridgewater and hoping he could be that guy. Then they experienced a veteran take them to the bank at every opportunity in the form of Kirk Cousins. McCarthy could finally be the one.
While we never saw Bridgewater consistently perform at the highest level due to injury, he was always the player dreamed of to lead the team on the cheap. McCarthy now has an injury year behind him and could be every bit that player.
When the Minnesota Vikings targeted J.J. McCarthy with their first-round pick last year, they had other names in mind. Drake Maye was among them, but ultimately, they decided against giving away assets to move up a few spots. Kevin O’Connell has remained steadfast in his belief in the former Michigan product, and Kwesi Adofo-Mensah has operated with the same level of confidence.
What we saw last year was an infrastructure that allowed Minnesota to get the most out of a veteran castoff in Sam Darnold. Originally signed as a high-level backup, Darnold came in and won 14 games while looking the part of a signal caller he had never previously shown in his career. If that’s the starting point for McCarthy, then things should be looking up.
Every organization dreams of getting the quarterback pick right. No one wants to be the Cleveland Browns. We’ll soon see where Minnesota comes in concerning their choice. If McCarthy is the one, though, it could be a fun few years, and potentially even more.
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Ted Schwerzler is a blogger from the Twin Cities who is focused on all things Minnesota Twins and Minnesota Vikings. He’s active on Twitter and writes daily for Minnesota Sports Fan. As a former college athlete and avid sports fan, covering our pro teams with a passion has always seemed like such a natural outlet.
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