The Minnesota Vikings may have their quarterback of the future in the fold, but all of the fans who are eager to spend their Sunday's chanting “Skol!” shouldn't be in too much of a hurry to see JJ McCarthy in regular season action, because even after a successful preseason debut in a 24-23 win over the Las Vegas Raiders, the Vikings don't plan to rush his development.
Playing in his first game since leading Michigan to the National Championship back in January, JJ McCarthy brushed off an interception on his first preseason possession and went on to lead the Vikings to three scoring drives before his day ended, two of which concluded with touchdown passes of 45 and 33 yards. But quick to say “hush” to the well-deserved excitement regarding McCarthy's debut was Vikings coach Kevin O'Connell, who called Minnesota's first preseason game, “just another glorified, singular step in the process,” according to Kevin Seifert of ESPN.com.
“I think we want to be smart about that development and make sure that his training camp is absolutely going to plan,” O'Connell said after the game, noting that for as solid as his rookie quarterback looked — McCarthy was 11-for-17 for 188 yards, two touchdowns and an interception — the plan is still for Sam Darnold, who played just one series on Saturday, to enter the season as Minnesota's starting quarterback. O'Connell did say that next week's joint practices with the Cleveland Browns “will be huge” for McCarthy's development.
How long can Sam Darnold hold off JJ McCarthy for Vikings starting QB job?
It may seem like Sam Darnold has been around forever, but in reality, the former 3rd overall pick is only 27 years old and still has believers around the league. And if you squint really hard, there's actually a case that can be made that Darnold has something left in him. To start, in each of the last two seasons, Darnold was 8-9 as the starter for the Carolina Panthers. In the 17 games Carolina played that Darnold didn't start, the Panthers were 4-13.
Best case scenario for the Vikings is that Darnold is ready to have a Geno Smith-esque career resurgence in Minnesota this year. Remember, before Smith took over as the full-time starter in Seattle ahead of the 2022 season, he was 13-21 in his 34 career starts and had an unfavorable 34-to-37 touchdown-to-interception ratio. Darnold has more starts under his belt than Smith did — Darnold is 21-35 in his NFL career — but there is still a chance that things could play out similarly in Minnesota.
With Darnold signed to just a one-year deal in Minnesota, paving the way for McCarthy to take over next year at the absolute latest, the table is set for this to be Darnold's one final shot to earn a last long-term deal somewhere else around the league. If he fails, then let's hope Kevin O'Connell has some more cold water ready to dump on Darnold.
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