The Minnesota Vikings are about to kick-off a new era in 2025, with J.J. McCarthy set to take the reins as the team’s unquestioned starting quarterback and face of the franchise.
For some reason, though, Vikings brass has stopped short of making McCarthy’s promotion to QB1 officially official at various points of the offseason.
The latest example came during a rencent interview with Vikings head coach Kevin O’Connell on The Rich Eisen Show. While O’Connell praised McCarthy’s progress this offseason, one that’s included getting his mind and body right after undergoing a pair of 2024 knee surgeries to repair a torn meniscus, the coach once again stopped short of labeling McCarthy as the team’s starting quarterback.
“J.J. is going to be in a great position to assume and ascend in our organization,” O’Connell said. “But right now, we really don’t have any feelings on competition as much as we’ve got an obligation as coaches to put our players in position to attack that competition phase. Sam (Howell) will be a part of it. But we’ve got to get Sam ready to play. We’ve got to get Brett Rypien ready to play. … Excited about our quarterback room, but now it’s our job to go coach them.”
Gary Davenport, an NFL analyst for Bleacher Report, isn’t buying it.
Davenport recently called out the continued coachspeak surrounding McCarthy’s current spot on the depth chart, giving O’Connell’s comment an 11 out of 10 rating on the “BS” meter.
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“In the same breath that O’Connell said that McCarthy isn’t Minnesota’s starting quarterback, he essentially said that McCarthy is the Vikings’ starting quarterback,” Davenport opined. “From all indications, McCarthy’s knee is 100 percent. He was drafted 10th overall last season for a reason. And with all due respect to Sam Howell and Brett Rypien, they are, um, Sam Howell and Brett Rypien.
“Provided McCarthy is healthy, he’s Minnesota’s starter. Period.”
While the Vikings did swing a draft weekend trade for Howell, who has the luxury of taking real snaps as an NFL starter over his three years in the league, the idea that Minnesota added real competition for McCarthy this offseason is asinine.
Securing a veteran backup to help mentor the 22-year-old was considered a top priority for the team this offseason. But after losing both Sam Darnold and Daniel Jones in free agency, the Vikings punted the position altogether with an eye on recouping multiple compensatory picks for the 2026 NFL Draft.
WIth all due respect to O’Connell, Howell has been with the Vikings for two seconds, and projects as a mid-tier QB2 if he ends up winning that job in training camp. It frankly wouldn’t be a huge surprise to see undrafted rookie Max Brosmer, the starting quarterback for the Minnesota Gophers in 2024, push Howell for that job. Rypien, meanwhile, is nothing more than a practice squad slash emergency QB option.
If the Vikings had even a semblance of worry that McCarthy wasn’t their guy for 2025 and beyond, they would have brought in a veteran who could actually push him this summer, like Aaron Rodgers, Gardner Minshew or Joe Flacco. Instead, we’ve got Howell, Rypien and Brosmer.
Vikings brass can be bullish on officially naming McCarthy the starter all it wants, but they’re not fooling anyone.
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