For much of the last, say, 35 to 40 seasons, the Minnesota Vikings have operated in the middle ground. They're never quite good enough, aside from an appearance in the NFC Championship Game every decade or so, to win the Super Bowl. On the flipside, they're also never quite bad enough to get a top-five draft pick and secure a potential franchise-altering player.
When the Vikings landed a top-12 pick in the 2024 NFL draft, the opportunity to jump off the contract carousel with Kirk Cousins was there, and they took it. They traded up one spot to make J.J. McCarthy their quarterback of the future, then he lost his entire rookie season to a knee injury.
It's not breaking news that McCarthy's de facto rookie season has not gone well overall, due in large part to missing several weeks with an ankle injury. But he has shown signs over the last two weeks, albeit against two of the worst defenses in the NFL, that he is turning a corner as he looks to prove he can be the guy in 2026 and beyond.
Ideally, McCarthy will fully push aside all the ideas he needs legit competition for the starting job, and who said competition could be, over the remaining three games this season. That's certainly what the Vikings want, otherwise their entire plan for the offseason will have to shift.
Ideal scenario for the Minnesota Vikings for the rest of the season feels too good to actually happen
McCarthy is lined up to make it three good performances in a row, and the Vikings could make it three wins in a row against the New York Giants in Week 16. The Giants are, let's say, incentivized to keep losing and maintain their current hold on the No. 1 overall pick in the 2026 NFL Draft.
The Vikings will then finish the season with home games against the Detroit Lions and the Chicago Bears. A three-game losing streak would land them with a 6-11 record, while winning each of their final three games would land them above .500.
Realistically, as recently laid out by Minnesota Vikings OnSI's Joe Nelson, the Vikings' 2026 first-round pick will not be higher than 10th overall. It can't be lower than 18th, the lowest possible first-rounder for a non-playoff team.
With all of that in mind, the dream scenario for the Vikings over the rest of this season, as offered recently by Bleacher Report's Brad Gagnon, is very simple.
"Lose out despite superb play from J.J. McCarthy, stay healthy and enjoy a primo draft pick knowing they might have their franchise quarterback after all."
Having a young quarterback assert himself as a franchise guy and having a "primo" draft pick after finishing with a 6-11 record this season? Vikings' fans know better than to expect that to come to fruition, but it's nice to dream about the possibility.