After six years with veteran quarterback Kirk Cousins as the leader under center, the Minnesota Vikings let him walk in NFL free agency this offseason, with the team having plans to bring in a rookie quarterback during the 2024 NFL Draft.
Although Cousins was still playing at a high level, he suffered an Achilles injury that ended his season last year and wasn’t getting any younger at 35 years old, which prompted the move to go younger and set up the future, especially with superstar Justin Jefferson on the roster.
Fortunately for Minnesota, the team was able to get the quarterback they targeted in the NFL Draft, with J.J. McCarthy out of the University of Michigan being available after the Vikings traded up one spot to grab him.
Although McCarthy wasn’t one of the top-tier quarterbacks like Caleb Williams or Jayden Daniels, he was still promising enough to bring in and potentially build around moving forward.
The move to bring in McCarthy was highly praised by Rick Spielman, who believes the former Wolverines star will be a great fit in head coach Kevin O’Connell’s offense in Minnesota via SiriusXM NFL Radio.
“I think [J.J. McCarthy] will be a great fit in Kevin O’Connell’s offense,” Spielman said.
“I think [J.J. McCarthy] will be a great fit in Kevin O’Connell’s offense.”@Spielman_Rick explained why he liked what Minnesota did in Round 1 of the 2024 NFL Draft.
https://t.co/kDbLh5bBT0#SKOL | #Vikings | #NFLDraft pic.twitter.com/ZrvHUAQtIr
— SiriusXM NFL Radio (@SiriusXMNFL) May 11, 2024
Although McCarthy looks like a good fit on paper, it remains to be seen whether that’s the case once the mandatory minicamp gets underway next month, as he’ll be embroiled in a quarterback battle with veteran Sam Darnold.
McCarthy will have to prove his worth and then be productive on the field before things start to get promising for the Vikings.
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