Early leader in Vikings QB battle for No. 2 job might surprise people

For the first time since 2017, the Minnesota Vikings are going to enter the upcoming regular season without Kirk Cousins as the team's starting quarterback. So far, it seems like Sam Darnold has a pretty tight lock on the starting job for Week 1, but behind him on Minnesota's quarterback depth chart is where things are a little more unknown.

Back in April, the Vikings used the 10th overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft to select former Michigan signal-caller J.J. McCarthy, and while the franchise hopes he will be their starting quarterback for the next decade-plus, there hasn't been a desperate urgency to rush him into the starting lineup.

But after getting most of the No. 3 quarterback reps in OTAs earlier this year, it seems as though McCarthy has already done enough for Vikings coaches to have him begin this summer's training camp as the team's top backup passer behind Darnold.

J.J. McCarthy "consuming most of the No. 2 reps" in Minnesota Vikings training camp so far

Minnesota has only held two full-team practices in this year's training camp, but it hasn't taken long for people in attendance to notice that McCarthy seems to be in the lead over Nick Mullens and Jaren Hall for the No. 2 quarterback job.

CBS Sports' Cody Benjamin was at the TCO Performance Center on Thursday to watch the Vikings practice, and he shared the following about what he saw from McCarthy out on the field.

"[Kevin] O'Connell has gone above and beyond to preach patience with [McCarthy], lending some to believe veteran reserve Nick Mullens could even slot in as Darnold's backup.

That wasn't the case Thursday, when McCarthy uncorked some daring throws, including a zip to a tightly covered Trishton Jackson off his back foot on play-action, while consuming most of the No. 2 reps in team drills."

Benjamin mentioned how some have believed Minnesota might potentially begin the 2024 regular season with Mullens as the No. 2 quarterback behind Darnold. So, for those who thought that was a likely scenario, McCarthy already getting most of the second-team reps is definitely a bit of a surprise.

During Thursday's practice, the Vikings rookie completed almost all of his passes in team drills, and his performance was "very sharp", according to Minnesota Vikings on SI's Will Ragatz.

So far, so good with McCarthy, and even if he doesn't end up opening the regular season as the Vikings' starting quarterback, the team seems like they already have plenty of confidence in him to get the job done if he has to start under center sooner than expected.

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