Who knows what the Minnesota Vikings quarterback room would've looked like a season ago had J.J. McCarthy not suffered a season-ending knee injury in the preseason. Obviously, it worked out for Kevin O'Connell's club as they reeled off a 14-win season behind Sam Darnold. The former No. 2 overall pick experienced a career resurgence in the Twin Cities but, unfortunately for the Vikings, parlayed that into a lucrative free agency deal with the Seattle Seahawks.
Since then, the Vikings have publicly maintained that they'll now be giving the keys to McCarthy as he returns from injury. However, they may also be talking out of both sides of their mouths as the organization has also expressed interest in multiple quarterbacks this offseason, including Daniel Jones and, to some degree, Aaron Rodgers.
That would lead one to believe that the Vikings, despite trading up to draft him 10th overall, may lack some conviction when it comes to McCarthy. Even if you're looking to bring Jones in as a backup, why then the flirtation with Rodgers? It's an apparent lack of faith in the young quarterback.
It's also not a lack of faith that some of McCarthy's teammates in Minnesota share, running back Aaron Jones specifically.
During an appearance on Good Morning Football with NFL Network, Jones spoke about the young quarterback and expressed what seemed like genuine excitement about what McCarthy brings to the table and suggesting everyone else will see it whenever he finally takes the field.
"J.J. [McCarthy]'s a winner. If you look from high school through his time in college, he’s lost one career game. He came in [and] in his short time there, he was balling. The preseason, he ended up getting hurt, unfortunately. But I think it might’ve been a quarterback battle if he didn’t get hurt. He’s different. He’s a competitor. He wants to be great and he’s hungry."
Vikings need to follow Aaron Jones and believe in J.J. McCarthy
Now, on one hand, a team and fan base would want any veteran such as Jones to instill confidence in a young teammate like McCarthy. That has to be said, but Jones isn't speaking like someone going through the motions. Saying that McCarthy could've pushed Darnold, a quarterback that went 14-3 last year, means quite a bit. The talk of the hunger to be great as well speaks to what Jones sees in the facility from the young signal-caller.
If only the Vikings were as bullish on McCarthy as their running back seems to be.
Minnesota simply needs to come to terms with the fact that they selected McCarthy to be the guy and then let him be the guy. Sure, ideally he would've been able to spend his rookie season healthy but developing behind Darnold. At the same time, this isn't a can they can afford to keep kicking down the road.
Personally, I'm a believer in McCarthy for many of the reasons Jones put forth. He's a winner, everything teammates say indicates he's a phenomenal leader, and the tools, while not always allowed to be put on display at Michigan, are mouth-watering. If given the keys, especially under O'Connell's direction, I think there's a good chance that he could be special.
At the same time, even if it doesn't work out with McCarthy, at least the Vikings would know that and not be sitting near needing to make a fifth-year option decision and having limited data to base that decision on. It's just good business to give a young first-round quarterback his chances as soon as possible.
The Vikings have been toying with the quarterback room a bit too much this offseason. After seeing Jones's assessment, though, it's clearer than ever that Minnesota needs to start turning their attention elsewhere with a simple assertion backed by their actions: J.J. McCarthy is their quarterback.