The Minnesota Vikings are in one of the more unique situations in the NFL, having experienced a great regular season last year that defied expectations but then letting their starting quarterback, Sam Darnold, walk in free agency. Minnesota is now handing over the reins to 2024 first round draft pick JJ McCarthy, who missed all of last year with an injury.
Fans have been wondering when they will get their first look at McCarthy on an NFL field, and recently, head coach Kevin O'Connell provided the answer to that question.
“Vikings HC Kevin O’Connell says plan is to play QB J.J. McCarthy Saturday,” reported Alec Lewis of The Athletic on X, formerly Twitter.
Saturday, the Vikings are slated to host the Houston Texans in what will be the first preseason game of the year for both teams.
It's unclear what the Texans' defense will look like, meaning McCarthy might not be seeing many if any minutes against starting-caliber NFL defenders, but it will still be a good experience for the national championship-winning quarterback to get his first taste of professional football.
An intriguing Vikings team
As previously mentioned, last year Sam Darnold played far above expectations and led the Vikings to a 14-win season that no one saw coming.
However, Darnold and the Vikings unfortunately flamed out in the playoffs against the Los Angeles Rams, which made the pill of watching him walk in free agency a bit easier to digest.
Also making that easier to digest was the fact that the Vikings had McCarthy waiting in the wings. McCarthy appears to have fully recovered from his injury setback and is now waiting to take over a Vikings offense that has a solid array of skill positional talent to help him out.
The wide receiver group of course is led by Justin Jefferson, the NFL's best and highest paid at his position. Aaron Jones also had a resurgent year in the backfield for the Vikings last year after leaving the rival Green Bay Packers.
After the preseason concludes, the Vikings will get their regular season underway on September 8 on the road vs the Chicago Bears in prime time.
