New But Dumb Vikings Idea Isn’t Worth Your Time
The Minnesota Vikings entered the offseason with the idea of identifying the quarterback of the future and then drafting him if the price is reasonable. That plan was set in stone when Kirk Cousins decided to move to Atlanta rather than pursue the elusive Lombardi Trophy with the Vikings for a seventh season.
New But Dumb Vikings Idea Isn’t Worth Your Time
Cousins left, and Sam Darnold was signed. Of course, Darnold is only a bridge quarterback. Nobody has expected him to be the QB1 in the Twin Cities for more than a season.
The Vikings treated the situation accordingly, trading up one spot to secure Michigan’s signal-caller, J.J. McCarthy. At 21 years old, the rookie would certainly need some time to adjust to NFL speed and NFL playbooks and tweak some mechanics.
He then shined in his first preseason contest, and it surely looked like he wasn’t far away from entering the starting lineup. A torn meniscus was the shocking result after checking his knee when he reported knee soreness, and a season-ending surgery was performed by team doctors.
Because of his time on IR, folks are down on the Vikings. The subsequent bad season would generate a high draft pick, which, in theory, could be used on another quarterback.
Charley Walters from the Twin Cities Pioneer Press wrote in his column: “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.”
It would definitely be a shock.
If you don’t believe me, maybe head coach Kevin O’Connell can convince you. When he announced McCarthy’s season would be over, he said about his rookie passer: “As our fans either have already come to find out or will in the future, this guy is so motivated and so dialed in. As excited as I was to draft him, he’s confirmed everything that I hoped to see. Our fan base and everyone should be excited about the fact that we’ve got our young franchise quarterback in the building.”
The coach has seen enough. McCarthy is the franchise quarterback. Of course, coaches’ words have to be taken with a grain of salt, but if there was a smidgen of doubt left, O’Connell wouldn’t have said it this clearly.
McCarthy is the highest-drafted quarterback in franchise history, and he performed extremely well in his lone preseason contest. In practice, ever since stepping foot into TCO Performance Center, his arm strength and leadership have turned heads.
The upcoming draft class is also not expected to rival the 2024 group in terms of quarterback talent. McCarthy could’ve very well been the top guy had he stayed at Michigan for another season.
It doesn’t make sense to put more resources in the quarterback position when there are other holes to be filled, especially because McCarthy has shown enormous promise.
Another aspect is that the Vikings lack draft capital after facilitating a costly trade for Dallas Turner. Should general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah have an elite draft pick in next year’s draft, he will either trade down to get some of those lost picks back and still draft a decent player, or he will just add another staple to the defense by spending that elite pick on elite talent.
The talker of drafting another quarterback should vanish as quickly as it materialized.
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Janik Eckardt is a football fan who likes numbers and stats. The Vikings became his favorite team despite their quarterback at the time, Christian Ponder. He is a walking soccer encyclopedia, loves watching sitcoms, and prefers Classic rock over other genres. Follow him on Twitter if you like the Vikings: @JanikEckardt