Carson Wentz might have won the Minnesota Vikings backup QB competition, but that doesn’t mean he would automatically be the next man up if Kyler Murray gets hurt at any point this season.
Vikings head coach Kevin O’Connell told reporters that they’re still evaluating the competition, and J.J. McCarthy has a chance to win the backup job. It’ll be a week-by-week battle that could change based on what the tenth overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft shows in practice.
“Carson [Wentz] will be the backup on Sunday, and J.J. [McCarthy] will obviously be the third guy, and really, I’m looking at that right now as a week-to-week thing,” O’Connell said. “JJ is still going to get a bunch of great work. I’m just really excited to continue to get the chance to work with him. We want to make it week-to-week so when we feel like when we need to declare something different, we can and we will.”
KOC Believes McCarthy Has Embraced The Vikings’ QB Alignment
Having a chance to win the backup quarterback job was obviously not the expectation McCarthy set for himself this season. The Vikings certainly didn’t expect to be in this position this time last year, either.
However, many believe the writing was on the wall when Minnesota signed Murray in the offseason. The former number one overall pick was a Pro Bowl-caliber player in the desert before it became clear he needed a change of scenery. The Vikings provided him with quite the scenic one, with a near-elite play-caller in Kevin O’Connell running the show and a bevy of weapons at his disposal.
With that said, the question became what would happen with McCarthy. They not only drafted him tenth overall two years ago, but they actually traded up one pick (giving up two day three selections) to do it. Would his development now be stunted with the addition of Murray?
O’Connell doesn’t think so. He says that McCarthy is also optimistic about the situation.
“He’s been incredibly professional [throughout] the conversations that he and I have had both pre-, during, and post- [the announcement of the Week One depth chart],” O’Connell said. “He’s excited to continue to grow and get better. He’s still a young quarterback in the NFL with ten starts and a bunch of talent and a bunch of things that make him a guy that we want to pour into every single day. And the best part is he’s going to work as hard as anybody.”
Has The Trade Speculation Officially Been Put To Bed?
Probably not. The trade chatter will really only be put to rest if he ever returns to the lineup. QB reclamation projects have been all the rage in recent years, and he’s one of the most interesting names on the backup (or, in this case, third-string) QB market.
Nevertheless, the odds of the Vikings shipping him out of town at this point seem slim. O’Connell’s comments are only the latest example of that, too. Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer echoed a similar sentiment last week, and, unlike the Vikings’ head coach, he doesn’t need to spare feelings when it comes to McCarthy.
“I have gotten the sense, for what it’s worth, that Vikings coach Kevin O’Connell wants to keep working with J.J. McCarthy.” Breer wrote.
It certainly sounds like Breer was correct in that assessment.
Kevin O’Connell Opens Door for J.J. McCarthy To Win Vikings’ Backup QB Job