Pro Football Rumors
Although he missed his entire rookie campaign with a torn meniscus in his right knee, Vikings quarterback J.J. McCarthy entered 2025 as the team’s unquestioned starter. After the former Michigan Wolverine’s first year at the helm didn’t go as planned, general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah and head coach Kevin O’Connell revealed that they expect to bring in competition for McCarthy in the offseason.
Adofo-Mensah used the 10th overall pick on McCarthy two years ago. However, when meeting with the media on Tuesday, he stopped short of guaranteeing the 22-year-old a starting job in 2026 (via Ben Goessling of the Star Tribune).
Asked if he wants McCarthy to start next season, Adofo-Mensah said: “I want the Vikings to achieve our goals. And I think one of those goals is to make playoff runs. I think he has the character and ability to be the person to do that. If I say that in 2026, that kind of binds us into a certain area.”
On the possibility of a quarterback competition, O’Connell stated (via Rob Kleifield of the team’s website): “I think there has to be. That’s what’s going to make everybody better in that room. It’s going to be what makes our entire offense thrive through that competition.”
With McCarthy on the shelf a year ago, the Vikings turned to a battle-tested veteran option in Sam Darnold. Even If McCarthy didn’t go down with his injury in the preseason, the plan was always for Darnold to at least start 2024 under center. It couldn’t have gone much better for the Vikings, who stunningly finished 14-3 under Darnold.
Despite fizzling out in the playoffs, Darnold went on to land a three-year, $100.5MM contract with the Seahawks in free agency last March. With the Seahawks now sitting as the No. 1 seed in the NFC heading into the divisional round, Darnold proved his 2024 breakout wasn’t a fluke.
The Vikings, on the other hand, didn’t get much from their quarterbacks during a 9-8 year in which they failed to reach the postseason. Three different injuries – a high ankle sprain, a concussion and a hairline fracture in his right hand – limited McCarthy to 10 games. While the Vikings went 6-4 in his starts, the ex-Michigan Wolverine threw more interceptions (12) than touchdowns (11). McCarthy completed just 57.6% of passes, and he ranked near the bottom in the league in traditional passer rating (72.6) and QBR (35.7).
Late-August free agent pickup Carson Wentz arguably performed better than McCarthy in his five starts, but a shoulder injury knocked him out for the year in late October. With McCarthy and Wentz unavailable, the Vikings had to turn to undrafted rookie Max Brosmer for two starts. Brosmer fared horribly in those outings, which is part of the reason the Vikings will have to look outside for QB help in the coming months.
If the Vikings had been successful in their attempt to to re-sign Daniel Jones last year, they’d have been in better position to...
