J.J. McCarthy injury threatens to turn NFL fans against him even more

The start of J.J. McCarthy's NFL career hasn't gotten off to the start that the Minnesota Vikings expected when they selected him with the No. 10 overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft. McCarthy missed the entire 2024 campaign due to a knee injury, but was still somewhat controversially dubbed Sam Darnold's heir apparent despite having no NFL experience whatsoever.

In seven of the eight NFL quarters he's played in thus far, McCarthy has looked exactly like what he is - a rookie. He's struggled to generate much offense despite having Kevin O'Connell, one of the league's best play callers, as his head coach, and talented weapons like Justin Jefferson and Aaron Jones alongside him.

The potential is there, especially with McCarthy paired with O'Connell and a stout Vikings team, but NFL fans have no idea what to make of McCarthy's first two games of professional experience. I mean, the fourth quarter against the Chicago Bears in Week 1 was beyond impressive, but other than that, the positives have been hard to spot.

Now, his ankle injury, which is expected to keep him out for at least a couple of weeks, threatens to turn NFL fans against him even more, largely because of who his replacement is.

Carson Wentz has chance to grow list of J.J. McCarthy skeptics

With McCarthy out, Carson Wentz is expected to take the reins for Minnesota. Say what you want about his recent play — it's been bad — but Wentz has nine years of NFL experience, and was once one of the best quarterbacks on the planet. I mean, he was the frontrunner to win the MVP award before suffering a season-ending injury in 2017.

He's had far more downs than ups ever since, but Wentz at least knows what to expect at the NFL level, which is something that McCarthy cannot say himself. McCarthy's talent has been on display at times, but there have also been numerous occasions in which he's looked overwhelmed.

There's a very real chance Wentz, a seasoned veteran, will look better and more comfortable in Minnesota's offense than McCarthy did. Just last season, we saw Sam Darnold, a player every single NFL fan had fully given up on, explode in O'Connell's offense with largely this same team and earn a lucrative contract with the Seattle Seahawks as a result.

If Wentz does look better than McCarthy, fair or not, NFL fans are going to be even more skeptical when evaluating the young quarterback. I mean, if a player who has struggled as mightily as Wentz looks better than McCarthy, what exactly do the Vikings have here?

Vikings can't let Carson Wentz reality disrupt their J.J. McCarthy plan

I think it'd be fair to question just how good McCarthy is if Wentz is able to outplay him, but the Vikings must stick to their McCarthy plan. I don't know whether he'll be out for two weeks or a month, and I have no idea how Wentz will do in his place. Even if Wentz goes 3-0 in his place and plays well, though, the Vikings must hand the reins back to McCarthy whenever he is healthy.

The Vikings not only selected McCarthy tenth overall in last year's NFL Draft, but they traded up to get him. They believed so strongly in his future that they were willing to lose Darnold, a player who fit seamlessly into their offense, for nothing. Wentz has the talent to put together a couple of good games, but who really thinks this guy is going to win Minnesota a Super Bowl?

The Vikings had to know what they signed up for when they handed McCarthy the starting job. He's essentially a rookie after missing all of last season, and he must be treated as such. He deserves more than just two games to prove he can play at the NFL level. Even if it means they don't make the playoffs this year, knowing whether McCarthy is their long-term solution at quarterback or not is more valuable than getting slightly better quarterback play just for this season.

Wentz outplaying McCarthy is entirely possible and will understandably bring out the skeptics. However, even if he does outplay McCarthy, this should still be McCarthy's team when healthy, no matter how Wentz does. Vikings fans can only hope O'Connell agrees.