The Minnesota Vikings quarterback room has been one of the most discussed position groups in all of the NFL this offseason, but the team hasn’t done much to contribute to the conversation. The Vikings seem comfortable moving forward with J.J. McCarthy as QB1, but everyone outside of the building seemingly wants the team to go after a veteran quarterback like Aaron Rodgers.
All of this discussion stems from a general disrespect of McCarthy. After being drafted 10th overall in 2024, the young quarterback tore his meniscus and missed his rookie season while Sam Darnold starred at quarterback in Minnesota. Now it’s McCarthy’s time to star, but it seems like someone has something negative to say about the quarterback every other day.
Recently, Mike Sando of The Athletic surveyed anonymous NFL executives to get their thoughts on NFC teams following the draft. When it came to the Vikings, one exec made a wild prediction about Minnesota’s quarterback room. The anonymous executive predicted that McCarthy would get hurt again, and Sam Howell would start and have a year similar to the one Darnold had last season.
"You know what is going to happen? J.J. is going to get banged up, and Howell is going to walk in there and become the next Sam Darnold."Anonymous NFL exec on Vikings QB room
NFL executive predicts Sam Howell will be the next Sam Darnold in Minnesota
The Seattle Seahawks signed Darnold and Drew Lock this offseason, and also drafted Jalen Milroe. So during the 2025 Draft, Seattle sent Sam Howell to Minnesota, as the Vikings needed to rebuild their QB depth. Now, Howell is expected to be QB2 behind McCarthy.
However, this executive is predicting that Howell will eventually be QB1 and have a career resurgence. While that would be great for Sam Howell, this is a ridiculous prediction for McCarthy. It’s one thing to have questions about McCarthy’s play, because he’s an unknown in the league. Predicting another injury, however, is just out of bounds and uncalled for.
All McCarthy has been doing is working to be healthy enough and good enough to start for the Vikings this season. Still, he’s had to deal with people trying to replace him with quarterbacks whose career are coming to an end, and now an NFL executive predicting an injury for him. It’s all getting ridiculous. Clearly, Minnesota believes in McCarthy, so everyone else should just wait and see what he has to offer.