The Minnesota Vikings were the first team to end their starting quarterback competition in training camp this year. It took just one preseason game for head coach Kevin O’Connell to pick Kyler Murray over J.J. McCarthy.
While there’s always the chance that the Vikings could turn back to their former first-round pick, one NFL scout says “it’s over” for McCarthy in Minnesota.
Is J.J. McCarthy’s Vikings Career Already Toast?McCarthy is just 23 years old. Most would argue that’s far too young to give up on as a player, especially one who was selected 10th overall just two years ago.
By all appearances, the Vikings aren’t quite there yet with McCarthy, but one NFL scout believes it won’t be long until Minnesota moves on from the former Michigan champ. In fact, John Middlekauff said via “The Colin Cowherd Podcast” that the Vikings “just picked the wrong guy.”
“My guess is he’s not even going to be the backup quarterback,” Middlekauff said. “Because you see that pass sails over. And again, a guy wide open, that’s not that far away. You don’t need to throw it as hard as humanly possible. They just picked the wrong guy.
“Listen, they were picking the fifth guy of the class. But the sixth guy turned out to be Bo Nix. Who, I know this, they wouldn’t trade Bo Nix straight up for J.J. McCarthy.”
BE THE GM OF YOUR FAVORITE TEAM:PFN’s Free NFL Mock Draft Simulator
Middlekauff seems accurate in his assessment. Coach O’Connell recently admitted before the team’s second preseason game that the Vikings will “do what’s best” for the team when it comes to the backup QB. That could mean going with the more experienced Carson Wentz over McCarthy, who’s started just 10 games compared to 99 for the 11th-year vet.
Potentially set for QB3 duties on the Vikings in 2026, Middlekauff went on to state his belief that he thinks “it’s over” for McCarthy in Minnesota.
“Remember, he was doing like the meditations before games in college?” Middlekauff recalled. “It’s like, bro, you hand it off 80% of the time. This isn’t asking Mahomes to throw it 75 times at Texas Tech. So I think it’s over.”
START PREPARING:PFN’s Free Fantasy Draft Simulator
Unless they receive a respectable trade offer, the Vikings don’t really have a reason to move on from the second-year QB. He’s still under contract through the 2027 season. Murray and Wentz are only signed through the rest of the season. He’d at the very least give the Vikings a developmental backup heading into next year.
Perhaps there’s some bizarro world out there that still leads to McCarthy starting for the Vikings again. But barring injury, it doesn’t look like it will happen this season. As a result, it very well may be “over” for McCarthy in purple and gold.
This article originally appeared on Pro Football Network.
Leave a Comment