Wolverine Digest

Minnesota Vikings legendary QB shares thoughts on J.J. McCarthy

One Minnesota Vikings legend has full confidence in J.J. McCarthy and his potential in the NFL.
Chris Breiler|
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With the Vikings set to kick off the 2025 season in a little over a month, all eyes are on J.J. McCarthy as he's now the solidified QB1 in Minnesota. McCarthy, who missed his entire rookie season due to a torn meniscus in his right knee, is now fully healthy and ready to show the league why he was a first-round pick in the 2024 NFL Draft.

And while Minnesota fans have expressed full confidence in what McCarthy brings to the table, former players are also high on the national championship-winning QB out of Michigan. During a recent podcast appearance, legendary Vikings QB Daunte Culpepper shared his thoughts on McCarthy, saying he has "all the confidence in the world" in the Vikings' new QB1.

JJ McCarthy, Minnesota Vikings
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"The information I've gotten on him, and I had an opportunity to meet him a few times, he's very sharp. And I like that about him. He asked me, 'What do you think about my situation?' I said it's kind of similar to what I went through."

During the 2005 season, Culpepper suffered torn ligaments in his knee that ultimately brought his career with the Vikings to an end.

"I told him, just do your thing. I have all the confidence in the world in him, based on how he presented himself to me and the film that I've seen on him. I think he's a phenomenal player, and I know he's chomping at the bit to get out there and show a lot of the naysayers that they're wrong."

Earlier this summer, Culpepper had the opportunity to watch McCarthy in action and walked away impressed with what he saw.

"I saw him at practice last week and he looks great," Culpepper said. "He has that it factor, I always say, he has it. And I can see it in his eyes, he's ready to go out and tear it up."

The Vikings kick off the regular season schedule by clashing with the Chicago Bears on Monday Night Football at Soldier Field. It will signal the first massive challenge for McCarthy in a starting role with the Vikings, fittingly in a return to his home state of Illinois.

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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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