Vikings J.J. McCarthy selection could push a recent draft pick out the door

The Minnesota Vikings got their guy. They traded up to the No. 10 pick in the 2024 NFL Draft to take J.J. McCarthy. He is the long-term replacement for Kirk Cousins who departed in free agency for the Falcons.

Whether McCarthy starts over Sam Darnold remains to be seen, but he's the quarterback Minnesota hopes will lead them to the Super Bowl for the first time since 1976.

The McCarthy selection shakes up the Vikings' depth chart quite a bit, and could push a recent draft pick out of Minnesota entirely.

Vikings J.J. McCarthy selection could push Jaren Hall out of Minnesota

The goal of the McCarthy selection is for the 21-year-old to eventually be their franchise guy, but only when he's ready. If that's in Week 1, great. If it takes longer, that's fine too. The Vikings have Sam Darnold there as a starter if McCarthy is not ready, which is the likely scenario.

The question is what happens behind Darnold and McCarthy. With emphasis on McCarthy needing to be ready, the Vikings might want to have a more established QB3 than teams are usually accustomed to. After all, this team has boatloads of offensive talent and should be competitive in 2024.

With Nick Mullens under contract, he makes the most sense as Minnesota's QB3. If Darnold struggles as the starter or gets injured and McCarthy is not ready, Mullens, a veteran, can step in. Sure, he's far from the guy they'd want to start, but he has played in 29 games over the course of his six-year career and has started 20. He has been in this situation before and can be thrown into the fire.

If Mullens is their QB3, that could mean the end of Jaren Hall, a recent draft pick, in Minnesota. The Vikings took the 26-year-old in the fifth round of the 2023 NFL Draft. He was thrust into action when Cousins went down with his season-ending injury, but he suffered a concussion in his first start knocking him out for a while.

Hall was able to start their Week 16 game against the Green Bay Packers but he struggled, completing just five of his ten passes, throwing an interception, and taking three sacks. Overall, he wound up completing 13 of his 20 passes for 168 yards in three games (two starts).

With all of this depth out in front of him, there feels like a good chance the Vikings will trade or release Hall to give him an opportunity elsewhere. A lot would have to go wrong for the Vikings to even consider using Hall in 2024, which is really what this comes down to.