Recent J.J. McCarthy prediction would be terrible for Vikings

Expectations are unsurprisingly high for new Minnesota Vikings quarterback J.J. McCarthy, who became the first signal-caller to be drafted with a top-10 pick in the history of the franchise last week.

It sounds like the Vikings are going to do everything they can for McCarthy to help him reach his expectations. If Minnesota head coach Kevin O'Connell doesn't believe the rookie quarterback will be ready to play by Week 1 of the 2024 season, then the team is comfortable with keeping him on the bench.

Whenever, McCarthy ends up hitting the field for the Vikings, the team is hopeful that he can eventually develop into the franchise's next great quarterback. However, not everyone is optimistic about this actually happening.

Minnesota Vikings QB J.J. McCarthy named 2024 draft pick from NFC most likely to be a bust

On Thursday, Sports Illustrated's Gilberto Manzano released a list of five players selected by NFC teams during this year's NFL Draft who he believes will most likely turn out to be busts during their careers in the league.

Unfortunately, Manzano has McCarthy at the top of his list and he wrote the following about why he has the Minnesota quarterback in the No. 1 spot.

"McCarthy doesn’t have to be a star signal-caller to turn the Vikings into a playoff team, but teams don’t use top-10 picks on safe game managers.

...He doesn’t have the skill set of Maye, the experience of Penix and isn’t as good of a creator as Williams and Daniels.

That could explain why he was the fifth quarterback taken in the NFL draft. But as a top-10 pick, the Vikings can’t afford McCarthy to be the fifth-best quarterback when it’s all said and done."

It seems like Manzano is basing a good portion of his opinion about McCarthy on the fact that he was a top-10 pick despite being the fifth quarterback selected in this year's NFL Draft. Does the Vikings' new quarterback now have to immediately be an All-Pro to not be considered a bust?

Plenty of the league's current and former top quarterbacks took multiple years to hit their full potential despite being drafted with a top-10 selection.

Guys like Josh Allen, Trevor Lawrence, Tua Tagovailoa, Ryan Tannehill, Matthew Stafford, and Eli Manning all struggled for at least their first season in the NFL despite being top-10 picks in the NFL Draft. All of these quarterbacks eventually developed into a solid starting quarterback in the league, if not better, during their careers.

If they were given some time to develop, why can't the same happen for McCarthy?

Minnesota just spent the last six seasons with a quarterback who put up impressive numbers that never translated into the team having any sort of meaningful success in the playoffs. So, if McCarthy can help turn the Vikings into a consistent contender in the NFC, Minnesota fans probably aren't going to care if others view him as a "safe" game manager.

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