The Minnesota Vikings had a decision to make in the offseason when it came to the quarterback position. They could hand the keys of the car over to J.J. McCarthy, the guy they drafted in the first round of the 2024 NFL Draft, re-sign Sam Darnold, who helped lead them to a 14-win season, or bring in someone else to run the ship (Aaron Rodgers, perhaps?).
The Vikings chose to remain loyal to McCarthy, who they clearly believed was the right guy for the job despite missing his entire rookie season due to injury.
Well, so far, naturally, it's been tough sledding for McCarthy. In his first eight quarters as an NFL quarterback, he's played one good quarter, and that quarter helped the Vikings beat the Chicago Bears in Week 1.
Week 2 was rough for McCarthy, however, as the former Michigan signal-caller completed just 52.4% of his passes for 158 yards and threw two picks.
The Vikings lost to the Atlanta Falcons by double-digits. To make matters worse, McCarthy suffered a high ankle sprain in the loss and is now expected to be out for Week 3 against the Cincinnati Bengals.
Here is the play where J.J. McCarthy suffered his high ankle sprain, per coach Kevin O'Connell. 2nd and 20 late in the third quarter. pic.twitter.com/rFa2MGRN19
— Kevin Seifert (@SeifertESPN) September 15, 2025
Meanwhile, Sam Darnold, who signed with the Seattle Seahawks after Minnesota decided not to keep him around, has played decently with his new team and led them to victory over the Pittsburgh Steelers in Week 2 while throwing two touchdowns (and two picks).
Darnold might not be tearing it up in Seattle, but Kevin O'Connell knew exactly how to unleash his potential, and having him on the roster right now would be a nice perk, no doubt.
Did the Minnesota Vikings make a mistake letting Sam Darnold walk away?
McCarthy's poor play is one thing, given he's only made two NFL starts, but now Vikings fans are going to worry if the 22-year-old can manage to stay healthy long enough to make an impact.
Meanwhile, Darnold has remained healthy in recent years and, as they say, the best ability is availability.
Now the Vikings will have to rely on journeyman Carson Wentz to lead the team to victory against the 2-0 Bengals in Week 3 (who also won't have their starting quarterback).
Wentz has not started a meaningful NFL game since he was with Washington in 2022, so this could end up being yet another painful reminder of how the Vikings maybe shouldn't have let Darnold get away so easily.