The Minnesota Vikings will likely start the season as QB1 over JJ McCarthy.
JJ McCarthy won a National Championship last season at the University of Michigan. He threw the 2nd hardest pass velocity at the Combine. McCarthy was drafted by the Minnesota Vikings with the 10th pick in the 2024 NFL Draft. In fact, the Vikings traded UP to make McCarthy their QB of the future. That future may be further off than McCarthy hoped.
Free Agent QB signee Sam Darnold will, by all indications, the Vikings starter in game 1 and for the foreseeable future. Minnesota has “made it clear” that McCarthy is not ready to start, will be brought along slowly, and Sam Darnold is the starter. McCarthy’s path will be determined by Darnold’s play. If Darnold struggles, as one might assume would happen after joining his 4th NFL team when he signed with the Vikings, Kevin O’Connell’s hand might be forced to insert McCarthy sooner than he wants. As for now, McCarthy is still a first-rounder in Dynasty rookie drafts, and could be a valuable late QB3 in Best Ball formats.
Minnesota Vikings No. 10 overall pick J.J. McCarthy signed ...
Minnesota Vikings quarterback J.J. McCarthy was recently ...
The Athletic's Alec Lewis writes that Minnesota Vikings ...
The Minnesota Vikings plan to start QB Sam Darnold over rookie JJ McCarthy.
Sam Darnold hype is back! According to Jeremy Fowler of ESPN the Minnesota Vikings are planning to start journeyman Sam Darold over 1st round rookie JJ McCarthy. Citing “untapped potential” for the reason to start Darnold. Sam Darnold has never lacked the skill set to look exactly like what you want in a quarterback. His problem is 70 turnovers in 67 games played. You can argue that the Vikings offer some great targets for Darnold in Justin Jefferson and Jordan Addison. Starting Darnold is in the best interest for JJ McCarthy to learn the ropes, in order to avoid overwhelming the rookie like Darnold was in New York.
Darnold will be a low end fantasy quarterback, and should only be starting in advantageous matchups. There is no doubt Darnold can make explosive plays with Jefferson and Addison, it’s just the matter of whether he can be consistent enough to make both receivers viable options every week. I fully expect the leach to be very short on Darnold as his turnovers have led to his quick benching in Carolina. Vikings will end up starting the rookie McCarthy sooner than later.
Sam Darold is only viable in superflex formats as a consistent starter until he is benched. Otherwise keep McCarthy as a wavier wire pick up in your standard leagues.
The Vikings have selected Michigan Quarterback, J.J McCarthy, 10th overall in the 2024 NFL Draft.
McCarthy caught a lot of buzz during the pre-draft process and even drew rumors that he could be the 2nd Quarterback taken in the draft. While he didn’t go as high as some expected, he lands in a favorable situation with the Vikings, having star Wide Receiver Justin Jefferson as a primary target.
At this point, it’s hard to determine if McCarthy will be an upgrade for and the Minnesota position players in terms of their fantasy production, as he wasn’t leaned on to be a prolific passer for Michigan.
For Fantasy Managers, McCarthy merits 1st round consideration in Superflex rookie drafts. For single QB rookie drafts, it’s safer to target him in the later rounds while prioritizing other skill positions. Despite all the pre-draft hype, McCarthy should be completely off redraft radars until he provides proof that he can be a top 10 Quarterback in the NFL.
Michigan QB J.J McCarthy is opting out of his senior year and has declared for the 2024 NFL draft.
Michigan QB J.J McCarthy is opting out of his senior year and has declared for the 2024 NFL draft. McCarthy has been the starting quarterback for the Wolverines since he won the battle against Cade McNamara for the starting gig back in 2022. McCarthy played 2 seasons as the starting quarterback for Michigan, McCarthy finished his career with Michigan with a completion percentage of 68% throwing for 6226 yards, 49 touchdowns with 11 interceptions. McCarthy led the undefeated Wolverines to the 2023 National Championship.
McCarthy was rumored to truly be 50/50 on whether or not he would declare, so this news may have been surprising to some. There are, indeed, a lot of quarterback needy teams out there, so McCarthy’s camp must know there are some serious suitors for him. McCarthy’s camp were likely persuaded this way because they are hearing teams are willing to give up late first or early second round draft capital to acquire him.
