J.J. McCarthy was among the best quarterbacks the Michigan Wolverines have seen in their history. He scored 22 touchdowns and four interceptions while passing for 2,991 yards during his last season as Michigan’s quarterback.
The scintillating signal-caller went No. 10 overall in the 2024 NFL Draft to the Minnesota Vikings, and the former college star will now take the stage in the NFL as a rookie, waiting for his turn to throw a snap during the Vikings’ first preseason matchup against the Las Vegas Raiders. Will we see McCarthy playing versus the Raiders in preseason Week 1?
Will J.J. McCarthy Take Snaps in the Preseason Opener on Saturday?
Despite his rough start during the training camp, Vikings head coach Kevin O’Connell shared that McCarthy will get a “significant amount of work” even though their current QB1 Sam Darnold will be starting against Las Vegas.
McCarthy had a successful run in 2023 but has been facing some troubles as he gets closer to playing on the field with the Vikings. During the end of the second week of Vikings training camp, McCarthy faced much criticism for some of his plays and later confessed that he felt “rushed up mentally, just not settling in.”
Talking about what went wrong, McCarthy admitted that he should’ve remembered the advice NFL legend Peyton Manning gave him when he told him not to “over-respect the NFL.” He rushed the process at times and said that he “fell victim” to that mentality that day and looked at it as a learning experience.
McCarthy did what any successful NFL quarterback would do and came back stronger the next day. On Aug. 3, he showed off his skills while cutting through Brian Flores’ defense.
One wrinkle to consider is, that just as McCarthy shouldn’t “over-respect the NFL,” football should not “over-respect history.” O’Connell didn’t play his former quarterback Kirk Cousins in the preseason, but O’Connell was tied to him as the team’s starting quarterback. Even though it’s confirmed that Darnold will be starting in Week 1, there seems to be room for McCarthy to take the job from him later in the season.
Even though McCarthy’s QB2 position might go to Nick Mullens during the regular season if the Vikings decide to take out Darnold, McCarthy will be the obvious choice on Saturday.
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