Former SEC Football Star Signed To Replace JJ McCarthy

Former Michigan Wolverines quarterback JJ McCarthy, the No. 10 overall pick, did not take a regular season snap before his rookie season came to an early end.

Unfortunately for McCarthy and the Minnesota Vikings, the 2023 national championship winner will miss the 2024 NFL season after undergoing surgery for a torn meniscus that was suffered in the first preseason game against the Las Vegas Raiders.

So what is left for Minnesota at quarterback with just weeks ahead of the season opener against the New York Giants?

The Vikings brought in sixth-year veteran Sam Darnold on a one year, $10 million deal in March. The No. 3 pick by the New York Jets in 2018, Darnold is in line for the starting role. Behind him is another sixth-year veteran in Nick Mullins, who logged five starts for the Vikings last year after Kirk Cousins went down with a torn Achilles.

After placing McCarthy on injured reserve, Minnesota added another piece to the room on Friday in former Ole Miss star Matt Corral.

Corral was the first quarterback of the Lane Kiffin-era at Ole Miss.

The former four-star prospect was already leading the team when Kiffin landed in Oxford. And the pair turned things around in a hurry, winning 10 games in 2021 with Corral finishing as a Second-Team All-SEC selection.

Corral's NFL dreams took a turn in the postseason, though, after he went down with a high-ankle sprain in the first quarter of the Sugar Bowl against Baylor. Despite the injury, Corral was drafted by the Carolina Panthers in the third round of the 2022 draft.

The Long Beach, California, native missed his entire rookie season due to a foot injury and was released in August of 2023. He was claimed off waivers by the New England Patriots ahead of the season, but was ultimately released in late September. Corral went on to win a UFL title with the Birmingham Stallions this summer before signing with the Vikings.

There's a large hill to climb for Corral to make Minnesota's 53-man roster. That said, he has the opportunity to show what he can do in the final two preseason games against Cleveland (Aug. 17) and Philadelphia (Aug. 24).

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