Highlights
- Kevin O’Connell favors starting QB Sam Darnold over J.J. McCarthy, emphasizing the former’s experience.
- Darnold’s potential has been underestimated due to poor situations with two NFL teams.
- The Vikings aim for a nurturing environment for QB development to ensure long-term success.
It’s June, so any NFL stories regarding depth charts don’t hold a ton of credence. However, Kevin O’Connell’s words regarding Sam Darnold and the highly drafted J.J. McCarthy ring out plenty of logical truths. As the Minnesota Vikings quarterback whisperer put it on Mad Dog Sports:
We haven’t had to put out a depth chart or anything like that, but I would say Sam would be the guy I would look to. I feel strongly about his ability to continue his, even at this point in his career, continue his development and what can he become within playing quarterback in our offense with the type of players we have around him, all well knowing that we’re going to have a competitive environment with J.J. McCarthy, with Nick Mullens and Jaren Hall.
When you invest the 10th-overall pick on a QB, it immediately puts pressure on the organization to play him. Luckily for O’Connell, his proven track record in Minnesota gives him a longer leash than most to develop their pivotal prospect.
Vikings HC Wants a ‘Competitive Environment’ for Team’s QB Battle
Veteran QB Sam Darnold and rookie J.J. McCathy are both vying for the starting spot for the Minnesota Vikings.
O’Connell Taking a Long View on J.J. McCarthy
The Vikings’ highly respected head coach gives both QBs the best chance to succeed
Many fans may laugh at the notion of Darnold starting, but O’Connell isn’t alone in his belief that the third-overall pick from 2018 still has room to grow. It’s important to remember that Darnold entered two terrible situations with the New York Jets and Carolina Panthers to start his career.
In the debate of nature vs nurture, as the former USC QB was thrown onto a bonfire with lighter fluid as his only means of putting it out. Even in those homeless encampments of situations, Darnold flashed the talents that led to him being drafted so high.
It’s not out of the realm of possibility that he could do a poor man’s Brock Purdy impression with O’Connell carefully scripting plays and the best receiver in the league bailing him out.
More importantly, the Vikings can avoid throwing McCarthy to the wolves before he’s ready.
That’s a lesson Minnesota’s new QB coach Josh McCown learned thanks to Bryce Young. Obviously, if McCarthy just wows everyone in training camp, they can reassess the situation. Most likely, the 21-year-old Michigan product needs some time adjusting after having his hand held throughout college.
As the well-spoken Vikings head coach described it:
I really feel like our job is to build the best possible environment that we can, coach at a really high level, have a really structured plan to where these guys know exactly what the expectations are every day, and then go out and compete and just go play football. And make sure we’re taking the opportunity this spring, which we’ve done, for all those guys to have personal development plans and really teach at a high level so that the can report to training camp and know that they can go compete it out every day and see kind of where the chips fall.
Whether it’s Darnold or McCarthy, both QBs have found themselves the perfect opportunity to succeed in the “Not For Long” league. It just took one of them a lot longer to find it than the other.
Source: Kevin Patra
All statistics courtesy of Pro Football Reference unless stated otherwise.
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