J.J. McCarthy’s long wait is nearing its conclusion. After avoiding most of the wait in the 2024 NFL Draft, McCarthy was instead forced to wait more than a year to get his first in-game regular-season action. Meanwhile, he was left wondering if the Vikings would go with Sam Darnold as he ascended.
Minnesota decided instead to double down on the young quarterback. McCarthy, according to one of his teammates, did everything he could to make use of his unplanned free time while all of this was happening.
J.J. McCarthy’s Injury Couldn’t Keep Him Down
In an interview with Vikings defensive lineman Harrison Phillips posted on May 7 by Hurrdat Sports, Phillips explained how McCarthy refused to let the 2024 season go to waste.
“I’ll say one little thing about J.J. So J.J. gets hurt, does his meniscus in training camp, and they want him to take a break and to relax and get away from football, like ‘this is a really hard time. You’ve never been hurt before, emotionally,’ whatever. Let’s say he got hurt on a Sunday,” he said.
“On Wednesday, after they figure out what’s wrong and what he has to do, he’s calling me and he says, like, ‘What day of the week are you free? So that we can meet and you can watch film with me and talk about defensive line with me,'” he added.
Phillips also noted McCarthy’s dedication, learning from the team’s veterans as he asks for advice and how to improve his skill set as a player.
“Throughout the whole season, he’s asking me questions, and we’re trying to meet up to try to sit and watch film while he’s a rookie going through the hardest time of his life, injured in a new city, and he wants to sit with one of his vets, the captains, and watch defensive film so that he could understand what’s going through my mind in plays.
“And I was like, ‘That’s a sign of someone who’s going to play football for a very long time.'”
Some rookies forced to wait like McCarthy have chosen to focus on other things. Those choices end up biting them later. However, McCarthy appears to have been plugged in for the duration of the wait, even apparently pushing back on the higher ups encouraging him to sit back. That takes courage for a newcomer.
McCarthy’s New QB Room Indicates Vikings’ Level of Faith in Rookie
Minnesota’s quarterback room speaks volumes about how the team feels about their rookie. If the Vikings had loaded it up with potential starting-caliber quarterbacks, it would indicate a lack of faith. Yet, the team has added Sam Howell, Brett Rypien, and undrafted free agent Max Brosmer this offseason.
Howell has a touchdown-interception ratio under 1.0. Rypien is a career backup who has never received a chance to be a starter in the NFL. Brosmer, a rookie undrafted free agent and the likely fourth-string QB, offers no challenge to McCarthy.
None of McCarthy’s backups made PFSN’s QB+ metrics list. With Darnold gone and several low-grade names used to back him up, it’s clear that the Vikings are all in on the first-round pick for better or worse.