The Major Doubt over the Vikings’ Offseason
Thoughts on the Minnesota Vikings’ offseason to date seem to be varied.
Some onlookers, such as Kay Adams, are so high on the Vikings that they are ready to proclaim them the next Super Bowl champions. Others are more lukewarm with their current assessment of the Vikings. With a high-class coaching staff in Minnesota and an improved roster with plenty of talent, there is one main reason that the doubters point to.
The Major Doubt Over the Vikings’ Offseason
The doubts come in the form of a quarterback who has never played a competitive snap in the NFL and a draft that didn’t go as many analysts expected, making it bad in their eyes. Opinions are just that, and there are plenty of them. Only the most optimistic Vikings fans predicted a 13-win season last year, especially after J.J. McCarthy got injured.
On the back of a successful regular season — not so much the playoffs — with a well-respected coaching team, and a spending spree in free agency, there is plenty to be optimistic about this year if you are a Vikings fan. That’s not to say any concerns should be ignored, and the quarterback situation is worth casting an eye over, and that’s what we will do here.
J.J. McCarthy
I was a big proponent of the Vikings taking McCarthy before last year’s draft. You can never be 100% sure about a prospect, but while some doubt McCarthy, I don’t. McCarthy is a proven winner. He won two state championships in high school and a national championship in college.
The knock on McCarthy is that Michigan’s success was built on their run game, which is true. However, any suggestion that he wasn’t also pivotal in their success is flat-out false. He was frequently asked to save drives on third down and often came up with the goods under pressure — a sign of someone who can succeed at the highest level.
The torn meniscus that saw his rookie season lost was a huge blow, and it’s reasonable to want to see McCarthy back out on the grass, showing he has overcome that setback. All the signs out of Minnesota are that they are confident that they believe McCarthy is their guy, despite a national media obsession with the team not publicly stating that he is QB1, despite Kevin O’Connell’s track record of not doing that this early in the year.
McCarthy has the talent, but this is his first season in the pro ranks, coming off a long-term injury. There is likely to be a settling-in process as he learns his game. He starts his career on the road in a divisional matchup — a real trial by fire.
Minnesota is well set up for success this season, and turning to a veteran like Aaron Rodgers might have made the chances of success great — it also may not have. The Vikings aren’t just looking at one year, though; they want to build a team for sustainable success, and if McCarthy can be above average this year, then they will be well on their way to doing that.
Under the guidance of a coach with a reputation of being a QB whisperer, an offensive line that has been heavily fortified this offseason, and a skill position group led by the best WR in football. There is every chance possible for McCarthy to succeed; it’s now up to him.
The QB Alternatives
If McCarthy doesn’t live up to the expectations, the major concern is that there’s no real alternative. Few expected O’Connell to transform Sam Darnold into a fringe MVP candidate last season, but he did have first-round pedigree and undoubted natural talent. The same can’t be said for Sam Howell, whom the Vikings traded for from the Seattle Seahawks to be the team’s backup.
Can coach O’Connell get the best out of the 24-year-old on his third team in four years? Certainly, but it’s hard to envision Howell leading a deep playoff run from the evidence we’ve seen of him so far.
Darnold went the other way to start a QB exodus in Minnesota, as Daniel Jones left for Indianapolis, and long-time backup Nick Mullens went to Jacksonville. Brett Rypien returned as QB3, and the Vikings signed Max Brosmer as an undrafted free agent to fill out the QB room for the preseason.
I had hoped that Jones would take on the role of Darnold from last season, but that never materialized. Should McCarthy struggle or suffer another injury, I feel the Vikings would have to trade for a QB to keep this season alive.
It feels like the fate of the 2025 Vikings is solely in the hands of McCarthy. That is the pressure of being an NFL quarterback and why the good ones get paid huge money. Time will tell if McCarthy is of that caliber.
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