Vikings Insider Puts Damper on J.J. McCarthy Hype After NFL Debut

Minnesota Vikings rookie J.J. McCarthy impressed in his first preseason game, but his performance did not impact head coach Kevin O’Connell‘s long-term plans for the 21-year-old.

The Star Tribune’s Ben Goessling, reacting to McCarthy’s two-touchdown performance in a 24-23 win over the Las Vegas Raiders on August 10, struck down any notion that McCarthy could start Week 1 over Sam Darnold.

“It’s not the real thing,” Goessling said on the “Access Vikings” podcast about the case for McCarthy to start Week 1. “Kevin O’Connell afterwards did not give any oxygen to the idea that, ‘Hey, there’s a change coming in here anytime soon.’

“He said, we’re looking for development and that’s what we’re seeing, but he was not entertaining the possibility of a change there,” Goessling added. “I think it’s still very much going to be Sam Darnold. Probably fits with their plan that it’s Sam Darnold. I would not expect anything to deter them from that at this point.”

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Kevin O’Connell Calls Vikings Rookie J.J. McCarthy’s Breakout Debut Another Step in the Process

O’Connell, who called himself a “quarterback killer” throughout the evaluation process of the 2024 draft class, has tempered the hype around McCarthy during the rookie quarterback’s significant growth in his first offseason.

Completing 11-of-17 passes for 188 yards passing and two touchdowns of 45 and 33 yards, McCarthy flashed promise with the Vikings’ second-team offense while facing the majority of the Raiders’ first-team defense in the first half.

Despite the national attention McCarthy is garnering for one of the best rookie performances from the first week of the preseason, O’Connell called it “just another glorified, singular step in the process.”

“I’m just looking for him to improve, look comfortable in our system,” O’Connell said in a postgame news conference. “Like I said at the very beginning, no ceiling or no floor. But at the same time, I think we want to be smart about that development and make sure that his training camp is absolutely going to plan.”

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Sam Darnold Still Firmly in Control of Vikings Starting QB Job

The Vikings brass has played transparent throughout the Kirk Cousins succession process.

They’ve given Darnold their vote of confidence while maintaining that McCarthy is their quarterback of the future.

O’Connell has not allowed himself to be a prisoner of the moment with McCarthy, but the rookie’s performance has asserted the Vikings correct in their selection of the former Michigan quarterback at 10th overall.

That doesn’t take away the optimism they have for Darnold to lead the offense to begin the 2024 season.

Darnold played the opening series on Saturday, completing 4-of-8 passes for 59 yards and leading the offense on a 12-play, 66-yard drive that halted on a failed fourth-down conversion on the Raiders’ 4-yard-line.

“Sam did a great job starting the game, really efficient drive down the field, tried to give him a shot there on fourth down,” O’Connell said. “Sam and J.J. are ahead of where I thought they’d be at this point. There’s a feeling and a mindset towards the position, there’s an overall belief in the development at the position that I’m way more focused on: how we allow confidence to build and ownership to build.”

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