The Minnesota Vikings definitely outperformed their expectations in 2024. Not many people gave them a chance since Sam Darnold was set to be their starting quarterback and he had been slapped with the draft bust label before arriving in Minnesota.
As we saw, Darnold went on to play well in what ended up being his one-year stint with the Vikings and the team came one win shy of being the one-seed in the NFC. With Darnold off to Seattle, the Vikings will hand the keys of the offense to J.J. McCarthy, their first-round pick in the 2024 NFL Draft.
While the rest of the Vikings' roster is clearly good enough to win in the regular season, McCarthy is certaintly a question mark for the team. That's why they were ranked 12th in Lou Scataglia's power rankings on NFL Spin Zone.
"I put the Minnesota Vikings this low due to the uncertainty with JJ McCarthy at QB, but they could absolutely rise in our power rankings as the season rolls on."
J.J. McCarthy skepticism hurts Vikings in latest power rankings
With McCarthy not taking a single regular season snap yet, it makes sense that people would doubt his abilities. The last time we saw him play in a game that mattered, however, he was winning a National Championship with the Michigan Wolverines so he's proven he can play well on the biggest and brightest stages.
Something else to look at here is that the rest of McCarthy's quarterback draft class have played well. Six quarterbacks went in the first round of last year's draft and four of them (Jayden Daniels, Drake Maye, Bo Nix, and Caleb Williams) look really good while another (Michael Penix Jr.) showed potential. If McCarthy was the only quarterback to not pan out, that'd be a tough look for the Vikings.
The good news is that Kevin O'Connell has clearly shown what he can do with unproven quarterbacks. Just look at what he did for Darnold's career last season. If he can work well with McCarthy, there's no reason that Minnesota can't be a scary team in 2025.