When the Minnesota Vikings allowed Kirk Cousins to leave in free agency for a deal with the Atlanta Falcons, they needed to pivot to finding their next starting quarterback. Their first move was to sign Sam Darnold, who can be the type of stopgap option that serves as a bridge from Cousins to whomever would come next.
Their subsequent move was to trade up one spot in the 2024 NFL Draft and land former Michigan star J.J. McCarthy with the No. 10 overall pick. McCarthy was considered one of the top few quarterbacks in the draft, and he came off the board fifth among them, after Caleb Williams, Jayden Daniels, Drake Maye and Michael Penix Jr.
Unlike some of the other top QBs, McCarthy didn’t have a huge body of work in college. He started for only two seasons and threw just 713 passes in his college career. The next quarterback off the board after him (Bo Nix), by contrast, threw 1,936 passes across five years at Auburn and Oregon.
It seems like the Vikes want to bring McCarthy along his developmental progress at his own pace, but he’s already impressing teammates, including recently signed linebacker Blake Cashman.
