Was J.J. McCarthy the Minnesota Vikings' first choice in NFL Draft?

The Minnesota Vikings went into the NFL Draft enamored with North Carolina quarterback Drake Maye. They made efforts to move up for him but the New England Patriots weren't willing to budge and selected him third overall.

After the top three quarterbacks were taken, who did the Vikings prefer. SKOR North's Judd Zulgad, who also writes for us here at The Sporting News, believes that they preferred Washington quarterback Michael Penix Jr.

Penix ended up going to the Atlanta Falcons at eighth overall and the Vikings selected Michigan quarterback J.J. McCarthy two picks later.

ESPN's Kevin Seifert wrote a long piece breaking down the Vikings' path to getting their quarterback of the future and discussed this exact thing. However, Seifert came to a different conclusion from Zulgad, saying that Penix was not their first choice after Maye.

McCarthy was next on the Vikings' priority list, ahead of Penix. Many around the league had paired Penix's downfield mentality and quick release with O'Connell's offensive philosophy, but the Vikings felt confident McCarthy had similar capacities. Michigan's offense simply hadn't asked him to use them. And at 21, three years younger than Penix, McCarthy had more potential for growth.

Who ends up being correct? Honestly, I don't think it matters at this point. Penix is a talented player who unfortunately ended up in a poor situation. McCarthy ended up in a great situation and is primed to have the best supporting cast for a top-ten quarterback in NFL history.

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