Despite Sam Darnold putting together a career-best performance in 2024 in his first season with the Minnesota Vikings, many anticipate the team to move forward with J.J. McCarthy as their starting quarterback for the 2025 campaign.
McCarthy, of course, was unable to play during the 2024 season after tearing the meniscus in his right knee in the preseason. On Thursday, Vikings general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah couldn't hide his excitement when asked about the young quarterback's current health and his future with the organization.
"[McCarthy] looks great. He's excited. You talk about a kid who's just obsessed with
football and loves being around the game. So, we're excited about what we have in him. We're excited for this offseason for him."
Kevin O'Connell also "excited" about the offseason with Minnesota Vikings QB J.J. McCarthy
In addition to Adofo-Mensah sharing an update about McCarthy, Minnesota head coach Kevin O'Connell also talked on Thursday about how he's looking forward to furthering the young quarterback's development this offseason.
"I'm very excited about where J.J.'s at.
...I think he maximized what this year was for him. I think he's got a level of comfort in our offensive system [after] getting to really have a front-row seat for every aspect of what Sam [Darnold] went through from being in the first year in our system and watching it kind of morph and grow and adapt as the season went on [and learn] why we do things.
...Very excited about the opportunity to be there with J.J. as he continues to move through this wonderful thing we call the quarterback world."
If anyone was hoping for the Vikings to come out on Thursday and say, "Yeah, J.J.'s our starter moving forward," that's just not something that's going to happen anytime soon.
As much as it seems like the obvious decision for Minnesota to make moving forward, they are still figuring out if they want to attempt to use the franchise tag on Darnold and trade him for draft picks this offseason. It would be a lot harder to do something like that if the Vikings announced on Thursday that they have already decided to replace Darnold with McCarthy as their starting signal-caller.
So, until they figure all of that out, Minnesota going to act like they're still deciding who will be the team's starting quarterback for the 2025 season (even if they already know the answer).
Either way, Minnesota is clearly happy with the progress McCarthy has been able to make during the last few months since his injury.
Missing his entire rookie season definitely wasn't something he anticipated after the Vikings drafted him last April, but it sounds like he's made the most of his time on the sidelines, and he should be ready to take over as the team's starter in 2025 if that's what Minnesota wants.