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J.J. McCarthy #9 of the Minnesota Vikings speaks with reporters at the NFL Combine.

The Minnesota Vikings brass met with local media for a final time before the NFL Combine in March — and there wasn’t any inkling of whether they would turn to Sam Darnold or J.J. McCarthy for next season.

Last year, the question was whether McCarthy, drafted 10th overall, was mentally ready to play in the NFL. He made significant strides in his first training camp; Vikings general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah suggested that he was pushing Darnold for the starting job before a season-ending meniscus tear.

This year, the question is whether McCarthy is physically ready. On injured reserve, McCarthy had a redshirt season, learning in the Vikings quarterback room and even studying film from a GoPro attached to Darnold’s helmet.

However, he must completely rebuild his throwing mechanics from the ground up after knee surgery and regain the muscle mass he lost while recovering.

In his end-of-season news conference, head coach Kevin O’Connell was asked if he would be comfortable starting McCarthy in 2025. He replied with a development on McCarthy, who resumed throwing and on-field training at the team’s facility.

“I’m very excited about where J.J.’s at… He’s returned to on-field training, he’s returned to being able to be right where we hoped he would be at this point to have the type of offseason to answer that question,” O’Connell said January 16. “I think he maximized what this year was for him, I think he has a level of comfort in our offensive system.”

It’s a long road ahead for McCarthy, but Minnesota must decide by March whether they’ll keep Darnold or sign a cheaper veteran to compete with McCarthy for the starting job this summer.

Vikings’ Kevin O’Connell Clarifies Franchise QB Comment on McCarthy, Darnold’s Future

GettyJ.J. McCarthy #9 and Sam Darnold #14 of the Minnesota Vikings participate in a drill during training camp.
The morning McCarthy underwent surgery and had his rookie year deferred in August, O’Connell strongly endorsed McCarthy as their “young, franchise quarterback.”

As Darnold exceeded external expectations this season, becoming the first quarterback to win 14 games in their first year with a team, the decision to hand McCarthy the starting job appears more complicated.

Asked in his end-of-season news conference how that comment and Darnold’s performance may influence the decision at quarterback for next season, O’Connell clarified that his belief in McCarthy and Darnold go hand-in-hand.

“When I said that in training camp about J.J., I think it was to make sure that everybody knew my perspective on what we had added… which was a guy [who] we all believe in his future. We all believe he had done some things to confirm the special aspects of what J.J. McCarthy had been as a player at the collegiate level,” O’Connell told reporters.

“At the same time, throughout that whole time, I do remember saying that Sam was having a great training camp and doing a lot of the things that we hoped he would do on his kind of individualized approach to being at his best and playing the best football of his career.”

Vikings Sell Simple Answer to QB Decision

In the same breath of O’Connell’s praise of his top two quarterbacks, the Vikings coach said that the decision at quarterback will be made solely on “what gives us the best chance to win.”

“How we build forward and how we put things together as we move into the future will be based upon what gives us the best chance to win, what gives us the best chance to put the best version of the Minnesota Vikings football team on the field,” O’Connell said. “It’s way too early to – in that process – to really identify exactly what that looks like.

The paths forward are plentiful — and all have their pros and cons.

“We’re going to go through every layer of it,” O’Connell added. “We’re going to clearly decide that path that best helps us move forward to win games.”