This year is supposed to be Year 1 of the true Vikings plan, even if O’Connell and GM Kwesi Adofo-Mensah are technically in Year 4. They have their hand-picked young quarterback. He came into the year healthy, and the team cleared the deck for him to be the Week 1 starter. A franchise that has had a fitful time developing young QBs, often resorting to veteran stopgaps, was finally poised to break that cycle.
Then McCarthy struggled. And got hurt again, after missing all of last season. Now, his recovery seems to be taking longer — or at least it’s on a very generous timeline designed to help McCarthy succeed in the long run, but it feels agonizing in the present.
Fans realize Carson Wentz is a stopgap. He is graded No. 35 out of 37 eligible NFL QBs this season by Pro Football Focus. Wentz will play well enough to win and poorly enough to lose, often in the same game. He’s not the same caliber QB as Kirk Cousins, but he is similar in that his ceiling and floor are too close to each other. A full year of Wentz would be spinning your wheels on the way to an 8-9 or 9-8 record.
Fans can also see that Sam Darnold (No. 1 grade from PFF) and Daniel Jones (No. 9) are smoothly operating offenses for winning teams. They see Drake Maye, the No. 3 pick in 2024 — a player the Vikings coveted but had no realistic chance of drafting — starting to break out with the Patriots. There is QB envy, and the only cure is seeing McCarthy play and do good things.
I think most Vikings fans would still consider this season a success if the team missed the playoffs but learned that McCarthy is on a reasonable trajectory to becoming a top-10 quarterback. The only way we can know that is if he plays. That will come soon enough, of course, but never soon enough. So we look for breadcrumbs: both McCarthy and Wentz were listed as “limited” on Monday’s initial estimated injury report. What might that mean for Thursday?
By comparison, Panthers QB Bryce Young suffered a high ankle sprain on Sunday but hasn’t yet been ruled out for next week. People are just less patient in general. We live in a culture conditioned to expect convenience, and waiting for anything is not convenient. Waiting for McCarthy is particularly agonizing for long-suffering fans. But that’s all they can do for now.
Switching gears, the Wild played the most Wild game of the season so far — tight and low-scoring — resulting in a much-needed 3-1 win over the Rangers.
In baseball, it’s the Blue Jays vs. the Dodgers in the World Series after George Springer rallied Toronto to a 4-3 win in Game 7 of the ALCS over Seattle. My guess is that most Americans are rooting for the Canadian team.
The Wolves, who used to be the worst franchise, are now among the best. I’ll talk more about that with Chris Hine on a special season preview podcast that will be out soon.
Also, Randy Johnson will join me on Wednesday’s regular show to talk Gophers football. After a big win over Nebraska, it’s on to Iowa.
https://www.startribune.com/minnesota-vikings-quarterback-jj-mccarthy-kevin-oconnell/601498058