Over the three year tenure of head coach Kevin O'Connell, the Minnesota Vikings have been excellent across the board. They boast a 34-17 record over the last three years with 13 and 14 win seasons and two playoff appearances. Within those three seasons, there is one thing that's been a common thread: elevated quarterback play.
O'Connell has done a great job over his tenure in Minnesota to elevate the quarterback play more than anyone in recent memory. Kirk Cousins, Josh Dobbs, Nick Mullens, and Sam Darnold have all played their best football under him, and it's easy to preict that it'll happen again.
J.J. McCarthy continues to get disrespected
Despite O'Connell's track record with quarterbacks in Minnesota, there isn't any sense of optimism outside of Minnesota regarding second-year quarterback J.J. McCarthy taking over the starting job. In fact, he regularly gets disrespected.
The latest element of disrespect comes from CBS Sports' Garrett Podell, who ranked the Vikings' quarterback room as the fourth-worst in the National Football League.
The Minnesota Vikings drafted J.J. McCarthy 10th overall out of Michigan with an eye on him being their starting quarterback in the future, and they let Sam Darnold walk this offseason to accelerate that timeline. However, it's unclear how much faith they have in McCarthy fully being ready to roll in 2025 after tearing his meniscus in the 2024 preseason. O'Connell confirmed Minnesota "evaluated" Aaron Rodgers and is "hopeful" McCarthy is the team's starting quarterback. Not exactly a ringing endorsement.
The Vikings acquired veteran quarterback Sam Howell during the 2025 NFL Draft along with a fifth-round pick (172nd overall) in exchange for the 142nd overall pick in the fifth round. Howell started all 17 games for the Washington Commanders as a rookie in 2023, and he led the NFL with 612 pass attempts while playing on a team with the league's worst defense. He also threw as many interceptions, 21 (most in the NFL), as touchdowns as a result of forcing the ball downfield to try and make up for the porous defense.
Here's the thing with O'Connell's comments about McCarthy that most in the national media don't understand. O'Connell is intentional to not speak too highly of McCarthy yet becuase he's not officially the starter. The Vikings have been careful to not name McCarthy the starter until he earns it on the field, likely in training camp. He is primed to thrive with O'Connell like every quarterback before him.
Plus, the Aaron Rodgers thing was simple. Yes, they talked to him, but it never got past that stage. The Vikings could have signed him for $10 million per year, but they chose McCarthy. That should tell you all you need to know about him.
Howell isn't the best backup quarterback in the league, but he's certainly in upper half of backups with his arm talent and rushing ability.
Don't let the national media get you down about McCarthy. He's primed to be legit and it's best to get on the bandwagon now.
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