Veteran Vikings players rave about J.J. McCarthy: 'You can tell he wants it'

McCarthy is taking over as the starting quarterback on a veteran-laden team with Super Bowl hopes. His teammates think he's ready for it.

Aug 3, 2024; Eagan, MN, USA; Minnesota Vikings quarterback J.J. McCarthy (9) warms up during practice at Vikings training camp in Eagan, MN. | Jeffrey Becker-Imagn Images

To a significant extent, the Minnesota Vikings' lofty ambitions for this season hinge on the play of a 22-year-old quarterback who has yet to make his NFL debut. The Vikings have a top-tier coaching staff and a roster that is loaded with veteran talent on both sides of the ball (including 12 players who have made Pro Bowls in their careers). After a busy offseason of pouring resources into the trenches and adding depth across the board, they don't have any glaring weaknesses. This is a team built to win big — as long as J.J. McCarthy can deliver.

McCarthy, the tenth overall pick in last year's draft, has done everything right thus far. He was impressing the Vikings last year before an August meniscus tear ended his rookie season. After the injury, he attacked his rehab and got countless mental reps to prepare himself for a potential opportunity to take over as the starter this year. He's been at the team's facility all offseason and is now fully healthy with spring workouts underway.

Kevin O'Connell believes McCarthy is ready for this opportunity. McCarthy said this week that he knows he's ready, and that he thrives off of pressure. His teammates are pretty confident in him, too. They haven't seen him throw a pass in a regular season game, but they've been around him enough to believe he's a guy who is capable of helping bring them to where they want to go. That belief comes from who he is both on and off of the football field.

Below, we've compiled some recent praise for McCarthy from veteran Vikings players.

Josh Metellus, 6th-year safety

As a fellow Michigan graduate, Metellus is extra biased towards McCarthy.

"From the time I met him when he was a recruit coming up to Michigan and I'm a senior ready to get out of here and take that next step, you just always felt his energy. To have poise the way he does, I think it goes a long way, especially for a leader of a team. And for our quarterback to not even step on the field yet and already have that poise and already have that energy when he walks through the building is a very special (thing). I could talk about his abilities on the field all day. But for a guy to be the person he is in this building is something to look forward to for him and his career moving forward."

On McCarthy's leadership role as a young QB on an older team:

"For J.J., being the guy he was coming into the league, already having that (background) — Big Ten program, leader, captain, been that was since high school, I'm sure it was when he was in little league too. He's already had that leadership thrown onto him, so it just bleeds in him. I think the big part about J.J. is he's very organic. He'll come in the building and he'll be himself. For him, as long as he can be himself and feel accepted, his abilities, his traits are gonna excel in his leadership role, whatever it is. We don't need him to come in and be the Patrick Mahomes of the team right now. He's still trying to figure things out, he still has to play his first game, get that angst and stuff out. Last thing we want to do is have him feel like he has to say the last word to the team. We have a veteran team for a reason, to welcome in a guy like that so he can just focus on his day-to-day process and not have to worry about being that true-blue leader, because we have a lot of good ones."

Brian O'Neill, 8th-year offensive tackle

"The energy he brings to the building every day is infectious. You can tell he wants it really bad. He does all the right things, he was here all winter, got his knee fully healthy. He's out there running around, throwing it around. It's good to have him in a lot more meetings. He was in a lot of the quarterback meetings last year, but it's good to have him in our meetings. We went over our entire snap count roster today with him. It's good to have that interaction with him knowing, going in, he's gonna be the guy."

Jonathan Greenard, 6th-year outside linebacker

"He's working. That's another guy who, even after the season, was still here working out. He's working his tail off. And I'm like, 'this is our quarterback.' He's a younger guy, you know, nobody's telling him to do this. Seeing J.J. just continue to work his tail off, be that same guy as the first day I met him, still checking in on guys, like 'how you doing?' A lot of people ask it, they're just saying 'how you doing?' to check off a box, he genuinely wants to know. And that's what you want out of your quarterback, a younger guy as well, especially when he has this grand opportunity in front of him. We're all behind him. We're all standing ten toes with J. He's definitely a guy who's a likable guy, so you want to see a guy like him succeed. Makes it easier for us to root him on."

Harrison Smith, 14th-year safety

"He's a guy that I enjoy being around a lot. He's his own person, he kinda speaks his mind, has his own way of thinking about things. Very smart, very invested in football and winning and competing. Football-wise, he's tremendously talented. He was doing a lot of good things in training camp last year, in my opinion as a guy going against him. But just being around him, obviously it's a tough position to be a high pick and things look like they're going well and then the season's gone. So that's a whole different struggle to overcome those things and be ready for the following year, be ready to go. I've been fortunate to spend some time with him, got to play some golf with him in Mexico. We had a good time. He hit some great shots. Yeah, I enjoy my time with him. He's an interesting fellow, and I think he's a little smarter beyond his years."

Aaron Jones, 9th-year running back

"He looks great. Seen him today, moving around, he looks good in the weight room. I'm very confident in him. He has all the support around him, we're here to lift him up and he's going to be ready to go."

Where does that confidence in him come from?

"Everything I experienced last year and just knowing the kind of person he is, being around him last year and carrying over to this year. Knowing how hungry he is, how successful he wants to be. He doesn't just want that for him, he wants that for everybody around him as well. When you've got a guy like that, he's gonna be successful."