Projected Vikings QB depth chart heading into 2025: Will JJ McCarthy get his chance?

The Minnesota Vikings shocked the NFL world this year, as they won 14 wins despite supposed uncertainty at quarterback. The Vikings saw immediate success with Sam Darnold, who won said 14 games despite originally being brought in as a bridge quarterback But in his final two games, Darnold fell off. Badly.

In Week 18, Darnold completed 43.9 percent of his passes for just 166 yards in a 31-9 loss to the Detroit Lions, causing the Vikings to lose out on a chance at the NFC North title and the No. 1 seed in the conference. Then, on Monday night, Darnold struggled mightily against the Los Angeles Rams, getting sacked nine times and committing two turnovers in a 27-9 Wild Card Round loss.

With the season over much earlier than anyone expected, Vikings fans now brace for an interesting offsesaon. Darnold is set to be a free agent, and should command a decent deal in free agency, considering he is the top quarterback option available, and there are many quarterback-needy teams. With that, it opens the door for J.J. McCarthy.

The Vikings traded draft capital to move up one spot in the first round to draft McCarthy, who was fresh off winning a national championship with Michigan. McCarthy showed promise in the team's first preseason game, but ultimately suffered a season-ending knee injury. That, thus, ended the Vikings' bridge situation.

So, what would the 2025 quarterback depth chart look like for the Vikings?

Projected 2025 Vikings quarterback depth chart with J.J. McCarthy

Here's what the Vikings quarterback depth chart could look like heading into next season.

Given that Darnold didn't exactly live up to the lofty expectations in Minnesota's two most important games of the season, it might be time for the Vikings to let him leave for free agency and move forward with McCarthy.

As mentioned earlier, McCarthy showed plenty of promise in his lone preseason game. Let's not forget that he was a highly-sought-after quarterback prospect in a loaded 2024 class. While McCarthy didn't show much of his arm talent at Michigan, he improved his stock at the Scouting Combine when showing off his arm strength and accuracy. Taking all of that into consideration, and the fact that McCarthy is going to enter the second-year of his rookie deal, it's time for the Vikings to find out sooner rather than later if he is the long-term answer at the position.

With Darnold gone, the Vikings will need to have some solid backups just in case McCarthy hits any setbacks. Bringing Daniel Jones back for a full season would make sense. Yes, Jones' tenure with the New York Giants was much-maligned by the fanbase ever since he was selected sixth overall in 2019. But, he did lead the Giants to the playoffs in 2022 and had an incredible showing against the Vikings in that year's Wild Card Round. Even though Jones' play wasn't great with the Giants, he did mask other issues on the team once he and the team mutually agreed to part ways after his benching.

As is the case every offseason, teams will want to have more than two quarterbacks on the roster to fill out depth. In this case, bringing back Nick Mullens would make sense. Mullens has been with the Vikings since Kevin O'Connell's arrival in 2022. Having a quarterback who is familiar with the playbook will be beneficial.

Given how the season ended, it would be impossible to see the Vikings not going forward with McCarthy as QB1. We'll ultimately see what happens once the new league year kicks off on March 12.