Vikings Rumors: Getting High-Tech with McCarthy, Nailing it Along the OL, and Star Player’s Recovery
Since we’re officially into the portion of the year when Vikings rumors are ramping up, we’ll be highlighting some of the purple rumblings.
The “Vikings Rumor Wrangle” is a series that keeps readers informed on what’s being whispered about in Vikings Land. In this iteration, we discuss Minnesota getting into some high-tech stuff for J.J. McCarthy, the Vikings nailing it with a new starter along the offensive line, and a star player recovering from an injury.
Vikings Rumors: 09.11.2024
Rumor #1 — The Vikings are Leaning on Virtual Reality to Help Develop J.J. McCarthy
What a world.
Apparently, the Vikings are leaning on virtual reality to help J.J. McCarthy — who is recovering from his torn meniscus — to develop. Football coaches commonly talk about taking mental reps, but this is a whole new level, one that’s only possible due to recent advances in technology.
The word comes courtesy of Dianna Russini, an NFL insider who is doing her work with The Athletic. Her piece came out prior to the Week 1 game and got into it: “The Vikings have a comprehensive player development plan in place to ensure McCarthy’s progress and help his understanding of Kevin O’Connell’s offense. The third-year head coach is making it a priority to get at least an hour of one-on-one time with his QB of the future every week throughout the season.”
In the end, that should be time well spent. Invest in the rookie passer in the hope that he’ll one day become the franchise QB. O’Connell was at one time an NFL QB, so he’s a great mentor to have in McCarthy’s corner.
Russini further explains: “The Vikings will also have their assistant QBs coach, Grant Udinski, working with McCarthy all season, providing him with anything he needs. And the team is planning on using virtual reality programs to help the quarterback continue to grow and see the field. Once medically cleared, McCarthy will be entrenched in the ‘process of a starting quarterback.'” So, there it is: virtual reality as part of the toolkit.
“McCarthy will be a daily presence within the team,” Russini further explains, “engaging in the quarterbacks room and receiving the weekly game plan. He will be expected to prepare as if he were the starter. While there is no substitute for real game action, the Vikings are investing in their young talent, confident that McCarthy is a future star.”
The Vikings are blending traditional and modern approaches to developing their young passer. Good on them for making the best of a brutal situation.
Rumor #2 — The Vikings Looked to Have Nailed It with Blake Brandel
Truth be told, it’s too early to say. But, to be sure, things got off to a promising start.
Over on The Vikings Gazette, there was a Friday Feature on the versatile, hard-working lineman. The basic conclusion was that Brandel has fully — fully — earned his spot as the LG1: “Earned this opportunity. Don’t miss that final point. Drafted, developed, and now earned. Brandel is the LG1 and it hasn’t come easy. Brandel has earned it.”
After all, that’s what Wes Phillips suggested in the summer. The idea of Brandel earning his spot is Phillips’ word originally. More recently, Kevin O’Connell tossed praised toward Brandel while speaking with KFAN’s Paul Allen. The takeaway was that Brandel is “a guy that can sit down on a pass rush now and give ourselves a pretty good pocket in there for Sam to sit in there.” In Week 1, O’Connell’s words proved prophetic.
Signed to a three-year, $9.5 million deal in the offseason, Brandel is getting his career as a starter off to a promising start. In fact, PFF was particularly impressed with the Week 1 effort, giving the fifth-year player the best grade on offense with a sizzling 91.2 grade.
Sean Borman points out that he was the only offensive lineman not to surrender a pressure.
Next up is going to be the San Francisco 49ers. Up front, SF has a ton of notable talent, not the least of whom being Nick Bosa, Javon Hargrave, and Fred Warner. Seeing Blake Brandel continue with his strong play will certainly help the Vikings push for the upset at U.S. Bank Stadium.
Rumor #3 — Jordan Addison is on the Mend, Bouncing Back from Another Ankle Injury
Before going too far, keep in mind that the O’Connell/Adofo-Mensah duo tend to be cautious with player injuries. Going into Week 2, the Vikings could decide to keep their WR2 on the sideline so that he can get back to 100% since there’s still so much football ahead.
O’Connell didn’t have too much to offer immediately after the game. “He did get an ankle,” O’Connell explained, “it was his other ankle than the one he’s kind of had.” The head coach goes on to explain that Minnesota will “have him fully evaluated” and that he doesn’t “know the full severity of it yet.” The hope is that “it’ll be a shorter term thing.”
However, Ian Rapoport helped to fill-in some of the gap in knowledge. The word from Rapoport: “#Vikings WR Jordan Addison will have more tests on his ankle injury tomorrow, but my understanding is he is not believed to have suffered a major injury. Good news for an offense that saw Sam Darnold look effortless — with his only INT coming on a deflected pass after being hit.”
On Monday, however, O’Connell made things sound a bit more discouraging. The issue is that Jordan Addison is working through “pretty significant soreness.” O’Connell says that “we’ll just see” while acknowledging that “we’ll be smart with him.”
As a rookie, Addison snagged 70 receptions for 911 yards and 10 touchdowns. He demonstrated at various points that he’s capable of winning deep, so defenses need to account for the fact that Minnesota’s #2 receiver can score in a hurry.
The Vikings are already operating without T.J. Hockenson, so any missed time from Jordan Addison would feel doubly significant. Justin Jefferson has a gravitational pull on defensive backs and it only grows more pronounced when the WR2 and TE1 aren’t in the lineup.
Minnesota’s next game will take place on Sunday, September 15th when the San Francisco 49ers visit U.S. Bank Stadium. Last year, the Vikings overcame the 49ers 22-17. Jordan Addison had a great day, turning 7 receptions into 123 yards and 2 touchdowns. Having him available for an encore would be a boost to O’Connell, Darnold, and the rest of the Vikings.
Editor’s Note: Information from Pro Football Reference, PFF, and Over the Cap helped with this piece.
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K. Joudry is the Senior Editor for Vikings Territory and PurplePTSD. He has been covering the Vikings full time since the summer of 2021. He can be found on Twitter, as a co-host for Notes from the North, and as the proprietor at The Vikings Gazette, a humble Vikings Substack.