Vikings HC discusses letting J.J. McCarthy develop as a backup

ESPN's Kevin Seifert noted that the Minnesota Vikings approached their preseason opener against the Las Vegas Raiders this past Saturday as if veteran quarterback Sam Darnold "is their likely Week 1 starter" ahead of rookie J.J. McCarthy.

Before McCarthy tossed touchdown passes of 45 and 33 yards in the 24-23 win over the Raiders, Vikings head coach Kevin O’Connell sounded comfortable with letting the first-year pro develop as Darnold's backup through the entire 2024 season if such a scenario played out.

"There is no one way," O’Connell recently told NFL insider Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated. "The process and the development plan need to be applied with detail and great urgency to individualize an approach. You have to be willing to evaluate step by step, day by day, while also preaching and building a plan where guys never say to themselves, 'I didn’t get a little better today. I didn’t get more comfortable today.' How that’s going is, both Sam and J.J. are further along than I probably thought they would be at this point."

Seifert mentioned as recently as last week that any "external rush to get McCarthy into the starting role has simply not been felt" by individuals within the Vikings such as O’Connell.

That take was offered before pockets of Minnesota fans understandably became excited about what could be to come for the organization after the 10th overall pick of the 2024 NFL Draft completed 11-of-17 passes for 188 yards with two scores and an interception against the Raiders. McCarthy also rushed for 18 yards on two attempts in his preseason debut.

"That’s purely the comfort of making sure that 10 other guys in that huddle can break the huddle and run the play and be held accountable for the details of their job because I can do the baseline of mine long before you have a ball leave your hands or make a check or an audible," O’Connell said about starting either Darnold or McCarthy for the Week 1 game at the New York Giants on Sept. 8. "That’s where I’ve seen the growth and development with J.J. He is getting better at that. Sam’s comfort of the system is growing on a minute-to-minute basis."

As of Monday morning, neither DraftKings Sportsbook nor FanDuel Sportsbook had the Vikings' situation listed regarding Week 1 starting quarterback odds. That suggested those outlets assume Darnold already has the job locked up.

"Being a game manager is a pretty powerful thing if you’re as talented as these guys are," O’Connell added about Darnold and McCarthy.

That's all well and good, but some Vikings supporters will want more than a so-called game manager in the lineup if Darnold posts a record of 2-3 or worse ahead of Minnesota's Week 6 bye.

Then again, perhaps McCarthy could play well enough in this coming Saturday's exhibition matchup at the Cleveland Browns to change O’Connell's mind about a quarterback competition that seems to be over before the halfway point of August arrives.