Recent news proves J.J. McCarthy in great hands with the Vikings

Minnesota Vikings rookie quarterback J.J. McCarthy can rest easy at night knowing that he's unlikely to experience anything similar to what Anthony Richardson is currently dealing with as a member of the Indianapolis Colts.

Richardson was benched by the Colts on Tuesday, and on Wednesday, Indianapolis revealed that the plan is for him to remain out of the starting lineup for the rest of the season. It only took 10 starts for the Colts to essentially give up on their young quarterback, and now the future of his NFL career is in jeopardy because of it.

This news not only makes it even easier to appreciate how the Vikings have run things since hiring Kevin O'Connell to be the team's head coach in 2022, but it also serves as a reminder that the team has been taking the correct approach when it comes to McCarthy.

Minnesota Vikings won't set J.J. McCarthy up for failure like the Indianapolis Colts did with Anthony Richardson

While Minnesota currently couldn't put McCarthy into the lineup even if they wanted to since he's still recovering from a knee injury, there's a good chance that he would still be on the bench even if he was healthy enough to play right now.

From the moment the Vikings drafted the former Michigan quarterback back in April, O'Connell emphasized that the team was going to approach the development of their new signal-caller with whatever amount of patience was necessary.

Throughout the offseason, Minnesota made it clear that Sam Darnold was going to be the team's starting quarterback for the 2024 season, and McCarthy would learn from the sidelines. The rookie's injury has definitely made it easier to keep him off the field, but his chance of getting a start for the Vikings this year has always been extremely low.

Minnesota wants McCarthy to be the team's starting quarterback for a long time, so that's why they were in no rush to have him compete for the QB1 job, even before his knee injury. The same cannot be said for the Colts and Richardson.

Despite Richardson coming into the NFL as a raw prospect without a ton of actual in-game reps, Indianapolis never gave him an opportunity to just sit back and learn from a proven veteran quarterback before throwing him into the fire.

The Colts are attempting to do that with Richardson now, as he's been replaced by Joe Flacco in the starting lineup, but their decision is likely too late to save their young quarterback's career.

It's just one big giant mess, which is what the Vikings have always wanted to avoid with McCarthy. Minnesota has made sure that if McCarthy ends up failing in the future, it will have more to do with his personal skill-set than with the team's approach to his development.

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