Wolverine Digest

Hype continues to build for the JJ McCarthy era in Minnesota: 'He's an elite competitor'

Chris Breiler|
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Minnesota Vikings

Following the departure of former Vikings QB Sam Darnold to Seattle, it looked like the JJ McCarthy era was soon to follow. But then reports began to surface that future Hall-of-Fame QB Aaron Rodgers had his eye on Minnesota, and there was plenty of speculation that the Vikings could look to bring in the veteran QB while giving McCarthy another year to develop.

But that dialog has cooled down considerably in recent weeks, and it appears that the Vikings have moved on from Rodgers and are all in on McCarthy.

With all of the head coaches taking part in the NFL Owners' meetings this week, Minnesota head coach Kevin O'Connell indicated that he's excited for what's to come with McCarthy back in the mix. Nearly recovered from a season-ending injury last year, O'Connell says that McCarthy has had a great offseason.

You can watch his interview below:

In addition to O'Connell, McCarthy's former head coach (Jim Harbaugh) also had great things to say about his former QB. Having won a national championship together at Michigan during the 2023 season, there's no question that Harbaugh knows exactly what the Vikings are getting in McCarthy as their franchise QB.

"It’s a great situation, and I just know J.J. He’s going to be every day," Harbaugh said. "Daily, weekly, monthly, yearly, he’ll get in there and he’ll attack. He’s an elite competitor, and a highly talented individual. I know we’re going to have to play against him. That’s probably the second thought. I know what it’s going to look like.”

"There's no challenge that he's afraid of. Or new challenges. He's an elite competitor, elite athlete. He will compete. That what I... I love that about JJ McCarthy. That's what I would say. There's nothing that he's afraid of. "

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Chris Breiler
CHRIS BREILER

Christopher Breiler launched Winged Helmet Media and began covering the Michigan Football program in an unofficial capacity in 2017. He then joined Wolverine Digest as part of the FanNation network in 2021 as a contributing writer, where he served as both a writer and a photographer on game days. In 2024, he took over as the Managing Editor for Michigan Wolverines On SI. His love for Michigan Football brought him into the industry, and his passion for being a content creator has led to some amazing experiences along the way.

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