Vikings say J.J. McCarthy is 'right where we hoped he'd be' in recovery process

The Vikings have a decision to make at the quarterback position this offseason. If Sam Darnold leaves in free agency — whether because he isn't offered a contract by Minnesota or he chooses to take more money elsewhere — there's a good chance 22-year-old J.J. McCarthy will be in line to win the starting job this fall.

McCarthy missed his entire rookie season due to a meniscus tear suffered in the preseason opener in mid-August, but the Vikings are pleased with where he's at in his recovery process.

"I'm very excited about where J.J.'s at," head coach Kevin O'Connell said on Thursday. "He's returned to on-field training. He's right where we hoped he would be at this point."

GM Kwesi Adofo-Mensah, who spoke before O'Connell, said he had just run into McCarthy while walking around TCO Performance Center prior to his press conference. He said McCarthy was in the weight room doing "those cool quarterback thrusty things that Dak (Prescott) does." He also noted that the rookie QB is back to throwing in on-field workouts.

"He looks great," Adofo-Mensah said. "He's excited. You talk about a kid who's just obsessed with football and loves being around the game. So we're excited about what we have in him. We're excited for this offseason for him."

The Vikings became enamored with McCarthy in the pre-draft process and made sure they landed the former Michigan star by moving up one spot to select him tenth overall in April. His progression over the ensuing four months, from rookie minicamp up through training camp and one impressive preseason game, validated a lot of what they thought they were getting. Before he got hurt, he was in the mix to win the job, even if Darnold was probably the favorite at the time.

"This guy is so motivated and so dialed in," O'Connell said back in August, shortly after McCarthy's season-ending injury was announced. "As excited as I was to draft him, he's confirmed everything that I hoped to see. Our fan base and everyone should be excited about the fact that we've got our young franchise quarterback in the building."

At the time of the injury, the Vikings' plan seemed to be this: Get whatever they could out of Darnold in 2024, then wish him well in free agency and hand the keys over to McCarthy. Then Darnold went out and led the Vikings to 14 wins, finished in the top five in the league in passing yards and touchdowns, and made the Pro Bowl. That seemed to change the outlook of the decision, at least for a while. And then Darnold flopped in blowout losses in the two biggest games of the season, perhaps swinging the pendulum back to the original plan.

Sam Darnold's flop makes Vikings' QB decision clear: It's J.J. McCarthy time

All along, McCarthy basically had a college redshirt year. He was fully involved in meetings and film study and helping Darnold prepare for each and every week, taking countless mental reps. He learned a lot.

"I think he maximized what this year was for him," O'Connell said when asked if the Vikings would be comfortable with him as their Week 1 starter this year. "I think he's got a level of comfort in our offensive system and getting to have a front row seat for every aspect of what Sam went through, from being in the first year in our system and watching it kind of morph and grow and adapt as the season went on, why we do things. ... I think him being able to absorb a lot of that and now have a really positive offseason from start to finish here will be able to give us the answer to that question. Very excited about the opportunity to be there with J.J. as he continues to move through this wonderful thing we call the quarterback world."

Adofo-Mensah expressed similar sentiments when asked the same question about McCarthy's potential to be their starter this year.

"We don't know what was going to happen in the finish of the training camp," he said. "But (J.J.) got a great mental year, as a redshirt year. The process that they had, in our exit meetings with him, talking about how much he learned this year compared to other years in his football life, just exponential, which you would expect for a young player in this building. So I think we're really confident in him, his work ethic, and his preparation.

"I can't sit here and tell you I know anything for certain. I know that I'm willing to believe in the person that we have. That position is about talent and preparation, and he's got those things in spades. So if that's the course of action we decide, we'll go there confidently."

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